Seán Lennon's Hits and Myths: Spotlite Horslips

Title pages and two panels featuring Horslips from this 1993 cartoon history of Irish music. Seán Lennon has also done a work on Irish Gothic writers that I'd love to get my hands on.

CARR'S COCKTAIL SHACK - A Chaser

Speaking of radio on the Internet...

Alas, the telegraph wires must have been hit by an early snow up in the Rockies, as it was a rocky reception today. I did catch the very excellent following set:

Whatever Lola Wants, from Damn Yankees
a sweeper from the very lovely Lola the Vamp
Just Help Yourself, Tom Jones (ooooohhhh!!!!)

Then the guest cocktail of the week; klept Bono's 127 it was and featured:

Jim Beam Bourbon
Frangelica

...and the rest was lost in the Colorado drifts. Still, a few of those 127s and I bet I could even listen to that Zooropa thing of theirs. Hell, enough Jim Beam and the Hartz Mountain Canary Training Record probably rocks!

So, very little of the Shack today. But I fear not, there's always Brendan "Nevada Gulch" McLoughlin holding the reins of the Wells Fargo Wagon. That show will be in my player before a fortnight passes!

Hotpress reviews Emm Gyrner

Just posted:

Emm Gryner
Songs Of Love And Death

Singer-songwriter Emm Gryner hails from Canada, but she looks to the Emerald Isle for inspiration on Songs Of Love And Death, interpreting material from an eclectic mix of Irish acts.

The end results are rather hit-and-miss. There are a handful of forgettable mis-steps – maudlin piano versions of The Corrs’ ‘Breathless’ and Ash’s ‘Shining Light’ strip the originals of their pop dynamism, while Gryner’s slight-but-pretty voice lacks the depth and darkness to withstand the violent, gothic churn of The Virgin Prunes’ ‘Bau – Dachong’.

There is also plenty to enjoy on the album, though. A classy vocal performance, and some sprightly programming inject much-needed personality into The Thrills’ ‘Deckchairs And Cigarettes’ (that old expression about silk purses and sows’ ears springs to mind), while her rendition of Horslips’ ‘Dearg Doom’ replaces the original’s legendary guitar riff with some creepy, breathing-over-your-shoulder organ, removing any traces of rock bluster and adding a twisted PJ Harvery-esque menace. Elsewhere, Gryner plays up the melodic qualities in Therapy?’s ‘Nowhere’, re-casting it as a languid, campfire singalong.

Kilian Murphy
Rating: 6 / 10

All the review at link.

Andy Wilkinson, local reviewer of Roll Back, did a hilarious column on the Hot Press tendancy to rate everything 6/10.

Return of the Dancehall SweetheartsNew Preview on Official Site

Over at Horslips Official

A two-minute glide through Johnny's hypnotic guitar playing in the Epic that is Furniture at the National Stadium, 1973

For those of you who just come by this blog for things other than Horslips, this is your chance to see the real thing.

And don't forgot:

Johnny Fean at the Táin Festival tomorrow.

"The Best and Oldest Furniture"

HORSLIPS "Horslips Live" review on Prog Archives.com

For guitar fans, though, it is Furniture that stands out. A beautiful song written by keboardist/piper Jim Lockhart about growing up and leaving home, it is alchemically transformed into a masterpiece by Lockhart's mournful flute intro, CHarles O'Connor's hypnotic mandolin playing and Fean's heart-wrneching solo, first a resigned lament, then a scorching, pounding on the heart in the crescendo. It would be the finale for any other band, but not Horslips. After lightweight versions of Can't Fool the Beast and More Than You Can Chew, Eamonn Carr's shimmering cymbals herald the greatest Irish rock track ever, Dearg Doom...

More at the link. And who wrote this, I may ask? (And I ask with a great deal of fondness for the writer!)

CARR'S COCKTAIL SHACK ARCHIVES UPDATED

With apologies to the Mondo Irelando podcasts and the writings of Sir Fleming, which I do intend to review (he seems to be going on about Bruces this morning), Carr's Cocktail Shack shows through October 23rd are now archived.

This includes the not-to-be-missed ELVIS EXTRAVAGANZA - A Jungle Room Tribute on October 16th.

"Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts" DVD Preview on www.horslipsrecords.com

On the official Horslips site: 45 seconds of Blindman from the Dancehall Sweethearts album. Do follow the site advice and "DOWNLOAD on that link (right-click) TO YOUR PC and play. Right-click and download using "save (link) target as..".

Fantastic guitar there from Johnny Fean.

Carr's Cocktail Shack ON AIR NOW

Ladies and gentlemen, ELVIS may have left the building, but the Cocktail Shack is still serving a shaker of good music on the rocks.

Listen LIVE at Choice FM Dublin 92.1

And remember:

Whatever Lola wants
Lola gets
and little man
Lola wants you.

Horslips Sighting on Blogger

Great post here on the music of 1977.

And she likes Gormenghast too!

This may be someone worth dropping an email too.

But where's the Horslips?

Emily had so much fun drinking vodka with Alex, she lost track of the second topic of her post.

'Sokay...I can't do vodka either. Evil, evil stuff.

Horslips and Tír Na Nóg in Drogheda Exhibition

A photo snapped for me at the recent installation of the History of Horslips Exhibition



That would have been a fantastic concert!

'Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts' DVD Release News

Over at the Official Horslips Site, it's now official: Maurice Linnane's DVD 'Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts' will be released on October 28!

Read up on this year's articles concerning the DVD at the "Re-Group and Roll Back" section of news. Articles on the DVD include:

--RTE Guide 01/03/05 with John Byrne listing the hour showing of "Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts" on Arts Live as the day's recommended choice.

--Sunday Tribune 06/03/05 with Olivia Doyle reviewing the Arts Live broadcast

--Irish Music Magazine April 2005, Sean Walsh delivers a concise history of the band, including the historic Derry Exhibition of 2004, which was the start of all the great things since.

The Táin Festival: Rhythm and Roots in Dundalk

First of all, my unstinting admiration for the decision to make Halloween a Bank Holiday weekend. I understand that on some years it doesn't quite work out like it does this year, but the concept of a bank holiday at October's end is brilliant.

Secondly, this Táin Festival in Dundalk has it going on:

The idea is that without the nurturing qualities of the arts permeating our lives, as well as the visceral excitement of rock ‘n roll impelling us ahead, life here could get pretty grim.

Conversely, there is nothing like the special feeling a good festival brings to a place.

There was an energy in the air last October and we hope that with an expanded line up of concerts and performances and a wide selection of seasonal events, to feel that pulse again this time round.

The music is top rate and this brochure gives you a comprehensive gig guide. Please check it out.

But there is a lot more to it.

In collaboration with the Dundalk Film Society, we are showing two stunning films on the roots of modern music.

We are going once more with the Pumpkin displays at the fountain at Market Square. [LT: Great picture of this on the site.] Given the days that are in it we thought the spooky stories of old Dundalk would be well worth retelling and so we have a series of Spooky Walks through the town organised by Victoria Kingsly O'Hagan. Be afraid but not very afraid.

There will be a special Halloween Farmers Market in the Museum Courtyard bringing you all the delights of the Season from the farms and food producers of the region. And the full support of the Arts Officers and Library services mean that Dundalk Town Council will once more bring you a cornucopia of Halloween treats.

Many thank yous are due and the page overleaf gives an indication of the range of organizations who have sponsored and assisted this years Tain Festival.

For a fiercely independent music and community event like the Tain Rhythm and Roots Festival, to really take shape, many people needed to make an early commitment to the event.

They're running a little trivia contest for 2 weekend passes:

Question: What artist has played at each Táin festival ...2003, 2004, and again in 2005?

A. Elton John, B. John Spillane, C. John O'Groats

Send the answer (A, B, or C) to comp@tainfestival.com

And remember: Johnny Fean and Steve Travers at Corbetts on Saturday.

Johnny Fean in the Clare Champion

The official site of Johnny Fean and Steve Travers has posted this link to a great article from last year:

Heeeere’s Johnny

These days Fean is back in Shannon, has been there for the past month, basing himself once more in the town where his love of the blues and Irish trad was first kindled.

“My father worked in the airport and we moved out to Shannon when I was very young”, he says. “At that stage I was listening to the likes of BB King, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush. I was big into black US blues artists. But I was also becoming interested in Irish music”.

