the frank and walters are back addressing the nation. Our man on the inside, Peter Murphy, shares a day in the life of the Cork threesome as they record a radio session for RTE.
She must have read the book on it - the trigonometry of songwriting for a mass market.
Frank is a twenty-something Dane with a mission to copy and paste, using everyone from Roxette to Natalie Imbruglia as her templates.
GALLOWS frontman Frank Carter talks anti-apathy, concept records, toning down the swearing and why he thinks their debut Orchestra Of Wolves was “a complete mistake.”
Joe Jackson talks to Apres Match’s Risteard Cooper, currently starring in the Abbey’s production of Frank McGuinness’ acclaimed First World War play, Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme.
The Frank And Walters may modestly acknowledge that they have only one hit, but unlike the majority of their early-’90s contemporaries they refuse to wallow between nostalgia and novelty.
On top of scoring a Top 5 hit with Elbow's latest album, singer Guy Garvey recently absconded to Nashville to record with Richard Hawley and Frank Black.
He may just be the best-kept secret in Irish comedy, a veteran export who has won critical acclaim in Britain and the respect of luminaries such as Frank Skinner, Bill Bailey and Simon Munnery. Paul Nolan talks to Ian MacPherson in advance of his homecoming.
John Walshe meets Paul and Ashley from The Frank & Walters and hears all about their latest album, Beauty Becomes More Than Life, why they don t want to go to posh parties and how major labels take all the fun out of being in a band.
Frank McBrearty Jnr. is the victim of what may well be the greatest miscarriage of justice ever in the Irish State. However, having been exonerated by the Morris Tribunal, he has more on his mind than mere compensation.
Frank Black has confirmed that he's playing a 'precore' show tomorrow, Saturday February 9th,
at the Bandstand on St. Stephen's Green. Kick-off is 5pm.
FRANK DARABONT, whose 1994 Shawshank Redemption ranks as one of the most auspicious directorial debuts of all time, returns to centre stage after a lengthy six-year layoff with another Stephen King-penned Death Row drama,
The Heineken Rollercoaster Tour is taking to the road again and this time the capital is nobody’s hometown gig. From Kells come Turn, from Limerick Woodstar and from Cork The Frank and Walters. Next stop: a venue near you.
One of the most distinctive and colourful characters in Dail Eireann, Junior Minister WILLIE O’DEA is also passionate about his commitment to reforming adult education. Here he talks to Joe Jackson about his brief, about Michael Noonan, Frank McCourt and “Stab City”, and about his recent outspoken comments on taxi drivers, political donations and other controversies. And, yes, he admits he did inhale and was “legless” the night he got elected
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Directed by Frank Darabont. Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, James Whitmore)
Rarely a week goes by without the arrival of a comic adaptation promising to be the darkest, edgiest yet. Well, oh boy, do we have a winner. Sin City is drawn from the hard-boiled graphic-nasties of Frank Miller, who co-directed the movie with Robert Rodriguez (and received further assistance from Mr. Quentin Tarantino). Maintaining a grovelling S&M slave-dog obedience to the source material, their collective efforts prove every bit as brilliantly, imaginatively, gruesomely violent as one would have suspected.
Paddy Casey is just one of a host of the nation's finest acts at the Sennheiser Live Stage for two days of great live music. Fresh from releasing his Addicted To Company album this month, Paddy plays a set on Saturday evening, and will be joined over the weekend by The Frank & Walters, The Walls, The Flaws, Neosupervital, Royseven, Dirty Epics, The Kinetiks and Messiah J & The Expert, with lots more yet to be announced.
Still scratching your head over The Sopranos’ enigmatic final curtain? To help you make sense of it – and to look back over its eight years – we talk to Frank Vincent, aka wiseguy Phil Leotardo.
When it comes to meeting musical legends, few people have hobbed with as many rock ’n’ roll nobs as Blondie.
Kicking back before their recent Vicar St. show – an amazing night, in case you’re wondering – Clem Burke and Chris Stein are recalling some of their choicest encounters.
Frank Oz may be the man behind those cuddly muppets, but he’s no pushover in person. Now, his chequered career as a director culminates in the darkly comic Death At A Funeral.
As a sort of accompaniment to Hot Press' current cover story on the Heineken Rollercoaster Tour bill-sharers, we decided to make 'em our Archive Artists Of The Week. Getcher old news stories, getcher reviews, getcher interviews. You know you want 'em
She’s been lumped in with the nu jazz movement, but Amy Winehouse has no interest in keeping up with the Norah Jones’ or Jamie Cullum's. Phil Udell gets music lessons from the 19-year-old Londoner.
The family courts have traditionally favoured women over men when deciding issues of child custody. Adrienne Murphy discovers that fathers are fighting back.
It s gas. Some idiot in a world observatory of finance or somesuch has dropped Ireland down the least corrupt league. S/he thinks we are more corrupt than, say, five years ago. And why is this? Because we have these tribunals, that s why. Logic? Don t talk to me about logic. It s no wonder the financial order goes pear-shaped from time to time if that s their logic. Because, of course, the tribunals are a sign that we were once corrupt, that we know it and are getting better, not the other way around.
The Centre for Public Inquiry is a new Dublin-based and privately-funded organisation recently established in Ireland to monitor aspects of public importance in our political, public and corporate spheres. Frank Connolly, the investigative journalist given the role of the Centre’s executive director, helps Jackie Hayden with some inquiries of his own. Photography by Cathal Dawson.
I forgive Esther Rantzen for That s Life. Not many people can reach into their souls and find such forgiveness possible, but for me it s suddenly been made easy. She s produced an excellent documentary series on BBC1, Prostitute.
The Frank & Walters are the most successful of Cork city’s frequently madcap musical outfits and have recently celebrated ten years together with a 'Best Of' album
One of the most hotly anticipated events at the Galway Comedy Festival is the show featuring stand-up comedian from the characters of Father Ted. Jackie Hayden talks to the evening's host Frank Kelly, a.k.a Father Jack.
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
Well, so would you be if you had to wear all that hideous make-up. Barry Glendenning meets FRANK KELLY, the long-established actor and comedian who now finds himself in the curious position of being best-known for shouting 'Feck!', 'Drink!', 'Girls!' and 'Arse!' fr. Jack hackett, this is your other life . . .
Black & White Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
This was the year that a lot of frustration boiled over, steaming and fuming and effing to high heaven. A major target was the LUAS, Dublin’s answer to a question that’s out of date and wasn’t being asked anyway, a white elephant generated by people who were besotted with the idea that trams are, to quote Frank McDonald of the Irish Times, ‘civilising’.
Tanya Donelly has returned with a new album, Beautysleep, which features the cream of Boston's musical talent. But Peter Murphy discovers that the ex-Belly vocalist's pregnancy at the time of recording forced her to re-evaluate her singing technique
The naked senator and other tales – ten things you might not have known about politics and politicians in Ireland. Photography from The Naked Politican by Katie Hannon
Black Francis talks to Hot Press about his friendship with U2, his relationship with the rest of the Pixies and why he's reverting back to his original stage-name.
Taking time out from his stag weekend, baroque retro-rocker The Mighty Stef talks about the influence of film on his writing, his enduring love for Nick Cave and his friendship with Shane MacGowan
“All of Irish history is reflected in our songs”, says Frank Harte, a point well amplified by his new collection, 1798: The First Year of Liberty. Interview: Sarah Mc Quaid
In Francie Brady aka Frank Pig, author PAT McCABE has created one of the most unique characters in Irish fiction, an underground cult hero who's already been likened to Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn. The novel from which he comes, The Butcher Boy, is a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic and work on the movie adaptation is already well advanced. Here, the man who's made a silk purse out of a sow's ear (sort of) talks comics, showbands, the human condition and, of course, pigs, in the company of LIAM FAY. Pix: COLM HENRY
Throughout the '90s and beyond, The Frank And Walters were effectively a lone beacon for Cork rock. But over the last year all that changed, with the emergence of an exciting new scene in the city, centred around the Cork Rocks phenomenon. If the momentum can be maintained, there's enough outstanding young bands strutting their stuff to ensure that the city by the Lee becomes the focus for unprecedented A&R interest.
The suggestion that Roy Keane lost the dressing-room at Sunderland has been questioned by England legend Peter Beardsley who also talks about Paul Gascoigne’s woes, Paul McGrath and the tackle that gave the world a glimpse of his tackle!
In the first instalment of a regular new column for Hot Press, former Irish international PAUL McGRATH remembers Italia 90 and looks forward to the season ahead
When indie godhead Frank Black hooked up with several veterans of the Nashville session scene the results were thrillingly different to his work with The Pixies
When Richard O' Brien put Dr. Frank' N' Furter into fishnets just over 20 years ago, few could have predicted the cult that would grow up around the Rocky Horror Show. Fay Wolftree genderbenders her way through a history of Transylvanian transvestism.
From the beautiful opening drone of ‘Caribou’ to the hypnotic, looped madness of their 15-minute take on ‘Planet of Sound’, Frank Black and collaborators Two Pale Boys have managed to capture the off-kilter magic of old Pixies classics while pulling them into their own gorgeously surreal soundworld.
The Mexican-Canadian Dark Angel starlet Jessica Alba gets all grown up with a lasso and leather bra in the Rodriguez/Tarantino directed film adaptation of Frank Miller's neon noir Sin City.
The still vibrant 64-year-old on why Morrissey’s like Father Frank, why Iraq is like Vietnam, and on her meetings with Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Bono, Phil Spector and a whole Oval Office full of presidents.
Endless traffic, skyrocketing house prices, vandalism, litter, corrupt planners, listed buildings being pulled down to make way for |ber-pubs and highrises. Doesn t Dublin deserve better than this? KIM PORCELLI talks to Irish Times Environment Correspondent FRANK McDONALD about his new book, The Construction Of Dublin, and some of the more controversial proposals to save the city before it s too late
With even the comparatively tranquil Euro 2004 marred by trouble on the Algarve, the issue of football hooliganism remains a live one. Now, one of its definitive texts has made it to the big screen. Craig Fitzsimons meets the men – and learns about the hard men – behind The Football Factory
Shane MacGowan is not happy with the newly published A DRINK WITH SHANE MacGOWAN.
for a start, it should be called Several drinks with Shane MacGowan, he points out. Plus there's a lot in it that's "garbled, dodgy and well-suspect". and on top of that, he wouldn't even stand over SOME of HIS OWN opinions AS expressed in the book. in fact, if shane had his way he'd "burn every fucking copy". Olaf Tyaransen tries to get the record straight while, inevitably, getting the drinks in. photography: Mick Quinn
What links Richard Harris with Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel with The Supremes, and Frank Sinatra with er, Ghost Of An American Airman? Why, the music of Jimmy Webb, of course, one of the most widely-respected songwriters of all-time. Here he talks to JOE JACKSON about his friendship with Richard Harris, his encounters with Elvis and his deep-rooted love of Irish music.
Seventeen years after his second book was banned and he lost his teaching job, John McGahern's reputation as one of Ireland's most gifted writers has been underlined by the critical acclaim accorded his latest novel That They May Face The Rising Sun. Yet McGahern remains a somewhat enigmatic personality, tending his farm, refining his prose and observing a vanishing world from his Leitrim home. "The rather nice thing about writing is that it makes everything else a pleasure,' he tells Hotpress
Liam Fay calls on Shane MacGowan at home, where over mugs of brandy, the singer cheerfully rationalises his notorious alcohol-intake in the face of widespread concern that he might be drinking himself to an early grave. The premier Pogue disagrees, predicting instead a happy fulfilling life away from the stage, in which he would own and run a fully-licensed restaurant in London and face extended vacations in Thailand.
His novel "Atomised" was a controversial pornographic parable and its follow-up platforme led to him being denounced by Muslims and going into hiding, while his wife endured a nervous breakdown. Notoriously difficult, the County Cork-based French author here discusses – between pauses – monogamy, open marriages, drugs, politics, literature, the World Cup and his desire to be a wolf
From Sting to Frank Zappa, Derek Bell has been literally instrumental in establishing The Chieftains as your average rock legend’s favourite group. Liam Fay hears the full story about his ice cream binges with Van Morrison and his special liking for rosewood oboes!
Junebug opens with footage of the hollering mountain men of North Carolina – a fitting folk art overture for Phil Morrison’s eccentric, gently comical and down home debut.
Shirley Manson, Tom Waits and Suzanne Vega are among the many heavyweight champions of US cult author JT LEROY, a 21-year-old who survived childhood abuse and a period as a truckstop hustler to become what he calls “an accidental novelist”.
Author Frank McCourt has died at the age of 78. McCourt shot to international fame he when he won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for his 1996 memoir of "miserable Irish Catholic childhood" in Limerick, Angela's Ashes.
Just when you started to suspect that The Shawshank Redemption was a remarkable fluke, up pops Frank Darabont with one of the most discombobulating adaptations of Steven King literature since The Shining.
Two Leeside legends for the price of one is the deal as Who acolyte ‘Irish’ Jack Lyons pens a new tome about The Frank And Walters entitled A Renewed Interest In Reading.
The Frank & Walters have announced an extensive tour to coincide with the April 20 release of ‘Fight’, the latest single to be lifted from their fab A Renewed Interest In Happiness album.
Black Francis' chaotic St. Stephen's Green appearance is quickly becoming the stuff of legend. See what he had to say to Hot Press' Roisin Dwyer and Elaine Hughes beforehand.
Music Review | Live
50% | 14 Oct 2003
Eamon Sweeney
I don’t necessarily think Frank should play more or less Pixies numbers, even though that’s exactly what his audience want.
Continuing our look back at the work produced for previous winners of the Hot Press/Tisch School video contest winners, here's a reminder of the Fall '06 semester videos.
Miss Kitten-circa-‘Frank Sinatra’-era vocals meet choppy drums, arpeggiated FX and a 303 bassline. ‘Fuck you’ electro. Roman Flugel adds some ‘Rocker’-isms to the remix, but it never quite gets there.
Frank Martiniq’s stern image takes a tumble on ‘Sugarpopp’. The title track sounds like what would happen if a robot was ordered to re-arrange one of Martin Buttrich’s pitch-shifting melodies, the warm hooks now accompanied by rigid minimal beats.
Frank Lorber’s Nummer imprint lends Maurizio’s dub techno blueprint an austere, visceral outlook. A rolling bass lays the basis for a succession of blips, bleeps and FX on the title track, while, on the flip, hard, metallic beats surge through a hail of hissing, hazy sounds and warped 303s.
With hopes of a new Pixies record fading away (possibly a blessing in disguise), Black Francis/Frank Black returns instead with something like his 75th solo album. His own stuff has varied in quality for sure, yet ‘Captain Pasty’ is a bit more like it, a snarling punk rock record with that trademark voice still intact. Completely hatstand of course, but good to have around.
Despite the hype surrounding it, ‘Lobster’ really deserves the praise; deep house with an instantly recognisable riff, Frank Tope provides a tougher, leaner version, while Saint Laurent’s other track, ‘Surf Club’ is more spacey house music with an intuitive understanding of what works on the floor.
Anyone disappointed by the Second Coming of the Pixies or Weezer’s work of late will have their faith in humanity reignited by this taster from Bluefinger. With as much attitude as a snotty teenager who’s just been grounded, it features constant chugga-chugga guitars while all kinds of insanity from the dark recesses of Frank Black’s brain mill around on top. Even more delicious is the fact that it sounds like it was recorded in a garage back when he went under the moniker Black Francis. Oh wait…
Shouting and snarling about corpses, unbirthday host Frank Black sounded like a nutter on a street corner with a knack for associative wordplay (check out the extraordinary verbal dexterity of ‘Brick Is Red’). Kim Deal, then posing as Mrs. John Murphy, pounded close by, before freaking out the guests with primal scene anthem 'Gigantic', a childhood tale pervy enough to recall the films of Brian De Palma.
It’s a mark of the quality of material at their disposal that The Frank and Walters were able to discard tracks like ‘You Asked Me’ as B-sides. Lifted from Souvenirs, the group’s forthcoming rarities collection, this is another slice of the group’s indie-pop brilliance. Fast-paced and with more than a hint of Teenage Fanclub running through its sweltering three minutes, ‘You Asked Me’ is as bouncy and catchy as their cult classics ‘This Is Not A Song’ and ‘After All’. B-sides ‘How Can I Exist’ and ‘Pathways’ are equally impressive. We eagerly await Souvenirs.
"And the sweetest sounds that you've not found are waiting there beneath the clouds." In cold print that might read like some sad-o, hippy-dippy sentiment but just listen to it radiating from the speakers as 'Plenty Times' kicks off The Frank and Walters' third album.
Well now, what kept them? Gone are the days when the Stone Roses would take an age to follow up a groundbreaking debut. Instead the Arctic Monkeys return in less than a year. Good to have them back and all that, but maybe they could have done with a bit longer. The breakneck pace of ‘Brainstorm’ certainly suggests a band in a hurry, yet, if we can be frank for a moment, the tune itself isn’t much cop. You might think this precludes the Monkeys from bagging ‘single of the fortnight’. Such is the sheer ubiquity of the track, however, we’ve decided to bend our house rules a little. Because, whichever way you look at it, ‘Brainstorm’ is the most important record to fetch up on our singles pile lately. And so the gong goes to the urchins. Still, we’re expecting better things from the new album.
The Canadian duo have apparently been in “hibernation” since their 2004 debut left many a jaw dropped. And while the basic elements remain the same – pristine synths, melancholic melodies and that distinctive vocal – there is more meat on their bones now, a new focus on choruses and even more heart-rending moments of icy perfection. The glitch-hop references have faded, the ten songs on offer augmented instead by nods to pure house music, outstanding songwriting, Frank Sinatra (there’s a cover of his ‘When No One Cares’), The Blue Nile… and pop, pop, pop. So maybe this is new ‘new pop’ – a very modern music, adroitly aware electronica with soul, underground music with the controls set for the heart of the charts. Album of the year.
Well you're about to be as Cork City kicks off its newest music festival, the Beamish Experience - featuring McAlmont & Butler, Mundy and The Frank & Walters to name but a few
A Bob Dylan harmonica, a Slash guitar, a Prince bass and a saxophone signed by former US President Bill Clinton are among the items on offer in a pre-Grammy Awards charity auction.
Reid's rich voice is beautifully set off against spare, elegant accompaniment courtesy of some of the finest musicians on today's Scottish music scene, including accordionist Sandy Brechin, guitarist Frank McLaughlin and the above-mentioned Aaron Jones (who seems to becoming rather ubiquitous) on cittern.
Music Ireland ’07 has scored a major coup by getting Prince drummer John Blackwell to grace the Sennheiser Live Stage at the October 5 to 7 event in the Dublin RDS.
Retrosexuals ahoy. Like Sin City, Zack Snyder’s pounding adaptation of Frank Miller’s Greco-Roman graphic novel falls somewhere between live action and anime had the illustrations been provided by Tom of Finland.
The planet's most famous lead singer continues his humanitarian campaign, contributes to fundraising book project and appears on Oprah. Oh, and a Frank Sinatra cover and landmark U2 memorabilia exhibition are also en route
:et’s be frank. For all the heavy hitters guesting on this, Mary J Blige’s seventh album, the majority of Hot Press readers will have their interest piqued by the appearance of a certain U2 on a version of a certain song.
Frank Black is something of the Paul McCartney of the alternative set - one quarter of a hugely influential band but struggling to recapture that muse throughout a patchy solo career.
Kooky is a young male crooner with a classical voice who sings maverick, cabaret style pop tunes like a contemporary Irish Frank Sinatra. His album’s title – The Good Old Days – acknowledges the throwback nature of his vocal style, which sounds like it’s from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s rather the turn of the 21st century.
Perennial Cork favourites the Frank And Walters are back. A near death experience followed by period of reflection, then a slate cleaning triple album of odds and ends (Souvenirs) and now their first studio album in six years. It’s all come full circle: the guys find themselves at square one, making infectious, charming and effervescent indie-rock.
I suppose I should say I am sorry. It s just that I find their music completely devoid of humour.
So says David Baddiel, one of the two least funny men in the world, the other being his partner in cringe, Frank Skinner.
Formed by Eoin McEvoy and Frank Kearns, CWN had the big sound and bombast of acts like Simple Minds and Big Country but, eventually, not enough hits to fuel the machine. Now the re-release of their debut Urban Beaches, plus bonus tracks, and the first release of the cancelled No Shelter give pause for a re-evaluation.
Jackie Hayden travelled to Nashville, Tennessee for a once-off invitation-only gig starring Frank Black, Guy Garvey of Elbow and Richard Hawley at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery as part of the celebration for Mr Daniel’s birthday.
David Kitt [pictured right], The Frank And Walters, The Walls and Royseven are among the artists who have been selected to have their videos made, in a special programme run by New York University, in association with Hot Press. Royseven's recently released debut album, The Art Of Insincerity, entered the Irish album charts at No.17 this week.
Garda corruption resulted in a Donegal publican’s false imprisonment under horrifying circumstances. But the input of Republican vigilantes in the framing of an innocent man should not be forgotten.
Each March hundreds of indie rock hopefuls from around the globe descend on Austin, Texas for the South By South West rock festival. And each year, the event throws up a new batch of buzzy contenders. Vampire Weekend, MGMT and The Virgins are among the recent newcomers to have cemented their reputation with storming SXSW turns. A few weeks ago, some of the Irish music scene’s hottest debutantes made the long trek to Texas for SXSW ‘09, among them fancied old-school rockers Dirty Epics. Frontwoman Sarah Jane Wai O'Flynn brings us a frontline report.
None of the obituaries to Frank Sinatra that I read mentioned that he'd been accused by Senator Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee of being a communist. Maybe few are interested in the political aspect of Sinatra's complex and colourful life. But to ignore it entirely is to miss a salient dimension of the man.
Unencumbered by the fickleness of fashion, Jack Lukeman (or Jack L, as he is better known) has carved out his own niche in the melting pot that is music in the '90s. He has left the shade of Brel behind and has followed his own vision, which still has its roots in the romantic balladry of Scott Walker, Nick Cave and Frank Sinatra.
Casting a cold eye on 1986, one must be frank that, although it was a good year, the absolute pinnacles that have marked previous years were absent. Perhaps ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ and ‘Born In The USA’, and their respective tours in 1985, not to mention Live Aid, drained a lot of emotion.
IN RAT Pack Confidential, his immensely entertaining analysis of the bacchanalian rites of Frank Sinatra s showbiz pals summit in early 60s Vegas, Shawn Levy tells a story about stand-up comedian Joey Bishop, one of the lesser known rodents on the famous Sands Hotel bill which comprised such showbiz luminaries as Ol Blue Eyes, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Peter Lawford.
IN RAT Pack Confidential, his immensely entertaining analysis of the bacchanalian rites of Frank Sinatra s showbiz pals summit in early 60s Vegas, Shawn Levy tells a story about stand-up comedian Joey Bishop, one of the lesser known rodents on the famous Sands Hotel bill which comprised such showbiz luminaries as Ol Blue Eyes, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Peter Lawford.
As all the major competitions are drawing to a close – and bearing in mind the bewildering choice of Ryan Giggs as PFA Player of the Year – I thought now would be an opportune moment to select my team of the season. So, let’s take a look at the candidates for goalkeeper. When Shay Given has lined out for Man City he’s done very well, but he’s not played enough football overall – he had a few injuries early on in the season when he was still with Newcastle.
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...
Music lovers of the world, unite and take over! Whether you play music, work in music, want a career in music or just love to listen, don’t miss Music Ireland ’07 – the country’s biggest music show and exhibition.
Legendary ballad singer Liam Clancy, of the pioneering Clancy Brothers, kicked off this year’s Fleadh Cheoil in Clonmel with a vintage performance in the Enfer village. Here he reflects on Fleadhs past and their current contributions to Irish culture.
In the words of visionary film-maker David Cronenberg, "There are records you listen to when you want diversion, and there are records you go to when you're in spiritual trouble." We asked an array of today's brightest stars to tell us about the artists they feel provide the greatest sustenance in time of turmoil and upheaval.
STUART CLARK looks ahead to SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST 98, which gets underway in Austin, Texas on March 18h and which will
feature a varied Irish musical bill of fare.
In 1988, HP journalist Joe Jackson interviewed the then Lord Mayor, Ben Briscoe. His homophobic opinions in the resulting article in Hot Press sparked an argument in the letters section of the Irish Times, to which Dermod Moore, then unaffiliated with Hot Press, contributed his thoughts. Here's the letter in full.
Given that he’s this issue’s cover star, it’s only fitting that the many Christy Moore goodies in our possession are dug up and given a new lease of life. So, if you’re sitting comfortably, let’s begin…
BARRY MURPHY is not the Godfather of the new Irish comedy. Repeat: Barry Murphy is not the Godfather of the new Irish comedy. barry glendenning interviews the benevolent uncle of new Irish comedy instead.
Film types living in Cork will undoubtedly be flocking to Set For Action – The Cork Film Forum, which will be held on Wedneday August 26th in the Firkin Crane Centre beside Shandon.
Anybody who has lived their life up to this point without managing to see Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal 1960 horror-flick Psycho is hereby urged to drag their lazy ass down to the IFC
PETER MURPHY reports on the bureaucratic traps and social hysteria confronting Ireland s tiny immigrant refugee population of 4,000. And he interviews the founder of Immigration Control Platform, Aine Nm Chsnaill.
The warped indie-rock of PlaytOh has put them at the forefront of the Cork music scene. Now they're poised to take on the world. Interview by Tanya Sweeney.
It s a story that has it all. Fame, drink, women, politics. Even death threats and The Mob. In a special retrospective feature JOE JACKSON explores the myth, and the reality, of THE RAT PACK, the original reservoir dogs.
Now a provocative solo artist following a spell with the Subtonics, The Mighty Stef (alias Stefan Murphy) invites Jackie Hayden round for some pasta a la Murphy.
The future in nifty twelve-point type, summoned for you out of the ether by the Oracle of Hot Press, the redoubtable, all-powerful, spookily omniscient, scarily prescient, frighteningly knowledgeable but really quite friendly when you get to know him, Old Hayden. Read it and live better
They began as an acid house act doing a disco cover of Neil Young's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart'. Then they took a break, discovered big beat and became wine waiters for cult author Douglas Coupland. There's never a dull moment with Saint Etienne
As U2 gear up for the release of No Line On The Horizon, they meet HP to talk about the creation of their latest masterwork, meeting world leaders, the way they’re perceived in Ireland, the current state of the music business and their future plans.
He's been painted as a loud-mouthed yob but The Courteeners' Liam Fray is actually a complete sweetheart - so long as you don't ply him with liquor and encourage him to slag his rivals.
Louis Walsh and Bono suffer a roasting as Echo And The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch talks to Hot Press about life as an indie-pop legend and explains why he’s rock music’s answer to Frank Sinatra.
Bloodied but unbowed by press smears, Scottish socialist firebrand George Galloway is one of the most vocal anti-war politicians in Britian. In a characteristically frank interview he discusses Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Resepect, and why Shannon could be considered a terrorist target.
In the week in which he finished up his radio show, Ireland’s most (in)famous broadcaster/journalist has the last word On Roy Keane, Mick Mccarthy, John Giles, Kevin Myers, Vincent Browne and a whole lot more.
In an extremely frank interview with EAMON SWEENEY, MIKE HEAD of SHACK talks about his time as a heroin addict, the band s progress and their ambivalent attitude to media attention.
At the end of the last decade, Philip King was best known as a founder member of Scullion and writer of the music to the Frank O’Connor translation of the Irish lyric ‘I Am Stretched On Your Grave’. However, since setting up Hummingbird Productions with his partners Nuala O’Connor and Kieran Corrigan in 1987, he has established himself as one of the country’s leading makers of films about Irish music and culture, including acclaimed series such as Bringing It All Back Home, A River Of Sound, and Sult. Here he talks to Peter Murphy about the current Irish climate for independent film-makers, his stop-start relationship with RTE, and post-Riverdance Irishry. Pics: Cathal Dawson
John Banville places himself among some of the century’s most celebrated and notorious figures, in a frank interview which sees one of Ireland’s most revered and controversial writers musing on the raging battle between high art and popular culture, not to mention the war between the sexes . . . Tape: Joe Jackson Pix: Cathal Dawson
WITH THE RELEASE OF HER FIRST LIVE ALBUM *LOVE FOR SALE* MARY COUGHLAN HAS PUT THE PERSONAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAUMAS OF THE PAST THREE YEARS BEHIND HER. IN A FRANK INTERVIEW SHE OUTLINES HER DARK DAYS TO SIOBHAN LONG AND INDICATES THAT PERHAPS A FUTURE COVER VERSION OF *WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN* MIGHT JUST BE IN ORDER.
Why the media were wrong in their assessment of Sharon Shannon’s court case; the latest musical venture from producer, director and PR ace, Mary McPartlan, plus the usual round-up of news from the world of folk and traditional music.
She's never been one to pull her punches but even by her standards, Mary Coughlan's latest album is a rollercoaster. Here, she talks about a life of love, loss, pain and redemption.
Is it curtains for Ireland’s World Cup chances now that we’ve been drawn against the, on paper at least, far superior French? Also, fair dinkum to Cork hurling keeper Dónal Óg Cusack for doing the unthinkable and actually penning an interesting sports autobiography
Plans for a film based on the life of Republican figurehead and Labour party founder James Connolly have received a boost with SIPTU agreeing to help finance the project.
Those who limit themselves to the traditional man-on-top position during sex are missing out on the fun and excitement that a little sexual experimentation can provide. For the more adventurous a little research can help you see a whole new side of your partner
The most famous beards in rock 'n' roll are back with a new album that's guaranteed synthesiser-free and hotter than a Tex-Mex jalapeno pepper. As ZZ Top do a John Major and return to basics, DUSTY HILL tells STUART CLARK about the danger of eating chili-dogs, what he used to get up to under the bed-clothes as a kid and the nature of his relationship with long-horned steers.
The National Age Card Scheme is a success, but a qualified one: it’s needlessly difficult to get one, and they aren’t, despite the name, accepted nationally. What’s a thirsty 18-year-old to do?
Father Ted writer Arthur Mathews talks about his latest movie, Wide Open Spaces, an evocation of "Crap Ireland", set in a Famine theme park, with shades of Flann O’Brien and Beckett.
Author Robert Sabbag has made his name as a dynamic chronicler of the shadowy world of drug smuggling. Olaf Tyaransen hears about his difficulties and successes on the trail of the white powder and gold weed
Massage parlours? Escort agencies? The sex industry is nothing new in Dublin – once upon a time, in one small part of the city, there were over 1,500 “poor, unfortunate girls” servicing clients (including King Edward and James Joyce) and being terrorised by madams. Until, that is, the Legion Of Mary came along. Billy Scanlan investigates the history of the battle for the soul of the city’s once infamous red-light district
This year there is one striking feature of the Dublin Theatre Festival which would suggest that the Capital’s two key theatres are not making too much of an effort for the event.
Controversy is already swirling around the forthcoming Abbey Theatre production, Barbaric Comedies. JOE JACKSON finds out what it s all about and talks to one Irish actress who decided against appearing in the play
Forget Beirut as a byword for urban warfare, the Lebanese director of Caramel, Nadine Labaki, is looking towards the future through the lens of a beauty salon.
Top international journalist and acclaimed stand-up comedian BARRY GLENDENNING pens this self-aggrandising subhead before continuing his countdown to the third Murphy s Cat Laughs Comedy Festival
After close to a decade of neglect, Pinter’s classic play The Birthday Party is currently enjoying a long-overdue renaissance thanks to directorial debutant, Michael Donegan
Moving Hearts were of the most provocative trad groups to emerge from Ireland, with songs that touched on fraught issues such as the northern troubles. Now they’re back for a much-anticipated reunion show. But will the band stay together in the long term?
placebo have probably garnered more column inches in the British press for frontman
brian molko s effeminate appearance than for their music.
colm o hare meets the men who want to be a band that parents hate .
MICHAEL D. Higgins obviously got under the hypersensitive skin of Sunday Independent journalists who have accelerated their systematic, and at points, paranoiac attack on the Minister since he proposed some relatively revolutionary ideas about the arts, in a recent issue of Hot Press.
A Soldier’s Song With A Difference
Although the Northern Irish conflict has been the subject of countless books, many authors have become bogged down in an attempt to explain the major issues, and have thus neglected the individual testimonies which are often more revealing.
Northern rockers Therapy? are back in the saddle with their tenth studio album Never Apologise, Never Explain – and as Andy Cairns tells Tanya Sweeney, their rabble rousing punk ethic remains as sharply ingrained as ever.
MUSIC, COMEDY, THE WORLD - FAMOUS ROSE, THRILLS, SPILLS, AND THE CHANCE TO BE A STAR - IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT THIS YEAR'S TRALEE FESTIVAL IN THE CAPITAL OF KERRY
The hype parade doesn't interest Carlow's finest, 79 Cortinaz. Whether it's cold-calling record stores or hand delivering CDs, they'd rather take a grassroots journey to the top.
