Pretty Boy Floyd

Pretty Boy Floyd is a hard rock band from Hollywood, California formed in 1987. They are most famous for their 1989 debut album Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz and the two singles from it; "Rock and Roll" and "I Wanna Be With You".

The band broke up in 1991, but reformed in 1995 releasing several new records since that time. They continue on today.

History

The origins of the band can be traced back to a group named Doll in Hollywood, California. It reportedly went through several different line-ups, all of them featuring lead vocalist Kerry Doll. At least one line-up featured then future Pretty Boy Floyd guitarist Ariel Stiles.

Doll recorded a demo tape in 1986. Several songs on it were later rerecorded by Pretty Boy Floyd.

When Doll broke up, former Doll guitarist Ariel Stiles then formed Pretty Boy Floyd with vocalist Steve Summers, bassist Vinnie Chas, and drummer Kari Kane. Soon Aeriel Stiles was replaced by former Jett Blakk guitarist Kristy Majors. The band's name was reportedly given to them by producer Kim Fowley who the band were working with at the time.^[1]

Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz

For more information see; Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz.

After 8 shows Pretty Boy Floyd were snapped up by MCA Records. Their debut album named Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz" was released in 1989 and produced by Motörhead producer Howard Benson. It reached #130 on the United States Billboard charts. The majority of the material featured on the debut album was written by former guitarist Aeriel Stiles, however Kristy Majors wrote the song "Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire)".

Two singles, and accompanying promotional videos were released from the album; "Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire)" and "I Wanna Be With You", which gained rotation on MTV. They were also having success in Europe at the time, by being the cover subject of hard rock magazine Kerrang! on December 16, 1989.

Pretty Boy Floyd became embroiled in a dispute over the copyright of their band name, with a Canadian band also called Pretty Boy Floyd. The Canadian group released their debut Bullets and Lipstick the same year, but after a court case were forced to change their name to Tommi Floyd (the name of their frontman).

In early 1990 Pretty Boy Floyd were supposed to tour the United Kingdom in support of The Quireboys, but pulled out as their schedule was packed with shooting their second video "I Wanna Be With You".

Their music featured on two movie soundtracks, first the demo version of "48 Hours" was included on the 1989 The Karate Kid, Part III film. Two years later the previously unreleased "Slam Dunk" was released on the Ellen Barkin movie Switch soundtrack. However, by 1991 MCA Records had stopped supporting the band financially when they needed to tour, coupled with in-band fighting they soon decided to disband.

Before they disbanded, they recorded a second album, Tonight Belongs To The Young, but it was only released years later.

Post-Pretty Boy Floyd

• Steve Summers began to manage a strip club with his brother.
• Kristy Majors formed a short lived band with future Beautiful Creatures rhythm guitarist Anthony Focx.
• Vinnie Chas joined former guitarist Aeriel Stiles in the band Rattlin' Bones, their self-titled album was influenced by 70s hard rock such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath
• Kari Kane's musical ventures after Floyd are unknown.

Reunited

By late 1995 Pretty Boy Floyd had reformed. They went into the studio to record a five song E.P. titled A Tale of Sex, Designer Drugs, and the Death of Rock N Roll in 1998. The band featured former Big Bang Babies guitarist Keri Kelli, L.A. Guns bassist Keff Ratcliffe as well as Steve Summers, Kristy Majors, and Kari Kane. The EP featured a cover of a song by Keri's previous band Big Bang Babies.

Although not as popular as their heyday in the late 1980s, Floyd continued on in the underground music scene, putting out more releases. A full length album Porn Stars followed next, It featured five re-recordings of tracks from their debut album, and eight others including a cover of Alice Cooper's "Department of Youth". The production of this album was notably more raw than their debut.

Recent times

Rumors often circulate about the original Pretty Boy Floyd line-up reforming and in early 2006 it was announced that Kristy "Krash" Majors and Kari Kane would be returning to record an album of brand new songs and tour Japan. In February 2006 they toured the States together.

However, by January 2007 Majors and Summers became involved in a public feud with each other, which was played out over the internet. Majors challenged Summers to a kickboxing match^[2], Summers replied demeaning Majors previous role in the band and insulted the guitarist.^[3] Majors replied refuting Summers claims and deeming him a "liar".^[4]

Summers announced on his website that Pretty Boy Floyd would be releasing a new single on 26 January 2007 at the Cat Club. He also revealed in a blog on the band's official MySpace profile that he had been working with original guitarist Aeriel Stiles and bassist Vinnie Chas on new material for an album.^[5]

Kristy Majors is currently performing as a solo aristst, he recently released the album "Sex, Drugs 'N' Rock N Roll" and is set to tour Europe in March 2007

On March 1 2008, Kristy Majors and Kari Kane joined Steve Summers for a one night only reunion at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood California. Vinnie Chas was supposed to also play but for some unexplained reason did not. The band took the stage around 12 am and played to a sold out crowd. There was no signs of the previous rift between Summers or Majors during the show. The band filmed the show for a dvd release. Also during the show, Steve Summers announced that the band will be playing at this years Rocklahoma. On December 31, 2008, they played Reno's chop shop in Dallas, Texas.

Members

• Steve "Sex" Summers - Vocals
• Kristy "Krash" Majors - Guitar
• Criss 6 - Bass
• Troy Patrick Farrell - Drums

Former members

• JK Famous - Bass
• Kari Kane - Drums
• Keri Kelli (born Keri Fear) - Guitar
• Keff Ratcliffe - Bass
• Chad Stewart - Drums
• Aeriel Stiles - Guitar
• Lesli Sanders - Bass
• Eddie Electra - Bass
• T'Chad - Guitars
• Dish - Drums
• Cristi Lane - Guitar
• Michael Thomas - Guitar
• Todd Michael Burr - Drums
• Davey Lister - Guitar
• Mikki Twist - Bass
• Scotti D. - Drums
• Traci Michaels - Drums
• Vinnie Chas - Bass

Discography

Albums

• Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz - (1989)
• Porn Stars - (1998)
• Tonight Belongs to the Young - (2003)
• Size Really Does Matter - (2004)

EP

• A Tale of Sex, Designer Drugs, and the Death of Rock N Roll - (1997)
• Live Hard Live Fast - (2007)

Singles

• Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire) - (1989)
• I Wanna Be With You - (1989)

Live

• Live At The Roxy - Wake Up Bitch - (1998)
• Live At The Pretty Ugly Club - (2001)

Compilations

• The Vault - Demos - (2002)
• The Vault II - Demos - (2003)
• Tonight Belongs to the Young - Remastered demos - (2003)
• Dirty Glam - (2004)
• The Greatest Collection - The Ultimate Pretty Boy Floyd - (2004)
• Glam As Fuck - Vinyl - (2009)

References

External links

• Official Pretty Boy Floyd website
• Pretty Boy Floyd's MySpace Page
• Official Vinnie Chas website
• Official Kristy Majors website