Bad Boys Inc was formed towards the end of 1992 by renowned record producer Ian Levine. In May 1993 they signed a five album deal with A&M Records UK. The band consisted of Ally Begg, David Ross, Tony Dowding and lead singer Matthew Pateman.

As was par for the course with boy bands in the early nineties Bad Boys set off on a nationwide tour of under and over 18 nightclubs in a bid to build a fan base ahead of the release of their debut single “Don’t Talk about Love” in August 1993. The rapid popularity of the band was such that HMV record stores refused to accommodate signing sessions after the band brought Oxford Street to a standstill after a personal appearance. Radio One was quick to bring the boys on board and invited them to be their warm-up act for the world famous Radio One Roadshow, touring Scotland, Northern Ireland and England. It was not long before the producers of the show realized the band were more sought after than some of the invited acts on show and asked them to perform live during one of their broadcasts, after only a few months together Bad Boys Inc had their first air-time on Radio.

Bad Boys Inc appeared all over the national press and it was not uncommon to see them donning the front covers of such magazines like “Smash Hits” and “BIG”. Perhaps infamously the boys once made the front page of the Daily Star for causing mayhem at an open air gig in Birmingham City Centre; unfortunately many fans were seriously injured during a crush near the front of the stage. As well as the written press the band appeared on numerous television shows including Top of the Pops, The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, The Des O’Connor Show, The Big Breakfast, Noel’s House Party, The Children’s Royal Variety Show, The ITV Movie Awards, Surprise Surprise and Bad Boys was the first ever band to appear on the National Lottery Show.

As quickly as Bad Boys appeared on the scene, in the spring of 1995 the band announced their split. It was a heart-breaking decision and one that was not taken lightly but circumstances surrounding artistic differences and political squabbling meant the boys went their separate ways. Ally Begg believes if the band were given the freedom to work with other producers and experiment with new sounds they would have continued their success and built on their popularity. He has every faith the band went as far as they could with Ian Levine’s musical influence and the split came at the right time. It took him many months to overcome the disappointment but now looks back with a great deal of fondness and a hint of pride at what they achieved.

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