Remove ads
Westworld was a British pop rock/rockabilly band of the late 1980s, best known for its 1987 UK Top 20 hit single, "Sonic Boom Boy".
Westworld | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Pop rock, rockabilly |
| Years active | 1986–1994 |
| Labels | RCA Records |
| Past members | Bob "Derwood" Andrews Elizabeth Westwood Gary "Gaz" Young Tracey "T.J." O'Conner Nick Burton |
Named after the sci-fi film Westworld, it was formed in 1986 by former Generation X guitarist Bob "Derwood" Andrews and American vocalist Elizabeth Westwood.[1] The line up was completed by drummer Nick Burton.[1] Before the recording and release of their third and final album, Burton left the band and was replaced by Gary "Gaz" Young and Tracey "T.J." O'Conner, making them a quartet.
Visually the band were styled in a way reminiscent of comic book art and musically they were a blend of classic 1950s rock and roll, glam and punk, updated with beatboxes and sequencer. They had an early success with their debut single "Sonic Boom Boy", which reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1987,[2] and was used in Sony's advertisements.[1] They had one more Top 40 hit, "Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo" which reached #37 in May the same year.[1] They released three albums before moving to the Arizona desert in the US in 1992 to form the band Moondogg.
Although not successful in the US, their song "Painkiller" reached #17 on the San Francisco modern rock station Live-105's (KITS) "Top 105.3 Songs of 1988".
The JAMs' "Whitney Joins the JAMs", a house mash-up single, was built around samples of Whitney Houston, Isaac Hayes, Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible theme tune, and (according to later sleevenotes), Westworld.[3]
Westworld's track, "Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo", appeared on the soundtrack to the 1987 film, Planes, Trains & Automobiles; whilst another of their songs, "So Long Cowboy", was on the soundtrack to the 1991 movie Point Break.
A retrospective LP, entitled Sick Cool, containing material from the band recorded in the period 1992-1994 period was commercially released in 2018 in the United States.[4]
Remove ads
Studio albums
- Where the Action Is / Rockulator (1987)
- Beatbox Rock 'N' Roll (1988)
- Movers and Shakers (1991)
- Sick Cool (2018)
Compilation albums
- Beatbox Rock 'N' Roll (1997)
Singles
Soundtrack appearances
Title |
Release | Soundtrack |
|---|---|---|
| "Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo" | 1987 | Planes, Trains and Automobiles |
| "So Long Cowboy" | 1991 | Point Break |
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads