Britny Fox Announce New Album

Britny Fox are back in the studio working on material for the follow-up to 2003’s Springhead Motorshark, it’s been announced.

Music News reports that original member and bassist Billy Childs has reunited with vocalist/guitarist Tommy Paris and drummer Johnny Dee in the lineup. Lead guitarist Michael Kelly Smith, who had two stints in the band, has been replaced by Chris Sanders.

Childs says: “How can I tell you how great it is to be back with these guys, and working on a new album? It is fantastic.

“Johnny and I basically grew up in this business together and the tightness we have had over the years as a rhythm section is still there.

“Tommy Paris hasn't lost a step, lyrically or vocally while Chris is a breath of fresh air and adds elements that were never there before.”

The band’s manager Wayne ‘Doobie’ Dubay brought the band back together and Childs reports he wants them to repeat the feel of their third album, which featured a guest appearance from Zakk Wylde and Poison’s Rikki Rockett.

Childs continues: “Doobie said, ‘Get your heads out of your asses and make another Bite Down Hard.’ He's pretty big, so best just to agree with him!”

Paris adds: “It's awesome playing with Billy and Johnny again and Chris fits in perfectly with us freaks. The new songs are ass-kicking, fun, heavy rock. Can't wait to get back out on stage!”

Further details will be issued in due course.

Stoked on this news. The first 2 are out and out classics in the genre, as far as I'm concerned, and the third one is pretty damn good too. I never checked out anything beyond that, but a band like BF making a new record in 2015 is a bit different than them making one in 2003.

If last year's Kix record taught me anything, it's not too discount anyone from making a brand new, kickass record. I think Kix released the best album of their career last year. So, you know.

As stupid as it sounds now, growing up in Philly and being right in the thick of things when Cinderella and Britny were hitting the big time, you kinda had to choose sides. Depending on who you talked to at the time, either Britny was ripping off Cinderella or vice-versa. Both were doing the club-scene, Cinderella just got the big break first. So it became our opinion that Cinderella were the better of the 2 and Britny were just copy-cat posers. Hence, I never really explored the Britny Fox catalog. I knew of the few MTV hits.

Through a mutual friend, I've hung out and drank beers with Billy Childs a few times in the mid and late 90's. Nice enough dude. I've thought of checking out Britny a few times over the years, just never got around to it. Maybe it's time I did.

I've always enjoyed BF and Cinderella the same. Both were awesome back in the day and very similiar. I grew up in Tennessee and even there people confused the 2 bands. I remember cranking up "Long Way To Love" and a friend who had never heard it thought it was a new Cinderella song.

I liked the first 2 Britny Fox cds but never heard anything of their's after Dizzy Dean had left the band. I'd give them a shot if I ever come across them.

I am a big fan of them and I love Bite Down Harder. I thought Springhead Motorshark sucked and I hope they sound more like their third album.

I love this band..looking forward to hearing this...

The world is crying out for a Sleez Beez reunion album and worldwide tour.

Temple of Blood wrote:

The world is crying out for a Sleez Beez reunion album and worldwide tour.

If you say it 3 times out loud, they'll appear like Beetlejuice.

Seriously, no one's clamoring for any of these reunions or albums, but if they want to do it, I don't see the harm.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

The world is crying out for a Sleez Beez reunion album and worldwide tour.

If you say it 3 times out loud, they'll appear like Beetlejuice.

Seriously, no one's clamoring for any of these reunions or albums, but if they want to do it, I don't see the harm.

I don't care about a tour, but I'd at least check out a new Sleez Beez album. Their kinda middle 2 records were great (the 1987 or whenever one I don't care for and Insanity Beach I'm not into).

007 wrote:

I liked the first 2 Britny Fox cds but never heard anything of their's after Dizzy Dean had left the band. I'd give them a shot if I ever come across them.

If you can find it, Dizzy Dean's band after leaving BF, Blackeyed Susan is quite good. He's using a more natural singing voice instead of the screechy Tom Keifer impression, which I found much better.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

007 wrote:

I liked the first 2 Britny Fox cds but never heard anything of their's after Dizzy Dean had left the band. I'd give them a shot if I ever come across them.

If you can find it, Dizzy Dean's band after leaving BF, Blackeyed Susan is quite good. He's using a more natural singing voice instead of the screechy Tom Keifer impression, which I found much better.

