FM
History
The London Cowboys were based around Dior & Jones who in 1976 were an integral part of London’s fledgling punk scene. They’d loosely rehearsed with Chrissie Hynde and Keith Levene and others until Barry started co-promoting the first 100 days of The Roxy Club, booking the bands and designing the flyers. His teenage pal Steve came down to see the Heartbreakers on a pre-opening gig and fell in with the band. When Jerry Nolan left the Heartbreakers in August ’77, he formed The Idols with Steve and Barry; soon moving to New York where Arthur Kane completed the line-up.
The Idols recorded demos in London for Track Records and made waves in New York, releasing a single on Ork Records. When Sid Vicious came to NY, the Idols were his first choice of backup band (documented on the CDs and in Steve’s notes in ‘Sid Lives’, FREUDCD095), but planned recordings with Sid never got to happen. The Idols folded in 1979 when Jerry had work-permit problems getting back into the UK. Barry then got a job with Max’s Kansas City; Steve rehearsed with Jones & Cook’s Professionals.
