It was Wednesday June 14th, 1995, when the terrible news of Rory Gallagher’s death was first phoned through to the Hot Press office. In more ways than one, it was the end of an era. On Wednesday November 8th, a commemoration service was held at Brompton Oratory in London. The ceremony ended with a tribute, which was delivered by Niall Stokes, editor of Hot Press. As a special remembrance of Rory, on the 10th anniversary of his death, we reproduce here the full text of that tribute.
Rory Gallagher tribute act Sinnerboy will play Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny and Dundalk in November, demonstrating the continuing appeal of the guitar hero's music.
It’s time to get those Dukla Prague away-strips out of mothballs as Half Arsed Half Biscuit play Dolan’s, Limerick (December 1) and Roisin Dubh, Galway (17).
Sometimes at tribute gigs, the air is heavy with the sound of befuddled musicians hammering out half-learned covers, in an effort to be heard over the cacophony of fans trying to outdo each other with tales about ‘back in the day’...
Next week's Jimmy Faulkner tribute gig, which takes place in the Olympia on September 22, will now feature an appearance by Jimmy's friend, guitarist Gary Moore.
The great Scottish poet, songwriter and folklorist Hamish Henderson died in March of last year, and almost immediately his friends and admirers began making plans for a tribute album.
U2, Andrea Corr, The Dubliners, Sinead O'Connor and Kila are among the acts who will appear on tonight's Late Late Show to perform their tribute to Ronnie Drew.
The boy is very much back in town on August 20 when a slew of Phil Lynott’s friends and admirers gather for the mother of all tribute concerts in The Point.
Honorary Irishman Josh Ritter is still pinching himself after getting to play with Brooooce at the massive Springsteen tribute gig in New York’s Carnegie Hall.
A fitting tribute to the late John Peel, showcasing an impressive collection of diverse bands, all of whom featured on the legendary broadcaster’s show at some stage – a testament to the Radio 1 DJ’s tireless promotion of new music.
A Tribute To should’ve been a godsend: a selection of Joni’s finest tunes, sung by a host of special guests. The reality, as one might guess from the diversity of the line-up, is a rather uneven record.
U2, Simon Carmody and Kila have led a collaboration on a special tribute to Ronnie Drew, which was recorded in Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, over the past few days.
Promoter Jim Aiken, who passed away recently, was a hugely important and universally admired figure in the Irish music scene. Here, leading industry representatives pay tribute. (free content)
Bono:
I can't imagine how the people in Hot Press are feeling right now. From the beginning there were four or five in there who were like a band - losing Bill, for them, must be like how I'd feel if something happened to Edge or Adam or Larry. He was like a brother to his colleagues and a cousin to us.
Tribute bands may not capture the true spirit of rock’n’roll – but they do succeed in attracting fans, starved of the music of the originals of the species.
Tribute bands may not capture the true spirit of rock’n’roll – but they do succeed in attracting fans, starved of the music of the originals of the species.
According to producer LISSA EVANS, the third and final series of Father Ted is the most fitting tribute possible to its late star. Interview: BARRY GLENDENNING
Comparing the insipid, whiney ramblings of The Offspring and Rancid to the incendiary anthems of movement-instigators The Sex Pistols, The New York Dolls and The Ramones is like comparing a firecracker to a nuclear explosion. But then you already knew that
Paul Wilkinson of widely touted Coleraine duo, The Amazing Pilots, on the making of the group’s Dave Odlum-produced debut album, Hello My Captor, joining artists like Jarvis Cocker and Evan Dando in paying tribute to Lee Hazlewood, and surviving a visit to the real-life Twin Peaks.
Nope, it’s not a Jim Morrison tribute; it’s an initiative which sees musicians such as The Blizzards, Neosupervital, Julie Feeney, Roesy and Brian Palm design a special set of doors.
John Walshe talks to The Wannadies Pdr Wiksten and Christina Bergmark about their new album, Yeah, tribute bands, Swedish soft rock stars and the Abba legacy.
They may be nothing more than a tribute band but if so, they re a damn good one. JACK L and his BLACK ROMANTICS have been unanimously lauded for their Jacques Brel-inspired Wax album: The idea was to bridge the gap between Brel and Scott Walker. Now Jack L himself talks to JOE JA
The Tarzan’s Ambition Best Of album commemorates the achievements of one of this country’s finest songwriters, Doctor Sean Millar. Here, peers & contemporaries pay tribute to the great man.
Are they Madchester tribute band charlatans, an even more half-baked Kula Shaker, or swaggering rock monsters from Leicester? The jury is still out in the case of The People vs Kasabian.
The tenth anniversary of Rory Gallagher's death will be honoured with a very special event in Ballyshannon, plus a Best Of album and a Gerry McAvoy autobiography
The inspiration for ‘Fuck Her Gently’; Kyle’s stoned scene from Almost Famous; did KG really eat JB’s shitzel? And the best way to do cock push-ups. Tenacious D answer the readers’ questions. Turning up the heat Patrick Hedlund.
Respected as one of the stalwarts of P-funk in his Parliament and Funkadelic days, Bootsy’s still keen to come up with fresh sounds and this collaborative effort sees him teaming up with a host of guests with fairly mixed results
There was a large turn-out of luminaries of the entertainment industry for the funeral service of Brian Molloy, which took place today at Foxrock church. Molloy, who was the founder of Hawk Records and later Lunar Records, and also a partner in Westland Studios, died after a long battle with cancer.
From Chet Baker through Joe Cocker to The Cranberries, the world of music owes the late Denny Cordell an enormous debt. Bill Graham pays tribute to an inspirational craftsman who made Ireland his final home and resting place.
For Gen X-ers like Kurt Cobain, Matt Groening and Sonic Youth, Daniel Johnston is akin to Syd or Roky, a gifted figure beset by the demons of delusional paranoia and manic depression. A 1994 tribute album featuring Beck, Tom Waits and eels showcased his ghostly and surrealistic folk songs, and now, as the remarkable documentary film The Devil And Daniel Johnston goes on release, hotpress is granted an audience with the man who isn’t there.
With a new tribute album to Gram Parsons on release, PETER MURPHY enlists the help of co-executive producer EMMYLOU HARRIS to recreate the tale of Southern Gothic that was the late singer s life.
Over 50 artists came together to pay their respects to Jimmy Faulkner in an unforgettable show of more than four hours of emotionally-charged performances.
The news of Rory Gallagher s tragic death has sent seismic shock waves through the music world. Here was a man who managed to combine the gift of being an authentic creative genius with the even rarer gift of being a genuinely decent, honourable human being. Over the next six pages, Hot Press pays tribute to both the legend and the person, with contributions from the stars, friends, fans and colleagues who were touched by the Gallagher magic, and takes a trip through the backpages of an extraordinary career.
