History & Biography The band's monicker can be traced to a Welsh ancestor of Davidson who had a variation of the name! Formed in Philadelphia in 1985 and featuring a glam look, Britny Fox signed to CBS on the strength of a 1986 tape called In America and a 1987 one called Rock Is Gonna Fight. The band's drummer Tony Destra had died in a car accident in 1987. He was briefly replaced by Adam Ferraioli (a.k.a. Adam West) who years later would invite Childs into cover band Get The Led Out.
The debut was supported through shows with Warrant and Poison. The video for Girlschool featured model Kim Anderson. Boys In Heat was supported with shows with Alice Cooper in Europe. Apparently inter-band tensions had boiled to the limit with much animosity between Smith and Davidson. Davidson’s departure to Blackeyed Susan coincided with the act being dropped by Columbia. Paris made his debut on Bite Down Hard, but the band disbanded shortly thereafter. Paris and Childs had become adversaries. Britny Fox did a short East Coast USA tour, which was recorded and released. More shows with Doro followed in America. The band can also be heard on the Iron Eagle II soundtrack.
Tommy Paris participated on a Perris Records' AC/DC Tribute called Bon Appetite: A Tribute To The Bon Scott Years in 2002. He also recorded a solo rock album at this time. More trivia: Kelly Smith, who had been in Psychopath with future Cinderella singer Tom Keifer, had actually founded and named Cinderella.
Spitfire Records issued Springhead Motorshark in mid-2003. The inevitable reformation had come in 2000. Tommy Paris and Michael Kelly Smith produced the CD. Britny Fox 2003 was Tommy Paris lead vocals, guitar, and keyboards, Michael Kelly Smith on lead and rhythm guitar, Billy Childs on bass, backing vocals and Johnny Dee on drums. The group was touring the USA in 2007 and played Rocklahoma. Shows were done with Enuff Z’Nuff. Smith and Dee sat these out. The band pulled out of England’s Z Rock 08 due to personal issues with singer Tommy Paris. The band, however, attributed much of the abounding rumours to its former manager. Guitarist Tommy Krash released an acoustic disc called The Acoustic Sessions in 2019 that had its origins during this period. Immediately thereafter, the group announced the addition of singer and guitarist Jamie Fletcher as well as a deal with Chavis Records. Britny Fox was rejoined by its ‘80s frontman "Dizzy" Dean Davidson in May of 2010. The band was still planning a new album. This did not pan out.
Britny Fox, featuring vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tommy Paris, bassist Billy Childs and drummer Johnny Dee, and new lead guitarist Chris Sanders, reformed in early 2015. The band was writing material for a new album and played shows. The line-up appeared at the Monsters Of Rock 2016 cruise. The reformation album was abandoned due to a lack of a decent deal and commitment. Childs had previously stated that there were no demo tracks lying around, but Forbidden Fruits: The Bite Down Hard Demos Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. were 2020 albums featuring discarded material from The Bite Down Hard sessions. FnA Records issued these.
A new version of the group was booked for the 2023 M3 Festival, which coincidentally also featured Counts 77. The line-up was Billy Childs, Hank Henry Nowak, Greg Polcari and Ronnie Rodgers. Still, the original members were discussing reuniting in 2023. The band was booked for the HRH AOR X festival, alongside Madam X, Autograph, Bulletboys, Trixter, Enuff Znuff, Quiet Riot and others, in the UK in 2024.
Reviews
Interviews
|