With the opening strains of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, it does seem that, aside from Guns N'Roses frontman Axl Rose’s growing-old-disgracefully complexion, precious little has changed.
Having undergone a punishing regime of drink, drugs and debauchery during Guns N’ Roses’ heyday, few thought that iconic guitar-slinger Slash would ever again venture out into the mainstream rock arena. But having put together a motley crew of collaborators in Velvet Revolver, he’s now back at No. 1 in the album charts and rocking harder than ever.
As Velvet Revolver prepare to play Dublin on January 12, Duff McKagan talks to Steve Cummins about the band's chart-topping success and his pancreas-exploding days of yore with Guns N' Roses.
If you know who to call, it's as easy to buy a gun in Dublin as a microwave. No wonder there are more firearms in the streets – and more gangland murders – than ever before.
Court cases! Vintage wines! Smack! Bad craziness! A burst pancreas! And a chart-topping album! It can only be the posthumous but never-ending saga of the defining rock band of the ’80s and ’90s. Stuart Clark gets the latest from Duff McKagan
Belfast human rights lawyer PAT FINUCANE was shot dead in his home by the UFF ten years ago. There has long been a suspicion that the security forces colluded in his assassination. Recent developments do nothing to alter that belief. By NIALL STANAGE.
He's barely recovered from Velvet Revolver but Duff McKagan is back with his Loaded side-project. He talks about Scott Weiland's departure from VR and his plane ride with a doomed Kurt Cobain
When My Little Funhouse signed on the dotted line with Geffen, they were precisely 12 gigs old and probably knew more about the inner workings of a thermo-nuclear reactor than they did a recording studio. Since then they’ve toured the world, taken on the same heavyweight management as Guns N’ Roses and moved to Los Angeles where Slash and Matt Sorum are among their best buddies. Brendan Morrissey tells Stuart Clark why the Kilkenny metallers will either end up filthy rich or six feet under.
Loaded vocalist and guitarist DUFF McKAGAN has one complaint, that nobody has yet invented a system that would make soundchecks unnecessary. Jackie Hayden interrupted the former Guns N’ Roses bassist at his band’s rehearsal cabin on the eve of their visit to Ireland.
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
Velvet Revolver axe-man Slash, one of the most influential guitarists of all time, joins bandmate Duff McKagan in reflecting on Guns N' Roses' hellraising heyday.
Bad-ass rockers The Cult have reconvened following half a decade in the wilderness. Frontman Ian Astbury talks about standing-in for Jim Morrison, jamming with UNKLE and explains why it's good to return to his day-job.
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
Metallica are back with an album that recaptures their brain-frying '80s pomp. Frontman James Hetfield talks about the dark side of hedonism and his love of Thin Lizzy.
Manic Street Preachers have turned the guitars down, but not the bile. A slimline James Dean Bradfield tells a pleasantly plump Stuart Clark why John F. Kennedy, Billy Connolly and Jesus Christ Superstar are in league with Satan. Or words to that effect.
One of the most iconic Irish musicians ever, Rory Gallagher died ten years ago, on June 14 1995. This month, he is commemorated with a comprehensive retrospective, Big Guns – The Very Best Of Rory Gallagher. His brother, Donal Gallagher, who was both manager and mentor to Rory, talks to Colm O’Hare about the work involved in compiling the album, the guitarist’s legacy – and the fascinating story of how he nearly joined the Rolling Stones.
Bono, Adam and Larry. Not to mention the self-styled King Boogaloo himself, Mr B. P. Fallon, whose new book U2: Faraway So Close offers an intimate visual and verbal diary of the band’s world-record shattering ZOO TV tour. For good measure the, um, also self-styled Mr Ramalama talks about Jimi Hendrix and the Mafia connection, toting guns with Tone Loc, giving Little Richard a hard-on, and other little, um, side voyages into other territories, man. Er, tape recorder thingy: Joe Jackson.
Duff McKagan has exclusively revealed to Hot Press that Velvet Revolver are in pole position to support Led Zeppelin if they decide to go ahead with a full-blown reunion tour.
An aristocrat turned rock’n’roll promoter, Lord Henry Mountcharles has been one of the most intriguing figures in Irish public life over the past twenty years. On the eve of Madonna’s hugely anticipated gig at Slane Castle, Mountcharles talks to Hot Press about his priviledged upbringing, studying at Harvard, running for electoral office, experimenting with drugs, meeting U2, Guns n’ Roses and David Bowie, and his encounters with UFO's. Photography Cathal Dawson
Hotpress hitch a ride on the Wilt tour bus for the band’s whistle-stop tour of Europe. For tales of on-stage abandon, backstage debauchery and bizarre drumming accidents, read on. Plus Cormac Battle’s tour diary
Some songs fit their title perfectly and so it is with ‘Fanfare’, an all guns blazing track that abandons the usual sensitive acoustic approach in favour of a rocker, based, it would appear, on the riff from Deep Purple’s ‘Woman From Tokyo’. One in the eye for the chin strokers.
A Dublin singer writing about guns could have rather unfortunate connotations these days, but Lynch’s country rocker places his story firmly in the realms of Dylanesque fantasy. It’s a hard thing to pull off when your from East Coast Ireland as opposed to West Coast America but he makes a fair fist of it.
In 1991, Guns N' Roses, lip-curled graduates of Sunset Strip’s hair-rock scene, released one of heavy rock’s defining records. Spilling over with gloriously dumb riffola and classic choruses, Appetite was as much a litmus test as an LP: if this didn’t rock your bollocks off, you were clinically deceased.
Hundred Reasons’ failure to transform critical plaudits into commercial success has baffled many of us, not least Sony who gave them the boot after the fantastic Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge album. Thankfully, they have a new home and have stuck to their guns. The Perfect Gift is really just another in a long line of emotion-drenched, sparkling rock songs but who would want it any other way. Hundred Reasons are a band who should be soundtracking a generation rather than dealing with record industry crap – so come on people, get with the programme.
Renewed interest in Guns n' Roses might have knock-on benefits for Mayo's Whitewater. On the evidence of this debut single, Axl Rose and co have rarely left their communal stereo. 'Original' is a chugging monster of commercial cock rock full of lines such as "I'm cranking up the meter/I'm pumping up the dials/Kicking out the jams/For miles and miles". Pure class, boasting a memorable chorus line: "I want to hear original/I'm sick and tired of the usual". Great fun.
This would generally be the season when the new, interesting bands give up and leave it to the big guns to slug it out for the Christmas number one.
Milk Kan, however, sound as if they like a challenge, as well as a good scrap.
Others have made this point, but ‘Bling Bling Baby’ really does sound like The Streets rewriting ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’, before veering off down a punk rock alleyway.
‘Real Fake World’, meanwhile, bounces along like Billy Bragg fronting the Clash and ‘Kill All A&R Men’ sounds exactly like you might suppose it does. It’s ridiculously early to be talking about the next Arctic Monkeys I know, but Milk Kan are already looking like they could provide us with a lot of interesting times in the year ahead.
AC/DC's new album has debuted at number one in 29 countries including Ireland where it's trailed by Kings Of Leon's Only By The Night and Boyzone's Back Again… No Matter What.
Wow! Former Guns ‘N’ Roses guitarist, Slash, has turned his back on his hard rockin’ roots and reinvented himself as a Tricky-esque creator of original sound and beatscapes par excellence.
“Rap is something you do, hip-hop is something you live”. So say the liner notes to this essential best-of compilation from KRS-One and longtime collaborators
Boogie Down Productions. Anti-violence, anti-guns and anti-materialist, they spread their hip-hop philosophies – “strategies toward enhanced health, love, awareness
and wealth‚” in the late 80s/early 90s via astute and highly socially-conscious raps they termed “edutainment”.
IT would be churlish not to begin the new year in a spirit of hope. 1994 saw the most remarkable changes take place in Northern Ireland and after 25 years of war, bloodshed and strife, the paramilitary guns were silenced on both sides of the sectarian divide.
Kicking off at The Academy in Dublin on 23 January, the Kerrang! Relentless Energy Tour 2010 will feature headliners including The Blackout, Young Guns and My Passion
Wyclef uses the majority of the tracks here to highlight the heinousness of a society that encourages its youngsters, particularly its black youngsters, to adopt guns and crime as a way of life
LA young guns Tsar are the latest sweethearts masquerading as bad-asses. The cumulative effect of their latest album is like watching a bunch of teenagers enact rites of passage rebellion before capitulating to Mom and Pop’s ten year plan.
The third heat in the Bacardi/Hotpress 'Plugged' Band Of The Year showcased a pleasingly diverse bill of young guns intent on making their mark and hoping to emulate last year's winners, Woodstar, in securing a major label deal
As Velvet Revolver prepare to play Dublin on January 12, Duff McKagan talks to Steve Cummins about the band's chart-topping success and his pancreas-exploding days of yore with Guns N' Roses.
It was a night of songs about drugs, guns, murder and love, rendered on acoustic, national steel guitar, decks, mandolin, and “the kind of banjo that scares the sheep in Donegal.”
Never ones to rest on their laurels, The Native Tongues trailblazers, ’80’s survivors and self-described “students of hip hop” have re-emerged with all guns blazing, hoping to recover their mantle as the true guardians of the genre (like you haven’t heard that before). The good news for De La fans is that they have managed exceedingly well.
Too many gardai with guns; the international role of the soldiers of bigotry; and a potentially significant advance in abortion law in Northern Ireland.
Mark McClelland was a feature and music writer for Cork's Evening Echo for four years. Here, he presents his top ten most significant musical acts to emerge from Cork.
One campaigner in the local elections was told by a succession of potential voters that the trouble with this country was ‘too much law and not enough order’. Certainly a lot of people exercised themselves on the subject.
40 years after the Clancy Brothers brought Irish ballads to an international audience and won famous fans like Bob Dylan, Tommy Makem is still committed to the power of song – but appalled at the way modern Ireland treats its own culture.
