Posted in demo with tags derry, tie the boy on November 29, 2022 by Fanning Sessions
From Derry, Tie The Boy were Kevin Williams (vocals & guitar), Peter Cunnah (guitar), Gerry Diver (bass) and Tim Hegarty (drums). They recorded two sessions for Dave Fanning and released one single on Money Records which I remember buying but can no longer locate. Thanks to irishstu68 for the demo inlay and to you know who for the tracks. Peter Cunnah of course went on to fame and fortune with D:Ream and hosted a 6 episode show ‘Beats for Better Days‘ on BBC Radio Ulster in 2021.
Now You’re Gone (1986)
The Pink Flamingo (1986) You’ve Been Talking To That Boy Again (1986)
From Derry, Rare were Mary Gallagher (vocals), Locky Morris (bass), Seán Ó’Néill (guitar) and David Whiteside (drums). They released a single ‘Set Me On Fire’ on Setanta Records (1990) but waited six years before the next on Equator Records (1996). In March 1995 they recorded this session for Dave Fanning. It was repeated by Dan Hegarty on 16th October 2021. Photo courtesy irishmusicdb. Their 1996 single ‘Something Wild‘ never fails to cheer me up but the final track of this session is fast becoming a new favourite. If anyone has more details on the band, what they did or what they are now doing please get in touch.
I honestly don’t understand how we’ve gotten this far without posting on one of, to my mind at least, the great lost Irish bands. Winners of the Smithwicks Rock & Pop Award in 1985, Kitsch Is Rich were a 4 piece band from Derry featuring the talents of Colum McKeever (guitar/vocals), Tony Morrison (guitar/vocals), Paul Edwards (bass/vocals) and Tommy Alford (drums). They can be seen on on YouTube performing this track for ‘Visual Eyes‘. Irishrock.org mentions a session for Radio Foyle and we know of a live recording broadcast by Colm Arbuckle of that same station. If you have any band recordings (was this track released as a single?) or memories of seeing/hearing them please get in touch.
We’ve long been fans of Derry’s Bam Bam & The Calling and the subsequent projects of it’s band members (Rare, Deadly Engines, The Gatefolds). We were very lucky to witness a recent solo outing by Paul which impressed by the number of new songs in the set. Today’s track is a few years old and featured on a mixtape compiled by Paul which we hope he doesn’t mind us sharing. It was recorded by Paul with his brothers Gavin and Rion in the summer of 2016. This post is dedicated to all the sung and unsung heroes on the frontline helping us get through the apocalypse in which we now find ourselves. Stay safe everyone.
Posted in Music with tags #iwd, derry, scheer on September 3, 2019 by Fanning Sessions
From Maghera and Magherafelt in County Derry, Scheer were Audrey Gallagher (vocals), Neal Calderwood (lead guitar), Paddy Leyden (rhythm guitar), PJ Doherty and later Peter Fleming (bass) and Joe Bates (drums). They recorded this session for Dave Fanning in 1994. The band released two albums, Infliction (1996) on 4AD and ‘… And Finally’ (2000) on Schism Records. Thanks to Eoin Fegan for digging out the recording.
Posted in Books, Music with tags #iwd, derry on January 28, 2019 by Fanning Sessions
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but ever since we saw Geraldine Quigley‘s debut novel we been hooked. Geraldine spoke to Sean Rocks for RTÉ Arena last week to shed some light on the book and how it came to be. Set in 1981 it’s a coming of age tale where the young protagonists do their best to ignore the Troubles and do what teenagers do best – listen to music and go to the pub. Those of you with access to Spotify might also enjoy Geraldine’s accompanying playlist .
According to IrishRock.org, Cast Of Thousands were formed in Derry by Charlie Herron (guitar), Mickey Herron (bass) and Brian McMonagle (drums) with Jim Walker (guitar) and Dave Harvey (vocals). Jim and Dave moved to London and with Greg Terry Short (drums) became a 3 piece. They released 3 singles and 1 album. This is a demo of a track later to appear on the album ‘Passion‘. They recorded one session for Janice Long and Jim has posted a number of unreleased demos on YouTube. If any of these details are incorrect please get in touch.
