(c’79-’81) Steve “Bo” Benham (keyboard/vocals), Nick Powell (vocals/guitar), Steve Prudence (bass) and Dickie Knight (drums).
Benham and Powell were previously in The Pleasers, forming Bo and The Generals (sometimes listed as Beau and The Generals) in mid ’79. In the buildup to formation, Benham wrote some songs with David Fenton of The Vapors, although to our knowledge none were ever released. The band signed to Island Records and Powell and Benham sought out ex-Unicorn bassist Patrick Martin and Gary Smith (drums) as session men to record “Rich Girl”; and the combo hit the Basing Street Studios, where the single was produced by the producer of Squeeze. Unfortunately, Martin and Smith were too busy with other projects to commit to gigs.
In the early ’80s, Island Records pressed a number of promotional records in a “Pre-Release Limited Edition” series for promotion of their records in the UK, numbered RSS. The 12″ RSS 26 featured “Rich Girl” by Beau and the Generals, along with U2’s “11 O’Clock Tick Tock”; “Boys Cry” by The Distractions; “Party Games” by The Jags and “007” by Desmond Dekker to name a few. Later that year Island Records issued the 7″ vinyl single “Rich Girl” [WIP6603] backed by “I Know”.
Steve Prudence, from Godalming and ex-member of The Jags, who’d been temping for Manpower (in Debenhams, Guildford and at the tip in Cranleigh), rehearsed briefly with Squire before joining Bo and the Generals just after the single was released. Another ex-Squire member, guitarist Steve Baker, who’d also been in Panther also joined the band for a while. The live band now consisted of Benham, Powell, Knight, and Prudence, and Knight who had been in White Gold prior to being a general. After a handful more gigs, including an appearance at The Wooden Bridge, Guildford, Powell decided to concentrate on his social services career. The “Rich Girl” track later appeared on “Metrojets Vol. 1”, a compilation CD issued by Red Rubber Ball Records [RRB CD 001].
Benham would later format and produce New Music Television for ITV & MTV, with shows that helped introduce the likes of Feeder, The White Stripes, and The Hives to the UK audience. Powell, who’d also spent time in Evening Sun and Dr JJ’s Blues Band, regrettably died in 2020 from COVID. Smith would reappear in Square One, while Baker went onto Cutting Edge.
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Our Soundscene 
such a brilliant live band. It’s a shame that Rich Girl didn’t do better. Apparently David Bowie heard it and loved the song, so much so that he copied the chord progression from the Middle 8 section and used it in his Ashes To Ashes middle 8 section but of course with a different melody.
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