Having crammed more into their first four years than some acts do in a decade, Gomez took a much-needed break. But now they’re back with a new album in our gun. "We just got pissed, played a few tunes and started recording," they tell John Walshe
JJ72 are being cast as the great new hopes of Irish music. Intense, passionate and melodic, their music has captured an increasing number of fans. With a single in the UK Top Thirty and a debut album about to hit the shelves, they tell NIALL STANAGE how good they are and how good they want to be. Portrait of the Artists As A Young Band: MICK QUINN
In the fortnight that sees the broadcast of publishing-world documentary 'Any Given Sunday', we bring you an interview with one of its protagonists: semi-legendary Irish publisher John Ryan. From September 2000
Getting funky reggae grooves heard over the din of the capital’s rock bands is no easy task, but Dublin ska kingpins King Sativa are continuing to fight the good fight.
"I've made another great movie, and the critics have already said it's a great summer hit," Arnold Schwarzenegger declared at Cannes recently, promoting his latest bid for world domination, "The Last Action Hero".
Ever feel like chucking your job and doing something completely different? John Bishop did. The result is Stick Your Job Up Your Arse, the comic's journey from the corporate to the comedic world.
In her latest movie, the supernatural gothic thriller Underworld, Kate Beckinsale plays a slick vampire warrior entrusted with fending off maurading lycanthropes. with love entanglements, engagements and sniping press coverage to deal with off-screen, her personal life has been no less eventful recently.
We see the reports on television and hear the voices on the radio but the brutal adrenaline-charged reality of the rioting in North Belfast can only be fully understood if you're in the thick of it. Gerry Ryan Show reporter Brenda O' Donoghue briefly was.
With the 2008 battle for the White House turning into the most gripping saga in years, the best-selling novel The Race, by Richard North Patterson, could hardly be more timely.
Now in its second year, Cork Live At The Marquee is one of the highlights of the Irish music calendar. Here, Hot Press presents a complete preview of what's in store for music fans in the southern capital - and looks at the great legacy of Cork music.
After cutting her teeth (ouch!) in Bachelor’s Walk and Shimmy Marcus’s Headrush, Derry actress Laura Pyper has squeezed herself into thigh-high boots and corset for Hex, Sky One’s teenage witch riposte to Buffy.
Difficult second album syndrome has no place in the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah vocabulary. Not that the blogger faves are exactly busting a gut to have a hit.
The opportunities to move forward are presenting themselves to all sides in the North. Now all we need is for everyone to do what the Irish do best - Talk!
with a higher profile internationally than at home, and the support of heavyweight friends, The Devlins have recorded an impressive third album. COLM O'HARE reports
Jesse Hughes of Eagles Of Death Metal takes time out from showering with nubile fans to explain why the Republican party is too left-wing for him, sings the praises of George W Bush and tells us what it’s like to have a former Sex Pistol as a post-rehab sponsor.
ME AND the boys are heading down to Central America for a couple of weeks. Nothing too taxing overthrow a democratically-elected President and replace him with this right-wing dictator bloke who s bunging us $500,000. If you want to come along for the ride, give us a shout.
The creator of Bowling For Columbine, this year’s most devastating big screen documentary, shoots from the hip on violence, gun control, Charlton Heston, George Bush, satire and the Canadian solution to an American problem
They're Ireland's leading hip-hop duo but there's more to Messiah J & The Expert than gangsta stereotypes. Over brunch, they talk about their move towards using live instruments and their hotly-tipped new record.
It's probably one of the more unlikely cross-cultural, rock ‘n’ roll match-ups. But the current Brotherly Love Tour in the US featuring kick-ass Southern rockers The Black Crowes and erstwhile Brit-poppers Oasis has been a surprising success.
With elections to the Dáil and the Seanad on the way, 2007 is likely to throw up a fresh generation of political contenders. Craig Fitzsimons casts an eye over some of the young guns likely to make a splash.
DESPERATE TO start your own white militia but don t know where to find the necessary hardware?
Well, fret no more my fascist friends, because The Small Arms Review has finally made it over the Atlantic. A must-read for anyone who wants to build their own fortified compound in the Wicklow Mountains, the magazine is packed with ads for companies like US Ordenance, who can fix you up with a Vickers Semi-Auto .303 machine gun for just $4,495 (including p&p).
Neil McCormick embarks on a verbal showdown with Hollywood's most famous drug store cowboys and discovers that 1994 was the year in which the hot shots traded in their smoking guns for a pill called Prozac.
Squeaky clean pop princess, MTV award-winning actress and all round nice girl Mandy Moore explains why she won't be flashing her knickers any time soon
Playing Live at the Marquee on Sunday June 24: Lock up your housewives. Ireland’s most eligible bachelors, Podge & Rodge, are on the road and looking for love.
Liam Fay talks to the three men behind the first “unmissable” movie smash of '95 SHALLOW GRAVE and hears why comparisons with the American death-and-glory tradition are a misnomer.
He created great songs out of the good, the bad and the ugly and earned the respect of people as diverse as Bob Dylan and Hunter S. Thompson. In this previously unpublished interview Warren Zevon, who died last week after a long battle with cancer, reflects on his sweet and dirty life and times.
With Ruud Van Nistelrooy possibly about to leave for Chelsea and Arsenal nine points ahead in the premiership, things are growing increasingly precarious for Alex Ferguson and Man Utd.
US Stand-up Emo Phillips is one of the star attractions at this year's Murphy's Kilkenny Cat Laughs festival which takes place from May 30th-June 3rd. Stephen Robinson is amused
Slash can go boil his silly hat, but Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones and Kraftwerk are welcome to come and stay in Fagersta any time they want. Howlin’ Pelle and the boys talk heroes and zeros with Stuart Clark
What do Hope Sandoval, Liam Gallagher, Susan Dillane, Dr. Subranamian and Paul Weller have in common? They all guest on the new Death In Vegas album, as DIV’s Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes explain
THE RUC shot a runaway cow in the streets of Ballymena recently. They didn't feel they had a choice, having received no training whatsoever in the control of country animals which get lost in a town.
She may be very sensitive about babies and young people and her ideal bloke might have to be respectful, responsible and Christian – but that don’t mean Kelly Rowland doesn’t want to be bootylicious.
Beginning 1989 as complete unknowns and ending it with a major international recording deal, two well-received singles and acres of press coverage, the scale of An Emotional Fish s progress has been the envy of their contemporaries. But how did the band go from being minnows to the catch of the year? Paddy Kehoe dons his waders to find out.
Despite huge record sales, high-profile support slots and endless MTV rotation,
Good Charlotte are still good boys who choose early nights over conspicuous consumption. Stuart Clark finds out how, and why
There may be growing opposition to the impending war in Iraq, but the British and American governments seem unwilling to learn from their predecessors’ mistakes.
Progress doesn t always follow a straight line. Far from it. Sometimes you take two steps sideways for every one step forwards. There s another image that holds progress to be a kind of tumbleweed effect. We roll forward, but sometimes we re going backwards, and mostly we re just marking time. Frustrating? Yes, but it has the ring of truth.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Northern Ireland.
Graduates of the Manhattan avant-garde scene The Virgins join us from somewhere to the left of the middle of nowhere – that would be Madison, Wisconsin – to talk hype, art and modelling shoots.
Michael Franti has taken a personal stand against George Bush by leading a peace delegation to the Middle East. Now back in the States where he’s vigorously campaigning against the president, he talks to Danielle Brigham about his experiences in two of the world’s most deadly war zones.
Madness, madness, war. Spin that globe and wonder. We live in murderous and turbulent times. The most awful century known to history is drawing to a close in much the same way as it dawned.
A compilation, a new album in the works, more distressing rumours about Richey and the prospect of the greatest football song ever – Eamon Sweeney finds Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers with plenty to talk about
The Whole Hog (with a little help from his friends) reflects on 12 months in which (among others) organised and disorganised crime were on the increase, German cannibal Armin Meiwes was sentenced to eight years in prison, Cian O’Connor’s Olympic win was tainted, Bertie declared himself a socialist, and the pictures of kidnap victims pleading for their lives in Iraq terrifyingly became the images of the year.
You might think that the Crash Test Dummies are a strange bunch now but you should have seen them four years ago! Dan Roberts and Mitch Dorge tell Stuart Clark how a big-haired Winnipeg bar band with a penchant for the Clancy Brothers have managed to hit the big time. Pix: Cathal Dawson
Invisible Armies have just released their killer debut EP, A Neutral Space. Richard Brophy talks to Leo Pearson, one-third of the band s core assault squad.
Hitmen are hot. Ain’t it always the way? You can never find a well dressed, cold blooded killer when you need one, then half a dozen all come along at once.
Taking time out from a hectic schedule of stage, studio and club work the one and only Boy George sets the record straight on Eminem, Graham Norton, Elton John and the new homophobia
He might not have been the first rock n roller but he came pretty damn close. And in the success-through-excess stakes no-one could rival Rimbaud. PETER MURPHY savours a revealing new biography of the wild child
With a herd of their fellow Bostonians stampeding the charts and a fine new album Big Red Letter Day to their credit, BUFFALO TOM seem especially primed to cash in on the commercial success that has been dangled teasingly in front of their faces for years. But are they too normal to be
rock 'n' roll stars? LORRAINE FREENEY tracked the band in London with that very question in mind.
Meet hot new Dublin quintet THE HIGH BABIES. They re endorsed by Bret Easton Ellis, produced by Kim Fowley and wanted by Madonna. Could this be the first great Irish rock sensation of the 21st century?
PETER MURPHY reports. Cathal Dawson gets the pics in.
We are a drinking people. For all the best efforts of the temperance movement and the prohibitionists, the culture of the drinker has remained at the heart of the Irish personality.
The last scintilla of doubt just rode out of town – groundbreaking news spoof The Day Today is back on the agenda courtesy of a brand new DVD, and the show’s gleeful send-up of current affairs broadcasting is now more relevant than ever.
