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D.T. BOYZ

Formed in early 1989 by former members of Lazarus and Mad Hatter, D.T. Boyz was among the best known bands of the Boston club circuit in the late 1980's and early 1990's. They projected an androgynous Glam Rock image (ala Poison, Pretty Boy Floyd, Hanoi Rocks, etc.) complete with makeup and jewelry, cheesy stage names, dramatic hair coloring, tattoos, peircings, and leather clothing making them more closely resemble an act from Los Angeles than the conservative Boston, MA. Those in attendance of a D.T. Boyz live show were often witness to bizarre antics during the performance. The fact that they wrote catchy, melodic songs featuring lots of hooks, vocal harmonies, and virtuoso guitar solos was often overshadowed by their image, checkered reputation, and frequent on-stage intoxication. One of the most memorable examples of this was while opening for Blue Oyster Cult at The Channel in Boston's South End. "That crowd of bikers f*$king HATED us! They just screamed BLUE OYSTER CULT!! and threw sh*t at us for our whole set". - Randy St. James.

D.T. Boyz was similar in style to Motley Crue, Poison, White Lion, Dokken, Van Halen, and many other hard rock bands of the era. Led by Yori T'mico (guitar) and Randy St. James (vocals), The band was plagued by frequent personnel changes, substance abuse problems, and constant in-fighting and creative differences. The original lineup shared a house in Haverhill, MA briefly where they lived and rehearsed. None of them held day jobs at the time, so they paid their bills by selling drugs, renting rehearsal space to Mad Hatter, and hosting legendary rent parties on weekends. The constant stream of young women in and out of the house were willing to buy food and alcohol for them as well.

Most of their material was written during this time though they would soon fire original vocalist Mick DiPesa shortly after beginning the recording of their first EP. After a brief period with Joe Casey on vocals, the band's then drummer Randy St. James would move up front to handle lead vocals permanently. Original bassist Shawn Toni would soon leave after Casey's dismissal citing creative differences. Toni's departure would be followed by a succession of different drummers and bassists that would move in and out of the band over the next 3 years with St. James and T'mico remaining the only constants.

A 4-song cassette EP limited to one production run was released in early 1990. It featured the songs "Wet n' Wild", "Knockin' Up Ya Neighborhood", "Kidz", and "Everybody's Done Ya Sister". Though Swifty T and Bobby Ray appeared on the cover and were credited in the liner notes, the Bass and Drum tracks were actually performed by Toni and St. James. It sold better overseas than in the US thanks to publicity from an article in Kerrang! magazine that was also picked up by other European Fanzines. Envelopes containing cash and letters requesting copies of the EP came from as far away as Romania and Poland. Management and much gigging soon followed leaving little time to rehearse or write new material. The band became an almost constant presence at the popular "No Bozos" Jams where they would often exchange the use of their back line and drum kit for a favorable time slot and radio promotion. D.T. Boyz would eventually break up for good in late 1991 during the mixing of their Independent debut album "Knockin' Up Ya Neighborhood" which was never mastered or released. With the debut of Nirvana, the musical climate was changing rapidly at this juncture and D.T. Boyz opted to disband and persue other ventures than to try to become a grunge version of themselves.