At 16, he began to pluck the tenor banjo. He passed through the Clare pub sessions and picked up the mandolin on the journey.

“I went to Doolin and Lisdoonvarna quite a bit”, he recalls. “There, I played a lot with the fiddle player Ted Furey, Finbar’s father. Those were great times. I was instilled with a great appreciation for the music. The Russell brothers were a big influence and I realised that the Clare style was important”.

It wasn’t long before he made it to Dublin. By now, he’d established a name with a number of Limerick bands, the likes of Sweet Street and Jeremiah Henry. While in the city, he replaced Declan Sinnott in Horslips and his influence on the group can’t be underestimated. His love of Irish trad seeped into the band and from this, Ireland’s freshest sounding band gathered significant momentum.

“At the time, we were unique. There wasn’t any other group doing the kind of music we were involved in. And we made a decision to bring the sound to as many people as possible. The gigging was fairly intensive. We played five, six nights in a row, one night off and back on the road for another week again”.

Crowds flocked to hear Horslips. They’d show up in a village on a Monday night and the venue would be packed. regarded as one of the few bands to pay proper attention to their fan base outside the capital, their popularity mushroomed.

More at the link.

Carr's Cocktail Shack Spotlite: ELVIS

Yes, a little more than an hour away from Carr's Cocktail Shack "Paradise in the Jungle Room: AN ELVIS EXTRAVAGANZA!"

I took it upon myself to inform the good people of The Irish Elvis Presley Fan Club, who were quite happy to receive the news. No doubt this organization will gladly link to the ChoiceFM Dublin site when this show joins the archives!

Today's Elvis news item is from The Las Vegas Sun. It's a story I've been sitting on for a couple of weeks now, but it is still unfolding and may even have implications for Hawaii:

Elvis managers in Memphis

look toward Las Vegas for expansion

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - The new owners of Elvis Presley Enterprises are making a first move toward an expansion from Memphis by buying an Elvis museum in Las Vegas.

But they expect to close the independently run museum and no firm outline has been drawn for what will replace it.

"There are no specific plans," Ed Tagliaferri, a spokesman for CKX Inc., said Thursday.

A statement from CKX Inc. says, however, that the overall plan is "to bring a world class Elvis-themed attraction to the Las Vegas strip."

Elvis Presley Enterprises, the business arm of the Presley estate, was sold last year to an investment group headed by businessman Robert F.X. Sillerman.

The Presley business is now part of CKX Inc., which also owns 19 Entertainment, the company that produces the TV show "American Idol," and is expanding into other entertainment ventures.

While the business in selling Elvis merchandise and marketing the use of his name and image is a worldwide undertaking, the most visible part of the Presley estate is his former Memphis residence, Graceland, and its complex of souvenir shops and museums.

But CKX has vowed to change that by opening other Elvis ventures, such as museums, in other parts of the United States and abroad.

Now, CKX says it has an agreement to buy "Elvis-A-Rama," a Las Vegas museum created by Chris Davidson, a longtime collector of Presley memorabilia.

As part of the agreement, CKX said Davidson will get the rights to open an Elvis museum in Hawaii.

Tagliaferri said no plans have been laid out for a project in Hawaii, either. But if one is put together, CKX will hold a "significant" interest in it, the company said.

CKX said "Elvis-A-Rama" will be closed and its name and Web site permanently "retired."

Now I've heard quite a bit about this CKX and its approach to the King's legacy. My sympathy here is with Chris Davidson and the slightly fanatical but loving approach that he no doubt brought to Elvis-A-Rama in the style of the more maverick days of vintage Vegas.

This may be the pre-CKX Elvis-A-Rama website. Check it out before it disappears!

From the way this CKX seems to operate, I'd image that Sonny West and his King's Ransom exhibit might be next on the acquisition list!

DALLAS - Sonny West is takin' care of business.

The former bodyguard for Elvis Presley is traveling with the King's Ransom exhibit, which features about 250 of Presley's personal belongings and is on display at the State Fair of Texas.

West, 67, re-cently talked about how he became the King's bodyguard, what Presley always carried with him and what Presley would think about his daughter Lisa Marie's career.

Question: How did you first meet Elvis?