The devil may have all the best tunes but, as readers of The Irish Times and Hot Press can tell you, Tom Mathews has all the funniest cartoons. Liam Fay meets the man behind the flash moustache and finds him making an exhibition of himself . . . but at least he’ll be able to pay for his charcoal!
You can tell how highly regarded she is by the number of top stars who want her to sing with them. But for Emmylou Harris such collaborations are a two-way street.
The Miss Ireland competition is in its 45th year. Liam Fay went along to the Burlington Hotel final to come to (metaphorical) grips with the assets of Miss Irish Sun Newspaper, among others.
He found the experience deeply embarrassing. Pix: Colm Henry.
It started in Brooklyn and is set to take over the world. STUART CLARK talks to Kamal, one of the, er, brains behind the cult phenomenon of the year, THE JERKY BOYS.
He’s spent years trying to live down his bubble-gum pop days but, two decades after the event, former hearthrob Jason Donovan is finally going back to his roots.
“The world’s in a state of chassis,” to paraphrase that great, unforgettable actor whose name I can’t quite remember right now. At least, that’s the thought that struck me while entering Eamonn Doran’s Theatre in Dublin’s Crown alley (ex-Rock Garden) to see Shoot, If You Must.
Philip Cawley is one of the mainstays of Today FM's daytime schedule. Recently he invited Jackie Hayden into his country home for a chat and a drop of Jameson.
An ex-con, a foe of The Krays and a man capable of such acts of violence that he once sliced off a prison guard s ear, Mad Frankie Fraser now makes quite a nice living for himself spinning yarns about his gangster years. Stuart Clark interrogates him about prison, drugs, the IRA, Arsenal and a novel theory on Veronica Guerin s murder which, Fraser insists, the Irish media haven t had the bottle to print. Mugshots: Cathal Dawson
Along with the music, beer and scoffing, there was some serious talking done at the Electric Picnic. Shilpa Ganatra was taking notes as The Chalets, Flaming Lips, JJ72, Bob Mould, James Blunt, Tommy Tiernan, Declan O’Rourke and The Devlins were subjected to a public grilling by the Hot Press journalistic elite. And John Walshe.
It may have been billed as the last stand of CHARLES J. HAUGHEY, but no-one told the man himself. Last week at Dublin Castle, having been hauled before the McCracken payments-to-politicians tribunal in an attempt to get him to finally explain his business relationship with Ben Dunne, the former Taoiseach indulged in a faintly pathetic display of obfuscating, wheedling and stalling. LIAM FAY was one of those looking on eagerly from the public gallery. This is his report.
With preparations well underway for Cork city’s hosting of the European City Of Culture festivities in 2005, the indigenous music scene is already rising to the challenge
THANKS TO HIS INTELLIGENT AND PROVOCATIVE BRAND OF COMEDY, STEWART LEE IS WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED AS ONE OF THE FINEST STAND-UP COMICS OF HIS GENERATION. HE TALKS TO JOHN DONNELLAN ABOUT HIS CONTROVERSIAL MUSICAL JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA, THE POLITICAL DIMENSIONS OF HIS NEW SHOW AND REVEALS WHY IRELAND IS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD FOR STAND-UP.
Though a renowned singer-songwriter in her own right, SHAWN COLVIN’S current album is a collection of cover versions. MELISSA KNIGHT hears why the songs on Cover Girl are so special to her.
To the relief of countless Hot Press staff who bet that it would take less than six months, BARRY GLENDENNING completes his transformation from amiable Offaly muck savage into name-dropping London showbiz wanker in the nick of time. Read on . . .
Flute player conor byrne s lineage is a musically illustrious one his two uncles happen to be none other than Christy Moore and Luka Bloom. But, as he tells sarah Mcquaid, he s anxious that his music be judged on its own merits.
Mary Coughlan returns to Midnight At The Olympia on February 4th, but this time it's with an unreserved optimistic outlook, and the determination to put all her troubles behind her. Interview Lorraine Freeney
ADRIENNE MURPHY reports on the planning
controversy surrounding GLENDING WOOD in Co. Wicklow and its potentially catastrophic implications for the area?s rich archaeological heritage.
Today FM current affairs broadcaster Matt Cooper seems to have perfected the knack of keeping his work and home lives separate. But when his house-guest Jackie Hayden calls around, who wil have The Last Word?
Pat Kenny answers his critics, tackles TV3, bins the
Sunday Times, denies he's Alan Partridge, backs John Kelly, queries Clare McKeon and reveals his best, worst and
scariest moments in television's hottest seat.
Interview: Peter Murphy. Pics: Mick Quinn.
He’s the hottest thing in boxing and has been tipped as a future world champion. Recently Amir Khan was in King’s Hall Belfast for a lightweight bout with Laszlo Komjathi of Hungary. Francis Jones was in the audience.
MAZZY STAR are still going strong, but HOPE SANDOVAL has also got a side project up and running. She tells NICK KELLY all about
HOPE SANDOVAL AND THE WARM INVENTIONS and her collaborations with everyone from The Chemical Brothers to Bert Jansch
For a city so often celebrated in song, it was inevitable that the horrific events in new york would be felt as keenly in the music world as in any other section of society. STUART CLARK reports on the industry response and compiles a broad selection of individual reactions to the attack
We’re not accustomed to major corporations in Ireland taking a political stand. But US multi-national Intel, lead by its Irish general manager Jim O’Hara, is campaigning for a Yes vote on the Lisbon Treaty Take 2.
STUART CLARK checks out the inside story of L!VE TV, perhaps the daftest tabloid telly station in the world (ever), and wonders how Irish television might follow suit.
Look out for a blinding performance from Kevin Bacon. Moviehouse talks to Nicole Kassell, co-screenwriter of The Woodsman, the provocative new drama in which the author plays a paedophile recently released into a hostile small-town community.
ADRIENNE MURPHY reports on the sacking of scientist DR ARPAD PUSZTAI following a recent World In Action TV special on genetic engineering and talks to The Guardian’s environment editor, John Vidal, about his sometimes vexed encounters with the Monsanto group.
Artists and record companies are losing millions of pounds every year through piracy. New developments like Napster and MP3 will bring further challenges. Report: JACKIE HAYDEN.
Moviehouse catches up with heartthrob superstar Leonardo Di Caprio, fresh from back to back movies and determined to better known as an actor than a celebrity.
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
She’s one of the chief movers in the Cork music scene. But what does Cork Rocks’ founder Francesca Brown get up to when she’s back at base? Photos by David O'Mahony.
Inspired by a renewed interest in Christianity, MAIRE BRENNAN of CLANNAD has spread her solo wings again. It s better to be addicted to faith than to drugs, she tells JACKIE HAYDEN
WELL. It’s here again. The shopping, the stamp-licking, the mad social whirl, the parties, the receptions, the reunions, the idiotic games, the enforced cheerfulness . . .
In a rare interview, US alt culture icon Tom Waits talks to Dave Fanning about touring with Zappa, getting the nod of approval from Dylan, his fastidious approach to songwriting and why Bill Hicks remains America’s foremost political commentator
He didn t win the Perrier Award but he was the undisputed people s, critics and peers favourite at this year s Edinburgh Festival. barry glendenning meets johnny vegas.
With State Of Play and Shameless, Paul Abbott has taken more risks than any other writer of TV drama – with spectacularly successful results. Now, Channel 4 have asked the BAFTA award winner to write a pantomime, that’s destined to be one of the highlights of the festive season.
Former Belle And Sebastian mainstay Isobel Campbell has recorded a country-rock masterpiece worthy of Johnny Cash. But what’s a gravel-throated Mark Lanegan doing on it?
When Jackie Hayden popped in on Channel 6 presenter Jenny Buckley, he hadn’t been warned that her inappropriately-named dog Snuggles was actually a guard dog who had a slight aversion to strangers.
Having put a considerable amount of personal strife behind her, Dolores Keane is back in the public domain with a new album, Night Owl, and a new outlook. Interview: Colm O’Hare.
FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINAL Huey Morgan offers stuart clark a guided tour of the rotten apple, detouring occasionally to take in topics such as California Mist, London gangsters, Tricky, Ian McCulloch and Tony Bennett, as well as his high-profile relationship with Jerry Hall’s daughter. And, let’s see now, there was one thing . . . oh yes “every American’s inalienable right to have nails hammered through their scrotum if they want”.
Dublin favourites Turn recently took to the highway for an Irish tour. Tanya Sweeney joined them for a trip to Limerick and an insight into what makes Ollie Cole and company tick.
Horslips axeman Johnny Fean is honouring us with a masterclass at the upcoming Music Show in the RDS. Here, he talks about his formative influences and Horslips’ upcoming reunion
I can't say I'm exactly in the Ester Rantzen-league when it comes to caring for other people but something I've just said to Ed O'Brien hasn't so much pricked my conscience as stuck a dirty great big hole in it.
As the countdown to the 4th Hot Press Bacardi Unplugged final continues,
JACKIE HAYDEN speaks out against those who would protray band competitions as irrelevant anachronisms.
With compass in hand and their newly unfurled Map Of The Universe nestling comfortably on their laps, Blink are boldly going where few Irish bands have gone before. But what happens when they get to Cork and Ballybunion? Intrepid explorer LIAM FAY dons his rucksack, climbs aboard the Blinkmobile and survives to tell the tale.
BRENDAN INGLE was born in Dublin, but made his name as a boxing trainer in Sheffield. He s the man who discovered PRINCE NASEEM and shared in the fighter s huge success until they fell out acrimoniously. ANDY DARLINGTON meets a man with a story to tell.
The task of exhuming a number of folk legend Woody Guthrie’s unused lyrics and setting them to music would be a daunting prospect for most artists – but not Billy Bragg, the self-styled Bard of Barking. The guitar-slinging socialist has teamed up with acclaimed US country-rockers Wilco to do just that. Interview: Colm O’Hare.
Hot Press' answer to Russell Grant, Jackie Hayden, slips into his chunky-knit jumper, gazes at his crystal ball and comes up with more predictions that probably won't come true. Like last year.
Notorious in her native China for her sexually graphic novel Shanghai Baby, Wei Hui looks sure to upset the authorities even more with her next literary outing. Fiona reid meets the controversial young author.
photography: cathal dawson
Irish fiction continues to grow in both popularity and hipness. In this special feature we talk to three of its most prominent young exponents: John Connolly, Conal Creedon and Julie Parsons.
There’s no argument. The Rolling Stones new record Voodoo Lounge finds the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world of yore back in fighting trim, stomping out that distinctive blend of musical mayhem we know and love in positively swaggering style – good enough, some would say, to see off any contenders to their coveted throne. At the centre of this triumphant return to form is one Michael Philip Jagger, who sounds lean, mean, hungry and ready for the fray. Here he raps with Don Was – producer of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Was Not Was, Bonnie Raitt and of course The Rolling Stones – about the primeval power of music and how to keep on doing it even at the grand old age of twenty (Sorry! I’ll read that again) . . .
Billy Bragg’s larynx, sexual politics, and Jilly Cooper paperbacks. What’s it all about? NICK KELLY finds out when he beams himself up to the planet DUBSTAR.
