Paul Cleary interview with Pat Kenny (1986)

http://www.broadsheet.ie/tag/paul-cleary/

Paul Cleary, founder and lead singer of the recently defunct Blades, now with new band The Partisans talking to Pat Kenny in 1986 about school, early careers and what he might have done if music had not intervened. Paul talks about why The Blades called it a day, who The Partisans are and what they’ll be doing. He also explains why he didnt perform at Self Aid. Thanks to Mick for digging this out.

Paul Cleary part 1

Paul Cleary part 2

The Blades (1980 Session)

The 1981 Blades session has already featured but today it is the turn of the first incarnation of that band and their 1980 Fanning session.

The 1980 session features the original three-piece with Paul Cleary and his brother Lar, with Pat Larkin on the drums with some cover versions not available elsewhere. The line-up for the 1981 session featured Brian Foley on bass, and Jake Reilly on drums. RTE 2fm

‘Walk Back Renee’ (1980)

‘Breaking Out Of The Ruts’ (1980)

The Blades (1981 Session)

Today we have a second track from The Blades 1981 Fanning session. Another track, ‘Downmarket’ from the same session can be found here. By the way, the ‘Blades In Concert‘ post is now officially the most viewed item on this blog, nudging Light A Big Fire into second place.

Me & My Girl (1981)

The Blades (1981 Session)

A band that needs no introduction and one that has achieved near mythical status in the Dublin music scene.  The great unsolved mystery is how they didn’t become huge. The original 1977 Blades lineup was Paul Cleary (vocals & bass), his brother Lawrence or Lar Cleary (guitar) and Pat Larkin (drums). They recorded a session for Dave Fanning in 1981 and this track underlines their quality, sounding amazing 30 years on. A second band lineup in 1982 featured Paul Cleary (guitar), Brian Foley ex. The Vipers (bass) and Jake Reilly (drums). Read the bio on the Irish Punk & New Wave Discography for more details. Recommended listening is the ‘Those Were The Days‘  box set which includes their only album release ‘The Last Man In Europe’ (1985) and a second posthumous singles compilation ‘Raytown Revisited‘. With thanks to ParnellMooney for this particular YouTube upload, checkout ReekusUnfare for some Blades as well as other Reekus artist footage.