..This profile was edited with Thomas' myspace editor V2In the beginning...... the start of the London Cowboys really goes back to when Barry Jones and Steve Dior met in 1975 through a girl they both dated. Barry had been in and out of bands Steve, who was still learning guitar, was desperate to be in a band. Their first band together still had no name when they persuaded friend Keith Levene to give it a try (he had recently left The Clash). The band consisted of Barry and Keith on guitars, Steve singing and on bass, and a Swedish chap called Geir on drums. They rehearsed under the name The Quickspurts through summer '76 but never got to gig...Keith drifted off looking for "more than a band"; he eventually hooked up with John Lydon(Sex Pistols), and formed Public Image Ltd. Meanwhile Steve and Barry recruited another friend, Chrissie Hynde to play guitar. They rehearsed some more.... it was fun but not right and Steve who had been practicing feverishly was itching to switch to guitar; so Chrissie was out..! (she later went on to form the Pretenders).
When Steve took over rhythm guitar it pretty much cemented the Dior/Jones partnership which would last into the 90's and take them round the world. But that would come later, because at this point everything went on hold while the beast named the Roxy Club screamed out of nowhere, helped promote the growing New Wave scene, then disintegrated into an album, a book, and later a movie. Barry had met Andrew Czezowski at a party where the two talked about starting a club just for the new bands, most of them friends, who couldn't get regular gigs. Before they knew what was happening they had the Covent Garden club on a nightly rental, and "the thing just exploded". It was out of control and over in 4 months; without The Quickspurts ever getting to play, or even rehearse there (which had been Barry's original motivation); but it did introduce Steve and Barry to the Heartbreakers (Johnny Thunders & Jerry Nolan)... who played their type of rock n' roll...!!!
After escaping the club management scene, and just to get out of town, Barry drove his flatmate, Matt Dangerfield's band The Boys, on their Scandanavian tour. When he returned he found that Steve's sister was dating Jerry Nolan; and Steve, who'd been hanging out with him, had played Jerry some of the Dior/Jones songs they were working on. Jerry had already been considering leaving the Heartbreakers and after hearing the songs he made the move. The three of them then arranged and recorded their first demos for Track Records. By March 1978 the band were living and playing in New York as The Idols, having recuited ex-Chelsea bass player Simon Williams along for the ride.... When Simon got homesick Jerry called in an old friend from the New York Dolls, Arthur "Killer" Kane to play bass; and he fit like a glove. Based out of New York, this lineup of The Idols gigged extensively up and down the East coast, from Boston to Philly, to Miami, throughout '78/'79. Although they'd built a broad following in and around New York, getting record company traction proved elusive; so The Idols signed an indy deal with NY based Ork Records and produced the single "Girl that I Love / You".... Europe being a more accessible market, the single was scheduled for release in the UK so Steve and Barry flew back to London to await Jerry and finalize a tour. When Jerry arrived he was refused entry again due his past visa infringements, which basically ended the band...... Barry got an offer to do the graphics for Max's Kansas City and returned to NY to work with Peter Crowley, who booked the bands. Meanwhile Steve began working with a new partner, Russell King, on a few studio dance type songs, under the name London Cowboys.
It was a year later that Barry came back from the States and hooked up with Steve once again; and, with the European release and success of the London Cowboys first single "Shunting on the Nightshift", they decided it was time to get a working band again. As Russell didn't play live, Steve moved back to vocals and the two started looking for a rhythm section. Once found, they put a bunch of new songs with the best from their Idols set and started gigging..... It was around this time that they persuaded old friend Glen Matlock to play bass; and they were off..... appearing regularly at the Embassy, Greyhound, Marquee, the Hope & Anchor, Hundred Club, the Zig-Zag etc...... and very quickly building a solid reputation as one of the live acts to see... will be continued
