More News on "Other Voices"

Blunt and Bell X1 for Other Voices

The line-up for the fourth series of 'Two Sounds: Other Voices' has been announced, with Bell X1, James Blunt and Rufus and Martha Wainwright among the artists taking part in the acclaimed music festival in Dingle next month.

The series is being recorded over eight nights in Dingle from 9 to 16 December and will debut on RTÉ Two in January.

32 Irish and international acts will take part in this year's festival at St James' Church in the Kerry town.

Among the other acts confirmed are: Elbow, José González, Horslips, Iarla Ó Lionáird, The Walls and The Waterboys, with new Irish talent represented by the likes of Humanzi, Delorentos and The Immediate.

With seating capacity at St James' Church limited to 70 each night, tickets, priced €25, can be obtained by emailing: othervoices@eircom.net. A limited number of tickets will go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday 29 November, from The Music House, Orchard Lane, Dingle and The Dingle Record Shop, Green Street, Dingle and by calling 087 9829728.

The confirmed line-up so far is:

Friday 9 December
Laura Cantrell (duo)
Vyvienne Long
The Walls

Saturday 10 December
Pinky (solo)
Humanzi
José Gonález
The Waterboys

Sunday 11 December
Miriam Ingram (solo)
Stephen Fretwell
I Am Kloot
Elbow

Monday 12 December
Stars
Horslips
Trashcan Sinatras

Tuesday 13 December
Julie Feeney (solo)
Martha Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
James Blunt

Wednesday 14 December
Iarla Ó Lionáird (solo)
Jape
Alabama 3

Thursday 15 December
Matt Lunson (solo)
The Immediate
Hal
Bell X1

Friday 16 December
Nizlopi (duo)
Delorentos
Dave Couse

For more information on the festival and series in the coming weeks, and to watch performances from the last series, visit www.rte.ie/tv/othervoices

.

At Michael Rafferty's request: A correction

Michael Rafferty from the Horslips tribute (the guy on the left) writes the following:

Just to tell you that the small toddler fellow in the background isn't Paddy Bogues! Paddy Bogues is nearly 16 years old! we're trying to keep this a secret from him...

Ah well! Corrections to the Photos at Horslips Tribute Site post have been made summarily.

Not my week for accuracy! I put Stan Freberg in an early grave and misheard one of the Duke De Mondo's albums as a break-up album, when, by his own words, it is a longing-for album. Now call me an old-fashioned romantic, but any 'longing for' album that begins with a song entitled I Do Believe You Are the Devil might foreshadow a somewhat fiery relationship that might be best to be reconsidered.

Horslips to be on Other Voices, RTE Series

It's old news on the Horslips Official Site, but it's now official in Hot Press.

Other Voices, the RTE series featuring acclaimed bands playing in an intimate venue in Dingle, Kerry, will kick off its fourth year with a series of recordings in December.

The gigs take place at St James’ Church in the next three weeks, and will be broadcast by RTE in the New Year.

With the likes of James Blunt, The Waterboys, Horslips, Alabama 3, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, BellX1 and Elbow playing alongside Delorentos, Nizlopi, Humanzi and others in front of just 70 people, the limited number of tickets for each show will no doubt be snapped up quick smart.

More at the link, including ticket availability details. Requires registration.

I've been chomping at the bit to cover some of the great things I've learned about this RTE program and this venue. That will begin now.

For instance, Dingle is one of the places that still has an active Wren Day celebration. Picked up that info at the Chieftain from Brian, the guy I've loaned my Horslips CDs to. But more web resources and such to follow.

Google News Alerts, my trusted source of information on all sorts of things, has started sending me news alerts about my own blog! Which means that anyone who has set their alert to give them news about "Horslips" or "Barry Devlin" "Johnny Fean" and so on...is getting hit with my postings. But thankfully, not when I am talking about the Vatican or vampires.

Emm Gryner on The View, RTEOther Emm News

I've heard good things about Emm's Crawdaddy gig, and the Horslips Tribute Band has pointed me toward a full download of Emm's take on Dearg Doom

But here's Emm on The View, RTE

Canadian singer-songwriter Emm Gryner, who has worked and toured with David Bowie, Curtis Mayfield and Rufus Wainwright, is on tour in Ireland all this week. Her latest album, 'Songs of Love and Death', reflects her interest in her Irish roots and features her own takes on classics of the Irish canon - songs by the likes of Ash, The Undertones, The Virgin Prunes and Gilbert O'Sullivan.

http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2093313.smil

(Launch the clip from the View's site or paste the above into your media player.)