Despite the sometimes feral nature of the music, there are enough dollops of melody sprinkled around the crunching bar-chords to make the whole thing palatable
The sight of a crowded Point Depot singing “Happy Birthday to Philip in heaven” under the instruction of an emotional Philomena Lynott is certainly one to behold. Unfortunately, on an evening pitched as a celebration of the life and work of Philip, much was promised but little was delivered.
There is no better or more fitting tribute to Stephen Gately than that which was read and said at the funeral in St.Laurence O’Toole’s church in Seville Place by Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Ronan Keating of Boyzone. The fourth remaining member of the band, Shane Lynch, stood beside the three others and shared in the emotion and the grief. The tribute was written by Ronan Keating, with Keith Duffy providing his own personal introduction and improvising around the text.
For Thin Lizzy fans, all roads will lead to Arklow on Sunday May 3 when Friends of Philo will hold their Shades of a Blue Orphanage tribute gig, headlined by Renegade at the Arklow Bay Hotel.
Snow Patrol have announced that they’ll be wearing blue ribbons at their Belfast Botanic Gardens gig on August 23 as a tribute to missing Bangor woman Lisa Dorrian.
Not content with taking care of special guest duties as U2 wend their way around South America, Franz Ferdinand have contributed a version of ‘A Song For Sorry Angels’ to a Serge Gainsbourg tribute album.
Not content with taking care of special guest duties as U2 wend their way around South America, Franz Ferdinand have contributed a version of ‘A Song For Sorry Angels’ to a Serge Gainsbourg tribute album.
Mathew Jonson's brother steps from the shadows to pay tribute to a lost friend. Inspired as much by wiry electronica and industrial as claustrophobic techno, 'Gary White' rocks harder than most Wagon Repair releases.
Mathew Jonson's brother steps from the shadows to pay tribute to a lost friend. Inspired as much by wiry electronica and industrial as claustrophobic techno, 'Gary White' rocks harder than most Wagon Repair releases.
Mobilee’s new sub-label gets off to a shaky start with a two-tracker from one half of SmashTV. ‘EnduroDisco’ is an uncomfortable mix of minimal frequencies and droning basslines and FX while ‘Aura’ – a gloopy tribute to ‘Erotic Discourse’ – explores similar territory with marginally more success.
Pink Floyd is one legendary rock band that may not be reuniting anytime soon, but fans can experience the next best thing when tribute act the Pink Floyd Experience play here at the end of the month.
YouTube is probably not a favourite of Akon’s these days considering that some of his more controversial acts in concert have been captured for posterity (or notoriety) on the website. When he’s not throwing fans into crowds, Akon can usually be relied upon to throw down some competent tunes. But the tired ‘Mama Africa,’ a tribute to his birthplace Senegal, just isn’t one of them. Taken from his album Konvicted, it fails to make any lasting impression.
The optimistic title of this track almost sets itself up for failure, but in this case ‘Something Beautiful’ is a fitting tribute. This is vintage Sinéad, her distinctive voice still soaring although it sounds more world-weary than before. ‘Something Beautiful’ has a sacred air and the lyrics are laced with religious imagery (befitting of an album named Theology) but it is not so overtly religious that it suffocates the magic.
Maher fills the John Lennon role in the hugely popular tribute band The Classic Beatles so no great surprises that his debut solo album displays plenty of Fab Four influences.
The new single by Manchester’s latest indie guitar band featuring legendary ex-Smiths rhythm section Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce thankfully sounds nothing like a cheap Smiths tribute band, although thematically speaking, titles like Kiss Me, I’m A Social Worker weren’t licked from the stones. On first encounter 'Two Fat Lovers' is charmingly glib in content but the tune just doesn't take.
Mr David Couse releases the third single off The World Should Know and it has the potenial to garner him lots of radio play, with a chorus that really likes the word ‘Celebration’. Long standing fans will be more interested to hear what’s actually the third re-recording of A House’s ‘Endless Art’, in which he reels off a brand new list of those who are “all dead, yet still alive”. Delivered with a softer approach on this occasion, he pays tribute to the likes of Dermot Morgan, Ella Fitzgerald and Hunter S Thompson.
From quasi-Motorhead tribute act to one of the biggest rock ’n’ roll bands on the planet, the Metallica story has been crying out for a proper telling which it finally gets courtesy of this meticulously researched biog.
Sami Liuski has already delved into the vaults of late 70s and early 80s music as Bangkok Impact and now he hooks up with Pauli Jylhankangas to pay tribute to Italo Disco.
Starsailor
‘Good Souls’ [Chrysalis]
Coming on like a Verve tribute band, Starsailor recall the dreamy ballad feel of the Wigan outfit’s early career before their genius imploded in a whimper of acrimony and bombast.
U2, Tom Waits, The Pretenders, Motorhead, Billy Corgan, Marilyn Manson & more to cover The Ramones on new tribute album, We're A Happy Family, due out later this year
The Feeling are being hailed as the pioneers of the new soft rock movement. Twelve Stops And Home isn’t exactly the REO Speedwagon tribute you might expect, but it does come free of any rough edges.
We Did Then, their debut, is an impressive enough piece of homegrown dub that offers up hope for the future of original music in a world full of tribute bands
From the getgo, The Conway Sisters have been perceived as a poor man’s Corrs (There’s four of them and they’ve even got a Sharon) and little on this long overdue debut album dispels those first suspicions. In fact, if you do the blind date test here with, say, ‘No Surprise’ or ‘Reason’, the phrase “Corrs’ tribute band” springs effortlessly to mind.
LONELY STREET is the latest album from former Energy Orchard frontman Bap Kennedy, quickly following on from his Hank Williams tribute album, Hillbilly Shakespeare, released a few months back.
It was a tribute to both the dynamism of her live presence, and the openness of an audience really here to see bill-topper Juliet Turner, that by the end of a set that made few concessions to three-chord trickery, Shaz Oye had the audience clapping and singing along to an acappella version of Wilson Pickett’s sixties hit ‘634-5789’.
Since he debuted with Dressed Up Like Nebraska in 1998 Rouse’s music has got mellower by the album. His last effort 1972 was a tribute to the light rock of his birth year. This treads similar ground and is an introspective singer-songwriter affair.
Each song is deeply personal and focuses on the mundane. Recorded during the dissolution of Josh’s marriage, the general mood is melancholic.
Whereas the likes of Interpol and Franz Ferdinand build on their retro influences, the Australians are so religiously devoted to theirs that they might as well go the whole hog and become a tribute act.
One of the funniest comedy sketches I ever saw concerned the timelessly naff quality of Queen’s sartorial sensibilities. It was on an Armstrong And Miller show about four years ago, and was set in the year 2040. A guide was taking a group of tourists around a stately home, which was putatively an exact replica of Freddie Mercury’s real life abode. The titular comedians were paid actors playing – for “educational purposes”, understand – Brian May and the late singer, with Ben Miller’s skin-tight leather costume being an especially funny tribute to Mercury’s near-heroically outrageous fashion sense.
