The London Cowboys

The London Cowboys^[1] were a sleazy rock'n'roll band who performed from 1980 to 1986. Formed by punk renegades Steve Dior (vocals) and Barry Jones, formerly of The Idols, the band released their debut album, Animal Pleasure in 1982, the title and the cover photo taken from the film The Tattered Dress set the tone for the record.

The band was somewhat of an enigma and although these two remained pretty constant and wrote the material they were joined by a constant succession of other artists in the revolving roster. These included Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols, Terry Chimes from The Clash, Tony James from Generation X, Phil Lewis and Gerry Laffy from Girl, Jerry Nolan from the New York Dolls, Alan D'Alvarez (reportedly of Scotland yard's D10 section) and a dozen other less notable players.

They recorded several albums including "Animal Pleasure", "Tall in the Saddle", and "On stage" a live album. There was a fourth album 'in the can' recorded under the working title "Whip It Out" which, although never formally released, spawned the single "Dance Crazy/Bleed Me". This featured the last real incarnation of the band - Steve Dior, Barry Jones, Gerry Laffy, Alan D'Alvarez and Jerry Nolan. After the Cowboys Steve formed a band called Filthy Lucre which recorded an Album "Pop Spear" and appeared on the Johnny Thunders Tribute CD along with Jeff Dahl, Dogs, Cosa Nostra Band, Bebe Buell, Barry Jones, Jet Boys, Syl Sylvain. Steve Dior also played in The Delinquents. Glen Matlock reformed the Sex Pistols with John Lydon, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. Alan D'Alvarez briefly joined London pseudo punk rockers Better Than You before returning to obscurity. Barry is now living in LA.

Discography

A list of London Cowboys recordings follow.