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Rent Boys Inc.
Squeal for Joy - 12" EP
(independent) - 1983
Michael Panontin
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In the early days, Rent Boys Inc often straddled two opposing worlds, gigging with Kensington Market hardcore thrashers Youth Youth Youth while effortlessly filling their dancefloors with those ducktail-and-bangs trendoids of the period. This four-song 12" EP came on the heels of the group's fiery debut 7" 'Pictish' and, while failing to replicate the single's manic urgency, it did help to cement the band's reputation in both camps
"'Pictish' was released in 1982 and during that year the band were playing any gig anywhere in the Toronto area," percussionist Nick Smash explained to CM, "but the release of Squeal For Joy solidified the band's fan base, which also led to a 30-minute TV documentary broadcast on CITY-TV."
Squeal for Joy's muddy and meandering funk may not have reached the heights of their first record - save for crowd favourite 'Prester John', which featured plucky bassist Brat X's wired rhythms and How'rd Zephyr's saxophone squonks. But it was popular enough that the band decided to cross the pond to Britain, no doubt hoping to hook up with all those Pop Group splinter groups like Pigbag and Rip, Rig and Panic.
The Brits took notice right from the get-go. "We had a couple of stunning reviews in Sounds, and a double-page spread in the famous Zig Zag magazine," Smash proudly boasts. But without a proper record deal, life in dreary ol' Blighty took its toll on the guys. After a couple of years of trying - and losing Brat X and Zephyr along the way - Rent Boys Inc called it quits for good, "ignominiously, one bright June day in 1985 in a squat in Camberwell, Southeast London."
(Those looking to delve a little deeper into the Rent Boys/Dave Howard saga will definitely want to check out Smash's book, What You Don't Want Is What You Get.)
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