Answer: We went to the same high school, but we were in different grades. The first time I saw him playing was at Tech High School in Louisiana in 1954. We were sitting on the lawn, and he walked over with his guitar and started playing That's Alright Mama. I thought, "He's pretty good."

Q: When did you become his bodyguard?

A: In April 1960, my cousin Red West brought me to meet Elvis. Red had defended him throughout high school where kids tried to beat him up because of his long hair. When we spoke, he asked me to be his bodyguard.

Carr's Cocktail Shack Spotlite: ELVIS

Remember THIS SUNDAY

Sunday Oct 16th on ChoiceFM Dublin

Carr's Cocktail Shack

presents

* * Paradise In The Jungle Room* *

!! An Elvis Extravaganza !!

**** LISTEN LIVE ON THE INTERNET ****



Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that's ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher
There's a thousand pretty women waitin' out there
And they're all livin' devil may care
And I'm just the devil with love to spare
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas

Carr's Cocktail Shack: ARCHIVES UPDATED!

Every morning starts with a ritual checking of web haunts and today I note, with pleasure, that Carr's Cocktail Shack on 92.1 ChoiceFM Dublin has now archived shows through September 25th!

Now you have two ways to enjoy Carr's Cocktail Shack online! Listen LIVE on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. Dublin time (or 10:00 a.m. California time). And catch a favorite show or a show you've missed at ANY time via the Archives.

Bottoms Up!

Tony Clayton-Lea on "The History of Horslips"

Article from The Irish Times now posted on Official Horslips Site.

For those, like me, who aren't in a position to view this Exhibition just yet, there's the excellent Posters Page at the official site as well.

Carr's Cocktail Shack Spotlite: ELVIS

Carr's Cocktail Shack isn't just focusing on Elvis this coming Sunday. The show promises to evoke the exotica rhythms of Graceland's famed Jungle Room.

Bartender Hugh of Des Moines is already there!

BAR BIO By JEFFREY BRUNER
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

WHAT TO EXPECT: Elvis Presley never left the building — he just moved into this lounge on Douglas Avenue that used to be home to Jazzy Willy's. There's a lot of Elvis here, but owner Hugh Duoblys also has created it as a tribute to the people and music of the 1960s and 1970s.

"I just didn't want to have a bunch of younger shooters come in here," said Duoblys, a longtime bartender who opened his own place July 15.

THE CROWD: You'll find young people but also car sales staff, bikers and other regulars from the Merle Hay area. Couples have their own section — "Heartbreak Hotel" — where they have a little more privacy and it's not quite as loud.

TUNES: Sure you get to hear The King, but it's much more than that. Expect to find country and classic rock on the jukebox — Johnny Cash, the Bee Gees, Waylon Jennings. Patrons can give karaoke a try on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

ON THE WALLS: Photos of Elvis and other celebrities of the 1960s and 1970s. But check out the floor — tiger carpet!

MUNCHIES: There's a full kitchen offering sandwiches that are $6.50 to $7.50 as well as the usual appetizers. After 8 p.m., you can get a 14-inch pizza for $10.

BARTENDER'S CHOICE: The bar has a specialty drink called Jungle Juice (vodka, chambord and Red Bull) that's popular with younger patrons; the Bird of Paradise also sells well. Both cost $5.

Hugh's music menu needs a little work, but just so long as there is Elvis!

"Horslips Stage Glorious Comeback"

Drogheda Independent

HORSLIPS, the legendary Celtic rockers from the 1970s, brought the house down in the Droichead Arts Centre this week.

Woohoo – the men who rode, horsemen-of-the-Apocalypse like through the dance halls of Ireland in the ’70s, did the business for one last time in Drogheda.

It was only the third time in 25 years they have played together.

They couldn’t escape it. The whoops of delight as the rockers hit the stage to thank fans at the opening of the art centre’s ‘History of Horslips’ exhibition meant they couldn’t leave without picking up their instruments for one last song.

The reluctant heroes gave an impromptu performance of ‘Furniture’ that thrilled the packed house. Local solicitor and ardent fan Paddy Goodwin, couldn’t quite believe his eyes. ‘They told me they wouldn’t play,’ said a stunned Paddy.