Promoting the Next Gig: Emm Gryner

25/11 Half Moon Theatre, Cork
26/11 Dolan's Upstairs, Limerick
27/11 Connolly's, Leap



(Apple pie is baking in the oven...so this is blog time!)

Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts DVD Review

From the Irish Times, November 18

Just posted over at the media scrapbook at Come Back Horslips.

DVD is available online at Irish Music Shop.

Promoting the Next Gig: Johnny Fean and Steve Travers

Johnny Fean and Stephen Travers at the Cobblestone TONITE

Date: 18 November 2005
Time: 9.00pm
Website: Johnny Fean and Steve Travers
Price: €15.00 - 13.00

Venue Details
Cobblestone
North King St
Smithfield
Dublin 7
Phone: +353 1 872 1799
Email: paul@musiclee.ie
Website: www.musiclee.ie

Carr's Cocktail Shack Playlist Corrections

Just a few little corrections, highlighted, to last Sunday's excellent show:

Brazil, Desi Arnez
Peanut Vendor, Anita O’Day
Little Red Rooster, Sam Cooke and Billy Preston
Fever, Little Willie John

Cocktail Du Jour “Absent Friend”
Absinthe, Gin, Cointreau, and Lemon Juice. Shaken with ice. Recipe details to be posted later.

La Vie en Rose, Sam Butera and the Witnesses
Help Yourself, Tom Jones
Mucha Muchacha, Esquivel (see Lola’s comment below)
House of Bamboo, Earl Grant
Quiet Village, Martin Denny

Besame Mucho, The Ray-O-Vacs with Lester Harris
Move Over Darling, Doris Day
My Pussen, Lord Kitchener
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White, Perez Prado
Our Day Will Come, Ruby and the Romantics
Make it Easy on Yourself, Jackie Trent
Comin’ Home Baby, Mel Torme
Gonna Get Along Without Ya, Trini Lopez
Hum Drum Blues, Oscar Brown
As Time Goes By, Sam

Sunday's show should appear in the Carr's Cocktail Shack Web Archives.

Carr's Cocktail Shack: the Last Round

Brazil, Desi Arnez
Peanut Vendor, Anita O’Day
Little Red Rooster, Sam Cooke and Billy Preston
Fever, Little Willie John

Cocktail Du Jour “Absent Friend”
Absinthe, Gin, Cointreau, and Lemon Juice. Shaken with ice. Recipe details to be posted later.

La Vie en Rose, Sam Butera and the Witnesses
Help Yourself, Tom Jones
Mucha Muchacha, Esquivel (see Lola’s comment below)
House of Bamboo, Earl Grant
Quiet Village, Martin Denny

At this point, the snow flurries over the Sierras started playing havoc with the telegraph wires, and the following set was intermittent and sometimes absent for whole minutes:

Beseme Mucho, unable to determine artist
Move Over Darling, Doris Day
My Pussen, Lord Kitchener
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White, Perez Prado
Our Day Will Come, Ruby and the Romantics
Make it Easy on Yourself, Dionne Warwick
I’m Comin’ Home, Walker Brothers
Gonna Get Along Without Ya, Trini Lopez
Hum Drum Blues, Oscar Brown
As Time Goes By, Sam

And the chatter I heard before the show indicates that the website is up for a good long time, so be sure to check out those Cocktail Shack shows you’ve missed in Carr’s Cocktail Shack archives.

"Oh hello Perforated Eardrum!

You: Muchacho. Me: Muchacha!"

Another lovely image of Lola the Vamp at conceptimages.org

Bottoms up!

Rate Your Horslips Albums

A chance mention of Horslips in the rec.music.rock-pop-r+b.1970s has led to a discovery of a great little site.

But first, I do think the thread above is worth a read. I'm still idling on some of the memories of the American rock music industry in the late 70s that my initial viewing of The Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts has jump-started.

And while the engine on that particular rant is warming up and getting ready to burn rubber, I do find it interesting that this discussion is speaking a truth that we all try to forget: namely, rock-n-roll music nearly went under in the late 70s. It wasn't even rock-n-roll anymore...it was Rock Music on AOR Radio with corporate sponsor concert tours and boardroom decisions on the Next Big Thing. It was a bloated and curled around a toilet and old before its time. I'm not saying that it is much better now. But if you were young back then (and I mean a teenager) you might remember how much work you had to do on your own to get a hold of that Jonathan Richman album or the Ramones or find a station that might play something real risk-taking like The Sex Pistols.

