From Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, the Midwich Cuckoos were Marty McElroy (bass and vocals), Frank McGirr & David Meade. Marty was previously in a 2 piece called Verbal Shark Stampede with Alec McGinley (guitar) and a drum machine. They recorded this session for Dave Fanning in 1987. Thank you Daithi for the band details and Irene for the correction.
Smell Of Petrol (1987)
Image Impression (1987)
Sold Religion (1987)
Birthday Cracker (1987)
An early 33rd Hurricane – Finbarr & Denis Doherty, Neil & John McGrory
From Inishowen in Co.Donegal, 33rd Hurricane were Finbarr Doherty (vocals, guitar), Liam Bradley (drums, backing vocals), Delilah Cuddihy (keyboards, backing vocals), John McGrory (guitar), and Neil McGrory (bass). Finbarr Doherty released his third solo album ‘Skyscrapers’ in 2011. Check out previous posts on the band here
Ships & Planes (1990)
Do You Know (1990)
Shotgun Blast (1990)
Buffaloes (1990)
Their Fanning session is a favourite round these parts but this newly uncovered demo seems apt given that two members of this band, Fiona and Irene aka The Pender Sisters are to perform on Saturday 28th September at The Steam Punk Club in Dromahair.
From Ballyshannon in Co.Donegal The Wild Herrings are John Kane (guitar), Fiona Pender (vocals and sax), Irene Pender (vocals), Patsy O Kane (bass) and Michael Christie (drums). Apparently their set was one of the highlights of the Hennigans reunion last year.
Love On The Dole
Sellafield
Donegal outfit Quarterdeck were to later achieve success with a female vocalist, Lorraine Walls but the lineup for their debut single in 1984 on Toby label was Billy Robinson (bass), Shaun McCarron (sax), Paul Miller (keyboards), Laurence Doherty (drums), Dave Harvey (vocals) and Jimmy Simmons (guitar?). Harvey would later see success with Derry band Cast Of Thousands. Quarterdeck released three further singles on Bus Records, ‘Strange Town’, ‘Nada‘ and ‘The Last War’. Thanks to regular contributor John for digging this one out, if you would like your own copy it can be had on eBay for €17.
In For The Kill (1984)
The Rhythm (1984)
Observant readers will remember Finbarr Doherty from Carndonagh band 33rd Hurricane. 33rd Hurricane were Finbarr (vocals, guitar), Liam Bradley (drums, backing vocals), Delilah Cuddihy (keyboards, backing vocals), John McGrory (guitar), and Neil McGrory (bass). The band appeared on RTE TV in the early 1990s on shows On The Waterfront and 2fm Beatbox.
Finbarr is still treading the boards and can be seen on February 11th in Dublin’s Workmans Club where he shares a double header with fellow Inishowen natives The Henry Girls for a recession busting €10. Finbarr released his third solo album ‘Skyscrapers’ in July 2011.
The Henry Girls have just released their fourth album ‘December Moon’ and have embarked on an extensive tour of Ireland and Germany.
These two 33rd Hurricane compositions can be found on the Danceline Records ‘Nationwide Vol 2‘ compilation.
Goodbye (1989)
December Days (1989)
From Letterkenny, Co. Donegal Ego Minefield were Mark Bradley (vocals/guitar), Danny McTaggart (guitar), Marty McElroy (bass) and John Lafferty (drums). They released two singles on Danceline Records, ‘All In Your Mind’ (1990) and ‘Fear of Falling’ (1990). These two tracks appeared on the Danceline cassette ‘Nationwide 3’. Sadly Mark Bradley passed away suddenly in August this year.
All In Your Mind (1989)
Strange To Me (1989)
Not many details to hand I’m afraid, not to be confused with the UK act of the same name, the Midwich Cuckoos were from Donegal and this is a demo that Dave Fanning played on his show in the early 80s. Even the Great Irish Rock Discography has few details so if you can remember the band or indeed were in the band we’d love to hear from you..
‘Wonderful‘ (Demo)
This Carndonagh Co. Donegal band based around Finbarr Doherty have featured here twice already but I’d never seen any footage of them performing. Until now that is. Watch them here on RTE’s live music show ‘On The Waterfront‘. I have quite a bit more where this came from so if you have any requests lets hear them. Thank you to the reader who sent me the DVD from whence this came.
The Malfunctions have already featured as have The Wild Herrings from whence this Ballyshannon act evolved but they are in my mind because Fiona and Irene Pender again gracing the stage this time as The Pender Sisters. I have yet to read any reviews of those gigs so if anyone would like to drop a line or post some recordings please do. This track is taken from the 1989 Danceline Records compilation Nationwide.
Don’t Kick Me Now (1989)
Donegal doesn’t seem to be doing too bad, first The Wild Herrings and now today’s contribution who hail from Carndonagh. They are called 33rd Hurricane and this is a great demo track called ‘Like A Dream’. The quality is decidedly lo-fi but maybe that’s why it works so well. This was recorded from the radio in 1989. The normally reliable IPNWD has no entry but does list the presence of tracks ‘Goodbye’ and ‘December Days’ on the 1989 Danceline Records compilation ‘Nationwide 2’. They released one single I know of ‘Shotgun Blast’ / ‘Till I Find You’.
Update: 33rd Hurricane were Finbarr Doherty (vocals, guitar), Liam Bradley (drums, backing vocals), Delilah Cuddihy (keyboards, backing vocals), John McGrory (guitar), and Neil McGrory (bass). Finbarr wrote all the songs and ‘Like A Dream’ was recorded on a cassette 4 track recorder.
Finbarr Doherty is now performing as a solo artsist and has released albums ‘Across the Water‘ (1997) and most recently ‘Skyscrapers’ (2011). Check out his music on breakingtunes or on MySpace
Like A Dream (Demo)
Updated following some great comments so make sure to read them. Look forward to more feedback and thanks for taking the time to post!
Photo (c) Irene Pender
The Wild Herrings were formed in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal in 1985 and remained active until 1987. The band consisted of John Kane (guitar), Fiona Pender (vocals and sax), Irene Pender (vocals), Patsy O Kane (bass) and Michael Christie (drums). Four of the Wild Herrings went on to form punk-pop group The Malfunctions who reached 27 in the single charts. The Malfunctions (minus singer Fiona) became Georgia who knocked Bryan Adams off number 1 with their single “Sends Me High” on Danceline Records only to be disqualified because too many of the sales were in the north-west of Ireland! Micheal Christie is currently active with The Boxtie Band. I never managed to see them live, maybe they didn’t make it as far south as Limerick but have read of a Bundoran gig. I was lucky enough to catch their Fanning Session though and thankfully record it. The quality isn’t great but hopefully that won’t detract too much from what I think are some standout tunes. Without further ado..
Update: Fiona and Irene are back gigging again as The Pender Sisters and have played a couple of shows in Derry at Sandinos and Cafe Del Mondo. They are playing a post Christmas show in Dicey Reilly’s bar in Ballyshannon on December 27th from 10.30 to 12.30 if you’d like to catch them.
Up Donegal
Buy Me A Drink
Fat Politicians
Crash & Burn
 | Tim Barron on Métisse radio documentary |
 | Joe on Grasshopper (1995) |
 | Johnny99 on Hothouse Flowers (1988) |
 | john mcguire on Burning Embers |
| john mcguire on Cork Rock |
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.
The Fanning Sessions Archive 