The Boys were perhaps one of the most underrated bands to ride the crest of the first wave of UK punk. Formed in London in 1976, they stood out from their peers with astute musicianship, melodic hooks, and clever lyrics. While bands like the Sex Pistols were focused on cash for chaos, The Boys embraced strong songwriting, classic rock ’n’ roll influences, and well-crafted songs that truly resonated with their fans. Their albums The Boys (1977) and Alternative Chartbusters capture the energy of the era while showcasing the band’s own unique identity and sound. I had the opportunity to ask Matt Dangerfield and Casino Steel a few questions as they prepare for their Canadian tour in March.
Scene Point Blank: I spent some time writing back and forth with Andrew Matheson around the time of his book's release, Sick On You: The Disastrous Story Of The Hollywood Brats. Unfortunately, it became complicated to bring him back to Canada to promote his book. Anyway, his book is one of the best books on a rock 'n' roll band. Did you read the book, and do you have any thoughts on its accuracy? (Out of interest, I was asked to contribute to his obituary for Billboard Canada , which is an interesting read on his time in Toronto.)
Cas: Yes, of course, I have read Andrew's book. He is a superb writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Andrew's book accurately reflects the times we all went through during the formation and chaos of the Hollywood Brats, although there is a little poetic licence included now and then!
Scene Point Blank: Keith Moon was touted as being a big Hollywood Brats fan and considered them the greatest live band he had ever seen. Did you ever have the opportunity to meet him and partake in debauchery with the wild man of percussion?
Cas: At times, it seemed that the only person who really liked us was Keith Moon. I met him on several occasions, but we didn't really socialize much together, although we certainly partook in several episodes of debauchery ourselves. He used to be at the Speakeasy all the time, and he really loved the Brats, but everyone else hated us because we were so outrageous.
Scene Point Blank: Were you present when Matheson smacked Freddy Mercury over him using the name Queen for his band (originally Hollywood Brats being called The Queen)?
Cas: Yes, I was there for the Freddie Mercury incident. We used to play the Café Des Artistes in Fulham Road. We were the regular band there, and then "the" band Queen became regulars too, but they were doing cover versions at the time, "Route 66" and all that sort of stuff. I can’t remember what they were originally called, but they’d changed their name to Queen. We had a gig at the Marquee under the name of The Queen, and Freddie Mercury came up to me and said that we would have to change our name, and I said, "Fuck you" and pushed him, and that's when Andrew hit him. Then they had a hit, so we had to change our name anyway, but we became good friends with them and even went to their album release party.
Scene Point Blank: Looking back, do you consider Hollywood Brats so far ahead of the curve that you were bound to burn brightly and implode?
Cas: We were so different at the time, we didn't think there was anyone else like ourselves. We set out to annoy and disturb, and didn't give a fuck what anyone else thought about us. And, at the time, no one liked us, so it was inevitable that we would burn bright and implode. Of course, we knew at the time that the likes of Keith Moon liked us and Charlie George (the Arsenal player) too, but it wasn't until a couple of years later that we found that many others loved our music, including the likes of Mick Jones, Tony James and others from the birth of the punk movement.
Scene Point Blank: London SS has gone down historically as a band that helped form the UK punk scene. Many notable musicians played with London SS, or at least tried out. Any memories of your time in the band?
Matt: The time I spent in London SS was just a few months and we seemed, to me, to be getting nowhere. So when we invited Cas and Andrew around for a jam, hoping they would join us, Andrew and Cas took me aside afterwards and told me they had no interest in working with Mick Jones or Tony James but wanted me to join them. I jumped at the chance.
Scene Point Blank: Did a London SS demo ever exist? Apparently, Mick has a copy, but it will never see the light of day: truth or fiction?
Matt: Could be true. All the quarter-inch tapes recorded disappeared when the studio was unused, while we were recording and rehearsing in proper studios. As none of the stuff had ever popped up on bootlegs, I assumed the tapes had been stolen to record over.
Scene Point Blank: Sadly, Honest John Plain passed away this past June. In terms of his legacy and friendship, what can you tell us about him and his career as a musician?
Matt: I’d known John since Art College, and we immediately bonded as we both played guitar, although he had only recently started playing. He used to come over to my flat every weekend to play and was always welcome, as he always brought a box of food from his mother. He’d only ever really played acoustic guitar when he joined The Boys, but picked up electric guitar very quickly. He had great timing, so our drummer always had John’s guitar on his monitor when we played live.
Scene Point Blank: What has kept The Boys together for 50 years?
Matt: Because the songs keep coming.
Scene Point Blank: Was there anything you would have done differently in the progression or business decisions of the band? Any regrets?
Matt: Yes, signing to NEMS and Elvis dying! NEMS, as a minor label, was distributed by RCA, and the week our first album was released, it went straight into the album charts at No.40 and then disappeared as it was sold out and RCA were busy pressing Elvis albums.
Scene Point Blank: Was signing with NEMS deemed an error, given there was interest from other major labels after NEMS' refusal didn’t allow Polydor to buy out the contract?
Matt: Yes, there was suddenly great interest in punk as it took off, so every major label was desperate to sign punk bands.
Scene Point Blank: This is being touted as the first time (no pun intended) you have ever toured Canada. Did you not play one gig in Montreal at one point? What are your expectations of playing this Canadian tour?
Matt: Yes, we played at a festival in Montreal, but I’m really looking forward to the Canadian tour.