Never mind CD:UK, Top Of The Pops and Later With Jools – you really know you’ve made it when the phone rings and it’s Sparks telling you they love you. Stuart Clark hears about the irresistible rise of Glasgow hotshots Franz Ferdinand.
The evidence of two British soldiers about the shooting of unarmed civilians, heard in public for the first time, but largely overlooked in coverage of the Saville inquiry, is a direct challenge to the “official” line on bloody sunday which has held for more than 30 years.
He may be able to put more bums on stadium seats down under than INXS but elsewhere no one seems to give a XXXX about Jimmy Barnes. That could all be about to change though as Stuart Clark
discovers when he has his hand broken by Australia's best-kept secret.
A former drug dealer, he’s been shot at nine times and lived to tell the tale, emerging as one of the most controversial and uncompromising figures in rap. But there's more to 50 Cent than the popular legend suggests. For a start, there’s a new commercial edge to the music, as his US and Irish number one album The Massacre demonstrates. Plus, as one of the new faces of Reebok’s ‘I Am What I Am’ campaign, he’s taken to the role of cultural icon with considerable zest. Oh, and besides, he’s a bit of a wow with the ladies.
He's famed for his method-acting obsessiveness and supposed reclusive streak. But could the real secret about Daniel Day-Lewis be that he's actually rather normal?
He’s the reigning champion of gently ironic comedy. Now David O’Doherty has written a nature book, full of fascinating “facts”. Did you know, for example, that panda fur can be used to make bullet-proof vests?
In a 25th anniversary rose-tinted special, Hot Press' dance correspondents select their 25 most influential floor fillers. The editor's decision is final and all that
Tom Baxter's second album, Skybound, has just topped the Irish album chart. But it was a record that only got made after Baxter personally financed the sessions with his other talent of figurative art painting.
An Irish band who don’t entirely fit in at home, Relish can console themslves with a great new album Karma Calling, and an international fanbase that stretches from the U.S. to Japan.
An Irish band who don’t entirely fit in at home, Relish can console themslves with a great new album Karma Calling, and an international fanbase that stretches from the U.S. to Japan.
20 years and the last seven days: U2 have gone through a whole heavenhell of a lot to get here. One can only guess at Bono’s state of mind, high on the euphoria of playing the most ecstatic shows of his band’s career, drained from the freeze-dried exhaustion of flying home to Dublin from all points around Europe to endure the dim purgatories every son goes through when his father is dying.
If the McCarthy report is implemented in full, state funding for the arts would be slashed. The effect on the arts, and on artists, is likely to be devastating.
MARILYN MANSON may be the epitome of Middle America's worst nightmare but, as STUART CLARK discovers, he's not that bad, really. On the agenda: Bono, Eminem, Moby, George W. Bush and the Columbine shootings
LOST LIVES, the stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of The Troubles, is one of the most remarkable and essential books of our time. NIALL STANAGE interviews one of its authors, BRIAN FEENEY, and on the opposite page, recounts how his own life was touched by a violent chapter that many now hope is drawing to a close.
Travelling by first class train between Wales and London James Dean Bradfield did a surprising thing: he started working on his first solo album. The resulting record taps the Manic Street Preacher’s growing affection for his roots in the valleys.
Having battled their way through eight weeks of the Raw Sessions, hip hop collective and noble underdogs THE INFOMATICS were awarded the title of Sony Ericsson Artist Of The Year. We caught up with Bugs, Mr. Dero, Konchus Lingo and BOC (try saying that three times fast!) to hear how appearing on the country’s first ever rockumentary series is going to change them and indeed the face of Irish hip hop.
It is both a strength and a weakness that print journalism is so governed by the deadline. There is no ambiguity, as the courier sweeps away with the final proofs, or film or discs. Anything else is for the next issue, for tomorrow, for next year.
While the end of the eponymous film might give the impression that organised crime and hard drugs disappeared from Ireland after the reporter’s death, latest garda figures offer a very different picture. And the harsh reality, many insist, is even worse.
We asked the members of hotpress.com to submit questions for Korn’s kilt-wearing frontman Jonathan Davis and then locked him in a room with just a spotlight and a tape recorder
On the eve of the release of their highly anticipated debut album, Dublin quartet Delorentos take five from their latest video shoot to discuss playing with Gang of Four, hanging with Steve Albini and playing football in Texas.
Rising Irish star ANTONIA CAMPBELL HUGHES talks about her starring role as a sulky teenager alongside Jack Dee in the BBC’s Lead Balloon, her ringside view of the Pete Doherty circus and being ogled by Bryan Adams
An escalation of violence within certain deprived pockets of the Travelling community has provoked a Garda clampdown that many regard as heavy-handed. Meanwhile, despite some notable efforts to improve cross-community relations, Travellers must continue to cope with discrimination, alienation and a growing accommodation crisis. Mic Moroney reports on a people struggling to survive in the shadow of the Celtic Tiger.
Credited with being a pioneer in the field of confessional singer-songwriting, it is only now, at the age of 55, that JONI MITCHELL is able to talk openly about the private trauma behind the songs on such classic albums as Blue. On the occasion of the release of a new album Both Sides Now, that sees her revisit some former glories, the legendary Mitchell takes JOE JACKSON on a journey through her personal, and professional history.
This is part one of an exclusive two-part interview
He helped invent disco, funk, r 'n' b and hip-hop. And when he wasn’t changing the face of popular music, Chic leader NILE RODGERS found time to chin-wag with pop’s best, bravest and weirdest. Here he talks about hanging with David Bowie, Slash and Madonna and reveals his oft-overlooked hippy leanings.
You know that your pop star interviewee is confident about the quality of his splendid new album, when he's happy to talk about everyone else under the sun. So it is with Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant as he gives the thumbs up or down to Eminem, Liza Minelli, Kylie Minogue, So Solid Crew, Boy George and Westlife. Keeping score: Stuart Clark
Sex? Yep. Drugs? Uh-huh. Rock 'n' Roll? Yesireebob! Aerosmith were no strangers to the unholy trinity of debauchery during the '70's and early '80's but find that having cleaned up ten years ago they're now cleaning up with the punters. Not that they're beyond having fun, fun and, er, more fun as our resident boogiemeister Stuart Clark finds out.
The HP-7 Summit is back with Michelle Doherty, Rocky O'Reilly, Niall Breslin, Mark Greaney, Niamh Farrell, Messiah J and Danny O'Donoghue sat around the only table that matters this Christmas.
…for a while anyway. In a few short weeks Belfast's GHOST OF AN AMERICAN AIRMAN will leave home once again to tour distant lands. That's the bad news. The good news is that while they're here, Ghost... take time out to tell TARA McCARTHY what the hell they've been up to for the past two years.
Back in the '60s the MC5 made it on to the CIA's 'Most Wanted' list. Now, they're a chi-chi fashion accessory beloved of Jennifer Aniston and her Hollywood pals. Guitarist Wayne Kramer explains it all to Stuart Clark.
In Dublin to promote his latest book, Smiths-loving author Douglas Coupland explains why the Apocalypse keeps raising its seven-headed head in his avowedly modernist novels.
. . . Or not, as the case may be. In this extremely revealing interview with peter murphy, henry rollins speaks frankly about relationships, violence, depression, squaring up to Al Pacino and the problems that come with a life lived on the road
PETER SHERIDAN has done a remarkable job in bringing Brendan Behan s Borstal Boy to the small screen. Here he talks to hotpress CRAIG FITZSIMONS and TARA BRADY about accents, alcohol and artists
30th Anniversary retrospective: From the murders of Tupac and Biggie to the bizarre implication of Marilyn Manson in the Columbine massacre; from Courtney, Axl and Spector’s falls from grace to the canonisation and demonisation of Peter Doherty... here’s a potted history of the most controversial events in the last 30 years of rock ‘n’ roll.
For two weeks now, the people of Rossport in North Mayo have been besieged by hundreds of Gardai, including riot police and even members of the Emergency Response Unit. Despite the pressure, hundreds of locals are protesting every morning.
Having their budgets slashed three times in 18 months has made it harder than ever for Irish aid organisations to help the world’s poor and displaced. Despite Mr. Martin’s axe-wielding, Concern worldwide are determined to continue their work in what can be life-threatening circumstances.
They may be named after the cute and cuddly creature from Gremlins, but the noisefest Mogwai inflict on the eardrums is more like the after effects of nuclear fallout. John Walshe met them.
It is an old Republican principle. But it could also be applied to the attitude the authorities have taken to Ireland’s longest serving political prisoners, Paddy McCann and Colm O’Shea. Jailed for the killing of two Gardai during a bank raid in Roscommon in 1980, as the peace process reached its final stages they were asked to sign up to the Good Friday Agreement. They subsequently put their names on the dotted line. That was ten years ago. So why have they not been released in the meantime, like dozens of other former Paramilitary activists? In an extraordinary, confessional interview, PADDY MCCANN makes his case against the State.
Important questions of the Stevens inquiry team were left unasked by the recent Panorama investigation into collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the security forces, and the murder of Pat Finucane
East Timor may be out of the headlines but for those on the ground the problem in that ravaged country is less one of re-building than of almost total construction from scratch. MACDARA DOYLE reports.
He can't sing, he can't play but Jim Rose can sure wail on a pile of glass! STUART CLARK meets the man behind the travelling freak show that took Féile by storm and Ray Darcy by surprise. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
Are we talking about the effect of narcotics? Or the impact of alcohol? Or could we indeed be referring to the metaphorical slings and arrows used by outrageous journalists to do down innocent bands whose only objective in life is to make great records. In the case of the jesus and mary chain, it's probably a bit of all three. Interview: Lorraine Freeney.
She began her career as a police reporter before taking a job in the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Virginia. There, she spent as much time in the morgue as possible, watching autopsies - including dozens on bodies which had been savagely maimed and mutilated in the course of being murdered. Now she writes crime novels, but Patricia D. Cornwell keeps going back to the morgue to witness the kind of gruesome sights that would give an angel bad dreams.
