IRISH ROCK MUSIC TODAY by Felix Gartner Overview: 1. Introduction 2. The Beginnings 3. Traditional Influence 4. Irish Rock Today 1. Introduction --------------- On 13 July 1985 millions of people all over the world witnessed one of the greatest events in rock and roll history: Live Aid. This legendary concert took place in London and Philadelphia simultaneously and lasted for about 16 hours. It was aimed to raise money for the starving population of Africa. Many of the most famous rock stars of that time participated, amoung them such figures as David Bowie or such legends as The Rolling Stones. In the end everybody paid tribute to the musician who organized the concert and was subsequently knighted for his achievments, Bob Geldof. For a short time in 1985 Bob Geldof was supposedly the best-known Irishman in the world. Unfortunately this wasn't because of his music. Today, Bob Geldof is a respected but only averagely known rock star. Other people and bands from Ireland have taken over. This paper tries to give an overview over what was and what is the face of Irish rock today. 2. The Beginnings ----------------- The roots of popular rock music in Ireland go back to the 50s and the early 60s with the strong influence of superstar Elvis Presley on the one hand and the new style of ``beat music'' of The Beatles from just across the channel in Liverpool on th other. At that time the prevailing kind of bands in Ireland were the show bands, the heavy laden music for middle aged people. The first Irish group that started to play beat music was Skid Row and became famous around 1970. Because they were the first to play this new style music they were very influential. Later in the 70s emerged a hard rock band that still today is fondly remembered, Thin Lizzy. Lead by their energetic black Irish frontman Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy produced such classics as the rock remake of the traditional song ``Whisky in the Jar''. They broke up in the early 80s, but there are a few other personalities from these early times that still are popular and successful today, namely the guitar virtuosos Rory Gallagher (from Cork) and Van Morrison (from Belfast), as well as the singer of romantic ballads, Chris De Burgh. Around 1976 a new influence from England began to have an effect on the Irish musical scene. Personified by the anarchic Sex Pistols, punk slowly started to inspirate a whole new generation of younger bands, among them The Boomtown Rats (with frontman Bob Geldof) and also a Dublin four-piece called U2. In the mid to late 80s U2 turned out to be tremendously successful, because they managed to be popular in the United States, where all of the big music money could be made. In the tailwave of U2's success however, a lot of promising bands were left behind. American and English record companies were coming to Ireland and signing away a lot of hoped ``new U2s''. As soon as these groups didn't sell as good as expected they let them fall and so the ``after U2'' era in the late 80s was as empty as the ``after Thin Lizzy'' era in the early 80s. 3. Traditional Influence ------------------------ Traditional Irish music has influenced rock music ever since rock music started. Early in the 1960s Bob Dylan, the famous american singer and songwriter, created a style called ``folk rock'' that incorporates these and other influences. The late 60s in Ireland saw the emergence of famous groups like The Dubliners and The Chieftans: traditional music played on traditional instruments (uillean pipes, tin whistle, harp, fiddle, bodhran). These groups themselves enforced and were enforced by the revival of the traditional Irish music from the late 60s up to today. Like the folk singer Christy Moore, who also started at that time, and like Mary Black and Mary Coghlan, who started in the mid 80s, they are all still popular today. In the early 70s a group called Horslips was very influential on the traditional music scene. They combined traditional instruments with the new beat music. Their best known song was called ``Dearg Doom'' (1973). But later they began to turn away from the traditional instruments towards a more american style music. This took away their distinctivness and their success faded. In the late 70s traditional music began to mix with the new punk movement. The Pogues date back from this time. Together with their charismatic lead singer Shane MacGowan they created folk punk, a very exciting and different music style. A band that didn't, and still doesn't, fit into any musical category is Clannad, who play a very traditionally influenced soft rock. Founded in the early 70s in Donegal around the singer Maire Bennan, her brothers Paul and Ciaran and her uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan, it was this constellation that obviously gave the group its name: Clann is gaelic for ``family''. Also, Maire Brennan's sister Eithne Brennan, better known as Enya, has been quite successful with here mixture of traditional music mixed with new age electronics since 1988. 4. Irish Rock Today ------------------- To date, U2 surely are the best known Irish rock band and continue to be enourmously successful. Arguably they are the biggest rock band in the world. By achieving this, U2 have managed to make playing rock'n'roll a respectable occupation. Parents encourage their children to ``join a band and see the world.'' The late 80s therefore have seen an increasing amount of new bands that have become popular in Ireland and have shaped the face of the Irish musical scene today. Most of the band activity has naturally focused on Dublin, where large audiences and a large number of venues are available. Amoung these bands are Hothouse Flowers (founded 1987), The Saw Doctors (1989), An Emotional Fish (1989), Aslan (founded mid 80s, but with a huge comeback in 1991), The Sultans of Ping FC (1992, Hit single: ``Where's Me Jumper?''), and The Stunning (1992). A special mention is deserved by a band called The Pale, who with a strange mixture of vocals, mandolin, bass and drums have created a very unique and new musical style. To be seen a lot on small stages is The Joshua Trio, who were founded in 1988 and play very satirical versions of U2 songs. The name is a word play on U2's top selling album ``The Joshua Tree'' and sometimes is a little misleading: actually the band is a four-piece. Despite this large number of good new bands, only one female singer has been able to newly achieve wide international fame: Sinead O'Connor. In 1990 Dublin's music scene was rocked by an euphoria that came along with Alan Parker's film ``The Commitments''. Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, the film charts the rise and fall of a north-side Dublin soul band. The tremendous success of the film seemed to start a whole new wave of young blues bands, but only the lead singer Andrew Strong and the guitar player Glen Hansard (with his band The Flames) have actually managed to really profit from it. Irish rock can now be classified into three very different sub-sections: a) the jokers (Sultans of Ping, Joshua Trio and others) b) independent (Saw Doctors, The Pale, The Stunning and others) c) superstars (U2, Sinead O'Connor, Chris De Burgh, Gary Moore) Today Irish music can no longer be easily classified as uillean pipes, fiddles and turf fires. U2, Sinead O'Connor and the Hothouse Flowers are as identifiably Irish as The Chieftans or The Dubliners. Irish rock has proved tremendously successful on an international level over the past few decades. However the fast moving music business of today seems to make it far more difficult for a band to achieve long lasting international success. Playing in venues like Dublin's Rock Garden or the Baggot Inn in front of small and local audiences must, and always has been the backbone of success. It is the continuing euphoria of Irelands young population as well as the inspiration of characters like Bob Geldof, that give Irish rock music the opportunity of achieving the success it thoughroly deserves. Books: [1] Stokes, Niall: U2 three cords and the truth. London Omnibus c1990. [2] Dunphy, Eamon: Unforgettable fire, the story of U2. Harmondsworth Penguin 1988, c1987. Originally published: London: Viking, 1987. [3] Prendergast, Mark J.: Irish rock, roots, personalities, directions. Dublin O'Brien Press 1987. [4] Clayton-Lea, Tony & Taylor, Richie: Irish rock, where it's come from, where it's at, where it's going. London Sidgwick & Jackson 1992.