THE SWINGING SWINE / THE GLEE CLUB

  Guest post by Hugh O'Carroll...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU65B_AcPpA&feature=youtu.be In late 1980s Dublin, having played a bit part in The Babysnakes' story and a bigger part in The Stormcrows' story, I was called on by Mr. Eamonn Dowd to guest with, and then join, The Swinging Swine. They had formed in Galway and had already gone through... Continue Reading →

MORRISSEY AND MARR AND ROGAN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJPrDNPC4ZY Johnny Rogan’s ‘The Severed Alliance’ was the first in-depth biography of The Smiths and, consequently, generated much reaction, not least of all from Morrissey, its loudest central character. Published in May, 1992, five years after the band split on the eve of the release of its fifth studio album, ‘Strangeways, Here We Come’, the... Continue Reading →

TOASTED SPECIAL

https://youtu.be/7BxIvxUvfIE During the late 1980s and early 1990s, some of the smartest and freshest new bands in Ireland emerged far from the Dublin archdiocese and, in many cases, in direct defiance of it’s strictures. Zesty acts like Therapy ?, The Frank And Walters, The Cranberries, Engine Alley, They Do It With Mirrors, The I.R.S. and The Sultans Of... Continue Reading →

IN THE ROCK GARDEN

I worked for a couple of years with my friend, Jeff Brennan, in The Rock Garden, the live music venue and sometime restaurant that opened in Crown Alley, in Temple Bar, Dublin, almost 25 years ago. It was the late Aiden Lambert, Blink’s manager, who brokered that job for me and I’ve written about our... Continue Reading →

THE FRANK AND WALTERS #1

A version of this post originally appeared on-line in conjunction with Sir Henrys 2014. I first met The Frank And Walters in Cork in the summer of 1990, back when I was rapt and ready to roll into the breach on their behalf, whatever the job. The years since have taken all of us to places... Continue Reading →

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