Interview: Liam Fay Pix: Colm Henry
On the release of a double CD retrospective of his forty years as a performer-songwriter, Johnny McEvoy talks to Jackie Hayden about his early days as Ireland’s answer to Bob Dylan, meeting the great man himself, supporting and introducing The Rolling Stones, defending The Wolfe Tones, not apologising for the troubles in the North, U2 and the key albums that have inspired him.
Live on your TV and your wireless, 2TV will be broadcasting all summer long. JACKIE HAYDEN goes behind the scenes on the show that shakes up Sunday mornings.
A new album, an exclusive gig and opinions on Velvet Goldmine, the Internet and life, love and happiness. STUART CLARK meets the legendary DAVID BOWIE.
Whether with THE SMITHS, ELECTRONIC, THE PRETENDERS or in brown trouser mode sharing a stage with PAUL McCARTNEY, GEORGE MICHAEL and NEIL FINN, he remains, by his own admission, the best JOHNNY MARR-style guitar player around. GEORGE BYRNE meets the cat others like to copy.
When Adam Clayton was arrested in Dublin in August of 1989 and charged with possession of 19 grammes of cannabis with intent to supply, it placed U2's immediate future as a live band in jeopardy. Trial report: Liam Fay.
IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN WHEN THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE TAKE THAT OFTEN DAUNTING LEAP FROM SCHOOL TO COLLEGE. HERE, THE HOT PRESS STUDENT SPECIAL OFFERS ITS OWN INIMITABLE SAFETY NET.
EVERY YEAR, AND FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, HUNDREDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE SOUTH DECIDE TO GO ON TO THIRD LEVEL EDUCATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND. EMMA FLYNN REPORTS ON THE REALITIES OF ACADEMIC LIFE OVER THE BORDER.
He may have done time in Long Kesh for possession of explosives but Progressive Unionist leader DAVID ERVINE has left behind his terrorist past and embraced a future based on shared social democracy which, he says, the peace process can bring about. Interview: JOE JACKSON.
With her own debut album, ELEANOR McEVOY, one of the stars of 'A Woman's Heart', has come out of the folk closet and revealed herself to be a real rocker - feedback, distorted guitars and all. Interview: COLM O'HARE
With her own debut album, Eleanor McEvoy, one of the stars of A Woman s Heart , has come out of the folk closet and revealed herself to be a real rocker feedback, distorted guitars and all. Interview: Colm O Hare.
There is inescapable evidence that British security forces colluded in the murder of defence lawyer, Pat Finucane. But now Michael Finucane wants to know just how high the responsibilty for the crime really goes.
Dutchy Holland, currently serving an eight-year sentence in Wandsworth Prison, gives a remarkably revealing interview where he discusses all aspects of his life as a career criminal.
ANI DiFRANCO is one of contemporary music's most impressive originals. Without compromising her independence or political radicalism, she has scaled the heights of commercial and
critical success. In this, her only Irish interview, she speaks candidly to NIALL STANAGE about TAFKAP, her battles with the music industry, American 'gun culture' and the troubled family life which lies behind one of her most moving songs.
Brushing shoulders with the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bertie Ahern is currently all in a day’s work for hugely acclaimed singer-songwriter, Juliet Turner. But, as she tells Hot Press, the singer’s Northern Methodist upbringing has left her with a distaste for the spotlight and an overwhelming desire for creative and personal independence.
No mere actor boy moonlighting as a rock star, Billy Bob Thornton is steeped in music and also in the kind of brooding Southern gothic aesthetic which informs his compelling album of song and story, Private Radio. Peter Murphy meets a singular man of stage and screen
The rise and rise of the female singer/songwriter is fast achieving phenomenon status in Ireland - here,
Peter Murphy profiles an eclectic mix of new and distinctive talent
Andy Darlington travels to Manchester to meet the Stone Roses, an outfit who’ve progressed past the point of being just a band to become something altogether bigger...
Egyptian-born Ali Selim, now a resident of Tallaght, is the Secretary General of the Irish Council of Imams, which was formed last month to represent Islamic concerns in Ireland, ranging from theological matters to issues of social integration. In this extensive interview, he attempts to dispel many of the Western myths about the Muslim world, addresses the subject of Islamic extremism, Salman Rushdie and the Pope’s faux pas.
WHILE THE BIRMINGHAM SIX AND THE GUILDFORD FOUR CAN, AT LONG LAST, ENJOY THEIR CHRISTMAS DINNER AT HOME WITH THEIR FAMILIES, THERE ARE STILL MANY OTHERS WHO WILL RING IN THE NEW YEAR LANGUISHING IN PRISON CELLS ON THE STRENGTH OF VERY DUBIOUS CONVICTIONS.
FRANK JOHNSON IS ONE OF THEM.
REPORT: RICHARD BALLS
A House are really good! That s just one of the shocking claims Graham Linehan makes in this award winning article based loosely on an interview he did with the band.
COLM O'HARE meets SCOTT YOUNG, father of Neil, and a renowned journalist, author and broadcaster in his own right. In this rare interview he talks about his best-known subject - his famous son.
The fact that it's just over ten years since Pac-man was wowing the world's computer buffs, shows the vast leaps that the gaming industry has made since. Hot Press investigates the cult of the console.
LET'S GO SHOPPING
Gerry McGovern embarks on a mission to steer you through the sea of software.
It's hard-hats and flak-jackets all round as the new improved Carter usm launch a full frontal attack against John Major, Third World repression and Pizza Hut. Frontline correspondent: Stuart Clark. War photographer Cathal Dawson
GREEN DAY have had a meteoric rise over the last 18 years, from poky Dublin dives to colossal international stadia. But despite their maturing worldview and increasing political articulacy, they’re still as exciting a kick-ass punk rock group as ever.
Their friends warned them against it and the textbooks were hardly more encouraging, but when ADRIENNE MURPHY gave birth to Fiach, herself and partner Dara were not to be dissuaded from travelling en famille for three months in the "hot thin waist" of Central America. This is their remarkable story
Christy Dignam of Aslan has never been one to pull his punches and, as a result, controversy has dogged the band with every new public utterance. Now as their debut album Feel No Shame nestles at the top of the Irish charts, in an in-depth interview he attempts to set the record straight, on his attitude to U2, poverty, drugs, groupies, his personal life and the macho implications of the band s image and music. Sceptical Eye: Cathy Dillon
IT IS OFTEN DISMISSED AS BIGOTED, SEXIST, VIOLENT AND TUNELESS. THERE IS, HOWEVER, MUCH MORE TO THE STORY OF RAP THAN THAT, YES, BIGOTED VIEW MIGHT SUGGEST. GERRY McGOVERN SINGS A HYMN OF PRAISE TO WHAT HE BELIEVES IS THE MOST INTENSE ART FORM OF THE NINETIES.
EAMONN McCANN reports on detailed, eye-witness claims of the Catholic Church’s involvement in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 – and of the Vatican’s efforts to protect the guilty
He pioneered the art of glam-punk excess with the New York Dolls and now he's learned to grow old gracefully. Peter Murphy meets the boy from New York City, the ever cool David Johansen. Photos: MYLES CLAFFEY
Having steamrolled its way across America, and through most of Europe, it seemed as if U2 s PopMart extravaganza might come to grief in the most unlikely of places their homeland of Ireland. Now however, one Supreme Court case on, U2 are scheduled to play not just two Dublin dates but a newly-added Belfast homecoming as well. Interview: MIKE EDGAR
Make no mistake about it, cocaine is more widely available in Ireland than at any time in the past. But is it the nasty, evil and dangerous drug of tabloid legend? In this Special Hot Press Report, Olaf Tyaransen goes behind the myths to uncover the history of, and the facts about, what has been dubbed the Champagne Drug. He talks to the Gardai and to dealers – and offers an honest assessment, from his own personal experience, of the drug that's widely used by musicians, media types, accountants, advertising execs and lawyers.
Jailed in the '70s and '80s for gun-running and membership of the IRA, Kerry-born MARTIN FERRIS was one of the most senior Republican figures in the south to throw his weight behind the Sinn Fiin-backed peace process. Now, a Kerry County Councillor with ambitions to take a Dail seat, Ferris has earned a particular reputation for being tough on drugs in his native Tralee.
Interview: NIALL STANAGE.
In the second and final part of an extensive interview, MIKE SCOTT discusses inspiration and influences, recalls his difficult solo years and explains the death and resurrection of THE WATERBOYS. Interview: PETER MURPHY
So says the man the tabloids have dubbed Fat Puss, Alan Bradley. But he's due in court on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, with figures between €950,000 and €2 million being bandied about in the media. In an exclusive interview, he asks how can he get a fair trial?
Rabble-rousing controversialist and after hours man, sure. But one time devoted mass goer who now drinks once or twice a month and finds Stringfellows seedy? Welcome to the other side of Eamon Dunphy.
Since Dolores O'Riordan appeared on the cover of Hot Press at the beginning of the year, her life has changed dramatically on both a personal and professional level. Not only has she starred in the Wedding Of The Year, but she's also sustained a serious leg injury, appeared on the Late Late show, and became a dab hand at dealing with media begrudgery. In between all this, The Cranberries found time to record a new album, No Need To Argue. Interview: Cathy Dillon.
They are one of the most interesting and enigmatic groups in rock. They are also one of the biggest, with a string of multi-million selling albums to their credit. But they don’t like interviews much, making themselves available for only a handful in Europe to coincide with the release of their new album Around The Sun. Once Peter Buck sits down opposite a microphone, however, a different face of REM reveals itself, as he talks eloquently about life, family, downloads, air rage, Iraq, Bush – and The Thrills.
Cum On Feel The Noize of turning pages as Slade s NODDY HOLDER does a literary tour to promote his autobiography, telling tales of
Phil Lynott, Oasis, Gary Glitter, Glam-Rock Excess, MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY and Suicidal Groupies. ANDY DARLINGTON tags along.
