Biography
During the 1970s one of the lesser-known supergroups went by the name the Greedies, also called the Greedy Bastards. Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy’s leader on bass and vocals, quickly developed an affinity for the emerging punk scene of the late ’70s and formed friendships with participants from the Sex Pistols, the Damned, and the Boomtown Rats. While Lizzy was inactive during the opening and closing stretches of 1978, Lynott assembled a temporary ensemble that mixed several of his bandmates with musicians drawn from various punk outfits. Whether Lynott originally planned for personnel to rotate remains unknown, yet that is precisely what occurred across four performances that year, with one additional date scheduled and then scrapped.
A London concert proposed for February 1978 was slated to feature Lynott alongside Heavy Metal Kids singer Gary Holton, Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain, and Damned drummer Rat Scabies, but the show never materialized. The first concert that actually took place happened in London that July and included Lynott, Lizzy guitarists Scott Gorham and Moore, guitarist Chris Spedding, Bain, Lizzy drummer Brian Downey, and two former Sex Pistols—guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. The repertoire predictably combined Lizzy numbers such as “Jailbreak,” “Boys Are Back in Town,” and “Don’t Believe a Word” with post-Johnny Rotten Pistols tracks like “Black Leather” and “No One Is Innocent,” plus additional selections that encompassed a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Jesus Children of America.”
The Greedies remained inactive for several months in 1978 while Lizzy toured the United States, yet by December the ever-shifting collective reconvened with an adjusted roster—Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof added while Spedding and Bain were omitted—and retained the same mixture of Lizzy and Pistols material. Amid speculation from Lizzy and Pistols followers about whether the project was genuine or merely recreational, the group entered the studio late in 1979 with a reduced lineup of Lynott, Gorham, Downey, Jones, and Cook. Despite considerable anticipation, the sessions yielded only the throwaway single “A Merry Jingle” backed with “A Merry Jangle,” released in December 1979 and never issued in the United States. The track, essentially a blend of “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” quickly vanished after release, though it received exposure through appearances on British television programs including the Kenny Everett Show and Top of the Pops. No further recordings ever surfaced from the short-lived unit, and the sole currently available Lizzy release containing “A Merry Jingle” is the 2001 British import collection The Boys Are Back in Town.
A London concert proposed for February 1978 was slated to feature Lynott alongside Heavy Metal Kids singer Gary Holton, Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain, and Damned drummer Rat Scabies, but the show never materialized. The first concert that actually took place happened in London that July and included Lynott, Lizzy guitarists Scott Gorham and Moore, guitarist Chris Spedding, Bain, Lizzy drummer Brian Downey, and two former Sex Pistols—guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. The repertoire predictably combined Lizzy numbers such as “Jailbreak,” “Boys Are Back in Town,” and “Don’t Believe a Word” with post-Johnny Rotten Pistols tracks like “Black Leather” and “No One Is Innocent,” plus additional selections that encompassed a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Jesus Children of America.”
The Greedies remained inactive for several months in 1978 while Lizzy toured the United States, yet by December the ever-shifting collective reconvened with an adjusted roster—Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof added while Spedding and Bain were omitted—and retained the same mixture of Lizzy and Pistols material. Amid speculation from Lizzy and Pistols followers about whether the project was genuine or merely recreational, the group entered the studio late in 1979 with a reduced lineup of Lynott, Gorham, Downey, Jones, and Cook. Despite considerable anticipation, the sessions yielded only the throwaway single “A Merry Jingle” backed with “A Merry Jangle,” released in December 1979 and never issued in the United States. The track, essentially a blend of “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” quickly vanished after release, though it received exposure through appearances on British television programs including the Kenny Everett Show and Top of the Pops. No further recordings ever surfaced from the short-lived unit, and the sole currently available Lizzy release containing “A Merry Jingle” is the 2001 British import collection The Boys Are Back in Town.
Singles