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Backwards Into Paradise – the cassette that landed the Setanta deal

We recently posted a number of tracks from David Long, but today we have the contents of a cassette David had a hand in namely Backwards Into Paradise. Said cassette gets a mention in a recent interview David did with Nick Kelly of the Irish Independent:

“We did so many things wrong. We were naive,” he said. “We’d been in different bands since the age of 17 until we got signed, when I was 26. We were a long time doing rehearsals and playing small gigs and getting nowhere, so when the chance did come we were more shocked that anyone had an interest.”

That interest came from a London-based Dubliner who was looking for Irish bands to sign to his new independent record label.

David says: “Keith Cullen from Setanta went into Comet Records in Dublin and bought a DIY cassette of our music. The cover had a photo of a girl and a building. He rang me up to say he was interested in signing us to this new label called Setanta. Then he rang back two weeks later to say he was going to get Adrian Borland from The Sound to produce it. I couldn’t believe it.

“We were so lucky. I don’t think we would have got anywhere if Keith hadn’t bought that cassette. At that time we were called Backwards Into Paradise – I think it was Keith who suggested we shorten the name.”

David has fond memories of the period in Dublin in the late 1980s when so many good new bands emerged.

“When I was 17 or 18, me and Shane O’Neill from Blue In Heaven used to go to a place called The Magnet Bar on Pearse Street,” he said. “They used to have The Bodice Gigs where The Blades, Microdisney, Nun Attax, Chant Chant Chant all played. It was a brilliant scene.

“You had Rollerskate Skinny, Power Of Dreams, A House, Something Happens. The Stars Of Heaven were another great band. Nobody had any money. There was nothing happening in Dublin. It was simpler. No one was into music as a career; it was just a bit of fun.”

David’s album ‘Water Has Memory’ is available on iTunes or at Tower Records. Keep up to date with his activities via the Into Paradise facebook page.

backwardsintoparadisefront

backwardsintoparadiseback

BiP2

BiP1

01. Everything

02. Low

03. Out Of Here

04. Hope

05. Peace Of Paradise

06. I Want You

07. These Days

08. Winter

This entry was posted on April 8, 2013 at 8:53 pm and is filed under demo, Music with tags , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “Backwards Into Paradise – the cassette that landed the Setanta deal”

  1. Pete Cole Says:
    April 8, 2013 at 9:40 pm

    A fascinating insight .

  2. ELXOSE80 Says:
    April 9, 2013 at 3:07 am

    Thanks for sharing this outstanding Pre-Into Paradise cassette.
    I love those Irish-Guitars …

  3. Simon Says:
    April 9, 2013 at 5:07 am

    What a find. Some great tracks here. Pretty ageless stuff.

  4. Thomas Erbsloh Says:
    April 9, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    this brings back memories. I used to live in Dublin from 89 – 94. During that time I was a big fan of Into Paradise (though I did not know any of them). I regularly went to the New Inn in Clanbrassil Street (now knocked for road widening) to see them, Slowest Clock, Blue Angels, Engine Alley, Honeythieves … the list goes on. Apart from Into Paradise a That Petrol Emotion “secret” gig prior to the Trinity Ball was one of the highlights. The New Inn was a kip, leaking & doomed to b e knocked, but I loved the gigs there – so intimate.
    Also recall a IP gig in McGonagles with Rachel walking off stage. I`m still looking for a CD copy of the first IP album – I have it on vinyl, along with rest of their stuff in both formats, also the Comet compilation & the BIP 7-inch

  5. alphi Says:
    April 10, 2013 at 9:08 am

    Interesting find!

    Is a lossless version available somewhere else ?

  6. danny Says:
    April 12, 2013 at 10:00 am

    What a band, great songs…brings back memories..I used to play in Dublin with Donegal band Ego Minefield during late 80s early 90s, seen these guys playing…great to hear these songs again!!

  7. Headaake Says:
    April 15, 2013 at 11:53 am

    Totally let them pass me by at the time, and even when Uaneen Fitzsimons was playing ‘Move Over’ on No Disco, I still didn’t check them out – and then last year, I picked up a CD of Churchtown and have since got all their albums – brilliant, brilliant stuff

  8. auldtapes Says:
    April 18, 2013 at 9:09 am

    Brilliant! Love that comment from alphi – but there was no such thing as lossless in the days of Backwards into Paradise, and that is not where the value is.

    So now in these days of endless storage there is so little worth keeping, let alone loosing and then finding on fanning sessions.

  9. Fanning Sessions Says:
    April 24, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    And look what the cat dragged in – another cassette copy this time with jacket! Adding scans and will rerip for alphi or is that alphie 😉

  10. Thomas Hingst Says:
    June 24, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    Sorry if this question is stupid. Is it possible to download the tracks or are they intended for listening only? Would love to have them on my portables. Thanks!

  11. nlgbbbblth Says:
    July 20, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    Into Paradise’s Under The Water seems to be impossible to find on CD. I bought the LP in Comet during the summer of 1990 and have come across it a few times since, but the CD is extremely elusive. One popped up on Discogs last year but by the time I got the alert it had been sold.

    Curiously the US album known as Into Paradise is easy enough to find for cents.

    The CD of For No One is another tough pull whereas Down All The Days is reasonably common. I still think Churchtown is their masterpiece though.

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