Best Irish groups who never made it

teekayd25 · 31-01-2011 05:39PM

Took me a while to properly get my head around this thread, in that I thought the likes of Whipping Boy, Kerbdog and a couple of others had made it, but I guess one statement that is probably true of 99% of Irish bands (including the two above) is that "they deserved to be bigger".

I'd add Belsonic Sound to the list of bands who have been mentioned . . . they definitely brought something different to the table and had an, err, sound, all of their own . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEjgemQYUW4

They released just one album but it's dated extremely well, would definitely recommend anyone to try and pick it up.

Morgans · 31-01-2011 05:58PM

loyatemu wrote: »

this is right on the money - plenty of Irish bands came through in the last 20 years with a handful of good songs, but very few of them managed to maintain a consistently high level. The main reason they didn't make it is because there were a lot of better bands from elsewhere.

A good example is The Franks and Walters - their first 3 singles all got single of the week in NME, and this was back when NME was a serious launching pad for bands. Suede managed the same thing with their first 3 singles and went on to huge success - the difference was that Suede put out 2 albums that were consistently good, whereas the Franks debut was patchy as hell and they subsequently fell away.

although I suppose the title of this thread is "best Irish groups who never made it", not "best Irish groups who should have made it but didn't"

Cant have that Im afraid.

In the first two albums contest, The Frank and Walters were far more consistent than Suede. Dog Man Star was their second album correct after Bulter left? Even allowing for personal taste, and looking back now, Im not sure Suede were quite as good as were proclaimed at the time. Later albums of the Frank and Walters dont have the consistency of the first two, but still have moments of pop brilliance. I do believe a lot of it is luck of the draw, and Im still amazed that the Frank and Walters somehow didnt take advantage of the luck. But Grand Parade and Trains, Boats and Planes are two of the best Irish albums of my lifetime.

My vote for the band that never made it goes to the Would be's.

old hippy · 31-01-2011 06:04PM

Whipping Boy
Subterraneans
PAMF
Blue in Heaven
Golden Horde
The Blades
A House

Nolanger · 31-01-2011 07:52PM

teekayd25 wrote: »

I'd add Belsonic Sound to the list of bands who have been mentioned . . . they definitely brought something different to the table and had an, err, sound, all of their own . . .

They ripped off PWEI, EMF, Happy Mondays, and lots of other bands from the early '90s.

K0K0 · 31-01-2011 07:53PM

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Speaking of Irish bands who had one great song, anyone remember a song that's chorus was something like "I still prefer the sound that comes from Vinyl"?

I've a vague feeling it was a UCD charity song of some sort. Dave Fanning used to always play it on his Sunday morning TV show.

Saville

Vinyl was just about the weakest song in their set at the time but it got played on totp2 so became their best known. They were an unreal live band and had the tunes but their debut album didn't really capture them well.

A song called 'the green and blue' was their finest hour for me.

mr kr0nik · 31-01-2011 08:09PM

The PDs...

Hah, and now back to the safety of after hours...

chughes · 31-01-2011 08:14PM

mr kr0nik wrote: »

The PDs...

Hah, and now back to the safety of after hours...

Weren't they formed from a group called The Fat Lady Sings ?

Most famous song - Arclight.

refusetolose · 31-01-2011 08:21PM

sultans of ping......

mr kr0nik · 31-01-2011 08:27PM

chughes wrote: »

Weren't they formed from a group called The Fat Lady Sings ?

Most famous song - Arclight.

I doff my cap to you sir...

Sultans of ping should have been bigger in my opinion, purely based on their live performances. Still one of the best gigs I've ever been to (McGonagles)

refusetolose · 31-01-2011 08:33PM

mr kr0nik wrote: »

I doff my cap to you sir...

Sultans of ping should have been bigger in my opinion, purely based on their live performances. Still one of the best gigs I've ever been to (McGonagles)

yeah great live band

hey i have a sultans bootleg from mcgonagles somewhere....u interested?

mr kr0nik · 31-01-2011 08:46PM

Yes please...

refusetolose · 31-01-2011 08:54PM

mr kr0nik wrote: »

Yes please...

no prob

ill have to dig it out,ill pm you when its ready to download

mr kr0nik · 31-01-2011 09:01PM

Cheers.

Amazotheamazing · 31-01-2011 09:22PM

K0K0 wrote: »

Saville

Vinyl was just about the weakest song in their set at the time but it got played on totp2 so became their best known. They were an unreal live band and had the tunes but their debut album didn't really capture them well.

A song called 'the green and blue' was their finest hour for me.

You're a gent, I honestly began to doubt that song existed.

teekayd25 · 31-01-2011 09:49PM

Nolanger wrote: »

They ripped off PWEI, EMF, Happy Mondays, and lots of other bands from the early '90s.

