Liner Notes
Family's first single on Raft, “Boom Bang” / “Stop This Car” (RA 18501), appeared in May 1973. A label booklet has been cited for 11 May, but the record was already present on the breakers list by 5 May; without a secure issue-day source, the timeline uses month precision. It did not enter the official UK Top 50.
The A-side anticipated the lighter, boogie-inflected direction of It's Only a Movie; “Stop This Car” remained a non-album B-side. Overseas issues appeared in France, Yugoslavia and New Zealand, some with distinctive picture sleeves.
In Val Mabbs's contemporary Record Mirror feature, the single was described as the current Raft release in a special Family sleeve and as a marked change of approach. Chapman acknowledged the difficulty of pursuing something commercial without repeating the band’s earlier work.
Album Reviews1
Reviews gathered with this release and kept on the album page rather than in the general Press Archive.
Boom Bang — Record Mirror single review
Contemporary single review. Record Mirror considered Family an ideal choice to launch the new Raft label. The reviewer picked out the unusual opening, the added female backing voices and Roger Chapman’s unmistakably extrovert entrance, all contributing to a big, full production.
Most of all, the notice admired Family’s refusal to repeat themselves: “Boom Bang” was heard as another deliberately different record from a group unwilling to rest on familiar pop formulas.
All Pressings5
Every known issue, variant, reissue, and repress across all countries and formats. Identical catalogue entries with multiple Discogs listings are grouped into a single row.
Gallery17 images
Covers, labels, inserts, and press material across all pressings. Click any image to view full-size.
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