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Manchester 1961
and the main areas of entertainment were the local Parish Youth Club
and evenings in friend’s houses. I had a tape recorder, a record
player converted from an old gramophone to play 78’s, 45’s and LP’s.
I had just started a small record collection with records by Lonnie
Donegan, Hank
Locklin, Karl Denver, Johnny Cash to name a few.
With the tape recorder a few sessions were held and recordings made
of sing alongs to the records of the time. Not of good quality but
lots of fun.
Skiffle groups and Trad Jazz had given way to a
new wave of groups such as Joe Brown and the Brothers, Marty Wilde
and the Wildcats and solo artistes Billy Fury, Eden Kane and Helen
Shapiro. These artists brought a new sound and challenged the
domination of American artists. 1962 saw the launch of the Beatles
and their influence spawning other beat groups often copying their
Merseybeat sound. The rest as they say is history.
1962 also
influenced my interest in music. As second generation Irish,
I spent a two week summer holiday in Galway, During
this period I went to a Marquee dance at Oranmore. To arrive at a
Marquee in the middle of nowhere, an illuminated tent resounding to
the sounds of music comprising of brass, guitars, piano/organ, drums
and different vocalists playing for four hours or more meant that
there was never a dull moment. All types of music with the latest
chart favourites performed with such authenticity meant that
satisfaction was guaranteed. Playing the Oranmore marquee that night
was the Regal Showband, Cork. The line up was:- John Minehan, Bantry
(Sax, Trombone and Vocals), Kevin Lynch, Bantry (Baritone, Alto Sax
and Vocals), Pat O’Sullivan, Bantry (Bass Guitar and Vocals), Gordan
Hanly, Skibbereen (Trumpet, Piano, Vocals and Arranger), Benno
Haussmann, Hamburg (Drums and Vocals), Len McCarthy, Cork (Tenor
Sax, Clarinet and Vocals), Declan Ryan, Cork (Guitar and Vocals),
Mick Ahern, Cork (Guitar and Vocals).
That night was
to make a lasting impression on me. The mix of Folk, Pop and Country
and Western music was just what I had been searching for. I still
remember the band performing the Johnny Cash recording:- ‘Ring of
Fire’ which at that time I had not heard, but bought on my return
home. Keeping up with Showband news was difficult. I had a
subscription to the Connacht Tribune. Each week the entertainment
columns would advertise the local dances. Within
the dance advertisements were photographs of the bands. As the
Showband phenomenon grew, new bands were formed, more dances
arranged, more advertising and more band photographs appeared. But
this was only whetting my appetite.
When the Showbands started to release records,
obtaining them in England was difficult, particularly when the
record was only released in Ireland. Luckily I noticed an
advertisement in the Connacht Tribune for a new Music monthly –
Spotlight Magazine. I contacted the Tribune who sent me details of
the publisher and I was able to take out a subscription. Spotlight
magazine arrived faithfully every month. Originally produced
letterpress in newspaper format (complete with prints from rising
quads and rules) it was a mine of information on the Irish music
scene.
Whilst I now had all the latest news, I still had
difficulty in obtaining records. Then one month an advertisement
appeared offering a mail order service. This was handled by
‘Sinnotts Record Shop, 30 John Street, Waterford. Apart from running
the record shop, the proprietor, Noel Sinnott was also the manager
of two Waterford Showbands, The Savoy and The Decca. I now had all
facilities I needed to obtain all those recordings and as an added
bonus postage was free. As an additional bonus I was to discover
that records in the Republic were a lower cost than in England.
Annual visits to Ireland thereafter always included visits to
Marquee dances and obtaining as many missed records as possible. In
between, in Manchester, weekly visits to the Irish Ballrooms –
Astoria/Carousel and Ard-Ri.
The Irish music scene in Manchester was very strong with a number of
bands playing the City on the same night. The large emigration from
Ireland
meant that many young people had crossed the Irish Sea to find
employment and careers. As a result towns like Manchester had had
large influx of young Irish. There were so many
showbands
formed and the level of support of dances meant that they were very
frequent visitors. During the emigration period relations and
friends would follow each other and settle in the same cities and
areas. When
showbands
travelled over for a tour they would bring with them news from the
emigrants parish homeland and in turn would take news of the
emigrants back to Ireland. Naturally there was great support for
bands from your own parish or County.
At the peak of the
showband
boom the Carousel Club in Manchester adopted a policy of flying top
bands over from Ireland on the Saturday night, which was the big
dancing night in England and back to Ireland on the Sunday for the
big dancing night there. One of these bands was the Johnny Flynn
Showband who ended the dance with their signature tune ‘The
Magnificent
Seven’.
Some
of the record releases hold memories. One that springs to mind was a
1965 release by Dermot O’Brien and the Clubman cover of Buck Owens
‘I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail’. This was released at the same time
that Esso Petroleum were promoting petrol sales in England by giving
away imitation Tiger Tails which could be attached to the petrol
tank top with an elastic band. The result was that cars were driving
around with these imitation tails streaming out behind them. I do
not know whether the same promotion ran in Ireland, but it was very
successful here.
These are just
some memories of a very happy period.
© Robert Merchant 2004
©
Irish Showbands Archive 2004
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