Billed as the publishing event of the century, Crossing The Threshold Of Hope by Pope John Paul has already netted its author an advance of $10 million and is currently topping bestseller lists the world over. LIAM FAY wades through this extra helping of papal bull and comes to the conclusion that His Holiness is now, certifiably, as crazy as a shithouse rat.
Derrick May is often referred to as The Godfather , The Legend and The Innovator , the creator of dance music s most magical moments. But does he really prefer trainers and jeans to Versace and Patrick Cox? Richard Brophy goes beyond the exterior.
A surreal journey into the inner life of an Irish transvestite in ‘70s London is the basis of Breakfast On Pluto, the latest cinematic collaboration from writer Pat McCabe and director Neil Jordan.
DAVE FANNING meets the inimitable ROBBIE WILLIAMS to talk about his latest album, his battles with the booze, the Take That legacy, his desire to play a politically incorrect James Bond, a vaguely remembered visit to Bono s loo and why he loves and hates The Beatles
CRAIG FITZSIMONS speaks to young Irish director DAMIEN O'DONNELL, whose debut feature East Is East takes a controversial look at Pakistani immigrant culture.
Flora Montgomery is one of Ireland's brghtest stars of stage and screen. She may have achieved a career high as the curvaceous criminal lead in When Brendan Met Trudy. But, as Stephen Robinson discovered, you don’t want to ask her about her nude scenes
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.
It ought to be one of the happiest moments of a woman's life – and for many it is. But for some women the birth of a child can be a traumatic, invasive and distressing event. Author Naomi Wolf tells Fiona Reid about the blues of the birth
At last, now it can be told, is that First Cut really the deepest? Andy Darlington explores the phenomenon of skin versus skinless when it comes to living with genital mutilation.
At last, now it can be told, is that First Cut really the deepest? Andy Darlington explores the phenomenon of skin versus skinless when it comes to living with genital mutilation.
The Libertas organisation's dinner honouring the Czech President's visit to Ireland caused a furore and may have paved the way for Prague's head of state for the next Czech presidency of the EU.
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.
Why did RAY BURKE receive #30,000 from a construction firm eight years ago? And what on earth did he spend it on? These were just some of the many questions awaiting answers in the Dail last week. Our man in the public gallery: LIAM FAY.
She calls Him her “Great Lover”. He tells her to “call Me Daddy”. At any hour of the day or night Himself is likely to drop into the life of Vassula Ryden for a bit of a chinwag. She, in turn, broadcasts His words to the world at large. All of which means that, in what amounts to the metaphysical journalistic coup of the century, our Liam Fay gets an exclusive interview with The Holy Spirit.
Like many of his brethren in the world of comedy, David Baddiel has turned his hand to fiction in recent years. Although his previous efforts met with a lukewarm critical response, his new novel, The Secret Purposes – a skilfully rendered tale which draws heavily on Baddiel's grandparents' experience in wartime England – looks set to reverse that trend. Interview by Peter Murphy. Photography by Liam Sweeney
The folk and traditional community has been agog with rumours of a row between Facé and Imro. But the signs are that the organisations will be working together now.
Genital warts, cherry popping, male pattern baldness, archery and kate moss… it's access and, indeed, excess all areas as hotpress readers subject darkness mainman Justin Hawkins to a thorough probing.
Having made his name with the cult movie Tarnation, Jonathan Caouette has taken his career in an unexpected new direction with a movie about, of all things, an indie-rock festival, namely England’s All Tomorrow’s Parties.
From piano-plonking crooners to nihilistic electro-pop duos, the UK and US are bursting at the seams with fresh talent in 2007. Could there be a new Arctic Monkeys out there somewhere?
Each year, the BALLYBUNION BACHELOR FESTIVAL in Co. Kerry sees numerous unattached males flocking to the Kingdom for a week of boozing, carousing and
general merry-making, in a vainglorious attempt to prove their bachelorian credentials. OLAF TYARANSEN went along for this year’s ride. Pics (and occasional enraged outbursts): CATHAL DAWSON.
Over the past number of years, Today FM has consistently supported Irish music, playlisting records by local artists and doing in-studio sessions on a regular basis. in the process the station has played an important part in the increasingly impressive chart and sales achievements of irish acts.
Underdogs who've clawed their way into the top flight, Setanta Records, like Wimbledon, are a premiership act - with attitude. stuart clark gets the rags to (comparative) riches story from label boss, Dubliner Keith Cullen and also seeks the considered opinions of boys-done-well, Neil Hannon and Edwyn Collins.
Journalist NEIL McCORMICK was a schoolmate of BONO when U2 were taking baby steps. Over the past 25 years their paths have frequently crossed, inevitably in rather more exotic circumstances than a classroom. As another year draws to a close, they meet up again: the result is an unusually intimate portrait of a man who came not to save the world but to serenade it. Plus: a close-up look at some of the most striking songs on All That You Can t Leave Behind
Peter Murphy catches up with former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley to talk about 'crazy woman's music', writing songs and collaborating with XTC's Andy Partridge.
In the five years since its debut, The Sopranos has grown from an underground show with a small cult following to one of the most successful TV series' of all time. Paul Nolan traces the show’s development from its inauspicious beginnings on HBO to its current status as a transatlantic cultural phenomenon, and also examines our enduring fascination with a man called Tony Soprano.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the G. Ryan Show on 2FM, JACKIE HAYDEN talks to the mainman himself while various team members and seasoned observers select the best, worst and weirdest moments of the show that's grabbed the nation by its ears.
Four years on from Inflammable Material and even Jake Burns is beginning to wonder if Stiff Little Fingers are losing their bearings. Here he reveals some of his misgivings to Bill Graham
“I hate these questions,” cries David Holmes, DJ, re-mixer, producer, free associate, film-scorer and friend to the stars. Yet he gamely faces the pan-ish inquisition that is the hotpress mixed grill
In the run-up to Bloomsday, gay rights activist Senator David Norris explains why he hates iPods and he wouldn’t have wanted James Joyce as a neighbour.
From small-time ramshackle punk'n'Irish troubadours to 'international touring act' in the space of six incident-packed years, The Pogues have not only produced music to consistently surprise and delight - they've put it in the charts too! With the help of band members Phil Chevron and Jem Finer, Bill Graham examines The Pogues' enigma in advance of the outfit's impending Christmas single 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah' (phew!) and their seasonal show at The Point Depot in Dublin.
Five years after the collapse of The Irish Press Group, CON HOULIHAN suffered a fall of his own. Here, he reflects on broken hips, broken dreams and the road to recovery. Interview: SIOBHAN LONG
Or should that be Pub Stars? Either way, their debut album is soaked in the strong spirit - and stronger spirits - of their native city. Nick Kelly meets Dublin's JUBILEE ALLSTARS.
Painter, sculptor, composer and, of course, the all-action hero who got everyone kung-fu fighting. Tailor made for a part in Kill Bill, renaissance man David Carradine discusses his eventful life and times.
Why have one of the most successful Irish bands of the past decade decided to split up? And who's going to get custody of the Fender-Rhodes keyboard? STEVE WALL tells STUART CLARK where it all went wrong – and right! Pic: CATHAL DAWSON.
Donegal fiddle player john doherty died relatively unheralded in 1980 at the age of 86. Now, a new CD bears ample testament to his almost supernatural skill with a bow and strings.
By peter murphy.
"This is hell, dude!"
- Ascanio Pignatelli. L.A. based graduate student and would-be actor, interviewed during the Malibu fires by the Los Angeles Times.
From Yorkshire to the former USSR, from Leeds to Kiev, from The Wedding Present to their latest CD Kultura, THE UKRAINIANS are a unique band. ANDY DARLINGTON submits a political, sociological and musical report on their progress so far.
As escape acts go, it ranked up there with the very best of Harry Houdini. Bishop Brendan Comiskey, in theory at least, was back to face the music and undergo a gruelling, exhaustive interrogation at the hands of the assembled press corps. Instead, his press conference turned into a stage-managed anti-climax, and the media watched helplessly as he slipped from their grasp.
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
PETER TAYLOR is one of the most experienced journalists to have covered the Troubles. Midway through the screening of his most recent TV documentary, Loyalists, he spoke to NIALL STANAGE about the North s pivotal personalities, his hopes for a peaceful future, and why Provos was keenly watched by Loyalist paramilitaries.
peter murphy meets the multi-faceted pelvis, whose debut album Who Are You Today marks them out as one of the most formidable new Irish
talents in years.
What does Peter Buck have in his bathroom? What does Justine Frischmann do all day? stephen j. malkmus and spiral stairs of the decidedly non-lo-fi and non-slacker indie rock gods pavement spill the beans to nick kelly.
Well, not this man perhaps. He s EGIL OLSEN, the new manager of Wimbledon, which means he ll most likely to as much of a spectator as the rest of us, as the new Premiership football season gets into its stride. Our Foul Play columnist, JONATHAN O BRIEN, presents his annual eve of the campaign form guide.
There's another Belfast, an alternate dimension populated by C.S. Lewis, Van and your host and spirit guide, Duke Special, who's just released his latest album.
JONATHAN O’BRIEN (real name) meets
WREKKED TRAIN DAVE (not real name) of the
LO-FIDELITY ALLSTARS (real name) and finds out how CLAUDIO GENTILE (real name) fits into their chaotic scheme of things.
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.
Music journalist-turned-publicist KEITH ALTHAM has spent more than 35 years behind the scenes with the likes of The Who, Rolling Stones, Small Faces and Van Morrison. His new book reveals (almost) all. Interview: GEORGE BYRNE.
Want to know how to get the most out of Witnness? Email your questions/tips/profound insights via the form below (it can be anything from transport queries to what-to-bring hints to who not to miss on the bill) and await response from the online community
…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.
To coincide with the release of the Today FM DJ’s double-CD compilation tracking the history of alternative rock in Ireland, Tom Dunne talks to Jackie Hayden about the state of Irish music, singer-songwriters versus guitar bands and the role of Irish radio.
Where other bands moan about the music industry or spend small fortunes bringing their stage designs to life, Stereophonics like to keep it nice and simple. Or at least as nice and simple as it gets when you tour with U2, get advice from Prince Charles and see Slipknot with their masks off
Tanya Donelly star of the upwardly flying Belly, wouldn't sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars and she wouldn't throw her knickers at Tom Jones. But she is engaged, believes in the concept of marriage - and is on her way to Sunstroke. Interview: Andrew Darlington
The industry may not have always liked them but their fans couldn’t be more passionate. Ten members, four studio albums, three managers and two major labels later, The Frames still managed to add up to more than the sum of their parts. Peter Murphy, with help from Glen Hansard and other key players brings the story of the band up to date in this, the final part of our two-part special [Photo Mick Quinn]
In a world exclusive interview, Morrissey sets the record straight on sex, religion, politics, David Bowie and his Irish heritage, and casts a Trinny & Susannah-esque eye over Brian Cowen
It’s no rest for the wicket, as Stuart Clark gets bowled over by the DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD. Musical odd-couple Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh explain why they decided to record a musical homage to cricket and talk about hanging out with Blur’s Damon Albarn, the Governor of the Bank of England and Sir Tim Rice.