He is the main sponsor behind bringing the exhibition of Horslips memorabilia to Drogheda.

The band’s posters, album covers, guitars, pictures and artifacts have been lovingly collected over the years by Derry-based Jim Nelis, Cavan man Paul Callaghan and Stephen Ferris of Ballymena.



The pop art visual extravaganza made it’s first appearance in Derry 18 months ago and resulted in Horslips recording another album together. Drogheda is only the second place the exhibition has been put on show.

Before Horslips took the stage, a nine piece tribute band from Omagh, played a note perfect selection of their greatest hits to an enthusiastic audience. Asked how it felt to watch young fellas who were still in God’s pocket when the band broke up give a dobbleganger performance, Horslips lead singer Barry Devlin replied ‘weird’.

Yes. A Horslips article sure motivates me to remember that Unison.ie password!

Full article at link and it requires registration. Registration is free, though.

Carr's Cocktail Shack Spotlite: ELVIS

Remember this Sunday Carr's Cocktail Shack on 92.1 ChoiceFM, Dublin is going wild at Graceland with a special show on The King of Rock and Roll.

And you can listen LIVE on the Internet at www.choicefmdublin.com!

Today's Elvis news item is a bit trashier, but evokes the classic shopping mall poster shop art entitled "Game of Fate" (with green and yellow L.E.D. lights!)


(Game of Fate image from www.portrait4u.co.uk)

Presley's Uncivilized Pals cost him a date with Monroe

MARILYN MONROE once snubbed a date with ELVIS PRESLEY because she didn't like the company he kept.

Presley's longtime confidante BYRON RAPHAEL, who was hired to wrangle beautiful one-night stands for the king of rock 'n' roll, reveals his boss met with Monroe on a film set at 20th Century Fox studios in Hollywood.

But, he tells men's magazine Playboy, the encounter never hit the headlines because Presley was keen to play down the fact the actress had turned down his advances.



Smitten Presley continued to woo Monroe until she became one of the only women ever to turn down a date with the King - when she cried off with a headache excuse.

Raphael says, "It was one of the rare times Elvis was refused."

Datin' is a game that grown-ups play
Datin' means acting in a silly way
Datin' makes girls start wiggle walking
Datin' makes a guy start baby talking

Dizzy like children on a merry-go-round
Grown-ups are the biggest kids I've found
You'd think they belong in a baby carriage
They're doing things that lead to marriage
But don't you laugh at what they do, oh no
'Cause some day you'll be datin' too

Promoting the Next Gig: Horslips Tribute Band

Tonite at the INF Hall, Omagh as part of the Omagh Arts Festival


(Poster from Letterkenny gig, August)

www.horslips.tk

Listen to what Horslips themselves have to say about this group of young musicians paying tribute to them! Visit the Media page and then click on "What Horslips had to say about us 2.41MB." (Haven't mastered how to link to Mp3s in Blogger.)

Carr's Cocktail Shack Spotlite: ELVIS

Part of our ongoing promotion of next Sunday's mix of music and cocktail lore from the Jungle Room at Graceland on Carr's Cocktail Shack, 92.1 ChoiceFM, Dublin.

No Rock and Roll Fun covered this story, with a nice nod to Oscar Wilde, sometime back, but the news should continue to receive raised eyebrows for some time to come:

Justin Timberlake Buying Sun and Stax Labels

Teen pop sensation Justin Timberlake is dabbling in the recording industry by heading back to his hometown of Memphis and snatching up some music history.

Timberlake is heading up a group of investors planning to buy up both Stax Records and Sun Records, as well as a recording complex in Memphis.

Sun Records is typically hailed as the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll. Founded by producer Sam Phillips in 1952, the label received little attention until 1954 when a young man named Elvis Presley walked into the building. Elvis later switched to RCA, but many of his first recordings were made at Sun. Artists like Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis also got their starts at Sun.

Stax Records was known in the sixties as a major influence on soul and funk music. The Stax sound was mostly cultivated by Booker T. Jones and his band Booker T. and the MGs. Other major acts on the label included Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Isaac Hayes.

Justin already owns his own record label, called JayTee.

