The Neon Boys were a short lived New York City

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...

band, composed of

Tom Verlaine Thomas Joseph Miller (December 13, 1949 – January 28, 2023), known professionally as Tom Verlaine, was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New York City rock band Television. Biography Verlaine was ...

Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television (band), ...

and

Billy Ficca William Joseph Ficca (born February 15, 1950, in Delaware) is an American drummer who was a founding member of the rock groups Television (band), Television and The Waitresses. Career Of Italian origins, Ficca was a childhood friend of Tom ...

. The trio later went on to form the influential rock band

Television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in 1973; Richard Hell also went on to form the influential

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

bands

the Heartbreakers The Heartbreakers (sometimes referred to as "Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers) were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock. History Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jer ...

and

Richard Hell and the Voidoids Richard Hell and the Voidoids were an American punk rock band, formed in New York City in 1976 and fronted by Richard Hell, a former member of the Neon Boys, Television (band), Television and the Heartbreakers. History Kentucky-born Richard H ...

Background

Two Neon Boys' recordings, "That's All I Know (Right Now)" and "Love Comes In Spurts," were released by Shake Records on a 1980 EP, backed with two songs by

. The same songs were re-released in 1991 by Overground Records with the addition of one more Neon Boys song, "High Heeled Wheels."

History

Information about the Neon Boys includes oral histories, newspaper and magazine articles, and narratives written by the band members themselves. As such, there may be some discrepancies in issues like band formation dates and songs recorded. For example, according to ''The A to Z of Alternative Music,'' only two songs were recorded by the Neon Boys. This is contradicted by Genius that lists four songs. The fact that the band never performed a live show adds to the confusion.

and

were schoolmates and friends, according to

Legs McNeil Roderick Edward "Legs" McNeil (born January 27, 1956) is an American music journalism, music journalist. He is one of the three original founders of the seminal ''Punk (magazine), Punk'' magazine; as well as being a former editor at ''Spin (magaz ...

's book '' Please Kill Me''. The two met attending the

Sanford School Sanford School is a co-educational private school in Hockessin, Delaware for students from preschool to high school. The school was founded by Sanford and Ellen Sawin as the Sunny Hills School on September 23, 1930. The school's name w ...

, a private boarding institution in Wilmington, DE. Richard Hell left school and moved to New York City in 1966. When interviewed, Hell has described running away from home as "one of his favorite things to do." This may be emblematic of a desire for adventure and taking chances—a trait that eventually ran through the music of the Neon Boys. Tom Verlaine joined Hell in New York in the late sixties. Additional discrepancies in the band's timeline can be seen in a ''New York Times'' article that has Verlaine arriving in 1968. An oral history written by

Marky Ramone Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952), better known as Marky Ramone, is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust (band), Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell ...

does not have either Hell or Verlaine coming to New York until 1969.

, who had previously played in a band with Verlaine, also relocated to New York. Eventually, both Hell and Verlaine would come to work in the bookstore, Cinemabilia where they befriended the store's manager

Terry Ork William Terry Ork (born William Terry Collins) was an American band manager and record producer for the new wave/punk music scene in New York City in the mid 1970s. Ork is associated with the success of the club CBGB as manager for punk band Telev ...

, who had extensive connections to

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

and other assorted members of the New York music scene. Ork encouraged Verlaine and Hell to start a band and offered them rehearsal space. Richard Lloyd joined the band on Ork's suggestion. It is at this point, with a change in band line up, that the Neon Boys reformed as

Discography

; EPs's * "Time"/"Don't Die"/"That's All I Know (Right Now)"/"Love Comes In Spurts" (1980; 7") * "Time"/"Don't Die"/"That's All I Know (Right Now)"/"Love Comes In Spurts"/"High Heeled Wheels" (1991)

References

External links

Neon Boys biography
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* {{Authority control American protopunk groups Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups disestablished in 1974 Musical groups from New York City