Or, say, Horslips.

Because the thread is slightly wrong, as is the premise of my argument above. 1976 was a great year for rock music. And, as Danny and the Juniors promise, rock and roll will never die.

But 1976 was a lousy year for new rock music or rock music outside the industry expectations of what would sell. The genres of the form were slowly closing in on the audience, like the scene in Star Wars where the walls of the trash compactor are moving in on Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie. (Star Wars metaphors are required in 70s rants.) 1977 was a bad year for it too. '78? Nope. '79...forget it. The main channels of production, promotion, and distribution for rock and roll were what needed to die. And that's where...

But wait! I wasn't going to do that rant yet, was I? Anyway. Read the thread if you like, but the real link in this post is below:

Rate Your Music.com's Horslips page

Speaking of new channels of promotion! Here's a site that is something of a 'Peoples' Record Rating service. I found it through the thread above, because they list The Book of Invasions: A Celtic Symphony in their top 100 albums of 1976. "Hang on," I said, "That can't be an industry chart! It clearly isn't based on money, and it doesn't look like elite rock critic choices either...so it must be by people who just love the music."

Looking around I see my friend Aidan Curran has already been at the Horslips ratings. I've signed up just now and have already weighed in on Happy to Meet Sorry to Part and plan to work my way through the rest.

"Her and a thousand other girls" he said.

Not yet on the Comebackhorslips.com With The Band Pages but should be:



Yes. Just what is it with Barry Devlin and the ladies?

"Tonight you're with me..."

All the way from the Tower Records on Wicklow Street, via the good folk of An Post (Really mean that too, you crazy kids! Though I understand sometimes you gotta talk things over...) and then into the sometimes wacky but always dependable "nor rain-nor sleet-nor snow" boys and girls of Ben Franklin's first US employer...and finally the tender care of our current company mail clerk who is doing a great job while Joe Pachinko takes a two week vacation to write the novel that is going to "Wake Everybody Up to the Truth Man!"and finally me thinking "hey I should check the mail because there ain't gonna be none today..."

At the end of this long journey which began with the quick-thinking resourcefulness of Brendan "Nevada Gulch" McLoughlin one week ago this very day:

THE RETURN OF THE
DANCEHALL SWEETHEARTS
DVD IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the iTunes player: Was "Rain Dogs", Tom Waits...now we got "The Power and the Glory" from The Best of Horslips double CD set.

"One more for my baby. One more for the Road"

I've received word that this Sunday is Carr's Cocktail Shack's final round! Yes, the clock on the wall says three o:clock. Last call. For alcohol.

From the very first show, the Shack has been a treat. The way it came quickly to the point with the Celtic Orgasm. ("See!" my girlfriends would say. "Full speed ahead and no dawdling. 'Why take all night about it?' is their motto.") The Jungle Room gems of Graceland in the Elvis Extravanganza. The rollcall of great mambo kings Perez Prado and Machito and more. Neil Sedaka singing 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' The smokey sirens of song like Peggy Lee and Keely Smith. Last week's fantastic redis/covering of great Beatles tunes. And not to mention: Lola the Vamp's silk panties. From the beginning: the Shack served a mix of music and chat that kicked.

And it is going to go out with a bang they say...and a few surprises! So DON'T MISS IT. Listen to it live on your radio dial at 92.1 Choice FM, Dublin or on your browser at www.choicefmdublin.com. And revisit your favorite Shack on the ChoiceFM web archives.

And then...the Cocktail Shack neon sign will fade into dawn's faint light and we'll all have to go our separate ways...

"Oh! I could use a ride home!
How sweet of you to ask."

"Just let me grab my coat. It might be cold outside!"

Write to Lola. She'd love to hear from you. And check out this whole new gallery of photos of lovely Lola here at Conceptimages.org.

Horslips at the Chieftain

Monday, as mentioned before, was a hectic day. The main event was a final interview with the sixth candidate for a new position in our department. I scheduled it for 10:00 a.m. with the instructions that I was to take the candidate out to lunch after the interview. Two others from the department joining us.

After the interview wrapped and we did other pleasant and diverting things, including of tour of the offices and a raid on the last of the Halloween candy, we set about lunch.

Them: Where are we going for lunch?
Me: You know how I always answer that. And if you don't have your own preferences...
Roger: Oh good! I like the Chieftain. They play Coldplay!
Me: Just the one time Roger...let's not give them a bad reputation.

