During the hiatus of 2011, Chris and myself recorded with Franco Knight and Craig Revell (ex-So & So's) at Grimsby College. There we knocked out All Romance Will Fail and this little ditty that, sadly, we later deemed too bouncy for all that mature Coastal Tones stuff.

The Girl Who Started Fires

Stilettos was released as a single in the wake of Shop Local in 2008, but never appeared on that album; though it did fit right in, to be fair, and deserves its place in council pop history.  

Stilettos

Back when this live recording was made in 2007, we listened to a lot of Gang Of Four, were involved in regular bar room brawls and, as the photo suggests, could've done with a haircut and a cooked meal or two. All of which gave rise to Kick Junk, a song whose title was lifted straight outta Combat Rock. 

Kick Junk (live)

John Mellor was Joe Strummer's real name, and this track was written in homage to the man himself. It appeared as a B-side to Postcode in 2006 and, for trivia's sake, featured our then-manager Guy Keeble singing 'I do like to be beside the seaside' in the opening moments. 

John Mellor

Birthday is one of our oldest songs, and the only recording of it is this live recording of one of our first ever gigs, at Hull Adelphi, in 2005. Had real pop potential this one. Which is probably why we binned it off so unceremoniously to make way for all that nasty, angry stuff we were into.

Birthday (live)

Before we signed to Concrete, we released our first single on a Scottish label called Grace Records, in Feb 2006. Billy's England it was called, and it was full of swear words. 

Billy's England

Black & White (For You) is both the first and last piece of music we ever made. When GTFC approached us to write a song in 2015, we dug out and re-wrote an old track called Lovebirds, which had never been previously released but which was in fact the first song we ever worked on as a three-piece back at the Spider's Web in 2005. So there. 

Black And White (For You)

The world wasn't ready for Ludwig when it was released as a Stilettos B-side back in 2008. In fact, world-wide public recognition of this track may take decades to arrive. By which time, Grimsby will have been reclaimed by the sea in an impending, post-climate change apocalypse. 

Ludwig!

We've only ever done two covers, and this was the first, way back at Hull Adelphi in 2005. Adam Casino reviewed the gig for me in a rambling email, and remarked fondly that this particular track had 'the worst guitar solo of all time'. Which is quite an achievement....As mentioned before, not sure on the policy for covers on Soundcloud but, if Nancy's people want it taking down, we're happy to negotiate. 

Boots (live)

Well, this song was our opener in the very early days, and this track was the first we ever recorded, way back at Hull Adelphi in April 2005. There were about six people in the audience that night. Little did those six people know that, some ten years later, the mighty Orphan Boy would be playing at that same venue, but to approximately sixty people. That's right, 60. That's ten times as many... 

The Great British Sitcom (live)

Shortly after the release of Shop Local, we abandoned guitars for a while and started writing music on keyboards, with only a limited understanding of what we were doing. Perfect Kill is one of the tracks that emerged from that phase, and appeared amidst live recordings known as the Roland Sessions, in late 2008.

Perfect Kill (live)

The one that got away from the Shop Local sessions. Smalltown Hearts was one of the 14 tracks recorded for our first album, but ultimately missed the cut and became the B-side to Satellites in March 2008. 

Small Town Hearts

Another track from the Roland Sessions in 2008 and, like Perfect Kill, one that should have found its way onto an album but missed out due to bad timing. It was a little too dancey for Passion, Pain & Loyalty, but enjoyed a good stint in our live set for a couple of years. 

Shapes (live)

Thirtysomething Lovesick Ballad first appeared in our set around 2008, and in 2010 I made a version of it with my then house-mate Tony Collins. Most of the music here was programmed, thus merging council pop with house music and creating the inevitable council house sub genre. 

Thirtysomething Lovesick Ballad (Tony Collins version)

This version of Mr Stevens from 2006 was arguably wasted as a B-side on the Trophies Of Love single, being such a big track for us in its own right back then. We later recorded a faster, punkier version of it which appeared on Shop Local but, in hindsight, this original is superior for me.

Mr. Stevens (original)

Early in 2006, Chav Disco featured in the Noisebox Sessions; two batches of live recordings of all of our songs from the time. The opening line, which I have been asked about a number of times, is 'crack up the Friscino!', and sung by our then manager, Guy Keeble. Friscino incidentally, was a cheaper version of Lambrini that was prevalent in Grimsby at the time.

Chav Disco (live)

The title of this track was taken from an old Grimbarian legend that my grand-dad used to tell me. Back in the 1930s, a local song-writer called Charlie Gibbs wrote a piece called Harbour Lights, which he sent to a London publisher without reply. Charlie later heard his piece of music many times on the radio, though he never received a shred of recognition. So it goes. It's a rotten old business...

Harbour Lights (radio edit)

Orphan Boy are the world's premier exponents of council pop, lad art and post-council pop. They have released three albums on Concrete Recordings (Shop Local 2008, Passion, Pain & Loyalty 2010 and Coastal Tones 2015) and are currently taking a well deserved break. This site is where they throw out random free downloads and obscure live recordings. For the album stuff, check out Spotify. 

orphanboyuk

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