Well a hundred years from now I won't be crying
A hundred years from now I won't be blue
My heart will have to forget that we ever met
But I won't care a hundred years from now

I'll never forget sweetheart the night you told me
That you could Live without my love somehow
That's all in the past I knew it wouldn't last
But I won't care a hundred years from now

Carr's Cocktail Shack Spotlite: ELVIS

This coming Sunday, Carr's Cocktail Shack goes to Graceland with a special tribute to the King.

In a blatant attempt to go along for the ride and clear out all the Elvis news alerts in the inbox, "Horslips and Other Music" will highlight Elvis news and trivia all throughout the week.

Our first story: Frankfurt Germany

The runways that once helped feed a blockaded Berlin, bade Elvis farewell after his Army service and provided the first glimpse of freedom for hostages returning from Iran now stand empty.

A hub of U.S. military activity for decades, Rhein-Main Air Base is being given back to Germany and its logistical functions taken over by bases at Ramstein and Spangdahlem. Ceremonies set for Monday will mark the handover, which will take until the end of the year.

"The mission has moved," said U.S. Air Force Col. Tom Schnee, who is overseeing the shutdown. "We're all set for the symbolic closure."

...

The closure also marks a passing for Frankfurt, the financial center of Germany and Europe.

American soldiers and airmen brought jazz, cheap cigarettes, hot dogs and other Americana to the city immediately after World War II, and were a part of the Friday and Saturday night bar scene in the city's Sachsenhausen district.

A young Elvis Presley flew from Rhein-Main back to the U.S. when his Army service ended.

"I can close my eyes today and hear all those engines waiting to take off," said Moore, the Navy aviator and Berlin airlift veteran. "There goes the gateway to Europe."

Now I picked this one because the Rhein-Main airbase was a significant part of my childhood and I still get a pang whenever business travel takes me through Frankfurt.

Muss i denn, muss i denn
Zum Stadtele hinaus
Stadtele hinaus
Und du, mein schat, bleibst hier?

There's no strings upon this love of mine
It was always you from the start
Sei mir gut
Sei mir gut
Sei mir wie du wirklich sollst
Wie du wirklich sollst
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart

Promoting the Next Gig: Johnny Fean & Steve Travers

Looking at Johnny and Steve's gig list, I see that a tentative October date at Killaloe is now November 5th at Brendan Grace's, Main Street, Killaloe, +353 (0) 61 374066.


(Photo of patrons at Brendan Grace's Bar)

The next gig on Saturday, October 22 is at the Coyote Ranch in Rush -- the one place that I've had a chance to see Johnny TWICE!

Beautiful Photos from Thursday's Exhibit Opening

Over at the Horslips Tribute Band site, there's a set of new photos from Stephen Ferris. Go to Photos Page 2 and scroll down.



And don't forget: next Tribute Band gig is THIS Thursday, October 13, at the INF Hall. It will be part of the Omagh Arts Festival.

I won't be able to 'attend' via cellphone this time, but look forward to reading about it on Friday.

The Official Horslips Exhibition Poster

Official Horslips Site

Carr's Cocktail Shack Spotlite: Lola the Vamp

A Taste of Down Under!

Perhaps you'll catch Lola TODAY on Carr's Cocktail Shack on 92.1 ChoiceFM Dublin or www.choicefmdublin.com on your browser. Cocktail Hour at 6:00 p.m. by Clery's Clock time.

"Where you drink champagne
and it tastes like Coca-Cola"

Lola The Vamp is Australia’s premier burlesque performer. Her sensual and stunning shows have captured the world's imagination. Lola's showgirl acts have graced stages in Hollywood and San Francisco with Teaseorama, in Sydney, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Melbourne nighclubs and the Edinburgh Fringe at the prestigious Assembly Ballroom.

Lola has been performing at all kinds of prestigious and underground events for the last few years. Her growing "reputation" has seen her stop the show at famous nightclub The Zoo, tantalise the Mardi Gras at QBar, play Go Go Burlesco at the Seymour Centre and Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Australia's cream of burlesque as well as playing nightclubs like The Basement, MyBar, QBar, Cotton Club, Ric's Bar and Sydney Hellfire. Adding to her notoriety is the attention of street press, television, national newspapers and two recent books! Channel V has featured our showgirl dancing her shimmy backstage at the Big Day Out, and breakfast television saw her fan dance the morning away on The Today Show. Lola has also appeared in several music videos and shot sequences for a variety of filmmakers. Live webcasts will soon feature on this site!

