Art Boys Collection - Stoned Wall (Reissue) (1972/2001)

Austrian Progressive Beat Band in flower power style from Andorf, Upper Austria, Austria. Active from 1970-75.

The Art Boys Collection started as pure The Boys in Upper Austria in 1969, when Gerhard Egger and Hans Joachim Holz met in a student jam session in 1970. They changed their name and outfit and performed several shows in G.I. Clubs in Austria and Bavaria. Three months later, the band went to Vienna to record their first single at Austrophon-Studio and organ player Walter Holz fixed a record deal with the Swiss/Austrian label Lesborne. The song was on power play in the radio and they got offered to release another record ("Life Is A Dream") by the German label Intersong, which only got released in small quantities due to technical problems in the end of the recording process. After that they returned to Vienna to record Art Boys Collection - Jesus Said , which was number one in the charts for six weeks. The Art Boys Collection didn't bill themselves as a progressive rock band, as they were a beat band. After having problems with journalists from the Austrian Radio Broadcasting, the band was banned by them. Their shows often got opened up by Waterloo & Robinson who started their career at that time. Gerhard Egger left the band and got replaced by Hubert Perfahl. Before he quit, Egger finished the recording of their only album "Stoned Wall".
The Art Boys continued and played shows till 1972, also opening stages for Golden Earring and Deep Purple. The band finally disbanded and 1972 and stopped playing live in 1975