Some of our favourite bands come from Derry so when we heard that Radio Foyle’s Stephen McCauley was doing an ‘Electric Mainline’ special looking at some of the best alternative acts to come out of that neck of the woods in the 1990s we scrambled for a blank cassette to capture the occasion. As you might imagine the music is interspersed with some insightful details by Stephen and we hope you enjoy this as much as we did. The show featured tracks from That Petrol Emotion, The Carrellines, The Turtle Assassins, Cuckoo, Schtum (pictured), LUKiC, Gradapenda Rosindale, Clearshot, The Screaming Bin Lids, The New Capris, DJ-VU, Rare and The Deadly Engines. As usual if you have any sessions/interviews (Fanning or other) by any of these bands please get in touch. And if any other DJs feel like doing something similar for your city of choice we’d love to hear about it!
Sadly Ben E. King recently passed away at the age of 76. To commemorate Ben here’s an interview he did with Mickey Bradley back in 1986 when the soul legend visited Derry.
In 1986 Big Country toured Ireland stopping off in Derry’s Templemore Sports Complex on the way. Stuart Adamson took time out from the sound check on December 2nd 1986 to speak to Mickey Bradley for his Radio Foyle show Mickey’s Monkey. Stuart Adamson sadly passed away in 2001.
Bam Bam & The Calling are a 4 piece from Derry featuring the talents of Paul PJ McCartney (guitar, vocals), Tom Doherty (drums), John McCloskey (guitar) and Joe Brown (bass). They recorded this Fanning session on Jan 19th 1987. The band is still known to perform every couple of years and Joe Brown is currently active with veritable Derry supergroup The Gatefolds. To these ears at least the never before heard ‘Road Of The Lonely’ is a lost classic. Enjoy.
Road Of The Lonely (1987)
Only Sing (1987)
Scraping Off The Shine (1987)
Secret Meeting (1987)
Bam Bam & The Calling will play ‘A Night For Sean’ on Friday 20th September 2013 upstairs in The Gweedore Bar, Derry..
In early July the Semple family lost a dear loved one and a true gentleman, Sean and a lot of folk in Derry and further afield lost a great friend. . We’re honoured to be asked to play at this night in his memory. .Please come along and share it with us.
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)
I finally got round to watching the recent BBC4 documentary ‘Here Comes The Summer: The Undertones Story‘ and a very enjoyable experience it was. Directed & produced by Chris Wilson and narrated by actor James Nesbitt it features interviews with all band members bar Feargal Sharkey. Of particular interest were the interviews with friends and family members including the Kevin of ‘My Perfect Cousin’ fame. I found it enlightening and poignant and a worthy addition to the Undertones canon. Music agent Paul Charles makes an appearance, testifying to the power of the band’s live show. Rebroadcast on BBCFour on the eve of St Patrick’s Day 2018.
The Carrellines recorded a 5 track Fanning session in 1988 which is, surprise surprise, lost in the RTE archive. Today’s post instead features the band’s 1990 single on Car Records. Featuring Paul McLoone (vocals & guitar), Aidan Breslin (guitar, keyboards), Damien Duffy (bass, keyboards) and Billy Doherty (drums) the Derry band formed in 1986 and disbanded soon after winning the Carling/Hot Press Band Of The Year in 1990. Billy Doherty was a member of Derry’s most famous sons The Undertones whose ranks Paul McLoone was to join in 1999 when that band reformed initially for a one off gig. As anyone who has seen the most recent incarnation of The Undertones will testify the man does an impressive job of filling Fergal Sharkey’s shoes. McLoone is probably most well known however in his guise as TodayFM alternative radio show host Monday-Thursday 9pm – midnight.
