Biography
In the early 1980s the British band the Farmer's Boys attracted scant notice on U.K. charts despite their gentle guitar pop and comforting vocal blends, yet a wave of younger indie enthusiasts who had missed the group's initial peak helped spark fresh curiosity in the late 1990s and prompted CD reissues of the catalog. The Norwich, England, quartet that began as Bang Goes My Stereo assembled in 1981 with Baz handling vocals, Stan on guitar, and Mark on bass, none of them ever employing surnames. Following the release of their third independent single, "More Than a Dream," EMI offered the Farmer's Boys a recording deal. Their first album, Get Out and Walk, surfaced in 1983. The following year the band's reading of Cliff Richard's "In the Country" climbed close to the charts without ever reaching the U.K. Top 40. Substantial promotional support went to the buoyant "Phew Wow!," whose lyrics link male camaraderie and drinking as balms for romantic disappointment, yet the track likewise failed to connect with broad listeners. After issuing their second album, With These Hands, in 1985, the Farmer's Boys disbanded, though that LP later received a CD edition in 2001. More than ten years after the split, Baz, Stan, and Mark reconvened for the Great Outdoors.
Albums