Scene Point Blank: How has the music business changed since you began making music? If you were starting today, would you consider another career?
Matt: Thanks to Spotify and other streaming sites, music has become so freely available that it’s almost worthless. So I feel sorry for musicians starting today.
Scene Point Blank: How do you feel about the moniker “The Punk Beatles” applied to The Boys?
Matt: I take it as a compliment.
Scene Point Blank: What are some of the more memorable gigs or tours The Boys have experienced?
Matt: Our first major UK tour was with John Cale, so most of the audience were hearing UK punk for the first time. We had decided we wouldn’t do encores, as people would have to come and see us again if they wanted more. We’d gone off stage somewhere like Swansea to our dressing room, which was very far from the stage when, after about 10 minutes, John Cale’s manager came to tell us that John was refusing to go on stage until we did an encore, as the crowd was still calling for one. That was our first encore.
Scene Point Blank: Can we expect a cross-section of songs from each of the LPs? Are there any songs you refuse to play in your repertoire on this tour?
Matt: Yes, we played songs from every album on tour. We only play the songs that work best live.
Scene Point Blank: Matt Dangerfield converted the coal cellar of his basement flat at 47A Warrington Crescent into a DIY recording studio and rehearsal space. Are there any recordings from this time period that you still have in your possession?
Matt: Tapes are gone, as previously mentioned, but I still have a lot of cassette rough mixes -- only of The Boys stuff.
Scene Point Blank: I have heard a new LP is in the works. When can we expect that to be released in 2026?
Matt: In the autumn 2026
Scene Point Blank: Casino frequently cites The Ramones as his most significant musical influence, next to The Beatles. He has revealed in retrospective interviews that he nearly played keyboards on a Ramones recording, though the collaboration ultimately only exists on certain live bootlegs. What was the song, and how did this materialize?
Cas: The Ramones blew my brains out the first time I saw them. I thought they were absolutely brilliant, and when we were named as support on the Ramones tour, it was fantastic for me. They were breaking with "Baby I Love You" at the time, which was actually recorded by session musicians -- you know, another Phil Spector session. Anyway, they didn’t know how to play it, and obviously, we urged them to play it live because it was in the UK charts. They needed an organ on it, so they asked me to play the keyboards, and I also sang harmonies at the same time. So I joined them onstage several nights when they performed the song live, and one of those evenings was recorded and appeared on a Norwegian tribute album. We became great friends, especially Joey, Johnny and I. The other Boys got pissed off because I got to travel with them in their tour bus!
At the end of the tour, Mark Mason (our roadie) and I had an offer to go on with the Ramones, and Mark pulled out, and I really didn’t know what to do. I was really down and out and drunk at the time. Johnny and I talked about it, and he said I could come to the Bronx and change my name to Casino Ramone and join the band for their upcoming US tour. I remember sitting in the Warrington pub when Mark said that he wasn’t going to go. I thought that I couldn’t go on my own and just sit there in New York because the Ramones were strange at the time; they weren’t socializing, even with each other. Johnny had stolen Joey's girlfriend, so things were not good between them at that point. They were all with their girlfriends, and whilst it was great fun on stage, it was no fun off stage because they didn’t do anything, so instead I hooked up with Gary Holton and went back to Norway, where we recorded an album as Holton/Steel. And then things really took off for us, but that's another story.
Scene Point Blank: Google reports that before forming The Boys, Matt Dangerfield worked with fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and even helped print Bianca Jagger's wedding dress. However, I can't seem to find any other reference!? Enquiring minds need to know -- or at least set the record straight.
Matt: No, it was another musical pal from Art College, Barry Jones (London Cowboys) and my fellow studio-building flatmate who worked for her. Barry and I became best friends at Art College mainly because we both played guitar, and we later shared an apartment when we moved to London. When Barry teamed up with Andrew Czezowski to open The Roxy, The Boys loaned them £200 to help them get going on condition that we got a gig at the club. The money actually came from our drummer, Jack, who was a horse racing betting expert who’d just had a big win.
Funnily enough, when we did play our first gig at The Roxy, it was the night Led Zeppelin came down to check out this new scene. After we’d played, Jack complained that a "roadie type" guy had been pestering him from the side of the stage, saying "Let me have a blow man" and he’d told him to fuck off. When I told him that it was John Bonham (one of Jack’s heroes), he was mortified.
Scene Point Blank:Do you have any memories of the early tour with The Jam? By all accounts, Paul and his father (John) were solid people. I figure the The Boys sticker on Paul's Rickenbacker was strategically placed on the back cover of All Mods Cons!?
Matt: We actually met when we were accidentally double-booked to play a gig in Guildford. We decided we’d both play, and we said we’d go on first as we wanted to get back to London early. As I remember, The Jam were only playing cover songs at that time, but we were doing our own songs, and I believe that influenced Paul Weller to write songs. There was a bit of agro after we left the stage as Cas had knocked over a microphone stand (we were using their PA set-up), and Weller burst into the dressing room and picked up an empty whisky bottle and smashed it on the table to threaten Cas with. But all that was left of the bottle was a bit of the neck, so everyone burst out laughing (including the other Jam members), and things calmed down. We later did a few tours with The Jam and became good friends.
Scene Point Blank: How do you hope the band is looked at historically?
Matt: As one of the UK’s punk trailblazers!
Scene Point Blank: Parting Thoughts?
Matt: I think hair should always be parted in the middle.