Derry is 2013 UK City of Culture and to celebrate we’re going to dig out a few unsung bands from that neck of the woods. Today’s featured act Rare were Mary Gallagher (vocals), Locky Morris (bass), Seán Ó’Néill (guitar) and David Whiteside (drums). Seán or John O’Neill was of course a former member of The Undertones and That Petrol Emotion. The band’s first release ‘Set Me On Fire’ appeared on Setanta Records and also featured Paul PJ McCartney of Bam Bam & The Calling. This particular recording is from a performance at the Derry Centre for Contemporary Art on 12th January 2013 and comes courtesy Jim Cunningham who has been documenting live music in Derry for the last 25 years.
The names Raymond Gorman, Ciaran McLaughlin, Brendan Kelly and Damian O’Neill might ring a bell but if not they represent four-fifths of an influential band that went under the name That Petrol Emotion. That band performed a flurry of gigs in 2009 but the fifth member of the band, singer Steve Mack who lives and works in the U.S. is presently coping with his latest gig as a father. Following a 3 song low key performance in March as The Hoodlum Angels the remaining four members are about to tread the boards once again. They have a new name – The Everlasting Yeah and have just been announced as one of the support acts at an upcoming gig by quintessential indie pop band The June Brides in London’s 229 venue on Friday 9th November. Also performing on the night and also needing no introduction will be C86 indie band The Wolfhounds. These three bands make a mouth watering prospect and I’m sure an excellent night awaits. Tickets available here. Update: The first gig was a big success and now a second gig has just been announced – Oxford on Sat 8 December details to follow.
Two Derry bands of a classic vintage Bam Bam & The Calling and Cuckoo are performing on Saturday 14th July in Bound For Boston as part of Derry’s Link Fest along with a who’s who of the maiden city’s musicians.
Link Fest is a new festival taking place in the bars and venues of Waterloo street and beyond. Set up to showcase the talent within the city of Derry and to have a great weekend of top class local music, the festival will take place on the 13th and 14th of July.
Between Masons, The Castle, Bound for Boston, Gweedore and The Playhouse over 30 acts will perform. Confirmed bands include.. Little Bear, Libidoswitch, Grace and Mercy, Intermission, Cuckoo, Nucturn, The Lost, Wood Burning Savages, Making Monsters, Soak, Best Boy Grip, Our Krypton Son, Conor Mason, Connor Hutcheon, Seneron, Triggerman, Acari, John Deery and the Heads, By Any Means, Thumpin Jellyfish, Johanna Fegan, Mars Field, Shine May Sun, Hazard Harry, Jack Craig, James Quigley, Conor McAteer, Balls Deep, Lost Avenue, Wyldling, Rozza, Zia Regime, Exit Pursued by Bear, The Murder Balladeers, macroom, the reverb, lochenlode, MOTH, Levity Breaks, Erin Mitchell, Bam Bam and The Calling, Controlled Conflict, Dead ‘Til Friday, Nozone, Astralnaut, Apache, Balkan Alien Sound, Death to Johnny, Soilsiu, Denis McLaughlin, Ryan O’Doherty
Formed in Derry in 1975 by Feargal Sharkey (vocals), Damian O’Neill (guitar), John O’Neill (guitar), Michael Bradley (bass) and Billy Doherty (drums). The Undertones debut single ‘Teenage Kicks’, was released on Terri Hooley’s Good Vibrations label in 1978 and so enamoured Radio One DJ John Peel that he declared it his “favourite record of all time”.
when saturday comes
i don’t know
the love parade
untouchable
teenage kicks
chain of love
lets talk about girls
conscious
jump boys
It appears influential Derry band Bam Bam & The Calling never actually broke up. To coincide with two upcoming dates in local venue Sandinos they have even embraced facebook. I’d expect these tickets to be snapped up quickly so fans of northern post punk get your skates on!
Bam Bam and The Calling play their first headline shows in almost 20 years in Sandinos, Derry on 9th and 10th September. The most well known line up featuring John McCloskey, Tom Doherty, Joe Brown and Paul PJ McCartney remains intact and the band will be augmented by Rion McCartney from The Murder Balladeers. In their 28 year on/off existence, the band have made many friends both locally and abroad and hope to continue this when they come to spend the weekend in Water Street. This promises to be a very special event from a band with an incredible and exciting repetoire of songs, and who regard themselves to be on top of their game.