He was soccer s hardest man. Now he s in the process of becoming a genuine Hollywood star. Here VINNIE JONES talks to STUART CLARK about being mates with Madonna and Brad Pitt, his years with the Crazy Gang, and why he dislikes Johnny Giles
A Tinsel Town director of the old school, Michael Mann goes back to his ‘80s roots in his new movie, Miami Vice. In a forthright interview he talks about working with Colin Farrell, why he insisted on shooting in Paraguay and explains he’s not as tough as Hollywood gossip would have you believe.
STUART CLARK meets man-of-the-moment NORMAN COOK (aka FATBOY SLIM). On the agenda - tabloid intrusion, drugs, his love affair with Zoe Ball, and The Housemartins.
They were the coolest band on the planet – until the backlash started. Now The Strokes have released their most ambitious album yet. Can they leave their past behind?
When the IRA ceasefire began in the early minutes of September 1st last, nationalists in Belfast and Derry rejoiced in the streets. In the South Armagh village of Crossmaglen, however, there was barely a murmur. Over the past 25 years, the sniper’s bullet and the mortar bomb have claimed the lives of more soldiers and RUC personnel in this small area than anywhere else in Northern Ireland. Anne Connolly visits what has become the most militarised zone in western Europe and takes the post-ceasefire pulse of a stubbornly resilient little town. Pics: Jason Clarke.
Is football hooliganism really the new rock ’n’ roll and should little boys be wearing Boot’s No.7 blusher? Stuart Clark fears for the moral wellbeing of the nation’s youth as Manic Street Preachers wage holy war against MTV, Take That, Kate Moss and poor old Gerry Ryan.
Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Darina Allen, eat your heart out. New York chef ANTHONY BOURDAIN has done it all, from chopping out lines to chopping off fingertips, along the way dealing with the Mafia, Madonna, a dead man in a freezer and the palpitating heart of a cobra. STUART CLARK hears about cooking as rock'n'roll. CATHAL DAWSON serves up the pictures
They ve been gigging for 27 years and they were doing Words when Boyzone were still in the balls zone. They are Big Chief Flaming Star, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Little Thunder, Wild Hawk and Dull Knife (not their real names). They are
THE INDIANS
and they hope to still be on the warpath in the next millennium.
LIAM FAY
pow-wows with an authentic showband phenomenon.
So what happens when an indie band goes major league? how can you stay cool when your date’s a Charlie’s Angel? how important is the boy/girl song in a flag-waving time? and like Alexander The Great, do you weep when you have no more worlds to conquer? in addressing these and other pressing questions of the day, The Strokes salute John Lennon, Bob Dylan and their own undying band of brotherliness.
Few Irish albums have been as eagerly awaited as THERAPY?’s Troublegum and while the jury has yet to deliver its final verdict, early indications suggest that the band from Larne may be about to fulfil their own prophecy and become multifuckingnationally huge. But does taking on the world mean having to compromise the hardcore principles they’ve fought so hard to protect?
ANDY CAIRNS and MICHAEL McKEEGAN tell Hot Press trouble-shooter GERRY McGOVERN that displaying your gums doesn’t mean having to sacrifice your teeth. Pix.: MICHAEL QUINN.
The star of what s set to be the summer s hottest movie, High Fidelity, on love, obsession, movies, rock n roll, his pal Bruce Springsteen and the records he turns to when he s had his heart broken. With support from co-star Lisa Bonet and director Stephen Frears. Text: CRAIG FITZSIMONS
CHRIS DONOVAN looks at the incremental progress of the would-be King of Slane, who tells him about life, love, Christianity, veganism and scoring for films Plus: Profiles of Slane s other attractions, MACY GRAY, MEL C, BRYAN ADAMS, THE SCREAMING ORPHANS and DARA. Also: A Quickie with LORD HENRY MOUNTCHARLES
As his singular contribution to the birthday party, guest writer Elvis Costello offers a handful of stories from his ten years on the beat, which serve to illustrate why, in his own words, “I’d rather be a folk music fan than a teen idol.”
It’s Christmas, time for some of the leading lights of the Irish musical family to return from far-flung stages and convene for a traditional evening of reflection, revelation, conversation, merriment and, well, gargle. The guests: Glen Hansard and Colm Mac Con Iomaire of The Frames, Gemma Hayes, Mundy and David Kitt.
Arriving in Dublin in the last sixties as a 16 year old guitar wunderkind, Belfast born Gary Moore embarked on a musical career that has seen him go through several metamorphoses and achieve numerous notable success in the process.
Did you ever find yourself wondering ‘Where have I heard that song before?’ Well, Andy Darlington may be able to help as he trawls through the tangled undergrowth of that increasingly common phenomenon: The Cover Version
Our annual HP-7 summit brings together some of the pre-eminent movers and shakers in irish music to reflect on everything from backstage catering to the end of war, pestilence and famine. Your host: Stuart Clark.
LIMP BIZKIT are a rock'n'roll phenomenon. Notching up in excess of 20 million album sales over the past two years, they're in the vanguard of the nu-metal movement that has seen guitar rock reclaiming its place at the top of the singles charts. In Madrid to catch the band live, PHIL UDELL first hears passionate words from the frontman, FRED DURST. But, amid a welter of controversy, the raging music is put on hold as Limp Bizkit's show in the Spanish capital is cancelled – an ominous foreshadowing of the events that will see their UK, German and Irish dates also sensationally cancelled
In the second part of his examination of the cult of CHARLES MANSON, PETER MURPHY looks at the cult leader s trial, his continuing influence of left-field heroes and the controversy over his recordings. Also: BONO on U2 s decision to include Helter Skelter in their Rattle And Hum set.
With their new album, Gotta Go There To Come Back, in the bag, Stereophonics have chosen a very special gig at the Heineken Green Energy extravaganza in Dublin, to make their return to the stage. No wonder the boys are feeling bullish! Chris Martin, Ronnie Wood, Fran Healy, Rod Stewart, Noel Gallagher, U2 and the Rolling Stones – Kelly Jones has opinions on all of them! So who’s feeling the lash of the ‘phonics frontman’s verbal assault, then?
Or that's what the proponents of the phenomenon of Virtual Reality might want us to believe. GERRY McGOVERN enters this brave new world and discovers that its capacity to transform our lives - at work, rest and foreplay - is truly mindblowing. Now, put on your headset and start reading!
The first rule of interviewing LOU REED is that you don t: he interviews you. Peter Murphy survives the turning of the tables and is rewarded with thoughts on Joyce, Wilde, Dylan, Ginsberg and on becoming an elder stateman for the alternative thing .
The latest wave of right-wing attacks on US musicians is likely to have a knock-on effect here, with the words and actions of our own artists coming under increased scrutiny. In a special hotpress report, Ed Power enlists the help of Marilyn Manson and a number of major Irish players to pick his way through the censorship minefield.
Ten, nine, eight… we count down the contenders for 2003. Words Hannah Hamilton, Colin Carberry, Niall Stokes, Richard Brophy, John Walshe, Eamon Sweeney and Stuart Clark
The wild rise and fall of the coke-snorting, heavy boozing, rampantly horny music biz mogul who knew Dylan, Jagger, Jackson, Springsteen and Streisand better than most. And now he’s ready to tell all.
In an age when hype springs eternal, DAVID GRAY is that rare phenomenon a success story scripted by the fans rather than the industry. And a distinctly Irish success story at that. A certifiable platinum-selling box-office blockbuster in this country, the Welsh singer-songwriter still awaits a similar eruption of Gray fever in Britain, Europe and America. But his latest album, White Ladder, could be the record which tells the world what Ireland already knows. Now as he prepares to wow the faithful at Galway s Big Beat festival, JOHN WALSHE presents the inside story of the best kept secret in the west.
Pics Mick Quinn
No, it's not the overworked Hot Press subs finally snapping beneath the strain of a hectic production schedule but a finely argued debate by our finest writers on the phenomenon of naff. What is naff? Are you naff and if so how do you go about rectifying matters? Read on and be saved . . .
Once he was the mouthy fop rocker who enraged at least as many people as he delighted; now with a debut novel just published he's a (mostly) critically acclaimed author whose time has apparently come. Peter Murphy meets former Toasted Heretic frontman Julian Gough to discuss a meeting with Morrissey and a near-miss with Sinead, the benefits of being humbled and crushed, fame and creativity on the dole and, one more time with feeling, the epic story of lawyers, lubricants and lunacy at Feile '92. Photography: Phillip Tottenham
Or should that be The Clash? Well no, actually, cos there's no Clash, Damned or Pistols in 1999. But there s still joe strummer, who was there when Shane got his ear bitten off and, 22 years later is back for his own second bite with THE MESCALEROS. I ve seen everything that it s possible to see go down and I ve survived it, he tells STUART CLARK who finds himself shanghaied on a ferry to Stranraer.
Main pix: MICHAEL QUINN.
Allen Long put his own life on the line, smuggling dope from Colombia to the US in massive quantities. The business made him wealthy and gave him a taste for both the good life and the fast, white powder. But then it all went wrong: after some years on the run, Long was caught and sentenced to five years in jail.
Now author Robert Sabbag has put his extraordinary story in print. hotpress meets "the American Howard Marks"
Famously opinionated Dubliner and textbook Renaissance man, ULICK O'CONNOR still has plenty to say about everything – even if RTE, he claims, don’t want to hear about it. following the recent publication of his first volume of diaries, the great man offers his views on marriage, drugs, the North, art, corruption, wild times in the Chelsea hotel and more.
Words: OLAF TYARANSEN
Until recently one of the ultimate indie cult bands, The Flaming Lips have survived the ravages of heroin, acid and a hunting trip with William Burroughs. Now, their new album At War With The Mystics finds them taking their funky psychedelia to strange new places – including the upper reaches of the charts for the first time. Could it be that their moment has finally come? Interviews: Craig Fitzsimons (now) and Peter Murphy (then). additional reporting: Stuart Clark, Ed Power and Jackie Hayden
Nearly a decade after the release of their debut single, U2 are widely regarded as the No. 1 rock band in the world. But the album and the film "Rattle And Hum" depict another kind of reality entirely. Larry, Adam and The Edge talk to Niall Stokes.