He was one of the first true trailblazers in Irish comedy. Now, a decade after his death, a host of his friends will gather to pay tribute to Dermot Morgan.
The very release of this double elpee is something of a mystery. After all, it's only been two studio albums (No Rest For The Wicked and No More Tears) since the double live Tribute and the mini-live Just Say Ozzy came out.
1999 and what the hell is going on? Leisure time in our booze economy is more likely to entail getting plastered, donning a cheap '70s wig and dancing to some awful tribute act than checking out something new. Even the silver screen is dominated by the likes of Boogie Nights and Special Agent Austin Powers celebrating the 'shagadelic' seventies. Groovy baby, yeah? Not if you are looking through The Auteurs' untainted glasses.
With Bono and Simon Carmody orchestrating it, and Kila minding the gap, the recording of a tribute to one of the most important and widely loved figures in the history of Irish music turned into a very special occasion indeed.
Even though the citizenship referendum produced a worrying result, the fight for justice and equality goes on – a fitting tribute to the memory of a great journalist.
Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Ryan Adams, Jeff Beck, Bunny Wailer, Shaggy, Bootsy Collins – Toots Hibbert may be supported by a stellar cast on his latest album but it’s tribute to his unique vocal presence that the Otis Redding of reggae still outshines them all.The best news of all is that Toots And The Maytals are in Vicar Street on June 29. Don’t miss it.
Musicians Pat Clafferty, Amanda Claxton, Eoin Young, Darren Nolan and Fiachra McCarthy pay tribute to their friend and comrade-in-arms, the late Derrick Dalton.
Freddie Middleton, the General Manager of BMG Records in Ireland has been twenty years in the music business. Here Hot Press, and his many friends in the industry, pay him a special tribute.
They say bad things come in threes…for The Pale they did anyway… Work on the new album has been put on the back burner for a few weeks following an unbelievable spate of bad luck.
GEORGE MARTIN was intrinsic to much of The Beatles brilliance. Now he s coming to Dublin for a series of special concerts. GEORGE BYRNE sets the scene.
The indelible images of September 11th tragedy will be for many, the key memory of these past 12 months. Music may seem lightweight in comparison, yet its healing powers were probably more needed than ever
Hot Press celebrates Irish Language Week with a series of features in both English and Irish, as well as interviews with prominent Irish-speaking personalities. Stay tuned for regular updates.
Difficult second album syndrome has no place in the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah vocabulary. Not that the blogger faves are exactly busting a gut to have a hit.
They’ve recorded with Broken Social Scene and once shared a flat with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Now Toronto avant-rockers Metric are set to make a splash of their own.
Gavin Friday’s been a Virgin Prune and a glam cabaret torch singer, he’s done Brecht and Weill, and most recently stole the show at Hal Willner’s Leonard Cohen tribute concert Came So Far For Beauty.
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.
...So said David St. Hubbins 20 years ago in Marti DiBergi’s seminal documentary or, if you will, rockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap. In the time that’s elapsed since then, the Tap have become synonymous with all manner of excess, on the road hi-jinx and bizarre gardening accidents. In a special hotpress tribute, we ask a plethora of their admirers for their own Spinal Tap-style stories. And remember, it’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.
They may be one of the hottest bands of the year, but Las Vegas synth fiends The Killers are planning to cool off this Christmas with some well-earned down-time and a skiing holiday in Utah. But not before they’ve discussed texting Charlize Theron, hanging with Elton John and that David Bowie tribute with Stuart Clark.
The 20th anniversary of the death of Luke Kelly is being marked by a double CD The Best Of Luke Kelly, and a week-long tribute Remembering Luke at the Gaiety. The Dubliners are, not surprisingly, deeply involved in both projects, and bandmember John Sheahan here explains all.
Fiona H. Stevenson aka Fay Wolftree Webb was the gifted Hot Press writer once dubbed the ‘High Priestess of Punk’ in Ireland in the mid-’80s. in later life, having moved to England, she had to cope with the complex and difficult reality of living with manic depression. on December 18, 2003, aged just 39, Fiona died, apparently of a prescription drug overdose. in a personal tribute to Fiona, and as a means of highlighting a major mental health concern, former Hot Press writer Paul O’Mahony here recalls his first love and enduring friend.
Ollie Cole of Turn pays a fan’s heartfelt tribute to the “genius lyricist and stupidly brilliant guitar player” who tragically took his own life two weeks ago.
With the death of Johnny Cash two weeks ago, music’s Mount Rushmore finally crumbled. From the hell-raising country outlaw of the ’60s to his final incarnation as a patriarchal figure intoning songs of guilt and redemption, Cash’s voice resonated down through the years with undimmed intensity. In this special Hot Press tribute to the Man In Black, Peter Murphy talks to Cash collaborators Sandy Kelly and U2, and recounts the turbulent life and times of one of the most iconic figures in 20th century music
"I don't know whether they're going to replace No Disco with something equally interesting or, as is depressingly often the case, a duller, watered-down version": as one of the artists who benefitted from exposure on No Disco, DAVID GRAY offers this tribute to the show’s pioneering spirit. A Hot Press exclusive
Niall Stanage pays tribute to a remarkable young woman whose passion for music made her one of the most widely respected and genuinely loved people in the history of Irish music
DAVID HEFFERNAN pays tribute to the producer/director whose many and varied professional credits included some defining images of Irish and international music
The recipient of a Late Late Show tribute and the outgoing presenter of The Arts Show, MIKE MURPHY avails of a timely opportunity to reflect on the highs and lows of his personal and professional life and to assure JOE JACKSON that, contrary to certain popular mythology, he is neither a marshmallow nor a flowerpot man
COLM O HARE talks to MARY COUGHLAN about her upcoming show, LADY SINGS THE BLUES, a tribute to BILLIE HOLIDAY, and about the parallels between Holiday s life and her own.
BARRY GLENDENNING pays suitably dewy-eyed tribute to Seinfeld, the unfeasibly popular American sit-com which lasted nine years, despite the fact that nothing ever actually happened on it.
Californian-born JIM PAGE is no ordinary protest singer. Best known on this side of the Atlantic as the writer of such classics as 'Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette', his music has continued to move hearts and minds well into the corporate nineties. Here, he traces his roots from Bob Dylan to Public Enemy, and explains why he wrote a special song in tribute to Sinead O'Connor. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN
The recent release of the compilation album So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley was a potent reminder of the extraordinary impact Jeff Buckley made during his short life. In an exclusive interview, on the 10th anniversary of his death, his mother Mary Guibert reflects on the singer’s legacy.
She’s acted in big screen Joyce adaptations and appeared in hip-hop cinema. Now Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan is set to enter the major league, following her turn in the acclaimed – and Oscar nominated – Transamerica.
rob thomas is cautiously optimistic that his multi-million selling outfit, matchbox 20, will not succumb to the Hootie syndrome. Interview: colm o'hare.