If the proposed SPENCER DOCK development gets the go-ahead will it bring Dublin's architecture into the 21st century? Or will it be a blot on the landscape? By KIM PORCELLI.
Vid-phones, global warming, biotechnology, cyber-sex, extra-terrestrial intelligence, the abolition of race . . . Peter Murphy gets his crystal balls out.
Anybody can do sex, drug's and rock 'n' roll; precious few can capture the experience in prose. With her powerful first-person novel Brass, 26-year-old Helen Walsh has done just that.
It was a Jubilee ago that The Sex Pistols exploded onto the world stage and changed music forever. Except little has changed, according to John Lydon and that's why he's back
Ross Fitzsimons goes to Portugal’s Euro 04 in search of the beautiful game and the perfect bowl of cataplana, and discovers more than he bargained for – including the ribbon of death.
There have been a lot of musicians, but only one Beethoven; there have been a lot of artists, but only one Michelangelo; and there have been a lot of footballers, but only one Pelé.
LIAM MACKEY meets the Brazilian soccer legend who really does deserve to be called “the greatest”.
Joe Jackson sneaks a peek at Wayne Studer’s new book Rock On The Wild Side, which gender-bends its way through three decades of gay imagery in rock music from Jimi Hendrix’ first kiss to George Michael’s shuttlecock.
Does ABSINTHE really make the heart grow fonder or are the Conservatives right in calling for its ban? STUART CLARK and his showbiz chums check out the drink that s taking clubland by storm. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
The most momentous journalistic event of the decade nay, the millennium has come to pass. They said it could never happen, but after months of careful pre-planning and tense negotiation, nick kelly has finally interviewed NICK KELLY. Here, the Stars Of Heaven fan remorselessly grills the former Fat Lady Sings mainman about his long sabbatical from the music industry, his perception of modern culture, and his cracking new album Between Trapezes. Pix, gimmicky t-shirts and
unfeasibly large trousers: mick RAGING PUFF QUInn.
When a police investigation was launched into Michael Jackson’s alleged activities with Jordan Chandler, the King of Pop’s media image went from Peter Pan into the fire. In his new biography christopher andersen becomes the spokesman for Wacko’s degeneration offering a damning portrait of the real man behind the mask. Report: Bill Graham.
In the run-up to the long-awaited reunion gigs by the legendary eighties folk-rock-jazz band Moving Hearts, Jackie Hayden talks to saxophonist Keith Donald and percussionist Noel Eccles.
One of the government’s most vocal and effective critics, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte could well be the next Tánaiste. He talks about iPods, happiness, gay marriage, breaking the law - and Enda Kenny’s hairdo.
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.
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.
JENNIFER BATTEN, as well as being a solo artist in her own right, has spent 10 years slinging six strings for michael jackson. Amazingly, she has survived to tell her story to peter murphy.
Pix: Cathal Dawson.
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.
It took 277 attempts at cloning to create dolly the genetically engineered sheep that took the world by storm during 1997. Here adrienne murphy attempts to explain just what the hell is going on in the bizarre world of biotechnology, with a little help from dr. ian wilmut the man who made Dolly what she is today (out of another sheep s breast).
This issue, Hot Press magazine comes with a stunning cover mount CD. Here’s your track by track guide to this exclusive collectors’ item, featuring the winners and headline acts from Murphy’s Live 2007. Click here to buy the mag and get your free CD!
Now that he's discovered the joys of the Dobro, are Frankie Lane's madcap, balcony-scaling days over for good? Not a bit of it. *It's all really just about finding a new way of being nasty.* He tells Siobhan Long.
The Walls and The Jimmy Cake do their bit for European unity by bringing their music – and an insatiable appetite for the craic – to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Our reporter Danielle Brigham survives to tell the tale.
Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden? It doesn t get much
better than this. JOE JACKSON goes
backstage for a brief but revealing encounter with Joni and, from a vantage point to die for, finds two 60s legends who can still send shivers up the spine at the end of the millennium.
MICHAEL NOONAN may be the most follicularly-challenged member of the Fine Gael front bench but he is also seen by some as the party's leader in waiting, the only person capable of bringing about the kind of revitalisation which has so conspicuously eluded John Bruton. Now aged fifty, Noonan was for years known as the man who as Minister for Justice in the mid-eighties exposed the Sean Doherty bugging scandal and ordered the release of Nicky Kelly. More recently, however, he has achieved real fame as a Scrap Saturday caricature. Interview: LIAM FAY.
WHAT IS the connection between The X Files, massive drinking bouts, Man United fans and top ten hits? CATATONIA, that s what. The Welsh guitar popsters are currently nestling in the upper reaches of the charts with their hit Mulder And Scully , and JOHN WALSHE talks to vocalist CERYS MATTHEWS about their meteoric rise to the top.
Having scored critical and commercial success – not to mention putting Irish cinema on the map with the likes of My Left Foot and In The Name Of The Father – Jim Sheridan has now mined his own past for in America, a haunting remembrance of the film-maker’s time as a struggling immigrant on the streets of New York.
Paul Weller has a reputation as one of the most truculent men in pop, with a deep-seated dislike of the promotional process. But with the release of his latest solo album Illumination, the man who once led The Jam and the Style Council agreed to put himself in the firing line. Looking back over a career that's studded with success, he's reflective and forthright - but the anger that inspired much of The Jam's finest output still burns
Who wants to be a millionaire? Not Philip Ó Ceallaigh, who actually seems remarkably nonchalant about not scooping a pot of money for his latest short story collection.
Bum, bottom and crevice may be dirty words but pop certainly isn't as Stuart Clark discovers when he enters the fluffy pink bunny rabbit world of the Lightning Seeds.
“I grew up in a tough neighbourhood, and we used to say, ‘You can get further with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word’.”
- Robert De Niro as Al Capone in The Untouchables
A MAN U DON'T MEET EVERY DAY
Oui, c'est Eric Cantona: le nouveau enfant terrible de la Premièreship or ze man vu
'stud up' zu de football yobs? Mise-en-scène: Neil McCormick.
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.
UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN FREQUENTING THE LATE-NIGHT HOSTELRIES OF DUBLIN, YOU’RE UNLIKELY TO HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE IN A BATTLE OF WITS, ER, MANO A MANO, WITH ACE QUIZ MASTER GEORGE “I KNOW A LOT MORE THAN YOU DO” BYRNE. WORRY NOT. THAT’S WHAT THE HOT PRESS QUIZ OF THE YEAR IS FOR. NOW GO FOR IT. SECONDS OUT!
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
Twelve years since he retired his blood-stained Die Hard vest, Bruce Willis is back for another bite at the franchise. He talks about his see-saw acting career and why he and ex-wife Demi Moore will always be friends.
As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, MO MOWLAM M.P. has one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in British and Irish politics. The task facing her is an unenviable one: to bring together the two extremes of both traditions, however briefly, for the purposes of all-party talks. In this exclusive interview, she talks about the difficult journey to date, and the immense challenges which lie ahead of her. Our man who went to Mo:
JOE JACKSON.
Pix: COLM HENRY.
JAMES HANRATTY, the son of Irish parents, was hanged for a notorious murder in England in 1961. Following the recent release of the Bridgewater Three, another miscarriage of justice now looks set to be overturned, posthumously clearing the name of a 25-year-old who was wrongfully sent to the gallows. Report: RICHARD BALLS.
How the mafia did Noel a favour by twatting Liam; the U2 song Oasis might cover; the most he’s spent on cocaine; a great night out in Ireland’ and what it will say on his tombstone. Noel Gallagher answers the reader’s questions. Turning up the heat Stuart Clark.
Johnny Ray invented rock ’n’ roll. Elvis Presley marked the beginning of the downfall of popular music. The Beatles only ever wrote one great song. Cranky stuff maybe, but when the speaker is Tony Bennett – the man Sinatra called “The best singer in the business” – you have to listen. Joe Jackson does and, in this exclusive interview, hears how a Jewish-Italian New York kid grew up to be a musical legend, a respected painter and a man who, at 67, can still kick ’90s rock off MTV.
Well and truly punch-drunk and punch-lined, BARRY GLENDENNING rounds
up the gargles and the giggles at this year's CAT LAUGHS COMEDY FESTIVAL
in Kilkenny. Pix: Kevin Clancy
Three-in-a-bed romps! drunken footballers on the rampage! and they’re just the questions! however, given that the interviewee is Ireland’s most beloved player Damien Duff you won’t be surprised to learn that the answers are rather more down to earth – including why, with hindsight, he can now chuckle at being on the inside track for the Roy Keane saga in Saipan. “I’m just a big kid at heart,” he tells Barry Glendenning, as he prepares to play a man’s role in Ireland’s crunch game against Switzerland
The Sultans of Ping may have a penchant still for fetishwear and dirty three-minute pop songs but they’re definitely mellowing as Stuart Clark discovers when he meets Niall O’Flaherty and Pat O’Connell for
afternoon tea. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
Cakes: Mr. Kipling
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
From her humble origins in Corofin, Co. Clare to The White House, Sharon Shannon has blazed her own unique trail across the landscape of Irish music. Her extraordinary success notwithstanding, she has remained an enigmatic and elusive presence, renowned for the child-like sense of wonder she radiates. Here, for the first time, she opens up, telling her own remarkable story to Hot Press. Interview: Gerry McGovern.
Morrissey famously said that he hoped the author would die in a motorway pile-up. David Crosby was freebasing when he gave him the best interview of his life. He once went a whole year without speaking to another human being. And now he s just updated his classic biography of The Byrds and made it five times longer. He s JOHNNY ROGAN, the rock biographer s rock biographer. And he s talking to Jonathan O Brien.
From her humble origins in Corofin, Co. Clare to The White House, SHARON SHANNON has blazed her own unique trail across the landscape of Irish music. Her extraordinary success notwithstanding, she has remained an enigmatic and elusive presence, renowned for the child-like sense of wonder she radiates. Here, for the first time, she opens up, telling her own remarkable story to Hot Press. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN.
In a candid interview, Sylvester Stallone talks about his lost years and explains why he’s happy that America’s Christian right has embraced the new Rocky movie as a ‘spiritual’ film.
Welcome to Galway . . . now turn out your pockets, face the wall and spread your legs. Olaf Tyaransen reports on how new laws are being used to spoil the party way out west.
With the Tour de France scheduled to kick off in Ireland on July 11th this year, the subject of drugs in international sport has become a hot topic again. Not only did PAUL KIMMAGE take drugs himself as a professional cyclist - he wrote an award-winning book about it. Interview: BARRY GLENDENNING
Politician, law & criminology professor, activist, abortion information campaigner and labour party candidate in the forthcoming european elections… all this and Ivana Bacik once served a pint of vodka to Perry Farrell, shortly before he fell over on stage at Glastonbury.
Dana may be trying to shunt him into the background, but TCG O?Mahony is adamant that it was he who inspired the former Eurovision winner to run for the presidency. And while he is confident that ?she will win if it is God?s will?, he warns of serious repercussions from above should one of her opponents triumph in the race to the Aras. Our man with the locust repellant: liam fay.
