Originally known as Trojan, the unit was formed in 1982 by Tony Mills (vocals), Steve Harris (guitar), Paddy McKenna (keyboards), Alan Kelly (drums), and Mark Badrick (bass). The quintet released their debut album the following year on the independent Ebony label. The songs were excellent, characterized by the silver-throated purr of Mills, but the album was let down by a slight production. New bass player Roy Stephen Davis joined in 1984 as the band secured a new recording contract with RCA Records. Two quality albums of sophisticated pomp-metal followed, with 1987’s Excess All Areas being the band’s finest work. This included a melodramatic cover version of Cliff Richard’s ‘Devil Woman’ given a true heavy metal revision. They gained the support slot on Meat Loaf’s 1987 UK tour, but the album still failed to sell in large quantities.

RCA dropped the band, but they were rescued by MCA Records, which allocated a large budget to record Misspent Youth, with Roy Thomas Baker as producer. This album was a major disappointment as the band’s naturally aggressive approach had been tempered. The songs were geared for Stateside FM-radio consumption and the band’s identity was suffocated in the clinically sterile production. Mills left shortly afterwards and was briefly replaced by Jon Francis (ex-After Hours), with the band temporarily billing themselves as Black Cat. In 1993, Los Angeles-based, Birmingham-born John ‘Wardi’ Ward was recruited as Shy’s vocalist. The new line-up signed to the Birmingham based Granite label and launched their comeback in 1994 with a cover version of the Rolling Stones’ ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll’, but following the release of the disappointing Welcome To The Madhouse they split up. The classic line-up of the band re-formed in 1999 to record new material for the Neat Metal label, although Kelly left the following year.