City Boy - Young Men Gone West (1978) + Bonus Tracks

(U.K 1974 - 1982)

City Boy were a moderately successful English rock band in the late 1970s, characterised by complex vocal arrangements and heavy guitars. The band consisted of Lol Mason (vocals), Steve Broughton (guitar), Max Thomas (keyboards, guitar), Chris Dunn (bass, guitar), Roger Kent (drums), Mike Slamer (guitar, bass), and Roy Ward (drums). Their most popular songs were "5.7.0.5." and "The Day The Earth Caught Fire."

In the early 1970s, Lol Mason, Steve Broughton, Max Thomas and Chris Dunn were playing folk music in the Birmingham area. They toured the clubs of the Midlands and turned professional towards the end of 1975. They were offered a recording contract by Phonogram Records on condition that they change their name from "Back In the Band" and add drums and electric guitar. This prompted them to recruit drummer Roger Kent (who was later replaced by Roy Ward) and guitarist Mike Slamer.

City Boy's first five albums were produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who was recommended to them by Phonogram A&R guy Chris Peers, and their debut album entitled City Boy, was the first full album that Mutt produced after relocating to the UK from South Africa. Lange became the de facto seventh member of the band, helping Chris Dunn hone his bass guitar skills and assisting with vocal arrangements. "Shake My Head and Leave", City Boy's first single off their eponymously titled debut album, was released in 1975. Their next single, "The Hap-Ki-Do Kid" earned them an appearance on BBC's Top of the Pops.

City Boy's follow up album, Dinner at the Ritz, garnered a positive review from the NME, which wrote, "Not even the highest ballyhoo of praise could do justice to City Boy's masterwork, Dinner At The Ritz...you hear a composing style which has been influenced by, respectfully, Lennon and McCartney, novelist Ian Fleming, and Noel Coward. Very English...but very strange."

BACK - Max Thomas, Lol Mason
FRONT - Mike Slamer, Steve Broughton, Chris Dunn

Chart success, however, still eluded City Boy. Roger Kent left the band before their third album, 'Young Men Gone West', and was temporarily replaced, for immediate recording purposes, by session drummer and ex-Crawler member, Tony Braunagel. Despite showing commercial growth this album also failed to supply the hit single they needed. Before the next album, 'Book Early', Roy Ward became the band's permanent drummer. Book Early yielded the international hit single, "5.7.0.5.", which reached the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The single peaked at No. 27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was a major hit in many European territories. In support of this album, they toured extensively in Europe and the United States, where they played 66 gigs, 56 of which were with Hall & Oates.

In 1979, City Boy parted ways with their US label, Mercury Records, and signed with Atlantic Records for the US and Canada. Their first album under this new deal, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, received strong reviews and produced a minor hit with the title song. The album marked an early recording appearance by Huey Lewis, who played harmonica on the second track, "It's Only the End of the World". They continued to tour heavily in Europe, the US and Canada. However, this album would prove to be the last album with the six-man lineup.

In December 1979, original members Broughton and Dunn parted ways with the band. The remaining members of the group went on to release their next album, Heads Are Rolling, as a quartet in 1980. The soft rock track "Speechless" made the band briefly popular in the Philippines. Their final album, It's Personal from 1981, failed to attract any attention. Unable to secure a recording contract with any of the major labels, the band split up in 1982.

Most of City Boy's albums were labelled and distributed by Vertigo Records, also known as PolyGram and Polydor. My Aussie copy was distributed by Festival Records on the Mushroom International label.
[Extract from Wikipedia]

A Man Called Mutt

Robert John 'Mutt' Lange was born on November 16, 1948 in Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia (now Zombia) and moved to South Africa as a teenager. One of the most successful record producers of all time, Lange would eventually work with the likes of Def Leppard ond Bryan Adams as well as his future wife Shania Twain.

Lange (see left) was given the nickname 'Mutt'at a very early age and grew up listening to country music predominantly. Mutt started his first band in high school, where he played rhythm guitar and sang backing vocals. He married Stevie van Kerken (aka Stevie Vann) and moved to England where, in 1970, he formed a band called Hocus in which Stevie also sang.

Mutt began to work as a producer in 1976, when he sat at the controls for Graham Parker's 'Heat Treatment' album as well as the first recording of City Boy, whom he would later produce regularly.

Mutt Lange's breakthrough came with his work on AC/DC's album 'Highway to Hell'. He would reunite with the group a year later for 'Back in Black', followed in 1981 by Foreigner's huge selling opus 4, which earned him a Grammy nomination as 'Producer of the Year'.

Lange's biggest albums

That same year, he also worked on Def Leppard's 'High 'n' Dry' album, his first collaboration with the Brits. But it was the 1983 hit "Pyromania" that made Leppard a resounding success worldwide. Lange even co-wrote some of the albums most popular tracks including 'Photograph' and 'Rock of Ages'. During this time Lange also wrote Loverboy's "Lovin' Every Minute of It" and Huey Lewis & the News' "Do You Believe in Love."

Lange (far right) with AC/DC's Brian Johnson & Malcolm Young (far left)

After his next huge hit, The Cars' 1984 album 'Heartbeat City', Lange would again join up with AC/DC on their 1986 album\ 'Who Made Who' before working again with Def Leppard for 1987's 'Hysteria', one of the best-selling albums of all time. He then moved into other musical areas, working with soul singer Billy Ocean, before teaming up with Bryan Adams' for his 1991 album 'Waking Up the Neighbours', which included the smash hit single "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You."

Lange gradually worked less as he became more successful, although a year after Adams' world smash he found time to produce Michael Bolton's 'The One Thing' album. [extract from AC/DC 'Two Sides To Every Glory', by Paul Stenning, 2005. p91-92]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my recently acquired vinyl (another flee market gem) and as usual, comes with artwork for both vinyl and CD formats. Note that my copy is an Australian pressing  which was released by Festival records on the Mushroom International label.  Although familiar with the album cover, it was John 'Mutt' Lange's name on the back cover that really caught  my attention. 

Being a huge fan of AC/DC - especially their albums produced by the man himself, I decided to part with my gold coin.  The album was also in immaculate condition.

As a Bonus, I have also included several of their better known hits to sweeten the deal.

Track Listing

01 Dear Jean (I'm Nervous)
02 Bordello Night
03 Honeymooners
04 She's Got Style
05 Bad For Business
06 Young Men Gone West
07 I've Been Spun
08 One After Two
09 The Runaround
10 The Man Who Ate His Car
11 Millionaire
12 5-7-0-5 [Bonus Track]
13 The Day The Earth Caught Fire [Bonus Track]

City Boy Link (387Mb)