When it comes to stone cold classic 70s Rock'n Roll bands, there's few that can touch the pure realness and raw emotion of Boston's legendary The Real Kids. Fronted by John Felice, one of the original members of The Modern Lovers circa 1970-72 (Jonathan Richman was his next-door neighbor), they have been tearing up stages ever since he decided to break away and start off as The Kids around 1972. As was the way of the times, they quickly found that that name was already taken, so they instantly became The Real Kids, and embarked on honing their incredible set of songs steeped in 50s & 60s rock'n roll that's still unrivaled in the pantheon of the power pop genre. They released their debut 7" on Sponge Records out of France, where there always seemed to be a decidedly more excited crowd for this type of pure music, so when the US punk crowds didn't warm up to the Real Kids as much as their contemporaries, it wasn't much of a stretch of the imagination to try and hit Europe, notably France to play for the audience they truly deserved.
The release of their debut LP on the esteemed Red Star Records label, run by NYC icon Marty Thau alongside the debut LP from Suicide, came as an instant classic, although it still failed to grip an audience, due mainly to the fact that the band was caught in a vortex of styles that at the time just weren't as appreciated as they should have been. Time has been VERY kind to The Real Kids though, and their classic songs done with a pure punk intensity yet in a perfect power pop structure still do wonders for the weary head, songs so well-written and perfectly executed just don't get made this this anymore, so we are extremely lucky they're still around to deliver the goods.
The the early 80s, The Real Kids formed an alliance with French label New Rose Records and embarked on a tour after their second LP Outta Place was released (also on Star Rhythm in the US) and continued to establish themselves as total rock'n roll saviors in the land where real rock'n roll is appreciated more than anywhere else on Earth. Luckily for us, there are a series of great quality live videos from this era, which we've got tucked into a neat little playlist for you here, complete with a hotel room warm up session and a great interview with the band walking around the streets of Paris that you just can't miss! So be sure to kick this video into full screen mode and be sure you get your tickets for next week's 10th annual HoZac Blackout Fest with the Real Kids headlining Friday May 15th, you never know if you'll have the chance again!
Dig into more Real Kids history right HERE and see you at the HoZac Blackout Fest!