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.
Fans of Neil Hannon / The Divine Comedy are sure to enjoy this show from the archives. It dates from 11th August 1998 when Neil dropped in to the TodayFM studios to talk to John Kelly about the upcoming Divine Comedy album ‘Fin De Siecle‘ and to chose some favourite songs. John Kelly’s show at that time was the ‘Eclectic Ballroom’ which he presented until 2000 when he moved to RTE to drive the ‘Mystery Train‘.
The Divine Comedy – Life On Earth (Fin De Siecle)
The Walker Brothers – The Electrician
The Divine Comedy – Sunrise
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
The Divine Comedy – Thrill Seeker
The Divine Comedy – Commuter Love
Ginny Arnell – I Wish I Knew What Dress To Wear (1964)
The Simpsons – Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?
The Divine Comedy – National Express
Prince – If I Was Your Girlfriend
The Divine Comedy – Sweden
Nino Rota – Something from ‘La Strada’
Mickeys Monkey was a short lived radio show on BBC Radio Foyle in Derry hosted by Michael Bradley, then ex member of The Undertones who had called it a day in 1983. The show started in July 1986 and ran for 6 months before Mickey moved on to host a series ‘But Is It Art?’ for BBC Radio Ulster. The first guests were That Petrol Emotion just as Manic Pop Thrill was released and other interviewees included Ben E King (The Drifters), Michael Schenker (Scorpions) and Stuart Adamson (Big Country) all of whom played in Derry during that time.
It came about when I returned to Derry in 1985 and the boss of Radio Foyle at the time, Joe Mahon, saw me in reception while I was waiting to see a producer called Maureen Gallagher. I was kind of hoping to do something on radio, as I had nothing else to do but attend the Tech in Derry. Maureen showed me how to operate a desk and a tape recorder and Joe Mahon obviously thought it would be worth giving me a wee show as I was a former Undertone. I enjoyed it a lot, although it was nerve shredding as I had to operate the desk and the whole show was live.
Mickey went on to host the Friday night edition of ‘Across The Line’ on BBC Radio Ulster. Mickey’s current show ‘After Midnight‘ is transmitted on BBC Radio Ulster on Thursdays at midnight and can be heard for 7 days online. Read his playlists and blog here.
Formed around the larger than life character that was Domhnall MacDermott, the original line up was Domhnall (vocals), Willie Doherty (vocals), Gerry McCauley (guitar), Seamus Cassidy (guitar), Tony Vail (bass) and John Coyle (drums). There followed a number of line up changes that included Domhnall’s brother Feargal, Colm McKeever, Tommy Olphert and Ciaran McLaughlin but the ethos of the band never changed. Drink, play and have fun doing it. The band did manage to get support slots with The Radiators From Space who were then emerging out of the Dublin scene and with, of all bands, Horslips, at the Culdaff Arms. By all accounts this was a legendary performance.
The band’s “back catalogue” comprises one studio tape of the infamous “Kevin Mahon” (think the Skids TV Stars), a tribute to the Derry City player. Rumour has it that the recording was so bad that the local radio station asked people to pledge money to charity before they would take it off air. A small fortune was donated. The final line up was Domhnall MacDermott, Gerry McCauley, Mickey Griffiths (often drunk, rarely sober) and Niall McKeever. They continued to perform sporadically in the late eighties and early nineties until the untimely death of Domhnall MacDermott in September 1994 at the age of thirty five.
According to Garbhan Downey, Mickey O’Donnell was also briefly a member before they threw him out when they discovered he knew all three chords.
