The Irish Showband (Irish: seó-bhanna)[1] was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s, hitting its peak in the 1960s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band, sometimes they had 8, 9, 10 members, if there was singer who didn't play an instrument, or if they had extra brass/woodwind players. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and covers of pop music hits. The versatile music ranged from rock and roll and country and western songs to traditional dixieland jazz, big band music and even Irish Céilí dance, Latin ballroom dances, folk music and waltzes, Foxtrots, Quicksteps, Jiving. Key to a showband's popular success was the ability to perform songs currently in the record charts. Some bands also did comedy skits onstage.

The line-up usually featured a rhythm section of drums, lead guitar, rhythm and bass guitar, a keyboard instrument(in later years), and a brass section of trumpet, saxophone and trombone, the saxophone players may have doubled on clarinet. 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,[2] and members would often step, dip and bop in the manner of Bill Haley & His Comets or a black soul band, which brought more energy to the performance. Initially, the bands' tours were limited to Irish venues. As the scene progressed, the more successful bands toured Irish clubs in Britain, usually during Lent (Religious event) when most ballrooms in Ireland were closed for seven weeks, the United States and Canada. Some later rock- and soul-oriented showbands toured the German nightclub circuit and US Army base clubs in Europe.

History

1940s–1950s: Big Band Era

In the 1940s and 1950s "orchestras" were popular in Ireland. These were dance bands usually with ten to fifteen musicians, and sometimes more. They wore dress suits and dickey bows. Often there would be a community brass band based in the town where the orchestra came from and the orchestra members would have learned to play instruments in this brass band. They sat down and read sheet music from stands. Many of them took the format of American big bands from the 1940s, such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, with instrumental music to the fore providing the backdrop to a long night's dancing which could be up to five hours long (e.g., 9 PM to 2 AM).

Popular orchestras from the time were those of Maurice Mulcahy and Jimmy Wiley both from Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, Mick Delahunty (from Clonmel), Brose Walsh (from Castlebar), and Jack Ruane (from Ballina), Jimmy Rohan, Tralee, Co. Kerry. Chick Smith, Dublin. George Duffy, Dundalk, Co. Louth. Johnny McMahon, Limerick.

Big bands turn into showbands

As singing and singers became more popular and instrumental tunes less popular, the orchestras downsized and morphed into showbands, going from eight or ten brass down to three or four brass. The Maurice Mulcahy Orchestra went from fifteen members, five saxophones, four trumpets, one trombone, rhythm section and a singer in the early sixties to ten members in the early seventies, which included two singers but still held five brass, four saxophones and one trumpet, which would have been a large band for the seventies.

There were a few bands that changed their name from dance bands and orchestras to 'Bandshow' before calling themselves 'Showbands'. For example, The Jimmy Wiley Orchestra changed its name to The Jimmy Wiley Bandshow and then to The Jimmy Wiley Showband.

Dave Glover renamed his group to the Dave Glover Showband in 1955, pioneering the use of the word "showband"; he chose the name because he wanted to indicate that their act incorporated both music and skits.

Strabane's Clipper Carlton are credited with being the first to incorporate a 'show' in the middle of their act, 'Duke Box Saturday Night' where they imitated the hits and singers of the day. Fronted by Fergus O'Hagan, they were originally a touring Dance Orchestra. They later became popular in Britain and on the U.S. and Canadian Irish club circuit.

Showbands

Brendan Bowyer, Tom Dunphy and the Royal Showband from Waterford toured professionally around 1958, and became a crowd-drawing success. They were managed by the promoter T.J. Byrne and were the first such band to have a record enter the Irish charts, "Katie Daly", sung by Dunphy. Soon after, Brendan Bowyer had a hit with "Kiss Me Quick", a song taken from an Elvis Presley album. Many would consider Brendan Bowyer to be the King of the Showband era, not least of which was due to his powerful & fantastic voice, handsome good looks coupled with his energetic dance moves on stage.

The Capitol Showband released the first showband L.P. record in 1962, 'Presenting Ireland's Premier Showband, Envoy Records, VOY 9144.

Some other hit records of the time would have been: Fallen Star & I Gave My Wedding Dress Away 1964 : Eileen Reid & the Cadets. The Hucklebuck 1965 : Brendan Bowyer & The Royal Showband. Old Man Trouble 1966 : Doc Carroll & The Royal Blues. Little Arrows 1968 : Brendan O'Brien & the Dixies.

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. First singing with Dublin's Strykers, Blackbirds, Echoes and Melochords, he became a star with The Miami Showband, and later represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1966.

At its height in the mid-1960s, there were as many as 800 full and part-time bands travelling the country.[2] The business as a whole employed many thousands of musicians, support staff and managers.

