Given a strong media run, Bad Boy’s debut album is typical of many mid 70’s acts at the time, the guitar oriented sound straddling the fence between pop rock (bordering on power pop in places) and a more gritty style, think of acts such as Starz, Hero and Aerosmith and you’d be getting a fair idea where Bad Boy are coming from.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Bad Boy
ALBUM: The Band That Made Milwaukee Famous
LABEL: United Artists (UA)
SERIAL: UA-LA781-G
YEAR: 1977
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Steve Grimm – vocals, guitars, keyboards * John Marcelli – bass * Joe Luchessi – guitars, keyboards, vocals * Lars Hansen – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Last Rock And Roller * 02 Overture * 03 Shake Me Up * 04 Disco * 05 I Gotta Move * 06 Mindless Babbling * 07 Watching You * 08 Machines * 09 I’ve Had Enough * 10 Thinking Of You
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Bad Boy Background
The band Bad Boy are associated with Wisconsin and Milwaukee. However their origins actually start out in the city of Boston, under the guise of a band called Crossfire.
Formed by Steve Grimm and John Marcelli, the duo eventually returned to their native Milwaukee. They changed their handle, and signed up two others in the form of Luchessi and Hansen.
Much touring resulted during 1975, which resulted in a deal with United Artists. Bad Boy’s debut ‘The Band That Milwaukee Made Famous’ was the resulting output.
Given a strong media run, this album is typical of many mid 70’s acts at the time. The guitar oriented sound straddling the fence between pop rock (bordering on power pop) and a more gritty style.
Think of acts such as Starz, Hero, Aerosmith, and you’d be getting a fair idea where they are coming from.
The Songs
Listening to this many years later, it comes across as a reasonable if not spectacular slice of hard rock. I’d even suggest that this sounds much better in hindsight than it did when it first came out.
Many of the songs are short sweet and snappy, hovering around the two and a half, to three minute mark. At least half the songs offer variety, while the remainder rock out as best as 1976 had to offer.
‘Disco’ is a funky workout (not disco as the title might suggest), ‘Mindless Babbling’ is a different sounding track, perhaps even progressive in the mould of debut era Roadmaster.
‘Watching You’ is different altogether. Whimsical and acoustic, not unlike Pavlovs Dog but without the helium induced vocals of David Surkamp.
Elsewhere, straight ahead rockers such as ‘Last Rock And Roller’ and ‘Thinking Of You’ lift the vibe of the album. But it’s on songs like ‘Shake Me Up’ and ‘Machines’ where Bad Boy rock slightly harder and appeal more.
In Summary
Bad Boy returned to the studio for 1978’s sophomore album, ‘Back To Back’. This too didn’t set the hard rock scene on fire, thus the band were cast aside by UA.
They had to revert to indie releases (1981’s ‘Private Party’ and 1984’s ‘Electric Eyes’ being two of these). Their popularity was reduced to a regional basis, rather than national.
As read elsewhere on this site, the band did actually reform. They released a return album during 2003 entitled ‘We Should’ve Been Dead By Now’.
Bad Boy were not as popular on a national (or international) basis. But their hard working ethic and regional popularity ensures that they get a well deserved mention here at Glory Daze.
Bad Boy on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
