The Radiant Boys

Between 1980 and 1982 The 'Rads' were probably the most promising band on the Lowestoft music scene. Apart from Buster James of course, who were much better musicians and are still going strong today...

Born out of the excitement of late Punk and the dreams of the early New Romantics, Mike Murr and Chris Wones formed the creative core of the band and spent as much time in the recording studio as they did songwriting. Aided and abetted in the early days by Steve Ennew on keyboards and David Liffen on bass, their songs progressed from Human League-esque electronic twiddlings to punk/funk hybrids in the style of the Brecker Brothers.

Right from the start this was purely a recording band. No live gigs were played or even considered, but weekly plays on Wally Webb's Local Band programme on Radio Norfolk gave the group exposure and a solid core of fans eager to hear more.

Following the Radio Norfolk airing of 'Argentinian Situation' - an untypically lightweight protest song, the band were interviewed for the local news.

They also won the Seagull Theatre award for 'Most Original Local Band'

Considering the original recordings were on 4-track reels, then copied onto cassettes over 25 years ago, the quality of these mp3 files is remarkably good - a testimony to the hours of dedication over a hot dusty mixing desk in a spare bedroom in Oulton Broad...

These tracks are from the later phase of the band. Chris's increasingly desparate vocal and guitar combine with Mike's up-and-at-'em drums bass and keyboards to produce music best appreciated loud.

» AUDIO - Act Like This: The Radiant Boys (mp3)
» AUDIO - East River: The Radiant Boys (mp3)
» AUDIO - Adoration: The Radiant Boys (mp3)