The Bogarts traded in world-weary romanticism allied to strong melodies and rock rhythms that were well-suited to the crumpled image of the legendary screen tough guy, even if their music was far removed from the strains of ‘As Time Goes By’.

The band began life in late 1992 when Billy MacInnes started singing with former work colleague Ed Shelton and Guy Joyce, both of whom had been in a number of bands together before. Not long after, they recruited New Zealander Phil Taylor to play drums and began rehearsing and playing live in pubs and venues around London.

The Bogarts focused on music with strong melodies and harmonies and a rock/pop feel. Initially, they started with some of Ed’s and Billy’s older songs but it wasn’t long before they were producing their own material. Billy MacInnes started writing songs at a prolific rate and a feature of The Bogart's live sets over the three years of their existence was the amount of songs that were introduced and then replaced by even newer ones. Over time, the band expanded its sound to include keyboards (Liz Norden and then David Longworth) and second vocals (Maria Gallagher).