Renowned Cork singer-songwriter John Spillane has joined forces with poet Louis de Paor as the bilingual Gaelic Hit Factory to prove that the Irish language can work in a contemporary context. Jackie Hayden investigates.
Marc Carroll is shouting to be heard above the din at the Falcon, a legendary dive in London s Camden Town, but I have the feeling that if the place was as hushed as a library he d be yelling anyway.
When Iain Archer decided to get away from it all for the making of his latest album, he didn’t settle for half measures. He packed up his guitars and vanished for several months into the depths of Germany’s Black Forest. But can the resulting record transform the career of a singer still best known for helping write Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’?
Belfast filmmaker John T. Davis on Uncle Jack, a troubled but ultimately cathartic labour of love commemmorating his late uncle’s achievements as a cinema architect. Interview: Cathy Dillon.
The next generation of Stanley Kubricks cut their creative teeth on some of Ireland's finest bands: hotpress.com brings you video streaming of the completed works from the Tisch film school in New York
On the eve of his debut album release Radio Friction, Shane Barry muses on chasing the sounds in his head and talks about his decision to reform his band, The Distractions
You don’t associate Cavan with a cutting edge music scene – but Michael O'Brien aims to change that with his Origins club night. Who knows? One day Neil Young might even decide to pay a visit.
As he limbers up for yet another sell-out Irish tour, guitar-picking hearthrob Tom Baxter is keen to scotch rumours of impending nuptials and wax lyrical about his love affair with this country
Katharine Gifford of SNOWPONY talks to Adrienne Murphy about the band s debut album, their impeccable pedigree and her favourite themes of sex and death.
Are you ready for hip hop, be-bop trad? Then EILEEN IVERS is ready to take you to the bridge. SIOBHAN LONG meets the fiddle player with the world at her fingertips.
Having befriended Joe Strummer before the Clash man’s untimely death, artists such as Adam Duritz, Ryan Adams and Shane MacGowan are also now lining up to give kudos to New York singer-songwriter Jesse Malin.
It sounds like a car-crash waiting to happen – a Southern California garage band channelling psychedelic Cambodian pop. In fact, DENGUE FEVER are one of the most beguiling new acts to pop up on the radar recently.
From First Cuts to Latest Cuts, from the First Lady Of Immediate , recording with Phil Spector, Jimi Hendrix and the Small Faces, to the First Lady of Techno, scoring Top Ten hits with Altern-8 and the Beatmasters, to today with Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene
P.P. ARNOLD has always been there, wherever the beat is hottest.
Interview: andy darlington.
Irony-deficient Nordic rockers Turbonegro are one of the world’s most credible hardcore acts, with a fanlist that includes Queens Of The Stone Age and Therapy?
All told, the last ten action-packed years have seen Mary Black release nine solo albums - from her eponymous debut Mary Black through to the recent chart topper The Holy Ground. Here Chris Donovan takes a retrospective look at what's on offer - and concludes that herein lies the true meaning of the words Black Magic.
White-boy soulsters daryl hall and john oates have returned to keep America safe for accomplished, slick R n B and they re still packing in the punters after all these years. Interview: colm o hare.
Since opening its doors five years ago, Galway's Róisín dubh has established itself as a superb live music venue that's a firm favourite with performers and punters alike. colm o'hare reports.
Premier County natives the Corrigan Brothers are currently the darlings of YouTube with their single There’s No-One As Irish As Barack Obama. Edwin McFee catches up with singer Ger to talk about dodgy rock bands, Roy Keane and, um, ladyboys.
They may sport one of the most original sounds in rock’n’roll – but along the way they’ve been influenced by some of the greats.
STUART BAILIE identifies the ten (plus!) key influences on the music of U2
A year after Mic Christopher’s untimely death, his family and friends are celebrating his life and music with the release of his Skylarkin’ album and a star-studded gala live performance
Doctor John may be renowned as a laid-back Big Easy legend, but get him started on the Federal Government's treatment of his beloved New Orleans and he spits nails.
When Michael D. Higgins suggested that U2 and Neil Jordan should be studied in Irish colleges, all hell - if Mr McPhisto will forgive the expression - broke loose. However, there may, on some of Michael D.'s critics' part, be a deliberate attempt to misconstrue what he said. By Bill Graham.
FIONA REID meets SEAN MILLAR, the acclaimed singer/songwriter who’s currently overseeing a music workshop for inner-city youths and talks to one young participant, IAN FAGAN
Cornershop have re-opened for business with a little help from Noel Gallagher and none at all from the BBC. Stuart Clark finds Tjinder Singh is less than miffed
After studiously walking the line between rock and pop, Corkonian Jennifer Clarke explains why she now regards herself as a country act, and tells Jackie Hayden about her interest in serial killers.
Jackie Hayden looks back over the career of the legendary soul singer Wilson Pickett who died last month, and talks to Andrew Strong about the man’s impact on his own career.
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.
But where would you be in the middle of the night with no bells and your knickers ringing? Or more to the point, where would you be without the new Hot Press/Heineken link up with Tower Records on Sundays?
Some of the best movies currently being made are coming from the near east, specifically Turkey and Romania. CRISTIAN MUNGIU, director of the astonishing, Ceausescu-era set 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days and the forthcoming Tales from the Golden Age talks about the new wave of Romanian cinema.
GREAT WESTERN SQUARES frontman gary fitzpatrick has built a career out of crafting beautifully heartfelt C'n'W vignettes, prowling around ancient pubs and being "a sad bastard who drinks too much". nick kelly says: "Cheers!"
There’s a strange din echoing around Belfast these days. It can only be sometime satanists, occasional folkies and day-tripper pagans The Factotum Choir.
He is widely regarded one of Ireland's finest singers. Now, by way of confirmation, Brian Kennedy has released a superb album, entitled Interpretations.
The cause still endures, the hope still lives. Thus spoke Senator Ted Kennedy in what is widely regarded as his finest speech. Now more than ever, we need the same kind of visionary commitment in Ireland.
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.
Kevin Rowland, whose Dexy's Midnight Runner's album Don't Stand Me Down has just been re-released in a radically new version tells Stephen Robinson "Never say never" when asked about a possible Dexy's reunion
East Glasgow quartet Glasvegas have nothing to do with the TG4 show. They're the anthemic band discovered by Alan McGee in the same venue he found Oasis.
Aslan’s Christy Dignam lives not too far from where he grew up in Dublin. He talks to Hot Press about birdwatching, how he stays away from drugs and his disdain for celebrities who complain about fame.
To mark the release of her new album And Winter Came, Enya talks about quietly becoming a phenomenon and explains why it may at last be time to head out on the road.
