Music: The Bus Boys Are Moving In

(2 of 2)

The Bus Boys—and the O'Neals in particular—are not really ghetto kids or street bloods. Brian and Kevin grew up in a Los Angeles suburb. Their parents not only "have three color TVs," by Brian's count, but two master's degrees between them. Their father teaches fifth grade, their mother is a math coordinator for Los Angeles' inner-city schools. The boys attended Gardena High School, where Brian was president of the student body. "I've been president of everything since time began," Brian says. "I have more in common with the white middle class than with Harlem blacks. Somebody like George Clinton [kingpin of Parliament-Funkadelic, currently among the most popular and successful acts with black audiences] is selling mindless music to mindless people."

The Bus Boys are barnstorming the country, pulling down enviable reviews, and planning a tour of Europe. Brian, who once worked the swing shift as a dock loader with Wonder Bread, is writing songs for "my lady," who calls herself simply Roach, and her group, Roach and the White Boys. He also has 30 new songs for the Bus Boys already banked and "a million albums I got to make." A snatch of a lyric from a new song called Monkey Mash—"You can't look down on me 'cause we all used to swing from trees"—reaffirms what should already be clear: that Brian O'Neal won't be loading white bread any more.

By Jay Cocks. Reported by Martha Smilgis/Los Angeles