The journey from Tallaght to the Premiership hasn’t always been an easy one, but this season has found Richard Dunne in the best form of his career for both club and country.
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
Ahead of the European Championships in Portugal, the England and Arsenal full back on another great year for the Gunners, discipline and indiscipline, football scandals, money and, of course, Roy Keane.
You re the frontman with The Stunning, you make an innocent remark about farmers and acid house and you end up creating banner headlines in The Western People. Lorraine Freeney assures Steve Wall that this is the sort of stuff Hot Press never stoop to, and also hears about the new album, Deco in The Commitments and the art of bridging the rural-urban divide.
Damien Rice has emerged as one of the most distinctive and independent voices of recent years, achieving a remarkable level of success and artistic respect with O – the debut album that was recorded on a shoestring in his own bedroom. Famously media shy, he agreed to talk to Hot Press about the Free Aung San Suu Kyi 60th Birthday Campaign, and the beautiful tribute single ‘Unplayed Piano’, recorded with Lisa Hannigan. But, tape rolling, he talked about a whole lot more, giving the most candid and complete insight yet into the real Damien Rice.
Andy Williams may have a reputation as a bland M.OR. crooner but beneath the squeaky clean showbiz facade lurks an interesting man indeed, who reveals a knowledge of modern art, a past laced with drug use and an unhealthy interest in Shirley Temple. Joe Jackson travels to Branson, Missouri to hear his confessions.
Once a rock’n’roll performer in his youth, CONOR McPHERSON has now graduated into one of Ireland’s brightest theatrical and literary talents. Still only in his mid-20s, he’s already written the screenplay of the acclaimed Irish thriller I Went Down, as well as several acclaimed plays, This Limetree Bower and his latest effort The Weir. Here, he talks to JOE JACKSON about the mixed reception he’s received from Irish theatre critics, and the influence of rock music on his work.
The location is the George Sauna in downtown Dublin. The subject is sex. Matthew Devereux, the impish frontman with The Pale, takes off his clothes and reveals his most intimate secrets, thoughts and fantasies to an equally naked John Farrell.
Photographic observations: Colm Henry.
There are those who believe that the Downing St. Declaration offers the best hope of peace in Northern Ireland for twenty-five years. But as Sinn Féin’s consideration of the fine print drags on, Bill Graham accuses them of theological nitpicking and argues that their negotiating position makes impossible demands on reality.
He’s worked with Van, Dylan, Christy, Sinéad, The Cranberries and many other household names – but now he’s gone centre-stage himself as the composer of The General soundtrack. JOE JACKSON meets RICHIE BUCKLEY. Pix: Mick Quinn
Most cities and towns have their trouble spots and their danger zones, but Limerick's have been given more than their unfair share of publicity. Such a focus on the negative has tended to detract attention from the positive aspects of this resurgent city, with its vibrant music scene, its buzzing university, the warmth and friendliness of the people, its obsession with rugby, and er, Ryan Turbidy.
With 1993 going down as the year that Irish rock finally emerged from U2’s shadow, HOT PRESS takes an introductory look at four of the rapidly emerging outfits that are poised to make headlines and sell bucket–loads of records in ’94.
Schtum, Ash, Joyrider, Compulsion.
He’s spent the past few years hanging out with Kate Moss and Primal Scream, but now it’s time for Irvine Welsh to look up some old pals. Yup, Begbie, Spud, Renton and Sick Boy are back in Porno, an XXX-rated tale which makes Trainspotting look like Harry Potter
Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous offers a pleasant and almost innocent view of the life of a rock hack - sort of Little House On The Road. The reality, as PETER MURPHY explains, is rather different. Certain names in this harrowing saga have been changed to protect the guilty - and the author's delicate bone structure
The "youngest old fogey" in the country, at the tender age of 30, Ryan Tubridy has clambered halfway up the greasy pole of rte, having gone from making gerry ryan's coffee to presenting the rose of tralee in record time. as his Full Lounge album, a spin-off from his Full Irish breakfast show hits the stores, he talks personal and professional politics with Olaf Tyaransen.
Despite being peerless at his chosen profession, CHRIS MORRIS has been sacked from more jobs than most people will have in a lifetime. He announced the death of Michael Heseltine on live radio, was responsible for a debate about non-existent drugs in the House of Commons and once screamed Christ s fat cock! at Cliff Richard during an interview. BARRY GLENDENNING examines the career of the broadcaster commonly regarded as Britain s foremost media satirist.
The Christy Moore Interview by Bill Graham
Christy Moore is out on his own. He can't be limited as just a folk singer or a popular artist. Rather he's increasingly an Irish national fixture with an influence far beyond the mere entertainer's reach.
Deep Throat was a smut blockbuster and pop-culture sensation. A new documentary, Inside Deep Throat, examines its impact on feminism, cinema and – oh yes – porn. It also sheds light on the tragic truth behind the movie, explains director Fenton Bailey.
30 years after the music was originally recorded, Led Zeppelin topped the record and DVD charts in 2003 with the sound and vision of the band in all their pomp and glory. The guitar hero’s guitar hero, Jimmy Page reflects on the passion for music which inspired him then – and now.
29,028 feet above sea level: that’s where Dawson Stelfox found himself last year when he successfully completed the first Irish Everest expedition. Interview: Síobhan Long.
As Duke Special set off for a jaunt around Europe with the Divine Comedy, our correspondent hitched a ride on the tour bus. In between the sound-checks and the motor-way pitstops, he received a unique insight into the life of the touring musician.
In 1991, five years after the death of Phil Lynott, the late Bill Graham wrote in Hot Press of Philo's enduring legacy. Over ten years later his words are as relevant as ever
Olaf Tyaransen sings the reunion city blues as an unhappy DEBBIE HARRY forces him to take the scenic route through the rise, fall and rise of BLONDIE. But, hey, it all ends happily ever after...
He's famous for asking the questions and sometimes getting unexpected answers. Like when one woman confessed to a distressing three in a bed romp. These days the RTE reporter is a little more circumsect about his own personal life but still outspoken and controversial on the subject of aids.
It's a double home-coming as U2 return from their odyssey 'round the globe to bring "The Joshua Tree" tour to their fanatical Irish supporters in Dublin and Cork. Bill Graham reports.
Stuart Clark, whose middle name is “Intrepid”, recently spent 48 hours on tour with PET LAMB, grindpopcore merchants extraordinaire. His liver and tympanic membranes survived intact, and after a mere six weeks recuperation, he filed this report.
Philip Chevron's career has been nothing if not varied. From the early days with the Radiators through his collaborations with people like Agnes Bernelle and right up to his current work with The Pogues, he has proved himself to be a consistently fine songwriter and performer. In the first part of a lengthy and intense interview, he talks to Eamonn McCann about his childhood, his love of Broadway musicals, the Horslips connection, the genesis of the Radiators and his fleeting career as a journalist.
The "youngest old fogey" in the country, at the tender age of 30, Ryan Tubridy has clambered halfway up the greasy pole of rte, having gone from making gerry ryanÕs coffee to presenting the rose of tralee in record time. as his Full Lounge album, a spin-off from his Full Irish breakfast show hits the stores, he talks personal and professional politics with Olaf Tyaransen.
The Dublin-born editor of Marie Claire, one of the world's most successful magazines, answers to charges that her title promotes hypocrisy, air-headedness, sexism and sycophancy. remarkably, she doesn't throw troublesome Hotpress out of her office
As one half of D’unbelievables, Jon Kenny became one of Ireland’s most famous and successful entertainers. but the hard touring took its toll and, he believes, may even have contributed to the cancer which threatened not only his career but his life. now fully recovered, Kenny is back as a solo artist but one still hugely inspired by small-town Ireland and its rich crop of characters. Photo Cathal Dawson
As The White Stripes prepare to unleash another work of scuzz-bucket genius, frontman Jack White talks about his Catholic upbringing and explains why, as a teenager in blue collar Detroit, he fell hopelessly in love with the blues.
At 21 years of age Roy Keane is potentially Ireland’s most expensive ever footballer. Growing in stature at International and Club level, his increasing profile has also brought media attention of a type that hasn’t always been welcome. Here, he talks of his mistrust of the tabloids, coping with fame, his fairytale breakthrough to the top and his ambition to play in Italy at some stage of his career
It’s Christmas time and, as far as the hotpress journalistic elite are concerned, there’s not a turkey in sight. JOHN WALSHE, COLIN CARBERRY, CHRIS DONOVAN, EAMON SWEENEY and BARRY O'DONOGHUE report on the Irish acts who are going to be huuuuuuuuge!
over the next 12 months.
Re-telling the story of September 11 with a measured hand and lightness of touch hithertoo unhinted at, director Oliver Stone proves a more serious thinker than his paranoia-soaked canon would suggest. Here, he explains how his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam framed his outlook on life and art.
Back in their terrifying heyday, they threw pigs’ heads around on stage, covered themselves in muck, provided Marilyn Manson with a career and wrote ‘Community Games’ for Aidan Walsh. Having escaped the clutches of a sinister born-again Christian turned transvestite, they’re now making movies with Neil Jordan, dining with Damien Hirst and consorting with Tony Blair. All in all, it’s been a long, strange trip for The Virgin Prunes
Go on, admit it. You thought you knew it all about the most festive occasion. Wrong, suckers! OLAF TYARANSEN is the man with the definitive lowdown on the Christmas alphabet as he offers his essential guide to surviving the Santa season. Well, with a name like that he’s obviously more in tune with the North Pole, right?
Or how TONY BENNETT survived drugs, near-death and the mafia, to become possibly the coolest man on the planet at the age of 72. Interview: Joe Jackson.
Bruised but unbowed by a turbulent campaign, the People s Coalition candidate, ADI ROCHE, discusses matters personal, political and presidential with JOE JACKSON.
He was the shock winner of the Progressive Democrats leadership race. In his first major interview Ciaran Cannon sets out his vision for the beleaguered party, explains why Michael McDowell was really a sweetheart, decries the rise of the nanny state, calls for the legalisation of prostitution and lifts the lid on his misspent youth as a mod.
As Secretary Of State in Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam [pic left by Mick Quinn] played a crucial role in formulation and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It helped that she is no conventional politician but rather a warm, down-to-earth and decent individual with a genuine commitment to positive action. in both the UK and Ireland, she became by far the most popular British figure in the history of Northern politics - which may explain why, in the end, she was shafted.
By popular demand, ULRIKA JONSSON is coming back to Belfast to co-host this year's heineken-hot press awards. olaf tyaransen meets up with television's Golden Girl and hears about the world of the small screen, the men in her life, the poet behind the party animal, tabloid intrusion and the importance of Van Morrison in keeping her head straight.
Though their second album, All The Way From Tuam, has yet to hit the shops in Britain, The Sawdoctors are beginning to pack em in in the strangest of places like Norwich and Leeds. Bill Graham talks to Leo Moran about the band s phenomenal success to date and, against a backdrop of cynicism among rock s self-conscious cognoscenti, asks the perennial question: what is hip?
With the opinion polls predicting a tight finish in the upcoming General Election, there is an increasing likelihood that the Greens will play a part in the next Government. So what is their leader Trevor Sargent really made of?
