It’s one of the most eagerly awaited 45s of 2026-so-far. Five months after 69 Eyes and guest Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) gave a digital release to their 20th anniversary update of the classic “Lost Boys,” April 3 will see this seething classic finally make it into the physical realm.
Available as a red vinyl 45rpm single, “Lost Boys (20th Anniversary Version)” will be backed by another band classic, a raw and raucous take on 69 Eyes favorite, “Brandon Lee,” recorded live at Helsinki’s House Of Culture, on June 26th, 2020. And, like the a-side, the song is a tribute to a Hollywood great, the late actor Brandon Lee.
“Lost Boys,” of course, was inspired by director Joel Schumacher epochal vampire movie Lost Boys, as singer Jyrki 69 explains.
”The movie came out in the best 80’s hard rock and glam times, and that’s what we wanted to capture – like dreaming what would have happened if Billy Idol, Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe had come together to make music for it.”
Clearly it was a potent image. Across the decades that followed, “Lost Boys”has become the band’s undisputed anthem, topping 20 million streams. As Jyrki continues, “It is the main song The 69 Eyes is known for around the world. We always end our show for it. It is impossible to play anymore after that.”
And it was impossible to allow the song’s birthday to pass by unmarked.
Or was it? At first, admits Jyrki, “We really did think that there is no reason to re-record the song.” Unless they could add something very, very special to the brew.
“The only way we would do it was if Steve Stevens was playing guitar on it.” Long time sideman, collaborator and unique foil for Billy Idol, Stevens epitomizes the image of the 80s rock guitarist, both visually and musically – it was Stevens’s devastating licks that underpinned such Idol classics as “White Wedding” and “Rebel Yell,” while he was already long-established as a key element in another deathless 80s movie, the theme to Top Gun.”
No wonder, then, that Jyrki describes him as, “The mythical rock’n’roll lead guitarist that you saw on the coolest MTV music videos, continuing the same dark and glamorous style like Link Wray and Johnny Thunders but in the video age. He is a legend.”
“So if we were going to celebrate the song’s 20th anniversary and re-record it, we’d also have to make our original fantasy come true by having Steve on lead guitar. And It’s still feels unreal and dreamy that Cleopatra Records were able to make it happen.”
Both sides of the single, “Lost Boys (20th Anniversary Version”)”/“Brandon Lee,” are now available to hear on all digital platforms.
Or you can wait a few weeks more for the 45. Your stylus will thank you if you do.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 