The Divine Comedy

In 1996 flush with the success of hit single ‘Something for the Weekend’ Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy dropped into the RTE studios for a chat with Dave Fanning where he played a few tunes for good measure. Many thanks to the excellent ‘a short site‘ for providing this recording, a high quality version of which can be found here. If anyone has a copy of the 1989 Fanning session we would love to hear it.

‘Becoming More Like Alfie‘

Interview Part 1

‘When The Lights Go Out All Over Europe’

Interview Part 2

‘Songs Of Love‘

The Young Offenders

With origins in Cork, London based  The Young Offenders were formed by ex Sultan Of Ping Alan McFeely (bass) his brother Ciaran McFeely (vocals), Steve Hackett (guitar), and Brian Dunlea (drums). Although the band were much feted, Ciaran McFeely jumped ship before they could record an album due to disenchantment with record business. He went on to release two well received albums as the now defunct Simple Kid. Alan McFeely and Steve Hackett formed London based Sister in 2005.  Discogs shows two Young Offenders releases on Columbia, the ‘Science Fiction’ EP and a single ‘That’s Why We Lose Control’ both released in 1998. This track is from a 1996 Fanning session.

Ballad Of The Young Offenders (1996)

That’s Why We Lose Control (

Juniper

Juniper were formed in 1991 by Dodi Ma (vocals), Paul Noonan (drums), Dominic Phillips (bass) and Brian Crosby (guitar) in Celbridge, Co Kildare. David Geraghty joined in 1993. Juniper released two EPs ‘The J-Plane’ (1994) and ‘Manna’ (1996) and two singles ‘Weatherman‘ (1998) and ‘World Is Dead’ (1998). They recorded a Fanning session in 1996 featuring tracks ‘Expensive Silence’, ‘Then Go’, ‘Never’ and ‘Deliverance’. In 1998 following a disagreement with their record label Dodi Ma quit the band and moved to Tuscany. The remaining band members regrouped as Bellx1 with Paul Noonan on vocals and are about to release their sixth album ‘Bloodless Coup’. Dodi Ma reverted to his real name Damien Rice and released ‘O’ in 2002 which achieved considerable success worldwide.

Then Go (1996)

The Brilliant Trees

From Finglas in Dublin, The Brilliant Trees were formed in 1990 by Alan Hoey (vocals, guitar), Tony Barrett (guitar), Sid Barrett (bass) and Dave Farrell (drums). Named after a David Sylvian solo album, they recorded a Fanning Session in 1996 from whence this track is taken (apologies for the poor audio quality, if anyone managed to record this during the Dan Hegarty rebroadcast please drop a line). The first album ‘Friday Night‘ (1996) can be purchased digitally for the price of a pint from Indiecater Records.

If I Die (1996)