By Matthew Sotlar / The Jambar
Just over 40 years ago, Brian Bonhomme took the stage with his band Roman Holliday. Now, he is a professor of history at Youngstown State University.
Bonhomme started Roman Holliday by himself in November 1980, at the age of 16, after he placed an ad in the paper in search of musicians to form a band.
“When I was 16, I dropped out of school basically. I’m not suggesting people should do that, but I was intent on having a musical career. I put an [advertisement] in the local paper asking for some musicians to form a band, and a bunch of people came and answered the advert,” Bonhomme said.
Alongside Bonhomme was lead vocalist Steve Lambert, keyboardist Adrian York, bassist Jon Durno, drummer Simon Cohen, trumpeter John Eacott and saxophonist Rob Lambert.
“In 1982, we signed a record contract with Jive Records,” Bonhomme said. “We released our first single in 1983, which was a song called ‘Stand By.’ That didn’t do great, but our second single, ‘Don’t Try to Stop It,’ that got to number 14 in the charts in the [United Kingdom].”
While Roman Holliday was generally considered to be a pop band, Bonhomme said the group incorporated a variety of musical styles based on their influences.
“We basically experimented with a lot of different styles,” Bonhomme said. “There were seven of us in the band, we all had different tastes. One way or another, we ended up playing this music that was a little bit swing, a little bit pop … sometimes people describe it as bubblegum music.”
The group released their debut album in 1983, titled “Cookin’ On the Roof.” The group scored two U.K. hits with “Don’t Try to Stop It” and “Motormania.”
Following the release of “Cookin’ On the Roof,” Roman Holliday embarked on a tour. The band opened for Missing Persons at the London Lyceum and toured with American rockabilly band Stray Cats and English new-wave stars Culture Club in the United States.
Bonhomme said he was taken aback upon his arrival in the U.S. for the first time.
“I particularly fondly remember the first two gigs we did in the States,” Bonhomme said. “It was the first time I’d ever been to the States … and we played two nights at a place called the Ritz in New York City, and that was just fantasy come true. We landed in Newark Airport and these stretch limos picked us up.”
Roman Holliday released one final album, “Fire Me Up,” in 1984. The album failed to garner any attention, and the group broke up the following year. The group held a reunion gig in 2001 in London, further shows are unlikely as Bonhomme and Lambert no longer live in England.
Bonhomme moved to the U.S. following the end of Roman Holliday. He graduated from the City University of New York in 2000 with a Ph.D. in history and a specialization in Russian and environmental history. He has taught history at YSU for 20 years.
Bonhomme said aspiring musicians should focus not only on the music, but also on the audience, which is similar to the responsibilities of a professor.
“If you’re going to go into the music business, you have to be able to connect with an audience. When you’re going from being in a band to being a professor, that’s a real big shift. To some degree, it’s not. It’s still about connecting to an audience in some respect. Whether you’re playing an instrument to people on stage … or talking to a class, it’s still really about connecting with your audience,” Bonhomme said.