From Punk in Derry The Undertones’ John O’Neill on Domhnall:
“The one day, during the summer of 1976 I remember someone telling me that there was a guy who had the first Velvet Underground LP and was more or less the same age as us. When we heard about someone else who had a record collection of stuff that we had no chance of ever hearing or ordering in Derry, it didn’t take us long to invite ourselves round to his house. As well as having the first two Velvets’ records he had records by The Stooges, The New York Dolls, The Doors and the Nuggets compilation!!! It was love at first sight!
Bravely, Domhnall (or as we knew him then, Wombat) allowed us to borrow his records over the next few weeks. Borrowing one or two at a time seemed a reasonable compromise, we wanted them all at once but we could see he was rightly a bit wary of us and in retrospect he definitely was taking a chance with these precious pieces of vinyl. Once taken home though, we plundered, pillaged, soaked up and outright nicked as much as we could. In fact the reason we chose the name The Undertones was because we thought it sounded like one of the garage bands off ‘Nuggets’. The rest, as they say, is history. The Ramones first LP was released later that year, there were reports of a growing Punk scene in England and everything sort of clicked into place as we started to write our own songs ‘borrowing’ heavily from The Ramones, The New York Dolls and The Stooges. Domhnall had got most of his records in the first place sent up to him from Dublin by a certain Phil Chevron, who went on to form the Radiators from Space (and was later a member of the Pogues) and who subsequently gave us our first shows in Dublin in 1977.
Domhnall himself went on to form ‘Dick Tracy and the Green Disaster’ and I remember bumping into him one day, telling him how much I really liked one of his songs called ‘Action Comics’ and how great a title it was. I always remember him saying to me that he had better get it copyrighted quick as I had stolen so much from him as it was, that he wasn’t going to take any more chances, which was about right!!! They say life is all about fate, well, it was a pleasure to have got to know Domhnall and it was certainly a life changing experience for me borrowing his records and basically getting his support at a time when sticking your neck out in Derry inevitably meant verbal and physical abuse. A true fan and lovely guy. With any luck he is up in heaven singing along with Johnny Thunders and Dee Dee and Joey Ramone. And, I never did steal that title!”
Kevin Mahon / Interview with Domhnall MacDermott (1986)
From Derry, Hex Opera were Sean Campbell (lead vocals, guitar), Gary Hume (backing vocals, guitar) Jeff Beales (bass) & Brian McMonagle (drums). According to Mickey Bradley‘s introduction they disbanded in 1986. I’m guessing the demo dates from the same year but if anyone knows better please let me know. The tracklisting on the demo was ‘Wasted’, ‘Rosanna’ and ‘She Said’. Thank you Jeff for the photo.
Fear Of Gods hail from Derry and feature from what I can gather Karl Dunnion (vocals), Jim Curran (bass) and Marty Melarkey (drums). This particular recording is of a demo played by Mickey Bradley on his Radio Foyle show Mickey’s Monkey. Marty Melarkey is currently director of The Nerve Centre in Derry where Jim Curran is Video Department Manager and course tutor. Both were instrumental in the formation of that organization. If you have further details on Fear Of Gods please get in touch.
Gradapenda Rosindale formed in June 1990 when Sean Mason and Sean Pemberton began demoing songs and playing gigs around Derry in Northern Ireland. The line-up of the band finally settled into Stephen Doherty (guitar), Andy O’Doherty (drums), Sean Mason (bass, vocals), and Sean Pemberton (guitar, vocals).
This line-up recorded the Exit EP in Forge Brae Studios in Donegal and it was released in the summer of 1992. The release was followed by airplay on various radio stations (including three plays by John Peel), reviews in the music press, and gigs around Ireland, including Dublin, Belfast, and Cork.
In February 1993, shortly after recording this Fanning Session, Gradapenda Rosindale split up.
Control Hello Joe Flowers For Sale Love Like The Bomb
Dave says they are from Belfast but Myspace says Tie The Boy hailed from Derry. We’ve already featured what turned out to be their second session but this is their first visit to studio 8. Recorded on December 1st 1986 the session featured 4 tracks, ‘Blame It On Me’, ‘My Pleasure’, ‘More Than Love’ and ‘Kerry Babies’.