With close to forty TDs in the Dáil, and Labour in government with Fianna Fáil, the parties of the left have undergone something of a renaissance in Ireland over the past few years. There are those, however, who view this as a grand illusion, arguing that the cause of socialism is being ill-served by our elected representatives. Meanwhile, following the collapse of the East European model of communism, the left is experiencing a crisis of its own. GERRY McGOVERN talks to the activists who see themselves as carrying the socialist torch and profiles the parties who have yet to make an impact at the polls. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
In the first of a new series about life at the rock n roll coalface, musician and writer Peter Murphy recalls the night the devil wrecked all his best tunes. Confessions Of A
Rock n Roll
Survivor
Best-selling crime-writer PATRICIA
CORNWELL
has a gripping new tale of sex, exploitation and violence to tell. But this time it s her own.
LIAM FAY hears the story she didn t tell on Kenny Live.
Pix: colm henry
The fascinating story of how four Tallaght schoolfriends – and unofficial fifth member Shuggy – made a new home and a career playing music in the USA. All with a little help from their many friends.
Greetings From LA
beck and tom petty get together in Los Angeles for an impassioned rap on songs, songwriting, showbiz, the Unplugged phenomenon and how too much music can boggle the mind. mark rowland listens in.
If you’re Randy Newman you’ll also need a piano, some borrowed dominants and lashings of irony. And that’s just for starters. Joe Jackson hears about the private, public and musical lives of one of American music’s most singular talents.
Returning from an extended hiatus, Manic Street Preachers are in stridently upbeat form. In a revealing interview, they reflect on their enduring cultural imprint and talk about long lost Manic Richey Edwards.
As World AIDS day approaches, Stuart Clark travels to Swaziland to witness the devastating impact the virus is having on the country, and discovers how overseas organisations like Skillshare International Ireland are helping Swazis to help themselves.
In the following pages, hear about Bono's top secret solo album; meet The Joshua Trio, the band whose mission is to bring U2's music to a wider audience; thrill to an appreciation of The Fab Four in their native tongue; and, last but not least, discover The Greatest U2 Fan Letter Ever Written! And, remember, don't believe everything you read...
Twelve months ago The Cranberries were unknown outside of the hippest rock circles, now with the platinum success of Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? they stand as the first Irish band to genuinely crack America since U2.
Much of the media attention given to them has focussed on Dolores O'Riordan, a singer whose unique approach to her craft underlines the defiantly independent path the group has trodden all the way to the top of the Billboard charts. Here she talks to JOE JACKSON about what by any standards has been a perfect year. .
Widely recognised as the best sports writer in Ireland, Tom Humphries became a key player himself, this time last year, when his interview with Roy Keane led to the departure of the Corkman from Ireland’s World Cup squad. Here, Humphries discusses sports journalism, club versus country, soccer in Croker, the Michelle Smith scandal and, of course, Roy Keane, his part in his downfall. [Pics Mick Quinn]
30 years after the savage Tate/LaBianca murders that epitomised the dark side of the American hippy dream, CHARLES MANSON aka God aka The Devil, continues to exert a potent influence on popular culture. In part one of a two-part feature, PETER MURPHY recalls the twisted vision of a charismatic man whose personal interpretation of The Beatles Helter Skelter helped give rise to one of the crimes of the century.
The author and former Conservative MP on clashing with Ian Paisley, shaking hands with Gerry Adams, sex and drugs in the house of commons, what Margaret Thatcher did and didn’t know about her closest aides and why kissing and telling on John Major is justified
WITH ITS RESOUNDING ECHOES OF THE TROUBLES, THE WAR BETWEEN THE BASQUE SEPARATIST GROUP ETA AND THE SPANISH STATE REMAINS BLOODY AND SEEMINGLY INTRACTABLE. WITH HIS FIRST BOOK, DIRTY WAR, CLEAN HANDS, IRISH JOURNALIST PADDY WOODWORTH PRESENTS A COMPELLING BUT OFTEN HARROWING ACCOUNT OF HOW VIOLENCE DEFEATS POLITICS AND TERROR BEGETS TERROR. AND, REFLECTING ALSO ON HIS OWN PAST POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT WITH SINN FÉIN, HE TELLS JOE JACKSON HOW HE HAS COME AROUND TO THE VIEW THAT TALKING IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN WAR. AUTHOR PORTRAITS: CATHAL DAWSON.
In a swelteringly hot Budape#st movie studio, situated by the banks of the River Danube just twenty minutes drive from the centre of the Hungarian capital, a beautiful flame-haired young actress named Juliana is painting a picture.
In a swelteringly hot Budape#st movie studio, situated by the banks of the River Danube just twenty minutes drive from the centre of the Hungarian capital, a beautiful flame-haired young actress named Juliana is painting a picture.
With the focus of world attention increasingly on Unionism and its capacity to respond positively to the IRA ceasefire, IAN PAISLEY JNR. – the son of Dr Ian Paisley – talks about culture and the Protestant identity, about his father’s emotive brand of politics, about secret deals and about ‘that petty little Fuehrer’ Albert Reynolds. Interview: Joe Jackson. Pix: COLM HENRY
With the death of Johnny Cash two weeks ago, music’s Mount Rushmore finally crumbled. From the hell-raising country outlaw of the ’60s to his final incarnation as a patriarchal figure intoning songs of guilt and redemption, Cash’s voice resonated down through the years with undimmed intensity. In this special Hot Press tribute to the Man In Black, Peter Murphy talks to Cash collaborators Sandy Kelly and U2, and recounts the turbulent life and times of one of the most iconic figures in 20th century music
Dublin's unlikely new Lord Mayor, Tomás MacGiolla, gets a lot off his chest on subjects as diverse as pomp and ceremony, government discrimination against Dublin, the re-zoning scandal, violence and prostitution on the streets of the capital, conspiracies to undermine the Workers Party and, inevitably, his palpable bitterness towards Democratic Left. Interview: Liam Fay. Pics: Colm Henry.
Over 50% of the electorate in the forthcoming General Election will be under 30 years of age. With this in mind, the main political parties are popping policies like smarties in their attemps to court the youth vote. LIAM FAY stands on their doorsteps.
Best known for his Irish Times column An Irishman s Diary, KEVIN MYERS has been denounced as arrogant, bigoted, pompous and prejudiced. And those are just the people who like his witty writing! On the occasion of the publication of a collection of his writings, the journalist they either love or loathe talks to JOE JACKSON about class, prostitution, drugs, relationships, the North, Mary Ellen Synon and more. Photography: CATHAL DAWSON
The technology which drives home entertainment is changing, and it's changing fast. Colm O'Hare takes a close-up look at what's happening in hi-fi, television, video and home cinema technology and discovers that the future has already arrived.
From dark age to middle age, Nick Cave is such a far cry from the blood-spilling junkie of rock legend that these days you’re likely to encounter him commuting to his 9 to 5. Except of course that his job is writing and making music, his new album is called Nocturama and there are, he admits, some sizeable blow-outs in the memory banks.
Long before boomtime Ireland there was boomtown Ireland, a country where the national symbol was not a tiger but a rat. to coincide with the release of the best of the boomtown rats, Bob Geldof looks back to the tepid Irish scene of the mid-’70s from which the rats emerged, biting, snarling and laughing, to take on the establishment, Britain and, almost, the world.
Sinn Fiin s first sitting TD since 1918 chooses his words carefully for the Hot Press Political Interview. I m not measured or calculating, he explains, this is me. As I am. LIAM FAY fires the questions. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
DENIS LEARY, sultan of sneer, is en route to Dublin to star in the Murphy s Ungagged Comedy Festival. By way of a little limbering up, and proving that there s no smoke without fire, here he lets rip on Noraid, The Kennedys, The Royals, Bill Hicks, Dean Martin, Oasis, Father Ted, drugs in Kerry and, oh yes, why he d like to go to Riverdance with a sniper s rifle . Interview: LIAM FAY.
It s easy to trace the tracks of DAVE GAHAN s tears. Like the illustrated man, the marks on his body tell their own story. But not the whole story for this is a man who took heroin abuse to such a lethal extent that he was once clinically dead for two minutes. Now, after a long and painful battle, he s clean, sober and delighted that depeche mode have released the album that few ever expected them to make. Interview: Olaf Tyaransen.
Commander of the notorious Company C of the UDA in Belfast, Johnny Adair was given 16 years for directing terrorism. While he was never convicted of murder, the rumour mill suggests that he has been reponsible for as many as 43 deaths.
Sinn Féin’s first sitting TD since 1918 chooses his words carefully for the Hot Press Political Interview. “I’m not measured or calculating,” he explains, “this is me. As I am.” Liam Fay fires the questions. Pic: Cathal Dawson
He may have ranked among the biggest-selling artists in the world in 2002 – but the ambition that has driven Eminem to pop’s dizziest heights shows no sign of abating with the release of his own biopic, 8 Mile. On track to becoming Hollywood’s latest darling, with all the attendant pressures and provocations that entails, will his art survive?
“Crossover” may be a favourite buzz-word at the moment but as rap and the rock mainstream strike an uneasy alliance, it’s clear that a huge gulf still exists between black and white culture.
Cast by certain sections of the media in the role of villain, Ice-T has spent the past decade pounding home the message that unless America is willing to accept a major race war, something has to change.
