THE BUOYS : THE BUOYS

  1. Give Up Your Guns
  2. Castles
  3. Sunny Days
  4. Memories
  5. The Prince Of Thieves
  6. Timothy
  7. Tell Me Heaven Is Here
  8. Bloodknot
  9. Tomorrow
  10. Absent Friend

Label : Sceptre

Release Year : 1971

Length : 31:35

Review (AllMusic) : One-hit wonder band the Buoys debuted with this 1971 platter, the back cover of which features a photo of the group dining at a fancy restaurant with the ironic caption "Dinner Music." The centerpiece of the LP is, of course, "Timothy," the tasteless Top 40 hit that earned the Buoys temporary stardom and launched the career of songsmith Rupert Holmes. It's a classic death pop number, the sprightly tale of three miners trapped by a cave-in who turn to cannibalism for survival during their ordeal. Despite the gruesome theme, "Timothy" has a hooky chorus and a production rich with brass and strings, so it's likely that many of the song's fans never listened much deeper than the melodious tune. The rest of the album's material is relatively faceless, though the second single, "Give Up Your Guns," is a good country-rock number and strives for an "outlaw on the run" vibe that almost convinces. Nothing else on the album matches "Timothy" in either content or euphony, dispensing with the gallows humor and catchy refrains in favor of a rustic rock sound laced with a few contemporary psychedelic elements. Holmes penned half of the album's tracks, including "Guns" and the "Timothy" sound-alike "Bloodknot," but the Buoys' own songwriting suggests a band aspiring to Crosby, Stills & Nash heights, most successfully on "Tell Me Heaven Is Here." the Buoys failed to secure a spot among serious rock's elite, but their peculiar chart entry puts them in good company with such lurid Top 40 favorites as Bloodrock's plane-crash dirge "D.O.A." and Jody Reynolds' rockabilly suicide note "Endless Sleep."

Review (Rockasteria) : "Timothy” really was about a mule, but a lot of people thought he was another trapped miner." Rupert Holmes, the man who wrote "Timothy", was still trying to explain his 1971 hit for The Buoys in a 1988 interview to promote his new Broadway musical, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." Laughing, Holmes swore the anguished song about the two survivors in a trio of trapped miners was not an ode to cannibalism. It was easy to laugh then, but it wasn't so funny when Scepter Records issued the single by the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania quintet. Even though the song would eventually go into Billboard's Top 20, many radio programmers were reluctant to play the song, especially when listeners called demanding to know why some band was singing about eating this poor miner. It also didn't help when there were media reports about college students holding 'Timothy For Lunch Bunch" gatherings. Whatever the song was about, the notoriety did help get a hit for the group made up of Fran Brozena - keyboards, Gerry Hludzik - bass, Chris Hanlon - guitar, Carl Siracuse - drums, and Billy Kelly - lead vocals. They were discovered by a Scepter engineer, who then approached Holmes about writing a song to help the quintet get some attention. He agreed, and the song ultimately became Holmes' first real hit as a writer. Holmes also wrote a number of songs and played keyboards on The Buoys' debut Scepter album. It featured 'Timothy" and two other minor chart successes that also told odd stories. "Bloodknot" was said to be about a reform-school ritual while "Give Up Your Guns" was about an old West shootout. Although Holmes would go on to chart success as a singer, going Top 10 with "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" and "Him", The Buoys soon sank out of sight. Scepter issued a few other singles, all featured here. The group then signed to Polydor, cutting two singles, "Don't Try To Run" and "Liza's Last Ride", also included on this album. In 1980, a couple of Buoys - Billy Kelly and Gerry Hludzik, who was also known as Joe Jerry - were back in music as a group called Dakota. Their self-titled album on Columbia failed to generate any attention.