And so we walked to Fifth and Howard, young job candidate in tow. And when we walked in what should be playing on the house system? Why Faster Than the Hound its very self! Followed by The Snakes' Farewell. "That's HORSLIPS!" I said, interrupting myself ordering up a table for four.

We were seated and reviewing menus as Faster Than the Hound soared into its final part.

Other coworker: Do I detect a Grateful Dead thing there? That was pretty Garcia.
Me: Um...well...though they acknowledge the San Francisco scene as a major influence, that guitarist has his own influences rooted in the John Mayall tradition. But, note to self (I said to myself): when attempting to convert Deadheads, concentrate on Johnny Fean's guitarwork.
Roger: I thought it was rather evocative of the late Beatles period.
Me: Again, another influence. A key influence I believe. Second note to self (I said to myself): are you going to bring in that Lipstick song for Roger or what?

Then the two Horslips songs faded into Hey Jude and we lost Roger's attention for a few minutes. That was followed by Bob Dylan, so Other CoWorker was happy. We all kept an eye on Job Candidate as Bob Marley, Culann's Hounds, and -- yes -- Coldplay made their appearance. To see what might click.

Finally, I turned back to the table and said "You know, we never did hear the rest of the story about the Guerneville Leather Community and Prince Charles..."

to be continued

Promoting the Next Gig: Johnny Fean & Steve Travers

From the Entertainment.ie listing:

Cobblestone
Date: 18 November 2005
Time: 9.00pm
Website: feanandtravers.com
Price: €15.00 - 13.00

Venue Details
Cobblestone
North King St
Smithfield
Dublin 7
Phone: +353 1 872 1799
Email: paul@musiclee.ie
Website: musiclee.ie

Carr's Cocktail Shack: Recommended Web Link

Today will find Carr's Cocktail Shack paying tribute to the Fab Four. That will air online and on your dial at 6:00 p.m. Clery's Clock Time.

While you wait for the Happy Hour, take time to visit a truly great website that explores the Beatles' histories as seen through an Irish perspective:

Beatles Ireland

Lots to explore and read, including this bittersweet story of John Lennon and Dorinish Island:

The former Beatle was investigating how to renew planning permission to build a house for himself and Yoko Ono on Dorinish island in Clew Bay, Co Mayo, (Please see map below) just before his death, his Irish solicitor revealed.

He bought the island in 1967 and soon afterwards was granted planning permission by Mayo county council to build a house. After the collapse of his first marriage to Cynthia, he postponed the plans and permission lapsed in 1972.

"It was a place where we thought we could escape the pressures and spend some undisturbed time together. But because of what happened our hopes never came to be," Ono has said. "We often discussed the idea of building a cottage there. It was so beautiful, so tranquil, yet so isolated, it seemed a perfect place to get away from it all".

John bought the island for £1,700 after a newspaper advertisement for ‘an island off Ireland’ caught his eye.

Carr's Cocktail Shack: "From Me to You"

JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE, RINGO AND....

From a noisey celler on cobble-stoned Matthew Street on Merseyside to glittering gala nights at the Hollywood Bowl, The Beatles ushered in an era of optimism and a bright musical revolution.

Their unorthodox songwriting provided a repertoire of wondrous songs capable of myriad interpretations.

On Sunday, Carr's Cocktail Shack on ChoiceFM Dublin will celebrate the songwriting invention of four young lads who changed the world.

It's fab. It's gear. And it's not to be missed.

(One of many images to view at Mitch McGeary's Beatles Website.)


I have a feeling that this will not be your usual Beatles radio show. I believe the key to its character is nestled in that second paragraph with the intriguing hint of "wondrous songs capable of myriad interpretations."

Definitely not to be missed!

RETURN OF THE DANCEHALL SWEETHEARTS DVD RELEASE

This is it. Here it comes. The long-awaited release of the Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts CD is imminent.

Available at the following High Street Retailers

HMV
Tower
Golden Discs
Xtra Vision
Tescos
Celtic Note

plus all reputable independent shops
(which lets out my local video store...)

Also, and perhaps quite importantly, available online at Irish Music Shop.

You've heard the samples, seen the footage, and read the gossip. Now go out and get your own copy of this great documentary on Irish rock history and really cool shoes today!

"Hey, Lola. Wanna come over to my place?
We could watch the DVD together..."

(Image lifted without qualm from the Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts page of the Official Site.)