It sounds like the stuff of hype and overnight success – from struggling garage band to next big thing and accolades from noel gallagher, morrissey and bono – but even at an average age of 23 The Thrills have paid their dues. Olaf Tyaransen hears how the summer’s hottest band went from worshipping whipping boy to having beck’s da play on their debut album.
Well, it’s served Mary O'Rourke well, at least. Now 71 years of age, she first entered the Dail in 1982 and has been a TD for well over 20 years – during which time she has held a number of key Ministerial positions. Here she talks with remarkable honesty and humour about her political career, the Lenihan dynasty, Charlie Haughey, losing her husband, treachery in Fianna Fáil – and, of course, orgasms.
You know you re doing something right if your book disturbs both Cat Stevens and Snoop Doggy Dogg. But Sligo-born eamonn sweeney s debut novel, Waiting For The Healer, with its explosive mix of booze, blood, manic comedy and rock n roll, is also winning rave reviews for its uncompromisingly forthright author. Interview: liam fay.
An overnight success story that was years in the making, The Strokes have been dismissed as flagrant hype and lauded as the saviours of rock 'n' roll. Eamon Sweeney, a journalist who has spent more time in their company than most, gets the fullest account yet of the rise and rise of New York's band of brothers. "Whatever happens, we'll be there together," they tell him. "we won’t let each other fall."
From circus dwarves, incest and lesbian love affairs to severed organs and transvestite Indian brothels, John Irving’s novels are awash with enough tales of screwball sex and lurid violence to make even Quentin Tarantino blush. With his mammoth new 633-page novel A Son Of The Circus just published, the multi-million selling New Hampshire author indulges in a spot of verbal wrestling with liam fay, who discovers why he should keep this particular tête-à-tête purely literary. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Barry Glendenning had a good idea: as a journalistic exercise – and a guarantee of public humiliation – someone should try their hand at stand-up comedy. Indeed, it was such a very good idea, that he was promptly Hot Press-ganged into doing it himself. This, then, is the true-life story of one man who stood up to be counted.
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 .
He’s been at the helm with U2 since 1979. In the intervening time he’s been involved in every aspect of the career of the biggest rock band in the world. In a rare in-depth interview, Paul McGuinness talks about the highs and lows of managing the fab four and reflects on the State of the Nation and the implosion of the Irish economy.
It is five years since rapper TUPAC SHAKUR was gunned down on the streets of las vegas in a gangland-style shooting that took place on September 7, 1996. Since then he has become the subject of one of modern music’s most bizarre death cults, as he continues to sell millions of records and to top charts all over the world. but behind his death lies a story of hip-hop babylon – a sordid tale of intrigue, egos, drugs, sex, intimidation, violence – and, almost by the way, some great and enduring music.
By PETER MURPHY
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
He may have an image as a political bruiser, but even if he is prepared to engage Bertie in a head-butting contest, Michael Noonan would rather win over the electorate by the more gentle art of persuasion. Joe Jackson meets the Fine Gael leader to discuss public issues and personal traumas, and discovers why he's partial to drink and Bill Clinton but opposed to Sinn Fein, the Bertie bowl and tax breaks for sports stars.
When Tommy Tiernan held court in the Hot Press Chat Room at Electric Picnic recently, he had no idea the kind of shit storm that would unfold. During what was in effect a spontaneous, unscripted live performance – not unlike an appearance on The Late Late Show that also sparked controversy – he told a story about a couple of Jews who reproached him after a performance in New York. The result? He has been accused of anti-semitism and widely vilified. But those who know Tiernan are quite clear that the accusations are completely wrong. So – in order to allow people to judge for themselves – here is the full text of the Chat Room interview.
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"
Fresh from masterminding yet another historic victory – this time, Laois’ first Leinster championship in 57 years – gaelic football legend Mick O’Dwyer recalls famous days with Kerry and offers his customarily forthright views on professionalism, soccer at Croker, drink sponsorship, booing the Taoiseach and a changing Ireland. All this plus the little-known Louis Walsh connection!
Republic Of Loose are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Ireland during the last decade with one of the most charismatic lead singers ever to bestride a stage in the country.
They are a hunted species, forced to live out their lives in covert(s) under constant threat from marauding hounds and their society masters. You’d imagine that a fox would know something about what it feels like to be gay in ’90s Ireland but not johnny fox, the independent TD for Wicklow. Here, he unleashes an unrestrained attack on homosexuality, the practice of which he believes should never have been decriminalised in this country. For good measure, he also has a go at the government’s ‘liberal agenda’, the European Community, Bord Fáilte and the standard of refereeing at GAA football matches. Interview: Liam Fay.
Pics: Cathal Dawson
Comic book artist and file clerk turned movie star, Harvey Pekar must be one of the most unlikely and somewhat reluctant celebrities of our time. An ordinary man whose work has produced extraordinary art, the anti-hero of American Splendour here talks about his friend Toby, Robert Crumb, James Joyce, David Letterman, fame and misfortune, surviving and more.
pat mcCABE is on a roll. Neil Jordan s film adaptation of his acclaimed novel The Butcher Boy has been rapturously received. His latest meisterwerk Breakfast On Pluto about a border county transvestite is about to be published. He s going on the road with Jack L. And what s more he was recently named Monaghan Man of the Year! Interview: liam fay.
Pics: Mick Quinn
In a presidential nomination field virtually devoid of candidates of real calibre and charisma, the name of ex-Boomtown Rat and Live Aid hero BOB GELDOF has cropped up again and again. Despite his outright denial that he will run for office, the rumour refuses to die away. Here, in an interview with LIAM FAY, he gives his assessment of Mary Robinson s seven years in the job, and his hopes for the future occupants of Aras an Uachtarain.
Don’t let her steal your heart away!
sheryl crow: Hot Press Readers’ Love Of The Year and Bob Dylan’s favourite singer-songwriter is the hottest new star in rock'n'roll. Helena Mulkerns charts the singular rise of Kennet, Missouri’s most celebrated slacker country queen.
From Dickie Valentine to The Darkness: Andy Darlington dusts the five decades of Christmas records and chats to Slade's Noddy Holder about his haunting ghost of Chris- singles Past.
In the second part of the Hot Press interview, An Taoiseach Brain Cowen talks about his political influences, the fall out from the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty and more...
The renowned Irish language poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh was the subject of an extraordinary documentary, broadcast on RTÉ last year, entitled Fairytale Of Kathmandu. Accused in it of the sexual exploitation of Nepalese teenage boys, defiantly asserts his innocence in this, his first in-depth interview.
He’s been many things: a roadie with De Danann, a carpenter with Druid, a founder of the world-famous Macnas theatre group and, not least, a six-foot four-inch Connemara man in a skirt and self-styled “cranky fuck”. But now Paraic Breathnach spends a lot of his time crying tears of rage. Olaf Tyaransen finds him down but definitely not out. Portrait Aengus McMahon
John Walshe travels to Berlin to see Ash in superlative live form on Paddy's night. And no wonder: the band reckon their new album, free all angels could put them in the Michael Jackson league! plus: why they're so down on Louis Walsh, Westlife and Ronan Keating and so up for Bono, John Hume, David Trimble and - wait for it - Darius of Popstars. Flash photography: Mella Travers
She can't sit still. She has the attention span of a senile goldfish. And she has got some very strange personal habits. But Bjork is still one of the brightest and most compelling pop stars the nineties has produced thus far. LIAM FAY travels to darkest Blackpool for a close and often strange encounter with the Icelandic imp herself.
. . . and ready to go. Mercury Rev s recent album Deserter s Songs was met with a rapturous critical reception, even topping the Hot Press critics end-of-year poll. On their recent Dublin visit they spoke to Peter Murphy about the album, The Band and their volatile past. Jonathan Donahue pics: Cathal Dawson
Columnist Kevin Myers called her “our pretty little she-shinner” but an unimpressed Mary Lou McDonald insists that her party is actually run by a group of formidable women. She also reveals that she believes Gerry Adams when he says he was never in the IRA, defends Sinn Fein’s fund-raising, discusses the release of Jerry McCabe’s killers, and names her least favourite irish politicians. plus: the newly elected MEP’s views on drink, drugs, music, media, religion, and more.
He has strong views on Republicanism, Israel, George Bush and Steve Staunton. But, as a TD for Dublin South Central, Michael Mulcahy also reveals how much he loves Fianna Fáil – and how he wouldn’t mind a coalition with the Greens.
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.
Martin Sheen has starred in at least two of the greatest films ever made, survived a massive heart attack, found God, and campaigned tirelessly for social justice in the Third World. Now, he’s gone back to school, studying Philosophy and English at (of all places) the NUI in Galway. Jason O’Toole meets him for his only Irish print interview.
With her new volume of autobiography, AGNES BERNELLE has turned the spotlight away from the stage and onto her own life illuminating both the happier and dark chapters of a turbulent personal story. Interview: JOE JACKSON. Pix: COLM HENRY
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. .
The initial rumours were that it was going to be a rock n roll record . Then subsequent whispers hinted at everything from trip-hop to techno to ambient. But U2 s eighth studio album, Pop, is all of these things and more. It s the first album since 1983 that they ve made without the assistance of Brian Eno, it s been a long time in the making roughly a full year, all told and it s selling like the proverbial warm buns. Here, NIALL STOKES talks to BONO and ADAM CLAYTON, as well as co-producers FLOOD, HOWIE B and THE EDGE, about its lengthy genesis and what the band hoped to accomplish in creating it.
Pix: STEPHANE SEDNAOUI .
In his first major interview, Aengus Fanning, editor of the Sunday Independent, discusses how he manages the most successful paper in Ireland and the death of Veronica Guerin.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the dissection of the rock ‘n’ roll year that is the Hot Press Summit. Gathering round the table are the good and great of Irish music, but who let Podge & Rodge in?
He may well be RTE s only living intellectual but ANDY O MAHONY, host of The Sunday Show, will long be remembered by many as the man who asked Deirdre Purcell if she ever did the bold thing with Gay Byrne. JOE JACKSON gets the self-styled closet determinist to come out of the closet. Pix: Colm Henry
Did you hear the one about the Clare man who loves Dublin and is less than enamoured with rural Ireland?
Or the staunch Labour Party man who doesn’t worship Dick Spring?
Or the politician whose fed up to the teeth with political correctness?
Then you haven’t heard about PAT UPTON, Labour TD for Dublin South Central.
LIAM FAY did, and now it’s your turn.
Pix: COLM HENRY
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
As the first ever Green Party member in The Mansion House, Dublin’s current Lord Mayor, JOHN GORMLEY, is certainly unique. However, dismissed as a novelty by some and derided by others, the substance of his views as a politician have often been completely overlooked. Here, the capital’s number one citizen is unchained. Interview: JOE JACKSON. Pix: COLM HENRY.
Senate leader Donie Cassidy, a reluctant interviewee, opens up about his rivalry with Fianna Fail colleague Mary O'Rourke and reminisces about his days in the show-band business.
Well when you've conquered the world, what else can the biggest band on the planet do except go into space? BONO and LARRY discuss matters cosmic and personal with Olaf Tyaransen
