1 ‘Tar Stace Is Set Sunday 28 August 1966 weap am Toe city conte i calm. Pubs, cinemas and fare ag dead othe night The curtain has fallen fn the final peaformance of Nore Gaels of Lau the Galt Tack Cs ‘lympis Metropole 0 nd eis kes, queues format the tox rank tte the Gresham Hotel fas food vans open or Bu he sel of deep fied chips nd burgers hangs tir Tales bumper nd buses converge fm the city centre from Dun Laogh fmarnock The Test sare the Royal and the is stuff for 2500 people atthe Arcadia n Cork the other end ofthe country, the st Capron’ in Bangor. On Diss ‘Seam Dunphy and 9)the Top 09h a the Arcadia ray ane Country Clu Fortmaravc By 230 am, Diles road manager Micha standing on the corner of O'Ceee Puller. The sud Michael tums says: asus, ‘howband bund story go Back to behind, the radio = or witless hewspapers provided the only houses, the wireless members, They wer tnd « quarter every week herwise 1 was turned ews. The batteries Were saved for theo levision was practic was simple:cards, storyteling and dranoies nmnied nightly to the sound the Reser ing Captured a soul for life ana the espe ‘on only for GAA they'd pa Yas the classe 8 ion in church ‘stands, besieging dering old-time Women caked with OF Bylereem and the I farmyard i balls where ead Couples engaged to be married in fefte to dance cou {bs race commtees, gol eos, te be reported 0 im and ts were never dimmed because ‘asl. In some ce fou the names of pateh Gils provide ‘ibe were populist ‘oude, Funds ent Dancing xthe Dolly Butler ba DEF dance in the Arad Be ‘2p, By the I rapidly. When the by the parish dances: of shines ere ay, Sen Lemats "whoa Minster fo Sle had ep te county gong drag Worse Spina ent te oun eng ig Worl ar ceeded amon de Valera a8 ts were dt otrendng te WA uname for para eee sree, ss On ths ocason, eee Sk ex ered by the new balroom at Wooded oFesist. Two local gre who yee Waldort mere mesmerined ya {nd the slamour As they gene. any fom thebalcony, a press photoprasher xa the ald of a leh ‘eceson. Aste fasten and tapi fhe new er onc prosperity develope zon hve een eng ce ino behaviour tat fostered showband 8 bulb to record the momentece tone ofthe the wrath of Go tempted fate pad Success orchestra folded beeneee Tees Fe Inian Davey, have gone shes with «pero cn Sead ‘other of on The showhand phe Invented by the While other orchestas tls wen Ler an rare get to work the Royal showomnd at for Cots of Kileock, Countyumber of independent “erry huey but two enomou arn, Packie Hayes ean & 1 crossroads berween ny tamerick He bull ballroom on site fe The Oyster, av he called it became aterford. He nite ano Presley. Wh 7 Fata nities ws melee “pare bse rout dances om Line 7 ‘of the boom, ippes ata roessiona The : Royal took them = and ‘eis encrmous: the Boys went to wat mes ftom home, boy from Care could mest 8 hings worked out, he met her there the change was some that Dolled ‘ove tn 0. pe was bar. Profits fom ot 8. Con yes fom Fortuna bf Vegas at Templeme in 1801 fain otha arty the Realisatie eae Danie Colins who was ase mtd ors of fl of Old spice aftersbave and Sweet AMO aloo owners, who got rich quick had the power as}0 Rene innate S00 "Bc Hoe Sean then bands to hy there was room for work they The source of baron the balcony, ore Plonter pins i th, ea ondering ts and he ner Tell ff ld never have happened tbat shock. That Waterford, daughecr the farm iabourer's son. tn a the cass bound: Tes rave Sry tertory known at No Ban's Land, Early on, foing steady lines were ot the dance foo tossed tothe other side st. through 2 sanctuary was the balcony, where they teased eachother abot "ihe ing down t them) from above. Nosy packers on the balcony Kept «check on who was making headway with whom ana fsmssed after the fet, agonised over wh made a pact" ask he fy ask he fe chickened out atthe lst minute and el sult too It alone, oblivious to the dosence of mort pport a he bravely crossed the foot. Refusls came th a lany of standard excuses: “Too ‘Maye later Ny re snapped up the walllowersstod patent, pretending otto car “he toe was the gis Fe. Tey elbowed for discussed thea S000 "Howe Syear “he Sono Sra to the Dies; and that Van Moseson began his career in Monarchs med at oy 3 OUST of every emis and Whitaker Portayed by Honor Tra piece of 8 ed, ors. ‘They've dropped below the two [thousand Bowyer himself Said that Hf crowds vent und ere Meing the elds end iloge : and vilges ners aloom an he tras tremendous, boys. [never tho ist fim Conlon ~ later to tefteshed his memory "Yerrs, for Jasus sake, The Huckebuck' was number one we played 0 the ‘things of the spe for. " heroes who could pack Diss raked second onl to ima shand for ‘record atendance tothe baliroom - 4000 Dancing was eligon. Top bands Fre ge? admited the i andthe CadetsSo "Howe Swear Money set Trend ag frend, mustian against musician, managers eganst thelr Drotegee and vice versa. Some ove were never fied ip, fiends became enemies overnight. Handards. One woman band member ‘elpsing