Biography
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Years Active
2013 – present (11 years)
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Founded In
New York, New York, United States
Rude Boy George is a NYC-based band that reinterprets 80's New Wave classics in ska, reggae and rocksteady versions. They are motivated by a shared love and respect for ska (reflected in the reference to 1960s and 2 Tone rude boys) and the extraordinary amount of good music produced in the late 70s and early 80s New Wave/post-punk era (Boy George). And they want to have some fun doing it. That's Rude Boy George’s agenda and mission statement–simple as that.
Rude Boy George formed in January 2013 with members drawn from several popular and long-standing NYC area ska bands: Bigger Thomas (vocalist Roger Apollon, drummer Jim Cooper, bassist/Marco on the Bass blogger Marc Wasserman, and guitarist Spencer Katzman), Beat Brigade and The Toasters (keyboardist Dave Barry), and Across the Aisle (singer Megg Howe)—plus a ska blogger/former indie ska label guy (Steve Shafer on backup vocals) thrown in for good measure.
The band’s live debut took place at Electric Avenue in Manhattan on April 13, 2013 to a very enthusiastic crowd and the band has played close to a dozen other gigs throughout the New York area since. Our perpetually expanding set list includes songs by Human League, Soft Cell, The Romantics, Billy Idol, INXS, The Smiths, Cyndi Lauper, Squeeze, Culture Club, Gary Numan, Psychedelic Furs, Talking Heads, Berlin, and The Pretenders.
In May 2013, Rude Boy George recorded three tracks at Bill Laswell’s studio in West Orange, NJ with ex-General Public/Special Beat/English Beat bassist Wayne “Waylo” Lothian producing. The result is our five-track digital EP Take One (with "(Keep Feeling) Fascination," "Don't Change," and "Talking in Your Sleep"–plus two remixes featuring Antonee First Class), now available through Bandcamp. Plans already are in the works to lay down more tracks in the studio–to be issued in 2014 on a more tangible format.
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