The Cyclones

By Brian Whelan: The Cyclones were formed by Paul Deering (original drummer) in 1960 and were one of the first Beat Groups to hit the Irish music scene. They started playing the Tennis and Rugby Club circuit and subsequently enjoyed great success in the developing Dublin club scene in venues such as Zhivago, Club Arthur, Sloopys, Five Club etc.

The original band members were; Liam Brady, Al Brady, Don Byrne, Paul Deering, Ray Rothery and Brian Whelan. They played the very popular Saturday Landsdowne R.F.C. gig for many years.

The group disbanded in 1970 and reformed as Spice with Chris Hynes, Jack Lawlor and Jimmy Mullen (Larry’s uncle) joining Don Byrne and Brian Whelan. Spice released their only single, on Polydor in 1972 – “Looking My Way” (by Jackie Hayden & Bren Cullen) with “Last Year” (by Barry Flynn & Joe McGuinness). The individual members worked as session musicians under Producer John Dardis in the legendary Trend Studios throughout the '70s and are featured on several successful albums by well-known Irish artists.

A hastily cobbled together Cyclones played at Bono’s wedding on 21^st August 1982 (see Shay Healy’s memoir “On the Road”). The Cyclones reformed for a one-off 25^th anniversary reunion gig at Jury’s Hotel in 1985 and did it all again for the 40^th anniversary in Templeogue L.T.C. Both gigs were for charity and sold out. There are scary rumours about a final anniversary gig in 2010!

Al Brady, Chris Hynes and Brian Whelan are still independently actively involved in music.