Our Top 10 Pretty Boy Floyd songs list presents the music of a very much loved glam band from the 1980s. Named after the infamous bank robber, Pretty Boy Floyd first began as a glam metal rock group out of Hollywood, California, in 1987. Founders Kristy Majors and Steve Summers, along with Kari Kane, Aeriel Siles and Vinnie Chas, decided on this iconic name after it was mutually determined they shared the same rebellious nature. Instead of armed with pistols they were armed with electric guitars, long hair, and the drive to blast themselves into the music scene with tenacity. In 1989, they debuted with the album, Leather Boyz with Leather Toyz, and it was commercially successful enough to win a solid fan base. However, this came at a time frame where glam metal was beginning to take a backstage to grunge metal. Among music fans who cared more about good music than trends, Pretty Boy Floyd definitely won them over.
Americans vs. Canadians
At the same time Pretty Boy Floyd from California released its debut album, so did a Canadian version of Pretty Boy Floyd do the same with Bullets & Lipstik. While Vancouver’s Pretty Boy Floyd did have the name first as a copyright, the jurisdiction the American Pretty Boy Floyd band served as a complication in this legal battle. Instead of pursuing the matter further, the Canadian group simply changed its name after the lead singer, Tommy Floyd. While both bands had this name, when the American Pretty Boy Floyd had its music featured on The Karate Kid Part III movie in 1989, it had to go with the acronym of PBF due to a publication mistake made by Kerrang! magazine.
Pretty Boy Floyd Discography
From 1987 until 1994, the original four members of Pretty Boy Floyd remained the same. However, when the group briefly broke up, by 1995 part of the roster had changed. While Majors, Summers, and Kane were still in, Siles and Chas were out. Taking their place was Keff Ratcliffe and Keri Kelli before they moved on to embark on other pursuits. Pretty Boy Floyd continued to record and tour until 2006 before parting ways again until 2015. With Majors and Summers still at the core, they are now accompanied with Criss 6 and Vik Foxx.
The discographic portfolio Pretty Boy Floyd has to its credit are three studio albums, an extended play (EP), two live albums, and nine compilation albums. Of the three singles officially released, none of them appeared on any official billboard charts but did win over enough fans to establish a loyal following of an audience that cared more about quality music styles as opposed to whatever happened to be trending at the time.
Top 10 Pretty Boy Floyd Songs
#10 – Your Mama Won’t Know
Performed hard rock style, “Your Mama Won’t Know” was Pretty Boy Floyd’s answer for teens dealing with difficult mothers and their rules about dating. Coming from the album, Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz, the message Floyd delivered in this song was a hard-edged masterpiece between the lead vocals of Steve Summers and the riffs coming from Kristy Majors on lead guitar and Vinnie Chas on bass. Drummer Kari Kane also made his powerful contribution “Your Mama Won’t Know” in a manner that made this song an easy fan favorite.
#9 – Wild Angels
“Wild Angels” was a fantastic ballad performed with the suggestion of a young couple to run off and make their own mark in the world. This is also a great song best describing Pretty Boy Floyd as a group of young rock musicians who sought to take the world by storm in a similar manner as the bank robber whom they named themselves after. While the Great Depression saw Pretty Boy Floyd rob banks and burn mortgage papers, some of Americans regarded him as a hero as this act put an end to mortgage debts among homeowners who hadn’t fully paid what they owed yet. As fans and performers of heavy metal music, this version of Pretty Boy Floyd sought to blaze a trail of impressionable music to win over a fan base of their own.
#8 – We Can’t Bring Back Yesterday
From 2017’s Public Enemies album, “We Can’t Bring Back Yesterday’ served as a mark of reality whatever happened in the past is history. As cool as it is to bring back retro classics, what was enjoyed as youths is no longer enjoyed the exact same way as we get older. Regardless if this was a lyrical tale of an old romance that seemed to pass its prime or a reflection of old memories, this is a remarkable track to sink into and enjoy. This was actually a tribute song to Vinnie Chas as he passed away on April 6, 2010 as the group not only paid homage to Chas in this song, but the entire album as Public Enemies was really more about the mark Pretty Boy Floyd made, as individuals and as a band.
