Sam McCarthy (singer)
{{Short description|New Zealand songwriter and vocalist}}
{{for|the actor|Sam McCarthy (actor)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Sam McCarthy
| image =
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| birth_name =
| alias = Boyboy
| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand
| origin = Auckland, New Zealand
| death_date =
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| genre =
| occupation = Songwriter, singer, guitarist
| instrument =
| years_active = 2004–present
| label =
| associated_acts = Incursa, Goodnight Nurse, Kids of 88, Boyboy
| website =
}}
Sam McCarthy is a New Zealand songwriter and pop vocalist. He is best known for his work in Kids of 88 and Goodnight Nurse.
Early life
{{BLP sources section|date=August 2017}}
McCarthy was brought up in Auckland in the suburb of Weymouth. He was educated at Weymouth Primary School and St Peter's College. He and Jordan Arts met at St Peter's and quickly realised that they were on the same wavelength. They were in the same English class.
McCarthy has said: "As an icebreaking exercise we were told to bring in our favourite song. Everyone brought in Limp Bizkit, but the thing that linked Jordan and myself is that we were wanky enough to bring in Jimi Hendrix songs. We were both trying to be as cool as possible so we rummaged through our parents' CD collection as opposed to our own".Vicki Anderson, "Kids of 88", The Press, 13 August 2010, p. 14.
With Jordan Arts, David Wong, Graham Scherer and Michael Pomare, McCarthy was a member of "Incursa", a St Peter's College band which won the Smokefreerockquest in 2004.[http://www.smokefreerockquest.co.nz/previous/winner/04 Smokefreerockquest past winners] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429050930/http://www.smokefreerockquest.co.nz/previous/winner/04 |date=29 April 2014 }}
Career
Members from Incursa went on to form punk icons False Start and Goodnight Nurse, which McCarthy still belongs to as a guitarist. Arts and McCarthy then formed Kids of 88.Tom Fitzsimons, "The kids are alright", Dominion Post, 12 August 2010, p. 3. In releasing the first Kids of 88 album, Sugarpills, McCarthy said that the duo tried to produce a variety of material rather than just the familiarly slutty "My House" and "Just A Little Bit" (released earlier as singles). Their style is broadly a fusion of electropop and 1980's style dance music. They describe it as "a cross between a late 80's police drama intro theme and a sophisticated super hussy". A reviewer has said "while reminiscent of early 80s synthpop, they aren't a direct copy of their antecedents. There's also a touch of 2010 punk swagger and adrenaline, where dance can't ignore what's been achieved in R&B and hip-hop".Tom Cardy, "Album of the Week", Dominion Post, 26 August 2010, Edtn 2, p. 11. McCarthy and Arts produced the album themselves and worked with a simple technical set-up out of a bedroom.Jule Scherer, "Keeping it real", The Southland Times, 21 August 2010, p. 1. At the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards, Kids of 88 won "Single of the Year" and (with Tim Van Dammen) "Music Video of the Year" for their single Just a Little Bit.{{cite news |url=http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/gin-and-stan-win-big-nz-music-awards-3825713 |title=Gin and Stan win big at NZ Music Awards |date=7 October 2010 |work=One News |accessdate=7 November 2011}}
In 2013, McCarthy wrote and recorded "Don't Let Me Go" with Harry Styles, from One Direction.
In 2016, McCarthy began recording electropop music under the pseudonym BOYBOY. He released three songs, "Boy", "None of Your Love" and VIces".{{cite web|title=BOYBOY Impresses With First Two Songs|url=http://hypetrak.com/2016/04/boyboy-releases-two-new-songs/|website=Hypetrak|accessdate=4 August 2016}}
Discography
= Albums =
== With Goodnight Nurse ==
{{main list|Goodnight Nurse}}
- Always and Never (2006) Festival
- Keep Me on Your Side (2008) Warner
== With Kids of 88 ==
{{main list|Kids of 88}}
- Sugarpills (2010) Dryden Street/Sony Music
- Modern Love (2012) Dryden Street/Sony Music
= Singles =
| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2 | Year ! rowspan=2 | Single !Peak chart ! rowspan=2 | Album |
| NZ {{cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=%23KiwisCureBatten&titel=Team+Ball+Player+Thing&cat=s|title=charts.nz – #KiwisCureBatten – Team Ball Player Thing|publisher=Hung Medien|accessdate=25 September 2015}} |
|---|
| 2015
| "Team Ball Player Thing" |align="center"| 2 | {{n/a|Non-album single}} |
| align=center colspan=4 | "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. |
== With Incursa ==
- "Find Out" (2004)
Awards and nominations
{{awards table}}
|-
| 2006
| Goodnight Nurse
| New Zealand Music Awards – People's Choice Award
|-
| 2009
| Kids of 88/"My House"
| New Zealand Music Awards – Single of the Year
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2010
| Kids of 88/"Just a Little Bit"
| New Zealand Music Awards – Single of the Year
|-
| Kids of 88
| New Zealand Music Awards – People's Choice Award
|}
References
{{reflist }}
{{Kids of 88}}
{{Goodnight Nurse}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Sam}}
Category:New Zealand rock musicians
Category:New Zealand male guitarists
Category:New Zealand pop singers
Category:New Zealand male singer-songwriters
Category:New Zealand singer-songwriters
Category:Musicians from Auckland
Category:People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland
Category:21st-century New Zealand male singers