Here, the Iceman talks to GERRY McGOVERN about censorship and the politics of rap and gives him an exclusive preview of his Return Of The Real album. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
IN THE FIRST PART OF A WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN THE LAST ISSUE OF HOT PRESS, BONO UNVEILED THE NEW U2 ALBUM, SPOKE ABOUT ITS GENESIS IN CYBERPUNK LITERATURE AND THE BAND'S HUNGER TO PUSH ROCK'N'ROLL TO ITS LIMITS. HERE HE ELABORATES ON HOW U2 GO ABOUT WRITING THEIR SONGS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF GLOBAL CHAOS, HIS ARTISTIC REFERENCE POINTS OUTSIDE MUSIC, THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF HUMOUR, AND HOW HE ADMIRES THOSE WHO 'PARTICULARLY AGGRESSIVELY' DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD. AND THEN THERE'S THE STORY ABOUT JOHNNY CASH AND THE EMU. CAN THIS MAN BE FOR SURREAL? INTERVIEW:JOE JACKSON.
For close to twenty years, MARTIN CAHILL led the forces of law and order a merry dance. Known as the General, he was suspected of masterminding virtually every major crime committed in Ireland – but for as long as matters, the Gardai had been unable to pin anything on him. And when he was brought to court on petty charges, he posed outside for press photographers, dropping his trousers to reveal a pair of Mickey Mouse boxer shorts. Last week, however, the game was cut brutally short when Cahill was blown away within 100 yards of his South Dublin home by an IRA hit squad. Report: NEIL McCORMICK.
The future is here. Well, somehow it always is. And, as usual, it is both familiar and strange. Nothing seems to change, but one day you turn around, it is 1995, and you are cybersurfing on the internet, summer seems to last all winter, ambient-acid-techno is bubbling away on the radio, your fax machine shows up on the Antiques Roadshow and papa’s got a brand new drug.
From "Out Of Control" to "All I Want Is You", Neil McCormick presents a major critical retrospective on the complete recorded works of U2, the band who went from being one of the world's worst cover groups to become a leading force in modern Rock'n'Roll
Hailing from Dublin and weighing in at over six hundred pounds, the Fight Like Apes experience is a chaotic clash of electronics and rock, topped off with a frontwoman who can soothe and confront in equal measures. As debuts go, ‘How Am I...’ is a serious achievement, a kaleidoscope of different ideas that somehow manages to hang together and forge its own identity. Most impressive of all, amongst the madness lie three genuinely great songs that – the odd swear word aside – could grace daytime radio with no bother. They’re pretty much everywhere over the coming months, not to see them at least once would be a crime.
As the dust settles on the war in Iraq, the US government are said to have roped in Recording Industry Association Of aAmerica CEO, Hilary Rosen, to help draft copyright law for the new Iraqi administration.
Synergia 03 is an enticing, and occasionally exciting, snapshot of contemporary Irish club culture, showcasing the pristine sounds of established names and emerging talents alike.
Synergia 03 is an enticing, and occasionally exciting, snapshot of contemporary Irish club culture, showcasing the pristine sounds of established names and emerging talents alike.
Super Extra Bonus Party put their €10,000 Choice Music Prize spoils to good use by making their Appetite For Reconstruction remix album available as a free download.
A happy New Year to you, getting happier by the day, considering the position of the powers that be who still have ambitions to control our lives. (Pause for laughter, pour yourself a drink, and get ready to tot up the damage they have done themselves so far, with fifty more weeks still to go.)
Singalong to your favourites at the Rock Band sessions, or watch top movies, as the Xbox Live Stage brings digital thrills to this year's Oxegen festival.
The Electric Picnic-bound Mick Jones has his youth revisited on October 3 when The Clash’s 1982 set supporting The Who in Shea Stadium is given a CD release.
The latest LA outfit to cause a stir on this side of the pond (in the pages of Kerrang! at any rate) The Bronx come with all the right booze, puke ‘n’ drugs credentials to make them instantly appealing to their demographic (i.e. 13-year-old males).
With its huge choruses, female vocal sparring partners and sprawling epics of songs, Couldn’t Have Said It Better could have come at any point in his career but to criticise Meat Loaf for not moving with the times is missing the point entirely.
Gary Numan is something of a phenomenon. He really should have become a relic of a bygone age, as relevant to 2006 as perms and Howard Jones. Yet thanks to some choice sampling (Sugababes, Basement Jaxx), countless credible endorsements, the 80s revival and a spectacularly obsessed fan base, Numan not only has never gone away, he is poised to make another comeback.
Hip hop is in crisis, what we need is a new soldier to rise from ghetto streets to tell it like it really is, someone to do justice to the legacy of NWA and… well stop if you’ve heard this one before. It certainly feels like this isn’t the first time I’ve sat down to write this review. Indeed, it seems like I can hardly escape Eminem, 50 Cent, Obie Trice or the rest these days. So are we to hope that The Game actually is capable of offering something different? The signs aren’t good.
Tired of choosing between sequels and prequels? Now you don’t have to. Terminator Salvation does both jobs in the same running time as leading rival products.
With Michael Eavis letting the grass grow at Glastonbury this year, Scandinavia’s long-running equivalent was bound to be a huge draw for international music fans. Those seeking a people-friendly atmosphere and a musically-varied experience were always likely to flock to Roskilde, a festival structured along similar lines to its English counterpart
Never trust anyone who tells you they're honest‚ as la mère Porcelli used to say. Advice like that might give one pause when listening to Black Eyed Peas' sophomore foray into Keeping Hip-Hop Real For The Masses.
The tenth anniversary of Rory Gallagher's death will be honoured with a very special event in Ballyshannon, plus a Best Of album and a Gerry McAvoy autobiography
It must be great craic to be in Gnarls Barkley. Not only are you one of the most successful groups of the year, but you get to outfit yourself in a different costume for every show.
Madonna pulled, Jimmy Somerville balled and Adrian Crowley saluted as Stuart Clark scythes his way through this fortnight's Caught In The Net undergrowth
While their fortunes may have faded since Jamiroquai last swung on by in 2001, there’s no sign of it in The Point tonight, the very venue they previously visited.
There’s something too predictable about Snoop Dogg’s R & G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, his seventh studio album, to lift it beyond just about bearable background noise.
The sceptics might argue that for a group with such a troubled recent past to preach of increasing the peace is a touch hypocritical but, as that cover suggests, this has been something of a learning experience for all involved.
Misleadingly pitched as 'Die Hard in a POW camp' thanks to the presence of Bruce Willis, Hart's War is actually a thoughtful if undeniably plodding drama
Now, there's a sentence you don't see every day. But when Hot Press hooks up with Ronnie Wood, there's always more where that came from. Read on to learn why the Stones won't be playing the "Party In The Palace", why Ronnie can be found in Arizona before tours and about the new DVD that captures Andrea and Slash's special relationship
Liquor, women, drugs and killing. This is how the Supersuckers sum up the subject matter of their songs. Comprising a singer called Eddie Spaghetti, guitarist Dan 'Thunder' Bolton and a personage known as The Dancing Eagle on drums, expect a band who don't take themselves all that seriously.
This might be his first album but the songs on this debut from Donegal man Sean Needham give the impression that they’ve been collected slowly over the years, as he honed his craft.
Ian Brown’s fifth solo album is about the big issues. And while he's picked all the right targets, lyrically and musically it’s still a bit disappointing.
It may not be an ornate and highly charming church in Dingle, but something about the truly titanic line-up of the Other Voices launch, reduces the expansive Vicar St. venue to a kind of wonderfully intimate backbar.
No sooner had the Xmas decorations been taken down than The Blades, the last vestige of one’s misspent youth, decided to call it a day with an emotional performance in the Olympic Ballroom.
The sense of expectation is tangible as Woody, fag and glass of red wine in hand, saunters on and launches into a deliciously loose version of ‘So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’.
He’s back – and despite justifiable fears about young Arnold Schwarzenegger’s increasing physical decrepitude, the merciless leather-clad killing machine still kicks ass
Thomas Vinterberg (Festen) directs this splendid displaced western from a script by madcap fellow Dane Lars von Trier, and on paper at least, Dear Wendy sounds suspiciously like a hipper, teenage Dogville.
Elephant is though, quite an accomplishment in filmmaking terms – it’s brilliantly atmospheric, with the music of Elgar wailing over images of footballing youths.
Shouldn't those who hailed the appointment of Willie Walsh as British Airways boss be cringing with embarrassment after the airline's part in the recent Heathrow Terminal 5 debacle?
The stage is well set for the entrance of Kanye West, who seems to have made the transition from producer to star performer with few growing pains. Having crafted beats for the likes of Jay Z and Alicia Keys, the Chicago native’s debut album College Dropout has lead to his new role behind the mic becoming a very successful one indeed.
End of term reviewers are a bit like film censors. As they reel in the year, there is a tendency to cut and paste according to their own prejudices and passions.
Now bear with me for a moment. Norman Mailer wrote an essay in the ’50s entitled ‘The White Negro’, on the subject of white teenage boys (usually) who would endeavour to express their identity as disenfranchised working-class youth by adopting characteristics you might normally attribute to black culture.
The songwriter’s oldest friends – Don Henley, Ry Cooder, David Lindley and Jackson Browne – occasionally seem hamstrung by too much respect for the material, although Bob Dylan does essay a decent ‘Mutineer’, and you can hear Bruce Springsteen’s mouth water as he gets his chops around the East Texas testament of ‘My Ride’s Here’.
UBIQUITOUS ISN’T the word for it: Kim Fowley has placed himself just left of the epicentre of almost every major noisequake to strike Los Angeles since rock ‘n’ roll first kicked its way out of the belly of the blues.
Having been lucky enough to have witnessed Mr. Zimmerman’s legendary gig in Vicar St. a few years back, it seemed almost inevitable that a trip to this East Wall arena would prove anti-climactic. And so it proved to be.
Metallica have emerged as the most popular metal band in Ireland to judge by their showing in the chart of the one hundred best metal tracks of all time as chosen by the readers of Hot Press and the listeners to 2FM’s increasingly popular Metal Show.
This is Murder Ballads made celluloid – epic, edgy and contemptuous of the standards imposed by convention. It’s also an endlessly fascinating, morally complex proper Western despite the potential for Skippy sightings.