The Fathers of Heavy Metal? "That child is not mine!", roars JON LORD, who played keyboard through 25 years of DEEP PURPLE splits, reformations, recriminations and tears. Now he's got a new album and tour reuniting the classic "Deep Purple in Rock" formation to talk up, with side-swipes at Metallica, the David Coverdale/Jimmy Page album, and just why Coverdale's sexually explicit lyrics made the Lord "a tad embarrassed."
Interview ANDY DARLINGTON
Intriguing new developments are afoot in the world of Ulster rock ‘n’ roll. Plus tidings of a new Limerick indie compilation and the usual round-up of news from around the country.
THEY LOVE CHOCOLATE, HATE SUPERMODELS AND THINK THE BEST WAY TO COMBAT RACISM AND SEXISM IS TO JUST GET UP ON STAGE AND PLAY. NIALL CRUMLISH DISCOVERS
THE PURE POP DELIGHTS OF THE VOODOO QUEENS.
Back with another volume of Woody Guthrie songs, BILLY BRAGG talks to Siobhan Long about supersonic boogie, the act of collaboration and why Tony Blair s Labour Party still has his respect.
Not content with corrupting the youth of America with his music, the God of Fuck has diversified into painting, acting and writing. Plus: the singer’s encounters with literary outlaws JT Leroy and Hunter S. Thompson.
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
Kells three-piece Turn are on the crest of a wave, and are about to unleash their rather spiffing debut LP, Antisocial, on an unsuspecting world. John Walshe reports. Suit shoot: Myles Claffey
RICHARD THOMPSON s new album Mock Tudor consolidates his position as one
of the most articulate and influential songwriters around. GEORGE BYRNE met him.
“A scene that results in Pete Doherty isn’t much to celebrate,” declare Bloc Party as they outline their plan to save UK rock from the heroin chic brigade. Also up for discussion are Elton John, Ash, Thin Lizzy and why they’re nothing like Franz Ferdinand. Honest. Photos by Liam Sweney.
At 53, EMMYLOU HARRIS has finally taken up the pen and the result is one of her finest albums yet. SIOBHAN LONG journeys to New York to meet the reluctant songwriter.
Guitar heroes Rodrigo Y Gabriela have gone from busking on Grafton Street to jamming with Metallica. The acoustic duo talk about their long, strange journey, their fantastic new album – and their debt to the metal world
Although dissatisfied with mainstream media and wary of having his own work pigeonholed, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr revels in his role as elder statesman to a generation of maverick musicians and is no less proud of his new album, Boomslang.
Hey pal - fancy a record deal? We like your style, we luuuurve the music and we're practically guaranteed to make you a star. So what's the hitch? Absolutely nish, my friend. Just sign the necessaries, and we'll proceed.
Just think of that lovely £500 advance. Sure, you're signing up for a six album deal, but what the hell? Maybe you fancy a management settlement for, say, 12 years? What is there to lose, little guy? In fact we're such an awesome organisation that you should maybe go for a record deal and a management contract, all in the same tidy package. Tell you what, my man, if you really want, we can throw in the publishing rights, also. Wouldn't that take care of all your problems at a stroke?
The last scintilla of doubt just rode out of town – groundbreaking news spoof The Day Today is back on the agenda courtesy of a brand new DVD, and the show’s gleeful send-up of current affairs broadcasting is now more relevant than ever.
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.
When Jeff Buckley drowned in the Wolf River, Tennessee, five years ago, the world lost a fledgling musical visionary, his lone album Grace becoming a sacred text of loss and unfinished beauty. In his short 29 years on earth, his power and grace touched many, especially his mother Mary Guibert and his former bandmate Gary Lucas.
Hong Kong director Stephen Chow is the closest thing to an auteur in the explosive and surreal world of Far East action cinema. His latest feature, Kung Fu Hustle, could be the one to finally break him in the West. But impending worldwide stardom hasn’t erased Chow’s modest streak, he reveals in an exclusive interview.
As Stereophonics release their sixth abum, frontman Kelly Jones talks about his friendship with Oasis and reveals that he’s buried the hatchet with Muse.
The outrageous diaries of the late Carry On star KENNETH WILLIAMS, are now in the bookshops - often unsavoury, irascible, candid and scurrilous, but seldom boring. Williams dishes the dirt on Tony Hancock, Joe Orton, Stanley Baxter, Barbara Windsor, and on his own tortured homosexuality. ANDREW DARLINGTON reports.
They've been steadily losing ground to a resurgent Sinn Féin - and now there are rumours of a merger with Fianna Fáil. So does the SDLP really have a future? Mark Durkan clears the air.
LIAM CLANCY is in sparkling form as he looks forward to the release of a documentary on his life, which explains how he escaped the Irish Ayatollahs and wowed a young Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village.
On the eve of Kraftwerk’s headlining appearance at the Electric Picnic, mainman Ralf Hütter talks with rare candour about David Bowie, U2, hip-hop, cycling and why sometimes even man-machines have to smile.
In a single decade, Irish electronica and dance music has transformed the national scene. MARK KAVANAGH has been involved from the very beginning, as a DJ, activist, producer and hotpress columnist. Here, he offers a personal take on a long and winding but ultimately fruitful road, and reveals some of the new challenges he ll be undertaking as a DJ, producer and recording artist over the coming 12 months
LAURYN HILL s debut album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill was the fastest selling album ever by a female artist in the United States. What s more it s just garnered her five Grammy Awards, confirming her status as one of American music s most important new icons. OLAF TYARANSEN went to London to hear the singer talk frankly about success, motherhood, the future of The Fugees and her father-in-law, Bob Marley.
RTE Lyric FM will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the birth of the late genre-defying trumpeter Mile Davis with a special weekend focusing on a man who is arguably the greatest jazz innovator to have a major impact on rock music. To give you a little something for that weekend, Jackie hayden reflects on one of the true giants of music.
The ace bass in the STONE ROSES and PRIMAL SCREAM, MANI is the living embodiment of the concept of largin it . In Ireland to dee-jay and hang out, he sinks a few beers and offers his uniquely colourful thoughts on music, Man U, drugs, Thatcher, Reagan, Blair and Bill Clinton s blow-jobs. Interview: EAMON SWEENEY.
Musical trends come and go but the blues continues to thrive. In Ireland, the scene is now stronger than ever. With her reputation growing internationally, Mary Stokes talks about her role as a performer - and her friendships with numerous blues legends. Oh, and Van Morrison's birth sign!
John Walshe had a ringside seat for all the music, speeches, laughs and tears that made the 2002 hotpress Irish Music Awards in Belfast a night to remember.
Trip-hop legend Tricky on how he's falling in love with Europe, why he's dying to work with Kylie and why if you live in a rough part of the UK, it's best to carry a knife.
The creator of cinema’s lost peyote sacraments, mime master, graphic novelist, the man who married Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese, and the secret architect of Dune and Alien, 78-year-old Alejandro Jodorowsky is a counter-cultural legend.