PWEI with their drum machines and their high-pitched guitars . . . wouldn't think so. Also EMF wouldn't seem to have been formed at the time that gig was being done.

The Happy Mondays claim maybe isn't as bad, but Belsonic Sound had formed in 1985 and always had a bass-driven, reggae-influenced sound.

Thundercats Ho · 01-02-2011 06:15PM

Whipping Boy.
Heartworm is possibly the best ever Irish album imo.

To a lesser degree, I thought BellX1 and the Stunning had enough about them, to make it in the UK.

trashcan · 01-02-2011 10:42PM

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

The Hitchers
The Stars of Heaven
but mainly - Whipping Boy

The Stars have got my vote. The best Irish band ever for my money. Amazing body of songs. In a sane world they'd have been massive. Still a regular on my Ipod and one of my top 5 favourite bands ever, from anywhere.

SilverScreen · 01-02-2011 11:05PM

Generation Terrorist wrote: »

Also, wouldn't say that JJ72 necessarily made it - 500k worth of sales of their first album in the UK fair enough, but their second album bombed, which was a shame, as I actually prefer it to their eponymous debut.

JJ72 were really unfortunate. Their record company completely screwed them over by not promoting I To Sky enough and for shelving their 3rd album, they really deserved so much better but that's the music business for you. But they did make it to some degree however, they still have a pretty strong cult following both at home and in the UK.

pappyodaniel · 02-02-2011 05:28PM

The Hitchers from Limerick were catchy as hell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k__IgXLmjIs

S.M.B. · 02-02-2011 11:24PM

Zero1986 wrote: »

JJ72 were really unfortunate. Their record company completely screwed them over by not promoting I To Sky enough and for shelving their 3rd album, they really deserved so much better but that's the music business for you. But they did make it to some degree however, they still have a pretty strong cult following both at home and in the UK.

Their first album was given a lot of support on release in the UK though. That's what I meant. They had the platform to make it, their CD was everywhere. Whether they failed to take advantage of it or got screwed over, I'm not sure.

They had their chance though....

ascanbe · 03-02-2011 12:10AM

One i haven't seen mentioned that comes to mind:
Bawl: had a few class singles around the mid-90's. Think they changed their name/had members form another group after that. Can't recall the name.

vanjaqwq · 04-02-2011 03:11AM

How Wormhole hasn’t been mentioned is beyond me. They released 2 brilliant EP's "Lay It On" & "Chopper" (on roadrunner, a very metal label but they weren't metal) and an animal album called "Chick Dig Scars" in the mid 90's. They were an indie type band, fairly noisy/experimental hailing from Ringsend. I'd really put those release's up their with the Melvins and Sonic Youth type stuff. I really thought the world was their oyster if they continue releasing that type of stuff. A name change to The Wormhole's, label issues, some bad releases (in my mind) and usual sh*te that happens to Irish bands and they petty much imploded. Defo worth checking. Not much on the net expect this.

http://ringsendblues.webs.com/thewormholes.htm

Bawl became The Fixed Star's which became Pony Club. Mark Cullen is a genius.

I think the lead singer of Melaton gave it all up to become a concert pianist.

Nolanger · 04-02-2011 07:39PM

The mullets, the power rock, the video, the U2 guitars, the posing, they should have been huge!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og_3SbTbMRE

coconut5 · 04-02-2011 07:58PM

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Future Kings Of Spain, 2 great albums but they've split now I think.

You reminded me of the greatness that is 'Venetian Blinds', just looked it up on youtube now.

c0c · 05-02-2011 10:54PM

Compulsion.

Mall Monarchy

niallo76 · 06-02-2011 03:08AM

ten speed racer

the idiots

kaplin

Miguel_Sanchez · 06-02-2011 03:57PM

c0c wrote: »

Compulsion.

Mall Monarchy

I used to love those guys. One of them is a huge producer now, works with REM, Crystal Castles and Snow Patrol.

Hippo · 06-02-2011 08:14PM

As a follow up to the mention of Microdisney, it's worth saying that Cathal Coughlan is still turning out fantastic solo stuff, well worth a listen. He'll never be huge but he's a major artist.

aidan24326 · 07-02-2011 05:04PM

This thread makes you realise how tough it is to really make it in the music business. I suppose the likes of The Stunning and Whipping Boy had a degree of success, more than most bands ever have, but for some reason it never really kicked off for them internationally.

Billy Corgan even mentioned Whipping Boy in an interview once, that he thought they were a great band. They're the one that stick out for me as having had the talent to be a lot bigger and more successful than they were. I don't know why it didn't really work out for them, probably s combination of factors, some of which may have been their own fault.

Nolanger · 08-02-2011 09:11PM

aidan24326 wrote: »

This thread makes you realise how tough it is to really make it in the music business.

No it's not. If most of those bands had kept going and released an album every few years instead of trying to instanty succeed they would have made it eventually.

Best Irish groups who never made it

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