around dhe country. "What did sheathed ime, ‘They ll hed my Sex ns enly were chased by Nokes about the night by soe had for the thowoand women everywhereSi Ea Hoe ‘Te Som Sen blhings ets enormous in th ‘manager took a 10 per cent 2 ind el pects Bere weeky wage in'67 as Joined the Mant and found him {pls ned up under his stage. Not fpetop. Out of 300 bands working full ime, erls-ro Lesser bands had va be Te, Io (raving power varied from place to unde ialled the hot ats on thelr home mm five The dyna eperwon. Ona night of, some ponpenng became crossroads celebrities, Shawnee flue showbind stars who, as boy sopra, ang ike anges. Brendan Bowyer fist raised his volce at ont St Alphonsus. ‘Church in Limerick, ig emp tts Drink was a thowband arses too many castes Ie gore he nea Desformes went on tee cn eee ne andl mo dows before eey ig aa become’ devdly mhers and some'fell | redundant Because of audience desire to. ear copycat hart hits and dance music. There were extremes of Blayers competed on the same Some who cemember the sito haze are stil aa eying the pic, ‘The showband explosion iy ford april oe Joe Daan was a topes the ranks ofthe lesen in the seventies and eighties, to prove thet and, the EeeSexo "Ba Hone Scar fudiences got 2 pot pour: rockand Tuuehed by tarry Cannlghar, who also paved the ‘mong dozens of others, Ray Lynam andthe tarry Cunningham m Reeves. le Dept tolled fn achieved Tribute’ was the first Irish hare, the Mighty Avone were the fist ‘band to make it big in the urban ballrooms eles to dances In ‘han of ballrooms. They al Aphrodisiac. and i to se why, He projected ara sexual enersy that captivated the ladies ls soning ves ca ove the stave, Derek Dean of the Freshmen Tooled kee handsome stent pest and women ll Dates, im the mld ost when the fet groups t9 perform from? pm sed, That was the ensronment ia wi the lmpa he broke new ground by setting rock band He westMonae O'ordan of easonably go ‘nd do reese who came on stage and went “The fst ish beat group aka he Grenbeats, who even tok thelr sounds 1m Liverpool Beat groupe dia covers to expenment andr No self-respecting beat Groups lke. Bluesvle, the Chosen Few and. Granny's 3s plyed in small club ung up between "64 and, primary n Dub Belfast, Limerick, Cork and ‘aly vsited'Dublin and Belfast in November "63, they were Atescribed in the press a8 the Liverpool ‘best group The Ibs catered for teenagers Ken to hear new sounds money was sl fo be made in showbands, who made six times more @ week than the groups, 0 fundamental diference was that beat groupe performed forlove of music as distin! Te Showa Stone en coe ands of pounds were doue on 4 eda persistent breed of quck ts who wanted to take everybody ie’ rokers, oes you don't want-ta listen to then up 3 showbands, The bands were making the groups thought they were etter key were called, stajed loyal I Redbara, neat Youghal inSno Ba Hoe Swe 4 Generally, mated the 1 only there was remember sald Been Reig, twas bed 0 to bed we worked that rd” Tere er Bangor, Cousty Down, tomorrow night, s0 be fon The money Was grat — me to spend It's far as 1 can fame stage, and frequen eg and flour wa ‘Sean Dunphy and the Skirmish sgsinst the Dives. Tactics were planned with the precision of amy commanders: one band, wo Knew that another played i town onthe same night, nbushed tm the back ofthe wagons on the ‘Musil packed away thelr Inetiments into ard shake, fof showbande were mi ‘hey were the scourge of hotels, especial Dan were under the same root. Rooms were invaded, and taps Ini. Joe Mae of the isis was an outrageous ‘unprntable kat country sept. Pranks were usually played tm the hours fer they come off sage, high as hte. A regular eck 7 Hoedowners involved an unconventional se her long column speakers a night. They looked ike cof was hidden down a side road near paved tpprooching car. TWO tercoats, and Sean Dunphy “Trutpeter Earl ll snapped the sage ‘soalports, and Bowyer ted to score goals sonnet him. The AllStar sees was the branch of Ioadcaster jimmy Mage. 1 right of 6 june 1960 at 8 Sch wt ere ordered aut fn pst the crowds, Shere Magee theballoomt rends ofthe buisness ry men drew a played for Kerryman ea)Sr "Et Howe Svea Tis Seon Sons during 2000, when he financed vAmerican woman Sandy Mur, up were playing who hada econ he Top 20. cant remember their name We got talking fm and asked They sa American bases in B The prize forthe mast imaginative tp goes my Magee, who compiled the first offical Top fen, chart broadcast by Rado 2 October 1962 a so once Dapers read Due to Aftican tour, ste untvallable. Thorsday ‘ansged to wemagazine to run a glossy supplement on tm became the bande” bread and butter dag scans there were staggered counterparts, Touring bande her aed Monday night to see the in’ tou! group, Geno W ‘nd the Ram Jam Band, at London's 100 Cla, Jazz venue The he ‘widespread recor sm during the beak We a famous mers were a top act and won throweh thelr TV appearaties, The ‘business died ‘31 i a