Re-energize by Gary Mitchell (music composed by John and Damian O’Neill of The Undertones)

Written by one of Northern Ireland’s leading playwrights Gary Mitchell, ‘Re-energize’ is set thirty years after ‘Punk-tastic’ success of ‘Energy’, where a wannabe punk band rehearsed, bickered and tried to get their act together for that all-important first gig.

Now with music composed by John and Damian O’Neill of The Undertones, and under the direction of the highly esteemed Conall Morrison, the band members re-unite to do one last gig to prove to themselves, each other, their annoying teenage children that they could have been somebody…

Derry is currently UK City Of Culture 2013 and The Playhouse is presenting Re-energize a play written by Gary Mitchell and directed by Conall Morrison. The show runs from Monday 13th May until Saturday 18th May at 8pm. Paul McCartney, himself a veteran of the punk era (Graffiti, Bam Bam & The Calling) reviewed the play for Radio Foyle show Pure Culture and as he says get down the street and see it!

Pure Culture review by Paul PJ McCartney (15th May 2013)

At The Window – The Waltz (1989)

Paul Lehane (left) and Nick Knight

I recently came across a promo video on YouTube by long time site favourites At The Window. The track ‘The Waltz’ was recorded in London in 1989 and released on a 12″ EP. It turns out Eamonn Linehan of the band has been with RTÉ lyric fm since 2002 and currently hosts ‘The Blue Of The Night‘ on Friday through Sunday nights. I’ll let Eamonn take up the story..

Shannon was not your typical Irish town. Still isn’t, in fact. In Shannon, Eamonn soon befriended Donal Fean, a music lover who lived on the same housing estate. A younger brother of Johnny Fean of Horslips, Donal was the first person Eamonn met who owned albums by Captain Beefheart, Stravinsky and Eric Dolphy. Donal had even seen Frank Zappa in concert!

Attending his very first day at an English university, Eamonn hooked up with a kindred spirit who soon showed a similar indifference to the degree he was taking: guitarist Nick Knight. Nick is the only genius Eamonn is certain he’s met in his life so far. (You won’t have heard of Nick – such is the nature of the music business. Eamonn hopes to record with him again one day soon). Eamonn, Nick and drummer Paul Lehane founded the oddly-named At the Window during the early 1980s. (The band-name derived from a Clive James book of TV criticism – “the window does not very much shape the world; only, temporarily, what we see”).

When the trio decided to make a demo tape of original tunes, it was recorded on Donal Fean’s 4-track (portastudio) in Shannon. Created in a local hall over the Easter weekend of 1983, Donal’s recording captured the essence of the band’s sound far better than subsequent sessions made in professional studios in the UK. Broadcaster Dave Fanning became a fan. An A&R scout called Russ Conway twice recommended At The Window to the board of Phonogram Records (the label’s roster of acts included The Fall, Big Country, Dire Straits and Tears For Fears). And, despite the assistance of a former manager of The Stranglers and an ally at Warner Chappell music publishers, nothing came of a move to London.

The Waltz (1989)

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Dublin music fans were up in arms when PhantomFM cancelled the much loved ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down‘ show last year. They as well as Cork and Limerick radio listeners now have a second chance to enjoy the show on recently launched 8Radio. Last week’s playlist included Low, Smog, The Go-Betweens, Serafina Steer, Beth Orton, DJ Shadow, Smithereens, Grant Lee Buffalo, Suicide, Madrugada, Dexys, Cowboy Junkies, Public Service Broadasting, Tracey Thorn, The Smithereens and The Tycho Brahe. 8radio has a 15 week weekend licence and broadcasts on FM from midnight Friday until midnight Sunday. Tara Gleeson aka Pearl can be heard on Sunday mornings from 9am – 12 noon at 94.3FM in Dublin, 105.5 in Limerick, 106.7 in Cork or via the stations website.

Ten Speed Racer

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since one of my favourite bands called it a day. Joe Chester, Pat, John and Dermot Barrett and Terry Cullen in other words the band that was Ten Speed Racer are having an impromptu reunion this Friday upstairs in Whelan’s. Originally listed as a gig by The Hedge Schools (Pat’s post 10sr solo project with Joe), all 5 original 10sr members will be on stage which is no mean feat given that a number of them no longer live in the country. Dermot and Joe (who produced Ryan Sheridan’s album, currently at the top of the German charts) will appear on Colm
O’Sullivan‘s TodayFM show tonight. If anyone has any sessions please get in touch.

Joe & Dermot with Tom Dunne (3rd May 2013)

Joe & Dermot on TodayFM (1st May 2013)

‘The Bands That Nearly Made It’ Dave Fanning (Irish Independent, 20th April 2013)

Dave Fanning had a two page spread in last weekend’s Irish Independent titled ‘The Bands That Nearly Made It‘. In it he recounts the story of his early days at RTE when himself and Ian Wilson started the Fanning Sessions and what that meant to up and coming Irish bands of the time. Dave then gives a nod to Rodriguez and Gilbert O’Sullivan before turning to Stephen Ryan of The Stars of Heaven and The Revenants (did they do a Fanning session?). Others mentioned are Paul Cleary, Gerry Leonard, liR and The Undertones. Read the full article online, thank you to Reekus Records for the image.

John Peel plays ‘Teenage Kicks’ twice in a row (1978)

I saw ‘Good Vibrations‘ a second time and enjoyed it just as much as first time round. Favourite scenes include Terri’s first listen to ‘Teenage Kicks’ and John Peel playing said record. Congratulations to all who played a part in making the movie a reality. As a tribute here’s something I came across recently..

It’s been well documented over the years both in magazine articles and various TV interviews that John Peel played this record twice in a row stating, ‘I’m going to do something I’ve never done before’. This is also what he says in the excellent ‘Good Vibrations’ film. It’s sort of gone down in Undertones folk law. Interestingly though (unless he played it twice in a row on two occasions which I don’t think he did) he didn’t actually say that – as this clip proves. I believe there are two reasons why this misconception has arisen. Firstly, as far as I am aware, this sound bite has not been available to hear since its broadcast in 1978 and, secondly in subsequent interviews Peel stated that he played the record twice in a row and hadn’t ever done that before. So this statement became part of what he actually said at the time with nothing to prove otherwise.

It’s all semantics of course. All that matters is that he played this awesome record twice.

Fanning Interviews (1986)

Fanning Interviews (1986)