Rich Kids -

The Rich Kids were an English rock band that made the 1978 EMI album Ghosts of Princes in Towers. Original Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock led the band with ex-Slik guitarist/singer Midge Ure, who left after one album with drummer Rusty Egan to form the electro-rock supergroup Visage, which led Ure into Ultravox.

Members: Glen Matlock (bass, vocals), Midge Ure (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Rusty Egan (drums), Steve New (guitar, vocals), Bill Smyth (keyboards, 1977)

Background

The Rich Kids formed in London in spring 1977 when former Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock teamed with guitarist Steve New and drummer Rusty Egan.

Matlock met guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook through Malcolm McLaren’s King’s Road shop Let It Rock in 1974, then joined the group that became the Sex Pistols. John Lydon entered as singer in August 1975 and completed the first stable quartet. Matlock left the Sex Pistols in February 1977 after tensions with Lydon.

New attended Quintin Kynaston School in St John’s Wood and played with the London Jazz Orchestra as a teenager. Malcolm McLaren auditioned New in September 1975 through a Melody Maker advertisement and brought him into several Sex Pistols rehearsals on Denmark Street. Egan drummed since fourteen and entered DJM Studios as a runner through tape operator Mark Wallis. Matlock’s friend, Mick Jones, introduced the bassist to Egan, who attended early Clash rehearsals.

In search of a singing guitarist, Matlock approached Jam frontman Paul Weller, who shared Glen’s mixed affinity for new wave and retro-beat sounds. By this point, however, The Jam were in ascendance with a Top 20 album and two hit singles. Matlock then found a Slik record in a London shop and asked EMI to put him in contact with singer–guitarist Midge Ure.

Ure, born James Ure in Cambuslang, Scotland, joined Glasgow band Salvation as guitarist in 1972 alongside bassist Jim McGinlay. Salvation adopted the Slik name in 1974 and signed with Bell Records the following year under songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. The group adopted a 1950s-derived image built around pompadours, straight-legged jeans, and matching baseball jerseys. In July 1975, two associates of Malcolm McLaren encountered Ure outside a Glasgow music shop while selling clothing in northern Britain and asked whether he played in a band. Ure cited his commitment to Slik, which reached UK No. 1 in February 1976 with the Martin–Coulter song “Forever and Ever.” After punk took hold, the group adopted the PVC2 name for the 1977 EP “Put You in the Picture” on Zoom Records.

The Rich Kids played several unannounced London dates with Ure in May 1977, but Ure returned to Scotland to continue with PVC2. Rich Kids continued as a trio through summer dates with Matlock on lead vocals. Jones joined the group for several August shows, including the Vortex and Brecknock in London. Ure returned permanently in October after PVC2 dissolved, completing the lineup of singer–guitarist Ure, bassist Matlock, guitarist New, and drummer Egan.

Rich Kids played London’s 100 Club on Oct. 4 and recorded their first John Peel session on Oct. 31 at BBC Maida Vale. The group signed with EMI in November and cut demos with producer Mike Thorne. Rich Kids followed with Paris dates at Gibus Club and a December UK tour.

On January 13, 1978, they debuted with the single “Rich Kids” (b/w “Empty Words”), produced by ex-Spiders from Mars guitarist Mick Ronson. On May 20, the Rich Kids appeared along with XTC, Kate Bush, and Steel Pulse on the premier of Revolver, a short-lived ITV music series hosted by comedian Peter Cook.

Ghosts of Princes in Towers

Rich Kids released their singular album, Ghosts of Princes in Towers, in August 1978 on EMI.

The album features two Matlock numbers, including the band’s pre-released theme song. He co-wrote one cut with band-manager Alex McDowell and four with New, including the title track. Ure, the primary vocalist, contributed three songs, including their martial second single “Marching Men.” They also render the PVC2 track “Put You in the Picture.” Ronson adds keyboards to four tracks; Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan plays piano on “Cheap Emotions.”

“Strange One” drifts through a trebly organ haze before a mid-song bass entry. “Ghosts of Princes in Towers” races through scale-climbing runs, punchy chords, and exposed lead singing. “Marching Men” advances on martial accents and intermittent synthesizer, then erupts into a rousing final swell. “Bullet Proof Lover” slashes through a compact riff and rough-edged phrasing. “Rich Kids” bounces at a fast tempo through repeated self-naming phrases. “Lovers and Fools” twists through irregular accents, rattling percussion, and broad guitar washes.