NO LONGER ANGRY YOUNG MEN, BUT STILL PRETTY PISSED OFF THIRTY SOMETHINGS, JAKE BURNS AND BRUCE FOXTON TELL STUART CLARK WHY STIFF LITTLE FINGERS REFUSE TO LAY DOWN AND DIE. PIX.: CATHAL DAWSON.
Denounced by the Christian right in America and the Catholic church in Italy but championed by rockers as diverse as Marilyn Manson and Led Zep’s John Paul Jones, Diamanda Galas is unlikely to be hollywood’s flavour of the month as she rips into the oscar-winning Monster
From his early punkish, defiantly anti-establishment indie flicks like The Doom Generation and Nowhere to his latest effort, the child sex-abuse drama Mysterious Skin, Gregg Araki has remained the most uncompromising alumnus of the early ‘90s new wave of queer cinema.
Seven years ago, CATHERINE ZETA-JONES was so down on her luck that she was having to open supermarkets to pay the rent. Then came a move to Hollywood and the patronage of, first, Steven Spielberg and, then, Michael Douglas who was so taken with the Welsh actress' charms that he married her. In London last week for her new film, Traffic, she talked to CRAIG FITZSIMONS about life among the Hollywood A-list
STUART CLARK collars Divine Comedy mainman Neil Hannon for a brief but highly intimate chinwag as they both take a break from drinking the bar dry at the Heineken/Hot Press Rock Awards in Belfast.
The Answer have played to almost a million people on the current AC/DC tour. Not bad for an indie hard rock band from Norn Iron. Singer Cormac Neeson gives us the skinny on Angus Young’s love of Rory Gallagher, meeting Alice Cooper, and why Hunger is required tour bus viewing.
During a career spanning almost forty years as a professional musician, Van Morrison has created an extraordinary body of work. A masterful musician, songwriter, producer, arranger and musical director, he possesses one of the most uniquely recognisable and powerful voices in music. His influence on contemporary music has been profound but far from resting on his laurels, his latest work Back On Top ranks among his finest albums to date. For Van Morrison, the search goes on. It was particularly appropriate, therefore, that he was chosen to become the first inductee into the Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame, at a special ceremony there last week. Report: Niall Stanage.
PACK YOUR LEMSIP AND NIGHT NURSE AND PREPARE TO DO BATTLE WITH THE BEIJING FLU AS THE SAWDOCTORS TACKLE THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND ON THEIR LATEST TOUR. CURRENTLY BETWEEN LABELS THE BAND’S U.K. FANBASE IS INCREASING STEADILY, EVEN IF THE CONCEPT OF ‘DESIGNER BOGMEN’ HAS YET TO PENETRATE THE SHIRES
CHECKING THE TEMPERATURE: BILL GRAHAM.
Many Irish holiday-makers will be heading for the United States this year. But there’s much more on offer in that vast playground than the dubious prospect of sweltering in the crushing heat of an Orlando football stadium in June. Jackie Hayden travelled with a bunch of media types to the small town of Lynchburg in Tennessee and visited the source of one of the world’s great spirits, Jack Daniels, making some musical connections along the way.
That, according to Shane MacGowan, will be the title of his next, and exceedingly long-awaited album. in the meantime there’s Sean Nós, the war, his dad, drink and Celtic football legend Jimmy Johnstone to be going on with.
Having dominated the charts here for the past ten years, Ash are gearing up for a full-scale invasion of America. Stuart Clark dons his hard hat as Tim, Mark, Rick and Charlotte tell him about their new record of mass destruction Meltdown, and the A-list celebrity company they’ve been keeping in the city of angels.
A frankly rather cynical Joe Jackson (no relation) suggests that love might not be the only reason that Lisa-Marie Presley's decided to become Mrs. Michael Jackson.
He helped invent disco, funk, r 'n' b and hip-hop. And when he wasn’t changing the face of popular music, Chic leader NILE RODGERS found time to chin-wag with pop’s best, bravest and weirdest. Here he talks about hanging with David Bowie, Slash and Madonna and reveals his oft-overlooked hippy leanings.
catherine doherty clambers aboard the Heineken RollErcoaster and joins Revelino, The Nude, Mesner, and Abbaesque for a crazy white-knuckle ride into deepest Munster.
With her superb new album Kelly’s Heroes, SANDY KELLY has established herself as Ireland’s undisputed Queen of Country Music. She has also consolidated her status as an international star of the highest calibre. Report: COLM O’HARE
He wasn’t going to sing and then he sang. He wasn’t going to talk to the press and then he talked. And, finally, when he was good and ready, Paul McCartney wowed an audience with his greatest hits. Stuart Clark sees Macca in Manchester warming up for Dublin
Although john squire and his new band The seahorses have taken something of a critical mauling following the release of their album Do It Yourself and some less-than-sparkling live shows, the former Stone Roses axeman is surprisingly unperturbed as peter murphy finds out.
When the decision to dump Rattlebag and Mystery Train from the RTE Radio 1 schedule was taken, accusations of dumbing down were rife. So is there scope for arts and music programmes with a bit of depth in Montrose? John Kelly insists that there should be.
The big time came knocking but Jack L said, "No thanks, I’d rather do my own thing." In a revealing interview, he explains why he’d rather be an underground star and tells of how melancholy gets him out of bed every morning.
I HAVE realised I am in the wrong profession, or at least the wrong strand of my profession. As a film journalist I get to see films before they are released in salubrious surroundings, with food and, more importantly, drink laid on.
Danu may just be the hardest working band in trad. With their fourth album The Road Less Travelled only recently released and another promised for the spring, When Jackie Hayden put a number of key issues to the band’s accordionist Benny McCarthy and bodhran player and uilleann piper Donnchadh Hough he found that they don’t just work hard, they talk hard too.
Most of us agree that the Eurovision Song Contest is a load of arse, but at least we can switch to another channel. The Irish Times' KEVIN COURTNEY, however, attended this year’s contest in Copenhagen - and got sucked into the black hole of rock 'n' roll
Harder, faster, louder... Motorhead have been rocking the planet for the past 26 years. As they prepare to do battle again at the Xtreme festival, Lemmy answers your questions. Warts and all
The Walls are about to embark on their most extensive Irish tour yet, including their biggest Dublin gig to date at the Ambassador and may be about to finally break the bank
As the Magnificent Seven prepare to mosey into Thurles, Stuart Clark probes Chas Smash's - or should that be Cathal Smyth's? - split personality and continuing flirtation with Madness
The first time The Killers played Oxegen they fretted whether anyone would turn up to see them. Now they’re sweeping in to headline the main stage. They talk to us about being chased by papparazi, growing up in Middle America and sharing a bill with Bono and, er, Gary Barlow
The Walls are about to embark on their most extensive Irish tour yet, including their biggest Dublin gig to date at the ambassador and may be about to finally break the bank
BLOODHOUND GANG might not be paragons of good taste, but they do live out the rock n roll lifestyle like no other band. JIMMY POP talks to STUART CLARK about swearing, drugs, porn stars and amusing Germans! Pop Pic-er: Declan English
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.