Other popular showbands included Sonny Knowles/Sean Fagan & The Pacific, Butch Moore & The Capitol, Eileen Reid/Gregory & the Cadets, Sean Dunphy/Earl Gill & The Hoedowners, Jim Farley, The Casino/The Indians, Dickie Rock & The Miami, Tony Kenny & The Sands from Dublin. Joe Dolan & The Drifters from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. Brendan O'Brien & The Dixies, Declan Ryan & The Regal, Art Supple & The Victors (Youghal), Michael O' Callaghan (Buttevant), Maurice Mulcahy (Mitchelstown), Jimmy Wiley (Mitchelstown), The Top Ten Big Band (Mitchelstown), Gina/Dale Haze & The Champions (Ballycotton) from Cork. Swingtime Aces and Johnny Flynn from Co. Galway. Donie Collins from Askeaton, Co. Limerick. Maurice Lynch, Big Tom & The Mainliners Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan. The Premier Aces from Ballintubber, Co. Roscommon. The Plattermen from Omagh, Co. Tyrone. Jack Ruane Junior from (Ballina), Doc Carroll & The Royal Blues from (Claremorris), Co. Mayo. Larry Cunningham & The Mighty Avons from Granard, Co. Longford. The Nevada Showband, from Greystones, Co. Wicklow. The Cowboys (Carrick-on-suir), Mick Delahunty Junior (Clonmel) from Co. Tipperary. The Jim Cantwell Bigband from Kilkenny.

Embracing rock and soul

A second wave of bands emerged in the late sixties and early seventies with personnel coming mostly from the beat-groups scene. They young proponents of a rock, blues and soul style. These bands included The Dreams, The Real McCoy, The Arrows and The Chessmen. They were most popular in urban areas, while Country and Western leaning bands were generally more popular in the rural areas of the country. Bands playing a programme of real country music such as The Cotton Mill Boys and Buckshot also emerged.

However, the hybrid genre 'country and Irish' with tales of loneliness, emigration and bereavement seemed to be what was wanted in some rural areas and bands like Big Tom and the Mainliners, Larry Cunningham and the Mighty Avons, Margo, Philomena Begley, Susan McCann and Brendan Shine supplied it.

Decline of the showbands

By the mid-1970s the phenomenon had peaked, and was in decline. A number of factors contributed to their drop in popularity, including the advent of upscale discothèque, the opening of hotel music lounges and cabaret rooms (with alcohol licenses), and changing musical tastes.

In July 1975 members of the Ulster Volunteer Force murdered three members of The Miami Showband, Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoy and wounded two others, Des McAlea and Stephen Travers. The killings, which occurred as the band was returning from a show in Banbridge in Northern Ireland, became known as the Miami Showband killings. Cross-border band touring dropped significantly as a result and this also hastened the decline of the showbands. Of the bands that did not break up entirely, many reduced their numbers and revamped into small outfits playing locally.[3]

Ballrooms and dance halls

The city ballrooms were often purpose built and lavish. Many rural dance halls, on the other hand, were simple buildings at the edge of the town. Dance halls in smaller towns and villages would host a dance once or twice a month. The fans often travelled miles 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, Seapoint in Galway and The Arcadia in Cork were prominent among the plusher venues.

A chain of venues in the midlands was operated by Albert Reynolds, who would later become Taoiseach 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 marquee tents during parish carnivals throughout the country. Mineral Bars dispensed 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.

Some of the ballrooms in Co. Cork would have been Red Barn and the Showboat in Youghal, The Majestic in Mallow, The Mayflower in Mitchelstown, The Top Hat in Fermoy, Anglum's Hall in Glanworth, The Lilac in Enniskeane, The Majorca in Crosshaven.

Legacy

Various internationally successful Irish singers and musicians began their careers in showbands, including Van Morrison, Henry McCullough, Mick Hanly, Rory Gallagher, Eric Bell, Eric Wrixon and Colm Wilkinson.

The 1987 Roddy Doyle novel The Commitments is about a contemporary group of unemployed Irish youths who start a soul band in the manner of the late-1960s Irish showbands. The novel spawned a popular 1991 film of the same name, which in turn led to a touring band, The Stars from the Commitments, and a 2013 musical, The Commitments.

The 2005 Irish TV movie Showbands and its 2006 sequel, Showbands II, both starred Liam Cunningham as the manager of a struggling Irish showband in the mid-1960s.[4]

Joe Dolan carried on as good as ever until his sudden death on 26th December 2007.

In 2010, Ireland's postal service, An Post, issued a set of four commemorative stamps depicting four of Ireland's biggest showbands: The Drifters, The Freshmen, The Miami Showband and The Royal Showband. An An Post spokesman said that the showbands "rocked Irish society from its postwar depression".[2]

In March 2019, Ardal O'Hanlon presented a BBC Four documentary about the showband phenomenon.[5]

Dickie Rock continued gigging until 2021 when at aged 84, hearing loss prevented him from continuing.

Johnny Carroll is celebrating 66 years in show business and his 80th birthday this year (2023). Started with the Pioneer/Premier Aces in 1957 playing trumpet, aged just 13. Went on to play with Murphy & The Swallows and the Magic band and then a solo career. He is known as the man with the golden trumpet.

References and sources

Notes
  1. "Saol na seó-bhanna < Meon Eile". www.meoneile.ie.
  2. 1 2 3 "Dancehall dynamos honoured on stamps". Irish Times. 23 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016.
  3. irishshowbands.net
  4. "RTÉ Press Center: Showbands". RTÉ. 1 January 2006.
  5. Presenter: Ardal O'Hanlon (15 March 2019). "Showbands: How Ireland Learned to Party". Showbands: How Ireland Learned to Party. BBC. BBC Four. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
Sources

Further reading

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