More serious than The BABYSITTERS, more pop than MARIONETTE and more glam than The QUIREBOYS, SOHO ROSES went through the late 80s like a shooting star while new wave was probably still imposing its ugly synthesizers on the Thames’ border before getting flooded by heavy metal decibels. SOHO ROSES was the ideal glam punk pop band avoiding the superficial aspect and the buffoonery sometimes associated to this style. Andy DeGray’s talent to write rock’n’roll anthems, catchy choruses and sweet ballads as well as Paul Blittz’s charisma and androgynous angel beauty should have taken this band to the top but SOHO ROSES disappeared after two years leaving us a single, an EP and an album as their only testament. Inspired by their glorious elder like The SWEET or the BUZZCOCKS and sharing obvious common musical affinities with WRATHCHILD (“Dance With Me”) or HANOI ROCKS (“Crazy ‘Bout Me”), SOHO ROSES never wrote a bad song in my book and even if they weren’t unknown at all, they deserved far better than the post-mortem fame they later got. This collection CD, recounting the career (from “Bollocks”, the intro reminding me of “Pipeline” to “Yesterday’s Girls”) of one of the most flamboyant British band ever is a real present to all glitter/lipstick rock’n’roll lovers and a real nightmare to all Ebay crooks… Make yourself happy, buy yourself roses! /Franckie.