The Soft Boys were an influential neo-psychedelia rock and roll band from Cambridge, England, formed in 1976 as Dennis and the Experts. They featured Robyn Hitchcock (main songwriter and singer), who later went on to a distinguished solo career, and Kimberley Rew (lead guitarist), later of Katrina and the Waves.

Original members were Robyn Hitchcock (guitar), Rob Lamb (guitar), Andy Metcalfe (bass), and Morris Windsor (drums). Alan Davies replaced Lamb in 1977, Rew replaced Davies in 1978, and Matthew Seligman replaced Metcalfe in 1979. The band broke up in 1980 after Underwater Moonlight. They briefly re-formed for a UK tour in 1994 and then again in 2001 for the 20th anniversary of Underwater Moonlight (in 2001) and the release of a new album, Nextdoorland (in 2002).

Discography

Albums

• Give It To The Soft Boys (EP) (1977)
• A Can of Bees (LP) (1979) (reissued as CD 1992)
• Underwater Moonlight (LP) (1980) (reissued as CD 1992)
• Near the Soft Boys (EP) (1980)
• Two Halves for the Price of One (LP) (1981)
• Invisible Hits (LP) (1983) (reissued as CD 1992)
• Live at the Portland Arms (cassette) (1983) (reissued as LP 1988)
• Wading Through a Ventilator (EP) (1984)
• Raw Cuts (CD EP) (1989)
• 1976-81 (2 CD) (1993)
• Underwater Moonlight... And How It Got There (2 CD) (2001)
• Nextdoorland (CD) (2002)
• Side Three (CD EP) (2002)

Singles

• "(I Want to Be an) Anglepoise Lamp" b/w "Fatman's Son" (45) (1978)
• "I Wanna Destroy You" b/w "Old Pervert" (45) (1980)
• "Only the Stones Remain" b/w "The Asking Tree" (45) (1981)
• "Love Poisoning" (45) (1982)
• "He's a Reptile" b/w "Song No. 4" (45) (1983)
• "The Face of Death" b/w "The Yodelling Hoover" (45) (1989)

External links

• Official site
• Fegmania!, Robyn Hitchcock archive, and home of the web's main Robyn Hitchcock discussion group, Fegmaniax!
• VegetableFriends, the original Syd Barrett - Robyn Hitchcock Discussion Group
• The Glass Hotel

Early punk groups

The Soft Boys