Growing up with prints by Toulouse-Lautrec and books about the Moulin Rouge, Lola was fascinated by the showgirl life, and the famous women of late 1800s Paris, Loie Fuller, La Goulou, Jane Avril, from a young age. The cabarets of Paris continue to influence Lola in her current shows as well as the tradition of American Burlesque with it's lush feather fans, exotic costuming and brazen striptease. Dfferent in aesthetic to most contemporary and comedic Australian Burlesque, and also from the increasingly modern work of American Burlesque, Lola is one of few purely classic burlesque performers today.

In addition to being a beautiful performer of the fine, almost lost art of burlesque, Lola is also a competent lecturer and historian of the Australian showgirl tradition. Clad in a lovely vintaged patterned silk-dress, she delivered her lecture last Sunday whilst perched, cross-legged, on a high wooden table. I swear...you could see all the way to Melbourne!

Irish Times on History of Horslips Exhibit

by Tony Clayton-Lea, October 6, 2005:

Once upon a time there were three Irish men – Jim Nelis, Stephen Ferris, and Paul Callaghan. They were Horslips fanatics, and in their own separate ways and by their own separate, wholly legal methods, collected whatever they could of the pioneering Irish band.

Read the whole article and a sidebar on Charles O'Connor and album art design at the Official Horslips Site.

This is the article that I tried to get online yesterday. Very glad the Official Site already has it up!

Motorway Madness!!!

Photos of Tonight's/Last Night's Gig posted!

They move fast over at www.horslips.tk

Photos of the Exhibition gig are up and running on Photo Page 2



A great set, a great night, a drive back home, updating a website...and early tomorrow morning Ryan O'Sullivan gets behind the wheel of a car for driving lessons.

Good thing I take the Ferry to work!

"In every doorway stands heart's desire"

I said that the call was only going to be for three songs...but everyone knew I'd stay online for the whole set. Which was:

Faster Than The Hound (we came in...)
King of the Fairies
Sword of Light*
The Power and the Glory
Rocks Remain**
The Man Who Built America***
Fantasia (My Lagan Love)****
Furniture
Dearg Doom

encore with

Guests of the Nation!!!(this is where...)

Then I was talking briefly with Barry Devlin. Who knows what we said to each other? Then Barry up on the stage saying something. Then Charles: "I think you were better than us actually." Then Johnny (I think) "These boys were rockin'!!!" Then Jim Lockhart went into a thoughtful, well-reasoned monologue that was drowned out in the HORSLIPS clap, clap, clap! chant which led into the very band themselves performing the song that will now always make me think of Jim Nelis: Furniture.

*Long story short: this is the first song by Horslips that had me turn to my husband and say 'Wait just a minute...this group had it going ON!'

**Earlier today, when listening to The Book of Invasions -- an album that the Tribute Band performed in its entirity last April at the CBS school, Omagh -- I was thinking 'here's a really beautiful Horslips song, but not always the first one that people will mention. We should hear it more.'

***Each day when I go to work, I pass by the grand 19th century edifice that the Pacific Railroad built for itself on One Market Street. That railroad. That trans-continental railroad. Those golden nails and silver bars. The one particular golden spike was driven into the ground at Promontory Utah in 1869. I'll understand that the international audience will not realize that this momentus event was just barely four years after the assasination of an American president and the end of a bitter, divisive internal struggle over whether we were going to be a cohesive country or not. Four score and seven years ago...But from April 14, 1865 to May 10, 1869, those silver bars were laid with haste across a vast expanse of wild land not yet even 'ours'. Ruthless and determined men like Stanford, Huntington, Crocker, Hopkins - hotels, banks, colleges and state parks bear their names to this day. But what of the men who were doing the actual work on the tracks and the rails? Well...they've got a helluva great rock song for themselves!

****McGinley Og!!! Hope you were there! And if you weren't: can we meet up this February!?!

History of Horslips Exhibition Crowd is BIG!!!!

Just checked in with my inside sources! Lots of people and three members of Horslips themselves were just arriving as I called. (Johnny Fean, Jim Lockhart, Charles O'Connor) Ryan O'Sullivan (who I owe some money to now...) also there.

