The Quireboys are an English rock band formed in 1984 in London, with strong ties to Newcastle. When the band formed they were originally known as The Queerboys and later as the London Quireboys in the United States and Canada, settling at last with their current name.[2]

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (August 2022)

The Quireboys
The Quireboys performing in the Hammersmith Odeon venue in London, 7 April 1993
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Rock, hard rock, blues rock
Years active	1984–1993, 1995, 2001–present
Labels	Off Yer Rocka
Members	Guy Griffin[1] Paul Guerin Keith Weir Nick Mailing Pip Mailing
Past members	Spike Nigel Mogg Guy Bailey Chris Johnstone Rudy Richman Paul Hornby Nick Connell (Coze) Ginger Luke Bossendorfer Martin Henderson Phil Martini Jason Bonham Dave McCluskey
Website	quireboys.com

History

1985–89: Formation

Vocalist Jonathan Gray (commonly referred to as just 'Spike') moved from Newcastle upon Tyne to London when he was 17 years old.[3]

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.[4]

The Queerboys started to build up a following, playing at the Marquee Club.[5] The band's drummer Paul Hornby soon left to join Dogs D'Amour, which contained future friends of the Quireboys, he was replaced by Nick Connell (known as Cozy).[4]

On 28 March 1986, the Queerboys appeared with Bernie Torme and the Moho Pack at what was Klub Foot at the Clarendon Hotel, Hammersmith. In May of that year, they played support dates on a Cherry Bombz tour.[6]

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.[4]

1990–95: A Bit of What You Fancy and Bitter Sweet & Twisted

Sharon Osbourne was appointed as manager and the Quireboys were signed to EMI for the release of their debut album, A Bit of What You Fancy.[4] By 1990, the Quireboys had fired Ginger (who went on to form the Wildhearts), who they replaced with former Cradle Snatchers / Feline Groove guitarist Guy Griffin.[4] For the debut album, Cozy was substituted by Ian Wallace who played with Bob Dylan.[7]

The debut album was produced by Jim Cregan and George Tutko at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California.[4] Ron Nevison mixed the album. The band entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 2.[4] A Bit of What You Fancy drew positive reviews and was compared favourably to British rock names such as Rod Stewart and Faces.[4]

The long touring schedule was finished off with a gig in Japan at the Tokyo Dome on New Year's Eve in front of 50,000 people. A live album was released following this long touring, entitled Live (Recorded Around the World).[4]

They began working on the follow-up, Bitter Sweet & Twisted, which was released in 1993.[4]

In 1993, the Quireboys broke up but briefly reformed live in 1995 with a new drummer. A more permanent reformation came in 2001 when frontman Spike and guitarist Guy Griffin put together a new line-up.

1996–2021: Reformation and subsequent albums

On 12 May 2008, the Quireboys released their next album Homewreckers & Heartbreakers on the Jerkin Crocus label. Talking about the inspiration for the new album, Paul Guerin said "It's a funny story. We were in Malmö, Sweden in the dressing room. It was just before the show and we'd had a few frothy quenchers. We were trying to come up with album titles, and everyone was laughing at the suggestions. A certain member of the band was regaling a story about something he'd done, and another member of the band said "you're just a home wrecker," and someone else said "yeah, and a heartbreaker". We were just having a laugh, and bang, there it was. It was as simple as that."[8]

In March 2013, the Quireboys played aboard the Monsters of Rock Cruise, along with bands such as Cinderella, Tesla, Kix, and Queensrÿche.[9]^{[non-primary source needed]}[10] The band released a new single "Too Much of a Good Thing" on 15 May 2013, taken from their seventh studio album, Beautiful Curse, which was released a month later in June 2013.[11]

The band's most recent album, Amazing Disgrace, was released on 5 April 2019.

In late 2021 they supported the Dead Daisies on their UK Tour. The February 2022 Monsters of Rock Cruise included the Quireboys as a five-piece, with Griffin covering vocal duties, after "a last-minute nonappearance" from Spike.[12]

2022–present: Spike's departure and ongoing dispute

In March 2022, the Quireboys announced that they had released lead vocalist Spike from the band.[13] This sparked a mixed reaction from fans, leading two venues to cancel their upcoming Quireboys dates. However, the band continued to tour with Guy Griffin as lead vocalist.[14]

Spike's departure sparked an ongoing dispute about legal ownership of the Quireboys name.[15] In May 2022, Spike announced that he was reuniting with original members Guy Bailey and Nigel Mogg to write and record new music using the Quireboys name.[16][17] He later announced an upcoming concert in London featuring ex-Quireboys members Chris Johnstone and Rudy Richman, due to take place in December 2022.[18]

The remaining band members announced the release of a new studio album titled The Band Rolls On... due for release in December 2022.[19]

Current members

• Guy Griffin - Guitar and Lead Vocal[20]
• Paul Guerin - Guitar
• Keith Weir - Keyboards
• Nick Mailing - Bass
• Pip Mailing - Drums

Former members

• Spike
• Nigel Mogg
• Guy Bailey
• Chris Johnstone
• Rudy Richman
• Paul Hornby – drums (died 2015)
• Nick "Cozy" Connell – drums
• Ginger – guitar (1987-1989)
• Ian Wallace
• Kevin Savigar – Keyboards
• Martin Henderson – Drums (2001–2002)
• Luke Bossendorfer – Guitar (2001–2003)
• Bill Coyne – Drums (1984)
• Tom Golzen – Guitar (1984)
• Michael Lee – Drums (died 2008)
• Tim Bewlay - Bass
• Damon Williams – Bass
• Jimmi Crutchley – Bass
• Dave Boyce – Bass
• Gary "Gaz" Ivin – Bass
• Phil Martini – Drums
• Matt Goom – Drums
• Dave McCluskey – Drums
• Share Ross – Bass (USA MOR Cruise)
• Jason Bonham – Drums (UK MOR Arena Tour)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Live albums

• Live (Recorded Around the World) (EMI – 1990)
• Lost in Space (Snapper – 2000)
• 100% Live (Demolition – 2002)
• Quireboys Live (EMI – 2006) (Reissue of 1990 live album)
• Live in Glasgow (Jerkin Crocus – 2011)
• 35 & Live (Off yer Rocker – 2020)

Compilation albums

• From Tooting to Barking (Griffin – 1994)
• Rock Champions (EMI – 2001)
• Masters of Rock – The Quireboys (EMI – 2002)
• Best of the Quireboys (EMI – 2008)

Singles

Videography

• A Bit of What You Fancy (1990)
• Bitter, Sweet & Live (Live at The Town & Country Club, London) (1993)
• One More for the Road (Live at The Mean Fiddler, London) (2006)

References

External links

• Official website

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