Carr's Cocktail Shack Archives Updated

In record speed! The very excellent October 30th show is now online. This features a fantastic tribute to Australia's Lovely Lady of Burlesque: Lola The Vamp.

"Do you listen to Carr's Cocktail Shack online?
I find that so attractive in a man!"


If you haven't spent time at the Shack Site lately, take a tour of the the extensive Carr's Cocktail Shack Links Page, and scope that swanky line-up of artists behind the velvet rope!

Professor Longhair
Linda Gail Lewis
Esquivel
William Shatner
Chuck E. Weiss
Anita O' Day
Alma Coogan
Machito
Shirley Horn
Perez Prado

And if you've ever doubted the existance of the Celtic Orgasm (my mother told me that it was a pure myth, actually...), then feast your eyes on the proof of such things on the Cocktail Recipe Page.

On the turntable: "Get My Rocks Off" from Sloppy Seconds, Doctor Hook and the Medicine Show...

Dearg Doom - The Original Classic

New Previews of Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts, the Maurice Linnane documentary on Horslips were posted on the Official Horslips Site yesterday.

Topping the list is 60 seconds of footage (including the opening drum/guitar riff) of Dearg Doom from the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test (1974).

Then there's The Edge and Tom Dunne discussing the significance of Horslips with vintage footage of the band performing King of the Fairies on the roof of the Bank of Ireland HQ.

Finally, posted a bit earlier, Barry, Charles, Jim and Johnny relive the enormity of the moment when Charles lobbed his violin into the crowd at the last gig....

So if you came by the blog for anything but Horslips, here's your chance to go and see what its really all about.

Emm Gryner Interviewed in Hot Press

Covered in Glory

Canadian songwriter Emm Gryner has released a covers album of Irish rock classics. But what inspired her to tackle Horslips, The Undertones and Gilbert O'Sullivan?

Songs Of Love And Death offers her singular take on an eclectic selection of numbers, including Something Happens’ gem ‘Forget Georgia’, the Virgin Prunes’ ‘Bau – Dachong’, Ash’s ‘Shining Light’ and Therapy?’s ‘Nowhere’.

She has also re-interpreted better known songs like Gilbert O’Sullivan’s ‘Nothing Rhymed’, The Corrs' ‘Breathless’ and Horslips' ‘Dearg Doom’.

How did it all come about?

“Well, I’m part Irish, though no-one really knows that,” she laughs. “My mum’s Filipino, which takes care of my appearance, but my grandmother is from here.”

Having visited this country on several occasions, she was eager to show the wider world that Irish music goes further than traditional airs.

“I run my own record label, so I decided to do an album of Irish covers. A lot of people thought it would be traditional songs. It’s kinda cool to be able to say, ‘No that’s not what Irish music is all about.’”

She hasn’t gone for the more obvious choices. There are no U2, Cranberries or Van Morrison songs. Presumably, this was a conscious decision?

“I tend to relate to bands in Canada who are just popular in Canada,” Emm explains. “I wanted to cover some bands who are big in Ireland but not anywhere else.”

To this end, she sought out collections of contemporary Irish music.

“I listened to Tom Dunne’s compilations. They were a great help. And I asked every Irish person I know to enlighten me. Gerry Leonard (ex-Hinterland, now Bowie’s guitarist) turned me onto Thin Lizzy, who I’d known about but not a lot.”

Some of her treatments might raise eyebrows. Her bass-heavy take on ‘Dearg Doom’, for example, is markedly different from the one we’re familiar with.

“There were a few people who thought it should be left off the album because it’s such an anthem here. But I thought it was a fabulous song and I tend to work in a way that I don’t think about the outcome.”

Horslips were generally positive about her reading of the track.

“I thought Eamon Carr wouldn’t approve of the drum machine, but he was cool about it.”

As for Gilbert O'Sullivan, is Gryner a fan?

“The first version of ‘Nothing Rhymed' I heard was actually on a Morrissey bootleg," she smiles. "He’d performed it live and I thought, ‘What a great song’.”

More at the link. Registration required, and I can't remember now if it is free.

Horslips Photo Album

Over the weekend, I spent some time tidying up this section of ComebackHorslips. Six of the long chain of photos herein have now moved on to their own albums, and the remaining set had their links and such cleaned up a bit. Lots of backstage history: then and now.

Some still take longer to load than I take to get ready for work. But the picture above is something of a favorite of mine. Just a great little slice of rock history.