Irish showband
Encyclopedia
The Irish Showband was a dance band format which was popular in Ireland
during the early rock and roll era from mid 1950s to the late 1970s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six or seven piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and cover versions of pop music
hits. The music ranged from rock and roll
and country and western songs to traditional dixieland jazz
. Key to a showband's popular success was the ability to perform songs currently in the record charts
. Some country bands also played Irish traditional
and Céilidh music
.
The line up usually featured a rhythm section of drums, lead and bass guitars, a keyboard instrument, and a brass section of trumpet, saxophone and trombone. The band was fronted by one or two lead singers, who were assisted by other band members on backing vocals. Comedy routines were sometimes featured. The Irish showband, unlike the Big Band
, played standing. It created momentum by playing while stepping, dipping and bopping in the manner of Bill Haley & His Comets
. Initially, the bands' tours were limited to Irish venues. As the scene progressed, the more successful bands toured Irish clubs located in Britain
, the United States
and Canada
. Some later rock and soul oriented showbands toured German nightclub circuits and US Army base clubs in Europe.
, Tom Dunphy and the Royal Showband from Waterford
toured professionally around 1958, and became a crowd-drawing success. They were managed by the promotor T.J. Byrne and were the first band to have a record enter the Irish charts. Tom Dunphy sang the country hit "Come Down The Mountain, Katie Daley". Later, Brendan Bowyer had a hit with "The Hucklebuck", an American recording from the 1940s.
The Freshmen
from Ballymena, Antrim, led by Billy Brown
and Derek Dean, combined to produce harmonies on their covers of hits by The Beach Boys
and Jan and Dean
. Dickie Rock
performed mainly big ballads. Starting out with Dublin's Melochords, he became a star with the Miami Showband, and later represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
in 1967. The Witnesses featured Dublin's Colm Wilkinson
, later to achieve success in lead roles in The Phantom of the Opera
and Les Misérables
.
A second wave of speciality bands emerged in the late sixties and early seventies. The 'second wave' bands were young proponents of a rock, blues and soul style wave celebrated in Roddy Doyle's
book The Commitments
. These bands included The Dreams, The Real McCoy, The Arrows and The Chessmen. They were most popular in urban areas, while Country and Western
bands were generally more popular in the rural areas of the country. Big Tom and the Mainliners and Larry Cunningham
and the Mighty Avons were a huge summer marquee carnival dance draws alongside Margo, Philomena Begley
and Brendan Shine
. Several internationally successful Irish musicians began their careers with showbands, including Van Morrison
, Henry McCullough
, Mick Hanly and Rory Gallagher
.
The Miami Showband killings
in 1975 hastened the decline in popularity of the showbands. Cross-border band touring dropped significantly. The advent of the discothèque, the opening of music-lounges (with alcohol licenses) and changing musical tastes also played a large role in its demise.
Most rural dance halls were roughly constructed in cheap materials by local entrepreneurs. Breeze block pebbled Irish Garage architecture prevailed. A chain of venues in the midlands was operated by Albert Reynolds
, who would later become Taoiseach
( Prime Minister ) of the Republic.
Associated Ballrooms was owned by mining magnate Con Hynes. The Lucey brothers had large ballrooms in Cork. In the North East, the Adelphi ballroom, owned by Dee O'Kane and Jimmy Hamilton in Dundalk, attracted audiences from both sides of the border. Summer dancing was held in wet and windy marquees during parish carnivals up and down the country. Predating Mc Donalds and similar fast food takeouts, dance hall 'Mineral Bars' dispensed ham sandwiches, potato crisps, hot beverages and soft drinks.
Ballrooms and dance halls did not sell alcoholic beverages. Alcohol sales remained the prerogative of the local pub who then began to build extensions onto pubs and operate their own disco or cabaret show.
At its height, the business employed many thousands of musicians, support staff and managers. There were as many as 700 full and part time bands travelling the country in the mid 1960s. By the mid-1970s the phenomenon had peaked, and was in decline. Many of the surviving bands reduced numbers and revamped into small pop rock or country music ensembles. A combination of upscale discos, new build modern hotel dance and cabaret rooms with full bar extensions brought the ballroom and showband business to a close in the early 1980s.