Tie The Boy were formed in 1982 in Derry by Kevin Williams (vocals), Peter Cunnah (guitar), Gerry Diver (bass), Tim Hegarty (drums). They self released a single in 1986 ‘Limbo’ / ‘Voyeur Love’ on Money Records which received airplay on BBC Radio 1. They recorded two sessions for Dave Fanning in the late 80s and one for BBC’s Janice Long. Peter Cunnah went on to significant success with D:REAM performing music very different from the tracks you are about to hear. I believe these tracks are from a 1988 Fanning session.. I also have tracks from a later session so will post those soon (here). There’s a 2006 Hot Press interview with Peter Cunnah about his post D:REAM project Shane here.
Cast Of Thousands in the Railway Tavern, Fahan, Co. Donegal (20th October 1985) with Caron Keating RIP, Jackie Hamilton, Ronan Hayden, Dave Harvey, Mark Megannety and Jim Walker (C) Jim Cunningham
Over the years I’ve been to many a gig. Some of the bigger names that should have left a greater impression I remember nothing of and only have the ticket stub to remind me I was there. Others by bands that have since disappeared into oblivion have left indelible impressions on my mind and can still be recalled clearly 24 years later. One such act was Derry band Cast Of Thousands. From the moment they took the stage gradually, each member picking up his instrument and joining in until finally singer Dave Harvey bounds on stage apparently just in time to launch into the vocals of the first song I knew this band meant business. At one point Harvey in his exertions managed to fall flat on his back but he continued singing as if it was all part of the act. Myself and a friend blagged our way backstage afterwards for a chat and ended up getting dropped off by the band as they continued into the night towards Dublin and the ferry back to London.
Cast Of Thousands (or is it Cast Of 1,000’s?) were formed in Derry in 1986 by Jim Walker (guitar) with Dave Harvey (vocals) and Greg Terry Short (drums). Jim Walker was previously in punk act The Sect (watch ‘Crisis after Crisis’ from 1981) while Harvey was a member of Donegal jazz-funk act Quarterdeck. Here is a discography which does some excellent detective work but also relies heavily on the IPNWD entry which I believe in this instance is not definitive. Watch videos for ‘Harp Street‘ and ‘Nothing Is Forever‘ or performing on BBC NI ‘Channel One‘ or interviewed on French TV. Walker is currently treading the boards with covers band The Jaywalkers, most recently playing a Gweedore Bar reunion in the Tower Hotel, Derry.
The following track is the B side to the second single ‘Nothing Is Forever’.
Bam Bam And The Calling formed in Derry in 1983 and in the early days had a somewhat changeable lineup with Paul PJ McCartney being the one constant. Raymond Gorman was an early member before leaving for London with Sean O’Neill to form That Petrol Emotion. The band lineup settled around McCartney (guitar, vocals), Tom Doherty (drums), John McCloskey (guitar) and Joe Brown (bass). They moved to London where they released two singles; ‘Scraping Off The Shine‘ in 1987 and ‘Neck Tattoo’ in 1988 before calling it a day. Bam Bam & The Calling recorded a Fanning session on 19th January 1987 featuring tracks ‘Road Of The Lonely’, ‘Only Sing’, ‘Scraping Off The Shine’ and ‘ Secret Meeting’. Paul McCartney featured on an EP by Sean O’Neill’s post That Petrol Emotion project Rare in 1990 and in 1992 released an album “Entrance” on Setanta Records with The Deadly Engines. These tracks are from a demo of unknown provenance, if you have details or even better a recording of the Fanning session it goes without saying, we’d love to hear from you.
In the absence of an official RTE Fanning Session archive consider this blog a humble starting point. Any musical submissions would be gratefully accepted as are any corrections or recollections... click on the pic to send an email or even better comment on the post in question. We are interested in anything recorded from irish radio or TV in the 1980s and 90s.
According to IrishRock.org, 
Tie The Boy
The Fanning Sessions Archive 