Description
featuring Doish Nagle on bass who went on to play guitar in Phil Lynott’s last band Grand Slam
The Bogey Boys were fronted by Navan guitarist Jimmy Smyth (a brother of country singer Gloria). Jimmy, had played in a showband, The Big Valley, in the early/mid 70s. The Bogey Boys featured a rotating rhythm section lineup which included at various times members Donald ‘Doish’ Nagle (bass), Paul Moran (drums), Davy Watson (bass), Tony Smyth (drums), Neil Whiffen (bass), Iggy Ward (bass). They released a number of singles and 2 albums – Friday Night (1979) and Jimmy Did It! (1980).
Bogey Boys – Friday Night
Label: Chrysalis 51.1241
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Netherlands
Released 1979
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Blues Rock
Tracklist
A1 Friday Night 4:04
A2 Heartbreaker 3:08
A3 Success Story 3:57
A4 Gunslinger 4:22
A5 It Could Happen To You 3:28
B1 I’m Alright Jack 3:21
B2 Rock’n’Roll Romance 4:03
B3 Hard Times 2:50
B4 In My Own Time 4:51
B5 Closing Time 3:43
Manufactured By Ariola Benelux B.V.
Distributed By Ariola Benelux B.V. 202 635 320
Navan guitar player Jimmy Smyth had, like a slightly earlier generation of Irish rock musicians, learned his trade on the showband circuit. His father Jimmy had played with The Arcadians, while he had been with The Big Valley in the early 1970s. His sister Gloria had an Irish number 1 hit with country ballad One Day At A Time in 1977. Taking a heavier route, Smyth formed The Bogey Boys around 1978 with Donald ‘Doish’ Nagle (bass) and Paul Moran (drums). Smyth’s guitar playing took centre stage in high energy blues and R’n’B material, much like the New Wave/Pub Rock movement making headlines in Britain at the time. Aptly, they gained further recognition supporting Rory Gallagher in 1978 and released their first single, Friday Night, in 1979, followed shortly after by their debut LP of the same name. The album blends Rock ‘n’ Roll with harder rock (as on tracks like Hard Times) and sits easily alongside Reform’s album and ’80s acts like Mama’s Boys.
Check this LIVE video OF The Bogey Boys ripping through Dr. Feelgood’s “She Does It Right” at the Cork Opera House in 1980. U2 were the support act!!
A Peter Green-influenced second album quickly followed in 1980, titled Jimmy Did It!, and a number of singles reached the charts in 1980 and 1981, but despite a devoted fan base and good press publicity, the band never quite hit the big time in the way they probably deserved. Line-up changes also broke their momentum with the departure of both Nagle (to Phil Lynott’s post-Lizzy group Grand Slam) and Moran. Jimmy’s brother Tony Smyth took over the drums, while a succession of bass players included Davy Watson, Neil Whiffen and Iggy Ward. The band went to the USA in 1982 and spent a year gigging and trying to secure an American record deal, but broke up in 1983. Jimmy stayed for some time in L.A. while Tony joined The No Name Band back in Navan. At the end of 1985 the Smyth brothers reunited for one more Bogey Boys Irish tour and again for a gig in 2005. They also gigged with Watson and with Francis Geraghty of The No Name Band as Deep 6, who released an album called Undercover. In 2012 The Bogey Boys reformed with Smyth, Smyth and Nagle, and set about making up for lost time with a whirlwind of gigs in Ireland and London.
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