Electric Boys

Sweden's Electric Boys were one of the first and most celebrated purveyors of the short-lived funk metal phenomenon of the late '80s and early '90s. Led by charismatic singer and guitarist Conny Bloom and with a splash of beatle-esque pop-psychedelia, the quartet garnered rave reviews and built an impressive following in Europe & America.

In 1988, Conny Bloom formed Electric Boys with bassist Andy Christell in Stockholm. After scoring a significant domestic hit with their first single, "All Lips 'N' Hips," the group completed their line-up with guitarist Franco Santunione and powerhouse drummer Niclas Sigevall and set to work on their first album, 1989's critically acclaimed FUNK-O-METAL CARPET RIDE. Signed to Atco by former Kerrang! scribe/ turned A&R man Derek Oliver, the band took Europe and the U.K. by storm with their extremely funky retro-hard rock sound and gaudy psychedelic look.

In the meantime, they recorded a single with swedish comedian Svullo that became a huge #1 hit in Sweden and sold platinum.

The band was developing fast and so was Conny's songwriting. In 1990 producer du jour Bob Rock was brought in to record 5 new tracks prior to release stateside. The video for "All Lips N' Hips" was placed in daytime heavy rotation by American MTV for many weeks and ended up on the Billboard chart at #16.The album went to #90 and the band followed up the success with tours in Europe and America.

Electric Boys second album, GROOVUS MAXIMUS (1992) was recorded in Abbey Road studios and showed a great melodic improvement in songs like the single "Mary In The Mystery World" and "Dying To Be Loved" combined with their trademark grooves. After intensive touring following the release, personal issues led to a split of the band, enter guitarist "Slim" Martin Thomander and drummer Thomas Broman. The band started working on new heavier material. First gig with the new line-up was supporting Metallica.

Released by independent Music for Nations in 1994, their third effort, FREEWHEELIN´, was a more straightforward hard rocking album in the same vein as "stoner rock" before the word had become a cliche. Following the cancellation of a planned European tour supporting King's X, Conny and Andy felt they couldn't take the band any further and decided to call it quits with a final gig in their hometown of Stockholm. Conny Bloom would remain active as a solo artist and eventually joined former Wildhearts main man Ginger in Silver Ginger 5.

In 2005, Andy Christell & Conny Bloom joined the legendary Hanoi Rocks and toured frequently in Europe & Japan for about 4 1/2 years..

Hanoi Rocks did their last shows in April 2009 and Conny Bloom & Andy Christell joined forces again with the original members Niclas Sigevall & Franco Santunione and reformed Electric Boys at Sweden Rock Festival. After some touring they recorded a new album "And Them Boys Done Swang" that was released in April 2011. Conny described it as "Groovus Maximus part 2".

The band is currently working on a follow up toStarflight United (released in 2014).