Those angry young Marxist Punk-Rockers THE MEKONS are back with a new album I Love Mekons and a contribution to a pro-abortion Woman’s Rights compilation . . . but they’re no longer quite so angry or young, not exactly Marxist, and their Punk is reinforced by Folk, Country and World Music! ANDY
DARLINGTON finds out what the hell is going on in Club Mekon.
The inside story of Veronica Guerin, directed by Joel Schumacer and starring Gerard McSorley, Ciaran Hinds and Cate Blanchett. Rolling tape Tara Brady and Craig Fitzsimons
The Coronas were about a week into their 2008 American tour when they realised Colonel Kurtz was driving the bus. They can laugh about it now, oh yes. Sat around a table in the Library Bar on the eve of the release of their second album, the foursome – singer Danny O’Reilly, guitarist Dave McPhillips, bass player Graham Knox and drummer Conor Egan – are still young and hardy enough to take it in their stride.
Peter Murphy takes a train to the wild west (Galway that is) with the original Texas Jewboy, crime writer and legendary stardust cowboy Kinky Friedman. Peter Matthews has the negatives.
From Donegal to London and beyond, altan s breathtaking music continues to win new converts. As the band showcase material from their latest album, Runaway Sunday, at the international headquarters of Virgin Records,
mairiad nm mhaonaigh tells sarah mcquaid:
It s all about letting it rip.
Whether with THE SMITHS, ELECTRONIC, THE PRETENDERS or in brown trouser mode sharing a stage with PAUL McCARTNEY, GEORGE MICHAEL and NEIL FINN, he remains, by his own admission, the best JOHNNY MARR-style guitar player around. GEORGE BYRNE meets the cat others like to copy.
When massive attack decided that they'd meet the press in Dublin, stuart clark got just thirty minutes to prepare for the
interview. But he still manages to talk to 3d about music, football, the band's new album Mezzanine - and the difficulties of making sweet leurve to the sound of your own records.
In Vienna, along with another 99,999 people, LIAM FAY witnesses what may well be the finest rock n roll extravaganza ever mounted and discovers that its got both art and heart in abundance as well.
FRANCIE BARRETT rose to public acclaim in 1996 when he became the first member of the travelling community to represent Ireland at an Olympic Games. Now a documentary, Southpaw, has been released which relates the Galway boxer s story. CRAIG FITZSIMONS met him and was impressed.
From Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to The Last Temptation Of Christ and his latest leftfield masterpiece The Walker, Paul Schrader has gifted us a succession of Hollywood’s finest moments. Here he talks to Tara Brady about the changing face of film, lying to the FBI and his admiration for the late Ingmar Bergman.
Sprawling across four restless, angry and sometimes contradictory sides, "Rattle And Hum" is nothing less than U2's most ambitious album yet. Review by Bill Graham
Gerry McGovern writes about his own brief but disturbing experience as the victim of sexual abuse and argues that Church and State stand accused of failing to protect the most vulnerable and powerless in society.
Belfast, then Glasgow and NEXT STOP – the cover of the Radio Times?
Stuart Clark joins fast-rising Snow Patrol on Scottish manoeuvres. PICS: IAN McMURRAY
When Patti Smith came up with Rock N Roll Nigger in the 70s, she marked herself out as one of the most articulate and confrontational performers of her generation. On the eve of her visit to Ireland, the High Priestess of American Punk Poetry talks to Peter Murphy about art, music, the people she s lost and why she ll never give in to political correctness
It’s been a tumultuous few years for Josh Ritter. Against the dramatic backdrop of the Swiss Alps, he talks about his number one fan Stephen King, recalls the day he met Bob Dylan and explains why it’s never a good idea to drink before a show
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
Robyn Hitchcock – wayward musical genius or fruitcake, depending on your point of view – is on the brink of even greater notoriety with the patronage of REM and the release of his strongest album to date. Andy Darlington does his best to uncover the man behind the mayhem.
STEREOPHONICS are on the up-and-up, their popularity growing without the band making concessions to the London-based music media. GEORGE BYRNE met them to talk about drink, drugs, writer s block and their upcoming Slane support slot.
Mini Pics: MICK QUINN.
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.
TRACY CHAPMAN S eponymous debut album was one of the biggest sellers of last year more than ten years after its release.
She spoke to PETER MURPHY about her life before and after fame, that album and the race issue.
Even though he s just as acerbic and witty as he ever was, these days GRAHAM PARKER isn t what you d call the man of the moment. Which is a shame, because the veteran new-wave critics darling is currently writing some of the best material of his life, including last year s Acid Bubblegum album, which he describes as a fucking great record . And as if that wasn t enough to be going on with, he s also got plenty of short stories on the go.
Tape: Peter Murphy
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
what good was rock’n’roll in 2001? No good at all – and yet we couldn’t have got through without it.
Peter Murphy reflects on a year in which some old codgers stood up to be counted and many of us lived “on songs and hope”
BECK is one of the most eclectically talented musicians of his generation. STUART CLARK sees the man play a stormer at Witnness and hears him talk about fame, musical obsession, heroes like Bowie and Black Sabbath and 'Britney fascism'
As suede prepare for their headline slot at Dublin Castle next month, their stock has never been higher, thanks mainly to the success of their fantastic third album Coming Up. craig fitzsimons talks to singer brett anderson about it and invites him to take stock of the last few wildly successful months.
The mainman in Tenacious D and scene-stealer in High Fidelity, Jack Black is now at the heart of a box-office phenomenon in School of Rock. But who does he really want to be – Laurence Olivier or Ronnie James Dio? Tara Brady asks the tough questions.
Dave Grohl looks back on 20 years of playing music and talks about the birth of his daughter, the trapped Beaconsfield Miners and why Neil Young is his hero.
To mark the occasion of the release of a near definitive punk compilation, GEORGE BYRNE fondly recalls the days when pogo was go-go and gabba gabba was hey.
While the entity that is U2 continues to be the dominant focus in the creative lives of its four members, away from the band, Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry have all indulged in extra-curricular activities, bringing them – and their music - into contact with such legends as Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Keith Richards, and Roy Orbison, By Dermot Stokes
In the second and final part of an extensive interview, MIKE SCOTT discusses inspiration and influences, recalls his difficult solo years and explains the death and resurrection of THE WATERBOYS. Interview: PETER MURPHY
Following the lukewarm reception accorded Jackie Brown six years ago, Quentin Tarantino reached a crossroads in his career. now, following a prolonged retreat from the media spotlight, a rumoured struggle with writer’s block and his break-up with Mira Sorvino, the most influential film-maker of the nineties has made a stunning return to form with the explosive samurai thriller, Kill Bill. Craig Fitzsimons travelled to london to meet the director and discuss the film he describes as “the movie of my geek boy dreams.”
