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U2 and the Irish Uprising of the Eightees


SpondonBassed
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In light of the recent banter regarding U2 and its components I'd like to start a thread that recognises work that gets overlooked when put beside the "hits" and the fund-raisers. A lot of bands say that they feel they might be victims of their own success.

I lived in Ireland when this happened:
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLQ4Exa8qFM"]https://www.youtube....h?v=kLQ4Exa8qFM[/url]

The success of this band along with the Boomtown Rats, Horslips, Christy Moore with the Moving Hearts and many others stirred the youth of a largely catholic and somewhat repressed Republic of Ireland to make their own way to the world music stage. We all know the hits, let's see some of the less well "promoted" songs, good, bad or indifferent -

Edited by SpondonBassed
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A celebration of Irish music... Excellent. I was a huge fan of Horslips (in particular), Planxty and Christy Moore. I also listened to the Joshua Tree non-stop when it first came out. Very much into the Frames for a while. Never managed to get into the Boomtown Rats for some reason.

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[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1471510418' post='3113492']
I have always loved The Saw Doctors.

Their style can be summed up by and early quote from Leo (the lead guitarist)....

"first we make it simple,then,we simplify it!"
[/quote]

Was a fan of their first 3 albums but thought they went a bit too middle of the road for my liking afterwards. Travelled to Brixton with 4 mates to watch them in the early 90s and had to sleep rough after gig as we missed last train home. Happy days!
N17 is still one of my all time favourite tracks.
Great live band too.

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[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1471523250' post='3113643']
Anyone remember the Tube special? Unsure whether is was from the north or south, but the two standout bands were The Bankrobbers and Cruella de Ville.

The music business is a cruel mistress; neither of these bands made it past a couple of singles.
[/quote]

They are both from Northern Ireland. It is a different country to the Republic of Ireland (OP)

Thanks anyway

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[quote name='Trueno' timestamp='1471503740' post='3113440']
A celebration of Irish music... Excellent. I was a huge fan of Horslips (in particular), Planxty and Christy Moore. I also listened to the Joshua Tree non-stop when it first came out. Very much into the Frames for a while. Never managed to get into the Boomtown Rats for some reason.
[/quote]

Planxty is an interesting one. Paul Brady from Northern Ireland was involved. I think all of the members still work in various projects of their own.

Ever heard of The Bogey Boys (late seventies)? I could find nowt on the 'net for ages and then they reformed in 2012.

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[quote name='Trueno' timestamp='1471530557' post='3113726']
Must say I've never heard of the Bogey Boys.
[/quote]

I only knew of them because my school mates were out at a pub (underage) and bootlegged the gig. I got their cassette entitled "Jimmy Did It!" and I still find it entertaining.

Seems the band had a brief run between the end of the seventies and the start of the eighties. There is some information on t'net about the 2012 reformation with two of the original band. It looks like they had some Irish bookings for that year but I see nothing after that.

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While we are on the subject of great Irish bands, does anyone remember "Ozone" ? Hard to find anything from them on You Tube. Could only find this "Soundcloud" track. Sadly only one band member is alive today.


https://soundcloud.com/mr-whippy-soundsystem/spacers-delight-9-15

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[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1471535419' post='3113801']
While we are on the subject of great Irish bands, does anyone remember "Ozone" ? Hard to find anything from them on You Tube. Could only find this "Soundcloud" track. Sadly only one band member is alive today.


[url="https://soundcloud.com/mr-whippy-soundsystem/spacers-delight-9-15"]https://soundcloud.c...rs-delight-9-15[/url]
[/quote]

If that is Noel Kelehan late of RTE then I am sorry to say that he is in full time care but they say "[font="verdana"][size="2"]He can still play the piano, read music and change key at will.[/size][/font]" I can not say when that was put on the 'net however.

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[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1471537112' post='3113818']
If that is Noel Kelehan late of RTE then I am sorry to say that he is in full time care but they say "[font=verdana][size=2]He can still play the piano, read music and change key at will.[/size][/font]" I can not say when that was put on the 'net however.
[/quote]


Yes, it is...unfortunately...[i]the late....[/i] Noel Kelehan.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Kelehan

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I was too young to remember U2s debut, but The Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree were were ubiquitous on car stereos all over Fermanagh during the 80s.
There were also a couple of summers where you couldn't go 10 minutes without hearing 'Don't go' by Hothouse Flowers.

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[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1471541207' post='3113865']
I was too young to remember U2s debut, but The Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree were were ubiquitous on car stereos all over Fermanagh during the 80s.
There were also a couple of summers where you couldn't go 10 minutes without hearing 'Don't go' by Hothouse Flowers.
[/quote]

There's a fair bit of U2 stuff that is overlooked. I did a yooboob search this morning and dug up songs like Gloria, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock, A Day Without Me, Stories for Boys. Great cheese value when you get tired of the less mature varieties.

I saw the Hothouse Flowers play a free gig at Saint Annes Park in Dublin. Superb in that setting, they were relatively new but endured as we now know.

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I saw Moving Hearts live in Caernarfon during the filming for a Welsh TV series. It was one of the best gigs I have ever seen - they had it all, including a superb bassist. They had a female singer with them who did not seem to be with them when I hunted their stuff down afterwards. Just superb.

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A band that many in Ireland, myself included, at the time thought would beat U2 to the top was The Blades.
Great songwriting, catchy tunes, but maybe a bit too idealistic to pander to the establishment to make it big.

They do a yearly re-union in Dublin...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaC47ejWmdA

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[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1471562365' post='3114107']
This is taking me back. Keep em coming.
[/quote]

Here ya go...!!!! ;)


[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YVABGFmlLQ"]https://www.youtube....h?v=2YVABGFmlLQ[/url]




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMhWll_mfGk

Edited by Coilte
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