#7 – Slam Dunk
In 1991, “Slam Dunk” was a song featured in the soundtrack, Switch. At the time, it was an unreleased recording by Pretty Boy Floyd and did not appear on any of the group’s albums until 2003’s re-release of Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz. “Slam Dunk” became one of five singles added to it. The play-to-win theme behind this song not only made a great motivational song among Pretty Boy Floyd’s fans but a great tune to simply enjoy for its entertainment value.
#6 – American Dream
“American Dream” was one of the songs recorded on the 2017 album, Public Enemies. The hard-hitting lyrical performance by Steve Summers was beautifully matched with the heavy-banging drums and guitar riffs as Pretty Boy Floyd performed its lyrical fascination of a woman whom they classified as the picturesque version of the “American Dream.”
#5 – Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz
The title track from the album, Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz, served as a 1989 metal anthem, describing glam metal best with imagery that made this genre so popular during the span of the 1980s. When hair bands and theatrical makeup served as a fashion statement in the heavy metal music scene, it was all about the leather and the electric guitar. The homage Pretty Boy Floyd paid with “Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz” continues to serve as the ultimate tribute to a musical era where it was about having fun. The first minute of “Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz” was a beautiful instrumental build before the group broke into the heavy riffs which served as the whole point behind the song’s title as Steve Summers and the gang lyrically announce who they were and what they were about.
#4 – 48 Hours
Nothing like an alarm clock to start 1989’s, “48 Hours” as a song to wake up to. It was also featured in the movie, The Karate Kid: Part III. This song spiked the popularity of Pretty Boy Floyd and was instrumental in the group’s album, Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz, to become the most successful studio recording to its credit. During an era where glam-style metal was taking a backseat to the emergence of grunge metal, Floyd’s “48 Hours” served as a rush-style encore of sorts to a genre of music that was getting shoved aside, at least for the time being.
#3 – Feel the Heat
“Feel the Heat” came from Pretty Boy Floyd’s 2017 album, Public Enemies, and saw this band return to what made it a fan favorite to begin with. Like a heavy metal revival, “Feel the Heat” was beautifully performed with the hard-hitting guitar riffs, drums, and fantastic vocals Steve Summers has been known for. The song momentarily started off as gunfire before breaking into the awesome guitar performance by Kristy Majors as he demonstrated he still is a leather boy who has mastered his electric toy. “Feel the Heat” is definitely felt here as the beauty of glam-rock saw it shine once again by a group that still makes it cool to rock and have fun.
#2 – Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire)
When visiting streaming sites like Spotify, “Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire)” usually sits either at the very top spot of its list dedicated to Pretty Boy Floyd or at least within the top three. From the group’s debut album, Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz, “Rock and Roll” remains as a song that is genuinely epic. Summers, as the band’s lead vocalist, really hammered home the reality of what rock and roll is, and not just as some musical genre that loves its drums and guitars. Rock and roll music is a vibe that courses through the veins of people who appreciate good music when they hear it. Like a spiritual connection, exactly as the song suggests, is enough to set more than just the night on fire.
#1 – I Wanna Be with You
The final track on the 1989 album, Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz was “I Wanna Be with You.” It is one of two signature songs that put Pretty Boy Floyd on the map as first-class heavy metal rock stars worth listening to, at least by fans who love good, hard-hitting music. Sometimes, the best ballads come from the least likely musicians and vocalists to do it. Steve Summers, along with the talent roster of Kristy Majors, Kari Kane, Aeriel Sjiles, and Vinnie Chas, put in a beautiful love song worth soaking up for what it is. While metal fans love the hard-hitting drums and screechy guitar riffs, there is also a fondness for music with softer styles, just like “I Wanna Be with You.” In some cases, metal bands perform better with ballads than they do with faster-paced music. The beauty of Pretty Boy Floyd is they can do both.
Photo: Denii pbf, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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