's 1972 short story The Ballroom of Romance
, made into a TV movie by RTÉ
, is a much-anthologised
account of the stultifying limitations of rural life in Ireland in the 1950s, set against a night at the eponymous local dance hall.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
during the early rock and roll era from mid 1950s to the late 1970s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six or seven piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and cover versions of pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hits. The music ranged from rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and country and western songs to traditional dixieland jazz
Dixieland Jazz
Dixieland Jazz was a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television in 1954.-Premise:The series host was Trump Davidson, a cornet player. He also hosted a radio music series on CBC's Trans-Canada Network.-Scheduling:...
. Key to a showband's popular success was the ability to perform songs currently in the record charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
. Some country bands also played Irish traditional
Folk music of Ireland
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...
and Céilidh music
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
.
The line up usually featured a rhythm section of drums, lead and bass guitars, a keyboard instrument, and a brass section of trumpet, saxophone and trombone. The band was fronted by one or two lead singers, who were assisted by other band members on backing vocals. Comedy routines were sometimes featured. The Irish showband, unlike the Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
, played standing. It created momentum by playing while stepping, dipping and bopping in the manner of Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
. Initially, the bands' tours were limited to Irish venues. As the scene progressed, the more successful bands toured Irish clubs located in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Some later rock and soul oriented showbands toured German nightclub circuits and US Army base clubs in Europe.
History
Strabane's Clipper Carlton are credited with popularising the showband. Fronted by Fergie O'Hagan, they were originally a touring big band. They later became popular in Britain and on the U.S. and Canadian Irish club circuit. Brendan BowyerBrendan Bowyer
Brendan Bowyer, born 12 October 1938 in Waterford, Ireland, is an Irish singer best known for fronting The Royal Showband, who had five number one hits in Ireland, and The Big Eight. He is also renowned for having The Beatles open for him at a concert in 1962 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, and...
, Tom Dunphy and the Royal Showband from Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
toured professionally around 1958, and became a crowd-drawing success. They were managed by the promotor T.J. Byrne and were the first band to have a record enter the Irish charts. Tom Dunphy sang the country hit "Come Down The Mountain, Katie Daley". Later, Brendan Bowyer had a hit with "The Hucklebuck", an American recording from the 1940s.
The Freshmen
The Freshmen (Irish showband)
The Freshmen were among the most popular Irish showbands of the 1960s and 1970s. They specialised in recreating the complex vocal harmonies of international acts such as The Beach Boys and The 5th Dimension...
from Ballymena, Antrim, led by Billy Brown
Billy Brown (Irish musician)
William Brown was an Irish musician and artist. He is best remembered as a singer, saxophonist and pianist with The Freshmen, one of Ireland's most popular showbands of the 1960s and 1970s....
and Derek Dean, combined to produce harmonies on their covers of hits by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
and Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
. Dickie Rock
Dickie Rock
Dickie Rock is an Irish singer. He experienced much success on the Irish charts during the 1960s, but has continued on as a popular live act as well as occasionally hitting the charts ever since.-Early fame:...
performed mainly big ballads. Starting out with Dublin's Melochords, he became a star with the Miami Showband, and later represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in 1967. The Witnesses featured Dublin's Colm Wilkinson
Colm Wilkinson
Colm Wilkinson is an Irish tenor, best known for originating the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and for playing the title role in The Phantom of the Opera .Due to his association with these musicals, he reprised the role of...
, later to achieve success in lead roles in The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
and Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
.
A second wave of speciality bands emerged in the late sixties and early seventies. The 'second wave' bands were young proponents of a rock, blues and soul style wave celebrated in Roddy Doyle's
Roddy Doyle
Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. Several of his books have been made into successful films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. He won the Booker Prize in 1993....
book The Commitments
The Commitments
The Commitments is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, and is the first episode in The Barrytown Trilogy. It is a tale about a group of unemployed young people in the north side of Dublin, Ireland, who start a soul band.-Plot summary:...
