Bay Area native Roy Loney, a founding member of the great Flamin' Groovies, quit the band in the early '70s, ostensibly to pursue a solo career. Oddly, his first solo recording didn't appear until 1979, nearly seven years after leaving The Groovies. In the interim, Loney had taken a series of record industry jobs, at one point working as a sales rep for the now defunct ABC Records, and at the funky and fabulous Jack's Record Cellar in San Francisco. Despite the delay, Loney's return to rock performance was auspicious; there was a tremendous EP, "A Hundred Miles an Hour", dedicated to Sissy Spacek, which was followed by the wild and woolly full-length LP, Out After Dark. Eschewing the Byrds-ian pop direction that former partner Cyril Jordan had now taken The Groovies, Loney's records were wild-eyed, rockabilly-fueled chunks of joyous noise, with much shaking, rattling, and rolling provided by the great guitar playing of ex-Groovies James Ferrell and drummer Danny Mihm. Now fully integrated into the late-'70s/early-'80s rock scene, Loney, retaining his deservedly hip credentials, released a string of fine records from 1979-1983 on mostly small indie labels, eventually dropping out of sight in 1984. Actually, he just withdrew from the rock scene for a while and continued to play in the Bay Area and work at Jack's. In the late '80s, recording for rock label Norton, Loney unleashed The Scientific Bombs Away, which was a terrific, if almost totally ignored record. Loaded with raving guitars, hiccuping vocals, and his thoroughly original sense of humor, Loney had made a triumphant return to rock. Too bad no one seemed to care. Later, Loney recorded a great cover of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs's "I Couldn't Spell !!*@!" with the Seattle band The Young Fresh Fellows. ~ John Dougan, Rovi