That Blackeyed Susan album ("Electric Rattlebone") is excellent.  I remember reading an interview with him when it came out.  He said he played it for his mother and she was astonished.  She said something to the effect of "You're actually singing on this album."   She apparently wasn't a fan of his vocal style with Britny Fox.

I saw Britny Fox with essentially this lineup (scabs replaced by other scabs) in 2007 at the first Rocklahoma and it was an incredibly boring show. I'll check out the new material but I'm not expecting much.

I guess I can understand the comparisons with Cinderella during the '83-'86 era, considering the Michael Kelly Smith (and other) connections, but that's all, in my view. Tom Keifer was and is such a better musician and songwriter than anyone who has every played in Britny Fox.

Good news. I will definitely be on the lookout for this. I really love the first 2 albums and Bite Down Hard is pretty good. Springhead is just meh to my ears.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

007 wrote:

I liked the first 2 Britny Fox cds but never heard anything of their's after Dizzy Dean had left the band. I'd give them a shot if I ever come across them.

If you can find it, Dizzy Dean's band after leaving BF, Blackeyed Susan is quite good. He's using a more natural singing voice instead of the screechy Tom Keifer impression, which I found much better.

I did not know that. I have to check that out. I did know that Tommy Paris was also in a band called Jillson under the name Don Jillson and they recoreded an album titled "Deadly Girl." Listened to it on the tube a few times, and it's not bad. It used to go for stupid money on the bay so I never actually bought a copy.

There's a few cheap used copies of Electric Rattlebone on Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Rattlebone-Blackeyed-Susan/dp/B000008DIG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1430358201&sr=1-1&keywords=blackeyed+susan+electric+rattlebone

This was their first (and I think only) single...


Too bad they didn't do anything after that one album. It's a good one. Some of the guys used to hang out at Tower Records and I remember one of them giving us a sneak preview of the album before it came out. Good times.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

There's a few cheap used copies of Electric Rattlebone on Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Rattlebone-Blackeyed-Susan/dp/B000008DIG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1430358201&sr=1-1&keywords=blackeyed+susan+electric+rattlebone

This was their first (and I think only) single...


Too bad they didn't do anything after that one album. It's a good one. Some of the guys used to hang out at Tower Records and I remember one of them giving us a sneak preview of the album before it came out. Good times.

That is really good ! Now there's another thing to add to the list.

I always liked BF as much as Cinderella.I never saw it as they were ripping one another off.Just two great bands from the same area.The first three albums are great.For anyone who hasn't heard Bite Down Hard, Tommy has a great voice just not anything like Deans.

Blackeyed Susan were great.I wish they had put out more material.

Thrasher73 wrote:

Blackeyed Susan were great.I wish they had put out more material.

Snooping around on teh interwebs, it looks like there is a bootleg of un-released demos floating around called Just a Taste. I don't recognize any of the song titles, so I can only assume these were to be tracks for a follow-up album that never happened.

Quote :

This album was a demo only; never released. The demo existed only on cassette, not on CD.
It features Dean (Vocals), Jimmy Marchiano (Guitars/Vocals), Jeff Cease (Guitars), Walter Williams (Bass/Vocals), and Joey Marchiano (Drums). The line-up continues the PA music scene theme, with Jimmy having played in Angora with John Corabi (Scream/Motley Crue/Union/ESP/Ratt). Angora also included drummer Robert Iezzi whose younger brother Marc was also a member of a post-"Electric Rattlebone" line-up of Blackeyed Susan. Jeff Cease was originally guitarist in the Black Crowes. This album has a similar, but less produced feel than the debut album.

(shrugs) Meh. I own BF's first album and it's OK but I have never felt partcularly compelled to dig any deeper than that.

I e-mailed him, Dizzy Dean, a cool e-mail -
basically saying he was a very cool part of Britney Fox -
at the time was cranking " My Stevie " and " Plenty Of Love "
His web-site had him looking tough - short haired -
kinda sad - and doing piano oriented things -
he did not e-mail me back

Glower wrote:

I e-mailed him, Dizzy Dean, a cool e-mail -
basically saying he was a very cool part of Britney Fox -
at the time was cranking " My Stevie " and " Plenty Of Love "
His web-site had him looking tough - short haired -
kinda sad - and doing piano oriented things -
he did not e-mail me back

Last I heard, Dean Davidson was writing country music as "Jarod Dean", but that was a few years back. He supposedly re-joined with Britny back in 2010, but nothing became of that. I don't know what he's up to these days.