The Hollywood Brats were a British

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

and

protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...

band in the early 1970s. They found little commercial success at the time, and split up in 1974, but are regarded as influential on the later punk rock scene.

History

The band was originally known as The Queen, and was formed in London in 1971 by singer Andrew Matheson, keyboard player Casino Steel (born Stein Groven,

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, 22 February 1952), and drummer Lou Sparks. When another rock band,

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, started to become popular, they were obliged to adopt a new name, Hollywood Brats. In 1972, the group added guitarist Eunan Brady – recruited through an advertisement in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' for a guitarist "drunk on scotch and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

" – and bassist Wayne Manor. The band became noted in London for their flamboyant make-up and clothes, and aggressive musical approach, influenced by, and in many ways parallel to, the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

. Brady later commented that "The whole point of the Brats was to annoy and disturb!"Sarah Tomlinson, "The Hollywood Brats", ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 26 June 2015 Matheson said:

The Brats were always being booed offstage - sometimes even beaten up by all these people who only ever wanted to hear
Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...
or
Billy Paul Paul Williams (December 1, 1934 – April 24, 2016), known professionally as Billy Paul, was a Grammy Award-winning American soul singer, known for his 1972 No. 1 single " Me and Mrs. Jones", as well as the 1973 album and single ''War of the Go ...
. They never wanted fast rock 'n' roll music...We went round every record company, even the small ones and all they kept saying was that rock 'n' roll music was dead and that that kind of raunchy music would never come back. Hollywood Brats, ''Punk77.co.uk''
Retrieved 26 June 2015

The group was championed by

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...

, who said they were the best band he had ever seen,Nick Duerden
"Andrew Matheson interview: the Hollywood Brat who punched Freddie Mercury, stole from Cliff Richard and formed the UK's first punk band"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 20 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015 and in 1973 they recorded an LP for NEMS Records, described at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

as "pure rock fun with fuzzy, garage-flavored guitar solos, cowbell accents, and snotty lyrics populated with gold diggers and tramps." All the songs were written by Matheson and Steel, apart from a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of " Then He Kissed Me". However, the record company refused to release the album, and by the time it was eventually issued in

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, titled ''Grown Up Wrong'', in 1975, the band had split up. "Then He Kissed Me" was belatedly released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

in 1979, and the album was reissued as ''Hollywood Brats'' the following year. Colin Larkin, ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', reprinted at ''Oldies.com''
Retrieved 26 June 2015

Aftermath

After the Hollywood Brats, Brady performed with

Wreckless Eric Eric Goulden (born 18 May 1954), known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock/ new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single " Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in ''M ...

. Steel briefly joined

London SS The London SS is a British rock group founded in March 1975 by drummer Geir Wade, bassist John Brown, guitarist Mick Jones, and guitarist Eunan Brady (formerly of the Hollywood Brats). They later became associated with the then new punk rock s ...

before becoming a member of The Boys. Matheson released a solo album, ''Monterey Shoes'', in 1979."What's so great about Andrew Matheson?" ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', June 14, 1994. He later moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he released the album ''Night of the Bastard Moon'', recorded in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, in 1994, and garnered a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination for Best New Solo Artist at the

Juno Awards of 1995 The Juno Awards of 1995, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 26 March 1995 in Hamilton, Ontario at a ceremony in the Copps Coliseum. Mary Walsh, Rick Mercer and other regulars of the television ...

."Juno Awards: Hip on top of the nomination heap". ''

Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postmedia. It has ...

'', February 9, 1995. In 2015, he published a memoir of the band, ''Sick On You: The Disastrous Story of Britain’s Great Lost Punk Band'', named after one of the Hollywood Brats' songs.

References

External links

Hollywood Brats at Discogs.com
{{Authority control English glam rock groups Protopunk groups Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups disestablished in 1975