. These bands included The Dreams, The Real McCoy, The Arrows and The Chessmen. They were most popular in urban areas, while Country and Western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
bands were generally more popular in the rural areas of the country. Big Tom and the Mainliners and Larry Cunningham
Larry Cunningham
Larry Cunningham is an Irish country music singer, who was one of the leading figures of the showband scene in the 1960s and 1970s.-Life and career:...
and the Mighty Avons were a huge summer marquee carnival dance draws alongside Margo, Philomena Begley
Philomena Begley
Philomena Begley is an Irish country music singer.-Background:Philomena Begley was born and grew up in Pomeroy Co. Tyrone and worked in a shirt factory in Cookstown before her break into music.-Career:...
and Brendan Shine
Brendan Shine
Brendan Shine is an Irish folk singer and accordion player from Athlone, best known for his songs about everyday Irish life such as "Do you Want your Old Lobby Washed Down" and "Spuds"....
. Several internationally successful Irish musicians began their careers with showbands, including Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Henry McCullough
Henry McCullough
Henry McCullough Henry McCullough Henry McCullough (born Henry Campbell Liken McCullough, 21 July 1943, Portstewart, Northern Ireland is an Irish guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who has played guitar in such bands as Sweeney's Men, Spooky Tooth, Paul McCartney & Wings, and The Grease Band. He...
, Mick Hanly and Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
.
The Miami Showband killings
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
in 1975 hastened the decline in popularity of the showbands. Cross-border band touring dropped significantly. The advent of the discothèque, the opening of music-lounges (with alcohol licenses) and changing musical tastes also played a large role in its demise.
Ballrooms and dance halls
The city ballrooms were often purpose built and the rural dance halls of town and country were often simple barn like buildings at the edge of the town. Painted and lit in bright colours inside and out, they had fanciful romantic names such as "Fairyland", "Dreamland", and "Wonderland" and "Arcadia". Dance halls in smaller towns and villages would host a dance once or twice a month. The fans often travelled fifty km from the surrounding countryside to see their favourite band. Some city ballrooms were lavish dance palaces from an earlier era. The Mecca in Belfast, Dublin's Town and Country Club (a Corinthian pillared ballroom in the Georgian era), Rotunda Rooms, the Metropole and the TV Club were prominent among the plusher venues.Most rural dance halls were roughly constructed in cheap materials by local entrepreneurs. Breeze block pebbled Irish Garage architecture prevailed. A chain of venues in the midlands was operated by Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds , served as Taoiseach of Ireland, serving one term in office from 1992 until 1994. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...
, who would later become Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
( Prime Minister ) of the Republic.
Associated Ballrooms was owned by mining magnate Con Hynes. The Lucey brothers had large ballrooms in Cork. In the North East, the Adelphi ballroom, owned by Dee O'Kane and Jimmy Hamilton in Dundalk, attracted audiences from both sides of the border. Summer dancing was held in wet and windy marquees during parish carnivals up and down the country. Predating Mc Donalds and similar fast food takeouts, dance hall 'Mineral Bars' dispensed ham sandwiches, potato crisps, hot beverages and soft drinks.
Ballrooms and dance halls did not sell alcoholic beverages. Alcohol sales remained the prerogative of the local pub who then began to build extensions onto pubs and operate their own disco or cabaret show.
At its height, the business employed many thousands of musicians, support staff and managers. There were as many as 700 full and part time bands travelling the country in the mid 1960s. By the mid-1970s the phenomenon had peaked, and was in decline. Many of the surviving bands reduced numbers and revamped into small pop rock or country music ensembles. A combination of upscale discos, new build modern hotel dance and cabaret rooms with full bar extensions brought the ballroom and showband business to a close in the early 1980s.
In popular culture
William TrevorWilliam Trevor
William Trevor, KBE is an Irish author and playwright. He is considered one of the elder statesman of the Irish literary world and widely regarded as the greatest contemporary writer of short stories in the English language....
's 1972 short story The Ballroom of Romance
The Ballroom of Romance
The Ballroom of Romance is a 1982 film directed by Pat O'Connor....
, made into a TV movie by RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
, is a much-anthologised
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
account of the stultifying limitations of rural life in Ireland in the 1950s, set against a night at the eponymous local dance hall.