Born in a small, English, cathedral town, Duncan Reid's early dream was to be the next George Best. There was only one thing standing in his way: a complete lack of football talent! So, having discovered a vintage bass guitar in his father's cupboard, Duncan headed to London in his teenage years to land smack bang at the birth of the 70s punk explosion.
Duncan's future fellow band member, Matt Dangerfield, had a basic 4 track studio in the coal cellar of his Maida Vale appartment. It was at this flat that members of The Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, Generation X and others took their first recording steps along the path which would change Rock n Roll forever. One of the bands which coalesced out of this youthful melee was The Boys, the band which recruited Duncan Reid as bass player and singer.
The Boys became known as "the Beatles of Punk", a title given to them due to their, at that time, unique fusion of harmonies and pop sensibility with raw punk. By the time The Boys had recorded their 4 albums and toured extensively throughout Europe and the US, their influence had spread far and wide to groups like Green Day and Die Toten Hosen, as well as being quoted by the likes of Joey Ramone as his favourite group.
It was during a tour with The Ramones that Duncan, together with fellow Boys member Casino Steel, provided backing vocals for the live version of their hit, "Baby I Love You". In this way Duncan became one of only 2 people in history to play with The Ramones while not themselves being called Ramone.
The Boys also recorded periodically as The Yobs creating a whole genre of comedy punk with their versions of The Worm Song and Christmas Carols, a genre much copied since. 18 years after they first split The Boys were persuaded to reform for 2 gigs in Tokyo. Pressure for new gigs had come from a new generation discovering their music for the first time.
For years The Boys played worldwide, headlining in front of audiences in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden, Japan, United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and elsewhere.
After a further recording with other Boys members under the name "The Mattless Boys",
and writing songs for other bands such as The Cute Lepers, Duncan finally released his first solo album in 2012 - Little Big Head - bringing a unique angle to the pop punk genre, and taking it into new realms of melodic sweetness.
In September 2014 Duncan Reid released his second album, The Difficult Second Album, this time under the name Duncan Reid and the Big Heads.
Duncan's future fellow band member, Matt Dangerfield, had a basic 4 track studio in the coal cellar of his Maida Vale appartment. It was at this flat that members of The Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, Generation X and others took their first recording steps along the path which would change Rock n Roll forever. One of the bands which coalesced out of this youthful melee was The Boys, the band which recruited Duncan Reid as bass player and singer.
The Boys became known as "the Beatles of Punk", a title given to them due to their, at that time, unique fusion of harmonies and pop sensibility with raw punk. By the time The Boys had recorded their 4 albums and toured extensively throughout Europe and the US, their influence had spread far and wide to groups like Green Day and Die Toten Hosen, as well as being quoted by the likes of Joey Ramone as his favourite group.
It was during a tour with The Ramones that Duncan, together with fellow Boys member Casino Steel, provided backing vocals for the live version of their hit, "Baby I Love You". In this way Duncan became one of only 2 people in history to play with The Ramones while not themselves being called Ramone.
The Boys also recorded periodically as The Yobs creating a whole genre of comedy punk with their versions of The Worm Song and Christmas Carols, a genre much copied since. 18 years after they first split The Boys were persuaded to reform for 2 gigs in Tokyo. Pressure for new gigs had come from a new generation discovering their music for the first time.
For years The Boys played worldwide, headlining in front of audiences in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden, Japan, United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and elsewhere.
After a further recording with other Boys members under the name "The Mattless Boys",
and writing songs for other bands such as The Cute Lepers, Duncan finally released his first solo album in 2012 - Little Big Head - bringing a unique angle to the pop punk genre, and taking it into new realms of melodic sweetness.
In September 2014 Duncan Reid released his second album, The Difficult Second Album, this time under the name Duncan Reid and the Big Heads.