On the CD ROM E:DRIVE - The Book of Invasions

I'm halfway through the process of getting a 7 day online subscription to the Irish Times online and will have some excerpts from articles about the Exhibition shortly.

Today is the Opening of the History of Horslips Exhibition

Promoting the Next Gig: Horslips Tribute Band

They'll be happening tomorrow night at the History of Horslips exhibition and then back at the INF Hall, Omagh on Thursday, October 13.


(Poster for Bar Mono, Letterkenny, August)

www.horslips.tk

From Johnny Fean's Gig Calendar

Táin Festival
October 27 - 31 Dundalk

Be sure to check out the line-up on Saturday!

And Johnny is back at the Cobblestone on Friday, November 18th!

More from the Email Suggestion Bag

The contributor of the excellent Johnny Fean interview Ollie Byrne in the Irish View has come through with some equally excellent* resources on bands mentioned in that article.

Here's a great picture of
Johnny Fean when in the band Jeremiah Henry

Looks like a bio could be contributed there!

And here's an index with quite a number of names from the Horslips histories and memories of people I talk to on-line:

Irish Beat Group Archives

On the to-do list is to write to the web curator of this site and express my admiration for a very well-done and important gathering of info.

(Edited to soften the "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" quality of excellence. I just happen to like the word!)

Trouble (with a Capital T) in my Pants

Not only is Midnight Hawk a Horslips fan, Midnight Hawk is a fan of the much-overlooked Unfortunate Cup of Tea album:

From The World of Pants

Put your playlist on shuffle. Document the first 20 songs that come up and add 'In My Pants.'

We have two Horslips mentions on Midnight Hawk's list. I'm not going to steal the humor by repeating the titles, but I'm off to do this with my own playlist now. Must admit that "A Pair of Brown Eyes in My Pants" and "Three Polkas in My Pants" is a promising start!

"Jerry called his jeep Dearg Doom"

Insomnia put to use again in updating the main page of Come Back Horslips to focus on the History of Horslips Exhibition 2005 which will open this week! Details at the official site.

Then a quick spin through the Blogger search tool, which yielded the following item.

Somewhere in Cork, Penelope Stone, a UCC student working on her masters in Astrophysics has a friend named Jerry. Jerry is possibly a Horslips fan:

Realization

True. Not exactly Horslips-related news, but fun nonetheless.

Carr's Cocktail Shack ON AIR TODAY

Tune your dial to 92.1 FM or your browser to Choice FM

Two drinks at Carr's Cocktail Shack,
and I go wild.

(Photo of 'The Hell Cat' courtesy of
The Devil-Ettes of San Francisco)

Don't leave me hanging on the Tara Telephone

One of the projects that I've been slowly working on throughout the summer for Come Back Horslips, is a history and online exhibit of the poems and art of Tara Telephone.



Visit the main Tara Telephone page of my project so far and you'll read the basic history that usually appears on other sites. Scroll down a bit and read from Mark Cunningham's Hot Press article on Horslips, which shows how Tara Telephone brought together rock voices and literary traditions in a wild, experimental mix. And some traditional music thrown in for good measure.

I know this story. It's the Haight-Ashbury in the 60s, North Beach in the 50s, Greenwich Village in the 30s and 40s, Paris in the 20s...and right now in any number of crossroads of urban culture and young people ready to take it on.

Obviously I only learned about Tara Telephone through reading Horslips' histories but in April I made an exciting discovery of a connection between Tara Telephone and Gallery Press.

I'd been a fan of the Gallery Press catalog ever since I bought my first volumes of Ciaran Carson's poetry, and that predates my discovery of Horslips. Finding this link encouraged me to look for Tara Telephone publications and learn as much as possible about the group.

Much work has now been done. A bit more to do, but a couple of people have seen a preview and say it is looking good. I'm torn between making each page available as it is finished or waiting until the whole collection (as far as I have it) can go live. And at that point I'll also figure out how to situate it on the site.

But the Tara Telephone link of recently updated pages has moved off the top of my site screen and I want to give the links to the pages already live:

Tara Telephone
Tara Telephone Introduction
A Tale of Love, Poster Poem 2