A1. “Strange One” (4:23) – Matlock, New
A2. “Hung on You” (2:57) – Matlock
A3. “Ghosts of Princes in Towers” (3:33) – Matlock, New
A4. “Cheap Emotions” (4:03) – Matlock, New
A5. “Marching Men” (3:50) – Ure

B1. “Put You in the Picture” (2:45) – Ure, McIsaac
B2. “Young Girls” (2:49) – Ure
B3. “Bullet Proof Lover” (3:09) – Matlock, McDowell
B4. “Rich Kids” (2:55) – Matlock
B5. “Lovers and Fools” (2:35) – Ure
B6. “Burning Sounds” (3:40) – Matlock, New

The original LP credits “Put You in the Picture” to Ure and McIsaac; bassist Russell Webb wrote the 1977 PVC2 original.

Sessions occurred in early 1978 at the home studio of John Kongos with producer Mick Ronson, who worked on Ghosts of Princes in Towers between albums by Roger McGuinn (Cardiff Rose) and Ian Hunter (You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic).

Matlock and McDowell founded Rocking Russian in 1978 to handle visual work for Rich Kids. The Soho studio designed the sleeve around a cover photograph by Peter Lavery, whose imagery graces 1975–77 covers for Moon, Mott, Sailor, Casino, The Enid, Cafe Jacques, Kursaal Flyer, and Starry Eyed and Laughing.

EMI issued “Rich Kids” in January 1978, backed with “Empty Words,” a non-album Gordon Kerr exclusive. Rich Kids mimed their theme for the January 28 broadcast of Top of the Pops, which twice aired the song amid winter in-studio numbers by Dusty Springfield (“A Love Like Yours”), Gordon Giltrap (“Heartsong”), and Yellow Dog (“Just One More Night”). “Rich Kids” reached No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart.

“Marching Men” followed in May, backed with “Here Comes the Nice,” a non-album live cover of the Small Faces song. In August, EMI lifted “Ghosts of Princes in Towers,” backed with “Only Arsenic,” a non-album Matlock exclusive. The album reached No. 51 on the Official Albums Chart. “Only Arsenic” appears on The Rare Stuff?, a 1979 Harvest comp with non-album cuts by Wire, The Shirts, and multiple tracks by The Saints, The Flys, and The Banned.

Rev-Ola expanded the album as the 1998 CD Burning Sounds with the three non-LP B-sides. Parlophone returned the original sequence to vinyl for Record Store Day 2023 in a 45th-anniversary remaster overseen by Egan.

Later Activity

On Aug. 15, 1978, Matlock and New joined Sid Vicious and Damned drummer Rat Scabies for a one-off benefit at the Electric Ballroom in Camden. Billed as the Vicious White Kids, the quartet raised money for Vicious and his American girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, ahead of their move to New York. The event also publicly dispelled reports of hostility between Vicious and the bassist he replaced in the Sex Pistols. Two days after the show, the drug-addled couple left for New York with proceeds from the concert.

The Rich Kids dissolved in December 1978 amid disagreements over musical direction. Ure and Egan developed an interest in European electronic music through Kraftwerk, Neu!, Harmonia, and Can, while Ure introduced synthesizer into rehearsals. The pair channeled those ideas into Visage with singer Steve Strange, keyboardist Billy Currie, and members of Magazine.

In mid 1979, as Visage made piecemeal progress between member commitments, Ure joined Thin Lizzy for American and Japanese dates, then replaced John Foxx in the reconfigured Ultravox with Currie, bassist Chris Cross, and drummer Warren Cann. Egan drummed for Skids on their 1979 second album Days In Europa, produced by Bill Nelson.

Matlock and New joined Iggy Pop for 1979 live dates and the Rockfield sessions for Soldier. New recorded lead guitar for the album, but Pop removed most of his parts from the final mix after a confrontation between New and David Bowie; Matlock left Pop’s band in protest. New worked with Keith Levene and John Lydon in 1980 on the PiL track “Pied Piper,” issued that October on the Virgin compilation Machines, and spent part of the autumn around the Flowers of Romance sessions at the Manor.

The four Rich Kids reunited at London’s O2 Academy Islington on Jan. 7, 2010, for a benefit concert for New, then undergoing treatment for cancer. New died on May 24 at age fifty. Matlock, Ure, and Egan revived the group for another London show in June 2016 with guitarist Gary Kemp in New’s place.

Discography: