The Quireboys

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The Quireboys
Origin	London, England
Years active	1984 - 1993 1995 2001-present
Genres	Rock Hard rock
Members	Spike Guy Griffin Nigel Mogg Keith Weir Paul Guerin Pip Mailing
Past members	Guy Bailey Paul Hornby Chris Johnstone Coze Ginger Ian Wallace Rudy Richman Luke Bossendorfer Martin Henderson

The Quireboys are a hard rock band formed during 1984, in London, England with strong ties to Newcastle.^[1] When the band formed they were originally known as The Queerboys and in the United States they have been known as the London Quireboys throughout their entire career.

The band were successful during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their debut album "A Bit of What You Fancy" reaching #2 on the UK charts. Their highest charting single for the band was with the song "Hey You", it reached #14.

In 1993, the Quireboys broke up but briefly reformed live in 1995 with different members. A more permanent reformation came in 2001 when front man Spike, guitarist Guy Griffin and bassist Nigel Mogg put together a new line-up. The band is still active, recording new material and playing live.

1 History
2 Members
- 2.1 Former members
3 Discography
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

A vocalist named Spike Gray (commonly refered to as just "Spike") moved from Newcastle upon Tyne to London when he was just 17 years old.^[2] Spike met guitarist Guy Bailey in a bar, through his older sister, the two moved in together as flat mates, but didn't even discuss playing music until a year later when a friend brought a guitar round and they began playing Chuck Berry songs.

By the mid-1980s the two decided to form a rock and roll band, the name chosen for the group was originally The Choirboys taken from the 1977 movie of the same name, but they soon changed it to the Queerboys. Gray and Bailey were joined by bassist Nigel Mogg (nephew of UFO's Pete Way), Chris Johnstone on piano and Paul Hornby who had previously played drums with Pete Burns in the Liverpool group Nightmares in Wax.

The Queerboys started to build up a following, playing at the Marquee Club. The band's drummer Paul Hornby soon left to form Dogs D'Amour, which contained future friends of the Queerboys, he was replaced by Coze. By 1987 the band's controversial name was starting to hinder them, it caused some of the gigs on their tour with Andy McCoy's band to be cancelled. They were also booked to play Reading Festival on the understanding that they would change their name.

Thus they changed it to the Quireboys and have kept the name ever since. They released two singles via Survival Records, entitled "Mayfair" and "There She Goes Again". Another musician from Newcastle was brought in on rhythm guitar, he was named Ginger and made his performing debut at the Hammersmith Odeon where the band were supporting Guns N' Roses. At the end of 1989, the band released the single "7 O'Clock", which entered the UK Top 40 chart.

[edit] A Bit of What You Fancy

Sharon Osbourne was apointed as manager and The Quireboys were signed to EMI for the release of their debut album, which was entitled "A Bit Of What You Fancy". By 1990, the Quireboys had fired Ginger (who went on to form The Wildhearts) who they replaced with former Cradle Snatchers guitarist Guy Griffin, they also replaced drummer Coze with Ian Wallace.

The debut album was produced by a school friend of the band's Andrew Witham, and entered the UK Charts at number 2. "A Bit Of What You Fancy" drew positive reviews and was compared favourably to legendary British rock groups such as Rod Stewart and the Faces^[3], the album was even recorded with Stewart's guitarist Jim Cregan.

In support of the debut, the Quireboys toured relentlessly for the next year. They played with a vast variety of bands in different settings in the United States, from L.A. Guns to Soundgarden to The Cramps to Iggy Pop. After the tour, they also played some high key gigs in the United Kingdom; in Spike's hometown of Newcastle they were asked to support The Rolling Stones at St James' Park. Two months after the Stones show, they played infront of 72,000 people at Monsters of Rock with Aerosmith.

The long touring scedule was finshed off with a gig in Japan at the Tokyo Dome on New Years Eve in front of 50,000 people. A live album was released following this long touring, capturing their live performance, it was named "Recorded Around the World".

[edit] Bitter Sweet & Twisted

They begun working on the follow-up "Bitter Sweet & Twisted", released in 1993, but the birth of Grunge changed the music scene and they were left apart. Axl Rose even asked them personally to join the "Use Your Illusion Tour" from Guns N' Roses, but they felt their music was out of style and decided to abandon the scene.

[edit] Reformation

The band reformed for a number of low key gigs in the mid 90's and found themselves with a loyal following. A new line up recorded and released "This is Rock and Roll" in 2002 and followed it with the moderately successful "Well Oiled" in 2004.

[edit] Members

Spike - vocals
Guy Griffin - guitar
Nigel Mogg - bass
Keith Weir - keyboards
Paul Guerin - guitar
Pip Mailing - drums

[edit] Former members

Guy Bailey - guitar
Paul Hornby - drums
Chris Johnstone - bass, piano
Coze - drums
Ginger - guitar
Ian Wallace - drums
Rudy Richman - drums
Tim Bewlay - live bass
Guy Hansen - live drums
Luke Bossendorfer - guitar
Martin Henderson - drums
Kevin Savigar - keyboards

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

A Bit of What You Fancy
(EMI - 1990) UK #2

Bitter, Sweet & Twisted
(EMI - 1993) UK #31

This Is Rock N’ Roll
(Sanctuary - 2001)

Well Oiled
(SPV - 2004)

[edit] Live albums

Recorded Around the World (1990)
Lost In Space (2000)
100% Live (2002)
Quireboys Live (2006)

[edit] Compilations

From Tooting to Barking (1995)
Double Album (Reissue with extras) (1997)

[edit] Singles

Single Cover	Title	Date of Release	UK Singles Chart
	Mayfair	1987	#95
	There She Goes Again	1988	#87
	7 O'Clock	1989	#36
	Hey You	1989	#14
	I Don't Love You Anymore	1990	#24
	There She Goes Again	1990	#37
	Tramps & Thieves	1992	#41
	Brother Louie	1992	#32
	Last Time (Japan only release)	1992	???
	Tears in Heaven	2005	???