Of the many festivals that took place over the Bank Holiday weekend, Indie-Pendence – previously known as the Mitchelstown Music Festival, but since raised a level or three in the coolness stakes – had the most to offer, yet was the most precarious.
TRUE ROMANCE (Directed by Tony Scott. Starring Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken)
With the Cranberries no more (or at least on an extended sabbatical) it was only a matter of time before their crystal-voiced singer struck out on her own.
The twin worlds of Pink the pop star and the punk rock princess collided here tonight and made awkward bedfellows. The outcome of which one will win out is still in the balance.
The most unremittingly bleak and depressing indie offering to emerge from the States all year (with the possible exception of Paul Schrader's Affliction), this deeply fucked-up slice of white-trash junkie psychosis is a hard-hitting, supremely affecting journey into the black heart of the American nightmare, with some of its images powerful enough to merit comparison with Badlands, Taxi Driver and other similarly-flavoured excursions to hell.
Whatever your fancy chances are the capital will be able to oblige. Here, the Hot Press team pound the pavement in selfless pursuit of Dublin's hottest - and coolest - nightspots.
Don't beat that, beat this! After a modest period of hesitance, your correspondent is pleased to be able to confirm that Wha'ppen finds the Beat striking creative gold for the second time album-wise.
Born on 26th February 1932 in Arkansas, the guitarist, singer and songwriter Johnny Cash is one of the true legends of country music, a performer whose popularity transcends the boundaries of that art-form.
They're back. With a bang. Never ones to do it colour by numbers, The Cranberries waited 'til their third trip to the studio before encountering the difficult album syndrome.
JUST THINK of all those symbols of American culture that have found their way across the Atlantic over the years and which have come to symbolise the ultimate teen-age American dream. Rock 'n' Roll, Wurlitzer Jukeboxes, Harley Davidson motorcycles, Coca Cola, Rayban Shades, Levis, '57 Chevvies - the list is endless.
Earle commands protest chops that go back to Guthrie, but he also has the smarts to examine the allure of war, both as boys’ own glamour and last-ditch career option. Most of the songs study the anatomy of soldiery.
Recent events may have caused us to ask ourselves what level of passion, commitment and all-consuming belief does a person need in order to die the horrific death of a suicide bomber. But, Bootboy muses, are they the only people who truly care about anything these days?
WE RE heading for some kind of watershed, I m told. And yet, no matter how hard I try, there s nothing happening in the Northern peace talks that I can become even the remotest bit enthused about.
Down in Sandino s, just back from the High Court in London where named Bloody Sunday Paras were looking for anonymity, I had my routine off to a T within hours of the Nato liberators going into Kosovo. But the Paras were too quick for me.
An Omagh girl of Methodist farming background, with an unassuming determination to match, Juliet Turner has already come some distance from the straightforward and endearingly earnest folk thrust of her roughly recorded debut, Let’s Hear It For Pizza.
The word ‘luck’ turns up in the Snow Patrol story with set-your-watch regularity, and it’s commonly accepted that the period when the band cashed in theirs was around the release of their biggest selling single. I’m not sure I agree. The care and detail lavished on Eyes Open seems symptomatic of people who, finally rewarded with a budget to match their ambition, are determined to enjoy this opportunity for all it’s worth.
Of the seemingly limitless ‘novelty bets’ on offer from the country’s larger, bookmakers, most are turkeys and red herrings. But cash cows might well be present too…
It was a year when all manner of ecological malaise seemed to come home to roost. In particular the Sudan was in turmoil, putting our own nasty little problems of smog, toxic waste and criminal fish kills into sharp relief –
Comedienne Eleanor Tiernan invites Anne Sexton into her Georgian home, and talks to her about childhood holidays in Kerry, her love of JP Donleavy, and writing a play – well, kind of – about Damien Rice and Damien Dempsey.
Gary Cooke's Apres Match Eamon Dunphy impression is both his finest moment and an albatross around his neck. Not that he's complaining. He's got a World Cup to be getting on with.
Well, it’s back to the future time again, as we woozily welcome in 1995. With happy hearts and sick stomachs and peace and integration high on the list of high hopes, we kick off Demo Parade with a mixture of groups from home and abroad.
It is very difficult to get any debate going about the banning of Natural Born Killers. The reasons are obvious. Since the film has been banned, not many people in Ireland have seen it.
THE first reports were unequivocal. There had been a shoot-out between the Garda Early Response Unit and a gang of armed robbers on the main Dublin- Wexford road, near Ashford. One of the raiders had been killed. There were no garda casualties.
The substance of these reports appeared
A lot of people have expressed shock and outrage at the fact that the bishops and the clergy have been giving Bertie Ahern and his partner, Celia Larkin, a hard time of it recently
Parallels between military action against civilians on Bloody Sunday and President George Bush’s actions, and inaction on September 11 suggest that we’re still getting nothing but the same old story – so far
When a long-term relationship ends, our sex columnist finds that her friends all want to rally around to uncover a brand new mate for her. Sometimes, however, their approach is somewhat less than subtle.
There is an inherent problem in employing an anonymous actor (one Jim Curley) to play the President of the United States and having Clint Eastwood play his bodyguard.
THE BALLOT–BOXES HAVE BEEN OPENED, THE VOTES SCRUTINISED UNDER THE STRICTEST OF SECURITY AND NOW THE RETURNING OFFICER STEPS UP ONTO THE STAGE TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THE 1993 HOT PRESS READERS’ POLL
The Minister for Health is proposing to impose a charge on every drug prescribed under the Medical Card scheme. Already the IMO and the IPU have put forward better and fairer schemes that would not target the vulnerable…
Directed by Michael Moore. Featuring Michael Moore, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Britney Spears.
110mins. Cert 12pg. Out now.
At the time of writing, we are in a state of suspended animation. The new, so-called Blueprint for the North which has been hammered together over the past fortnight by the Irish and British governments is finished.
Found this in the Guardian, tucked away anonymously, page 29, Sept. 19th:
Goodbye Elton John,
though we never liked you all that much,
You inspired Diana,
even though you were hardly butch
And it seemed to me
you lived your life
like a candle in the wind,
your hair never knowing what to cling to
When the rain set in.
And though we would have liked
to love you,
It would be a great big fib.
Your talent burned out long before
Your chutzpah ever did.
Clubbers rejoice – the Planetlove summer festival is bound for County Meath. And the really good news is this year's event will feature some of the best in Irish DJ talent.
Traditionally the highpoint of the autumn music calendar, the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival takes place for the seventh time over the October bank holiday weekend.
The US army graverobs Hendrix… the death of the man who exposed the Turin Shroud… the international court hamstrung at birth… the lonely death of Annie Kelly
Planetlove has always represented the best of Irish dance culture. Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, the event is going from strength to strength.
Dublin's Hyland Brothers are aiming to punch their way into the Guinness Book Of Records. How? They are all launching individual bids for European boxing titles.
If Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ is to be true to the bible then it has no alternative to be anti-semitic. Plus: why Sir Bob and Bono are on the wrong side.
The kids at St Eithne’s have a dazzling take on today’s world – a blessed relief when saintly politicians take bribes for no reason and self-styled worthies line up to celebrate the slaughter at the Somme.
The college circuit has always been a lucrative one for touring acts, and a fine opportunity for students to check out the best in show, at a reasonable price.
A solo Jeff Tweedy show, a new Poozies retrospective, Christy appearing on Later With Jools, and Kila’s pre-Christmas shows: it’s a busy time in the folk world.
Music Piracy is a continuing problem, and it s not just internet innovation which is fuelling its rise. COLM O HARE spoke to some of those trying to
preserve legitimate music
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu has accepted in principle the legitimacy of a Palestinian state, but as Dearbhla Glynn found when she visited Gaza, the reality of life for its inhabitants continues to be horrifying.
Hard rock has taken on many forms, but if it's loud enough to annoy the neighbours, it should be categorised as good old-fashioned metal. Peter Murphy guides you through our choice of the Top 30 metal albums of all time.
In the new Hot Press, Peter Murphy picks his 20 highlights from the last 35 years of home-grown alternative culture (in strictly chronological order!). Take a look and then have your say on the indie moments that rocked in your lifetime...
Should the illegal arms be handed over? The Northern Ireland Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, was, understandably, very anxious about the answer to that question. And he’s probably even more anxious now as he awaits publication of the report of the Scott Inquiry into arms-related sales to Iraq.
Think you've got them all right? Or maybe you fancy a sneaky peak (you're only cheating yourself you know!). Either way, you've got the questions – we've got the answers....
Independent Irish acts have been enjoying unparalleled success recently both at home and abroad. We talk to some of the key bands, DJs, bedroom boffins, labels, fanzines, record shops and blogs who've decided to follow the DIY path to glory.
Colm O'Hare turns over a new leaf or two from the huge variety of publications on the shelves this Christmas, from rock biographies to more general Irish published works. So, for those of you who like your entertainment between the covers, read on . . .
The relationship between drugs and creativity has always been a hotly debated subject. But narcotic indulgence has proven to be the downfall of many a gifted artist.
They say that he was among the most powerful – and the most ruthless – Republican activists of them all. Here the legendary Bobby Storey, reputed to have been Director of Intelligence for the IRA, talks for the first time about his role in the struggle, and about some of the critical events that led to the IRA ceasefire and the Peace Process.
Twelve months ago The Cranberries were unknown outside of the hippest rock circles, now with the platinum success of Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? they stand as the first Irish band to genuinely crack America since U2.-Much of the media attention given to them has focussed on Dolores O’Riordan, a singer whose unique approach to her craft underlines the defiantly independent path the group has trodden all the way to the top of the Billboard charts. Here she talks to JOE JACKSON about what by any standards has been a perfect year. Pix: Michael Quinn.
Blessed with total recall, Craig Fitzsimons relieves the most glorious Irish sporting achievements of the past 30 years – and some that we’d all rather forget.