From badass bunnies via political incorrectness to the mightiest drummer in rock ’n’ roll, it’s all in an interview’s work for Queens Of The Stone Age mainman Josh Homme.
So this is Christmas and what have we done... As U2 prepare to enter the final yearof the decade, Bono devotes a long night at his home in Dublin to reflecting on his life, his music and U2's extraordinary career to date. Interview: Liam Mackey
When The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Ken Loach’s dramatisation of the Irish War of Independence, won the Palme D’Or at Cannes last month, it triggered a vociferously hostile response from right wing British pundits, who branded the director as a terrorist-sympathising Commie. Few of them, however, had actually seen the film.
andy darlington meets skunk anansie with a live grenade in his hand
Peter Murphy s damning Hot Press review of their latest album Stoosh. You could cut the tension with a knife
which appears to be exactly what Skin wants at this very moment. Will anyone here get out alive?
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.
Back in the saddle witha politically charged new album, Burning TimesChristy Moore and co-collaborator Declan Sinnott are putting the agit-prop back into folk. In a rare interview, Moore speaks frankly abot Hattie Carroll and Rachel Corrie, Richard Thompson anoraks, interpreting Morrissey and recently being detained by British authorities under anti-terrorism laws.
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.
Powerful evidence of both early experiences of racial prejudice and the premature ending of her relationship
with her father is still to be found in the work of
NINA SIMONE, one of the few artists alive who gives equal weight and force to the political and the personal. In this rare interview, conducted during her recent visit to Dublin, JOE JACKSON meets a lover and a fighter. Pics: CATHAL DAWSON.
Ah yes, the glamorous life of the rock n rolling travel writer. Getting to see u2 live in Austria was a delectable piece of cake for liam fay. But getting back again that was when the dream turned into a nightmare.
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
We asked the fans to vote for U2's Greatest Hits and they did - in their thousands. The result is a selection of 20 tracks which, without doubt, would combine to produce a record to rank among the weightiest and most powerful anthologies in the history of rock. The full track listing is not without its controversial selections and omissions, however. Bill Graham and Niall Stokes take us through the fans' vision of the fab four's dream album.
ADRIENNE MURPHY lived with the ecological vigil-keepers in the Glen O The Downs for two weeks leading up to the dreaded day when the chainsaws finally arrived. This is her report from the frontline of Ireland s latest environmental battle. Pix: Colm Henry
Inevitably, The Best Of Nick Cave ... The Bad Seeds can only hint at the scope of the band's back catalogue. But if one listens to the group's ten studio albums chronologically, there are no gear-grinding changes of direction or radical overhaulings of the sound, all the more remarkable considering the amount of personnel that passed through the line-up.
The inside story of Veronica Guerin starring Joel Schumacher, Gerard McSorley, Ciaran Hinds and Cate Blanchett. Rolling tape Tara Brady and Craig Fitzsimons
One of the greatest penslingers in rockdom, he’s championed U2, Joy Division and Kylie and taken a critical scalpel to Oasis, The Strokes and their “miserably narrow mates”. he’s also locked horns with Germaine Greer, helped Frankie to relax and let The Frames slip through his fingers.
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.
Fashion designer, punk Svengali, musical maverick, filmmaker and occasional pervertor of justice. MALCOLM McLAREN has been all of these things – and more – in a rollercoaster career that's seen him become a hero to some and an unscrupulous villain to others. STUART CLARK tools up at Ron & Reggie's Gangland Surplus Store for a showdown with the man who manufactured cash from chaos! Scene-of-the-crime photographer: COLM HENRY.
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.
Bruised but unbowed by a turbulent campaign, the People s Coalition candidate, ADI ROCHE, discusses matters personal, political and presidential with JOE JACKSON.
Our annual HP-7 summit brings together some of the pre-eminent movers and shakers in irish music to reflect on everything from backstage catering to the end of war, pestilence and famine. Your host: Stuart Clark.
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
. . . Or not, as the case may be. In this extremely revealing interview with peter murphy, henry rollins speaks frankly about relationships, violence, depression, squaring up to Al Pacino and the problems that come with a life lived on the road
Think about direction, wonder why . . . It’s eleven years since Stano released his debut album Content To Write In I Dine Weathercraft. Despite his genuine originality and dedication to his art over the intervening years, he remains one of Ireland’s most enigmatic performers, more appreciated on the continent than in his homeland. Interview: Joe Jackson
On Sunday 16 October a unique event takes place in The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, as the climax of the 1994 Dublin Theatre Festival. Organised by Amnesty International, Voices Of The Disappeared is intended to highlight their campaign on “ Disappearances” and Political Killings. Stuart Carolan reports.
In an age when hype springs eternal, DAVID GRAY is that rare phenomenon a success story scripted by the fans rather than the industry. And a distinctly Irish success story at that. A certifiable platinum-selling box-office blockbuster in this country, the Welsh singer-songwriter still awaits a similar eruption of Gray fever in Britain, Europe and America. But his latest album, White Ladder, could be the record which tells the world what Ireland already knows. Now as he prepares to wow the faithful at Galway s Big Beat festival, JOHN WALSHE presents the inside story of the best kept secret in the west.
Pics Mick Quinn
In an exclusive interview, Once stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova talk about the love affair that sneaked up on them, recall their Oscar-winning adventures, give us the inside track on the movie's remarkable success and explain what it's like to hang out with the Coen brothers for an evening.
When Siniad O Connor tore up a picture of the pope on the Saturday Night Live television show in the US recently, she unleashed a storm which has been swirling around her ever since, causing her at one point to announce her premature retirement from the music industry. One month on, bruised and weary she may be but Siniad is neither downhearted nor repentant. Having declared war on the Roman Catholic Church she is determined to keep taking the battle to the real enemy. Interview: Niall Stokes.
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.
From A to Z, Paul Nolan and Ronan Fitzgerald introduce all the runners and riders for Punchestown – throwing in a baker’s dozen of acts who are not to be missed * along the way
Until recently one of the ultimate indie cult bands, The Flaming Lips have survived the ravages of heroin, acid and a hunting trip with William Burroughs. Now, their new album At War With The Mystics finds them taking their funky psychedelia to strange new places – including the upper reaches of the charts for the first time. Could it be that their moment has finally come? Interviews: Craig Fitzsimons (now) and Peter Murphy (then). additional reporting: Stuart Clark, Ed Power and Jackie Hayden
NIALL STOKES takes a very personal journey back through the music and memories of a friendship with a man he was proud to have known
THE DRIVE to Cork was a lonely one. Ry Cooder on the deck, that sweet slide guitar shooting off tracers: the memories, stacked up like a vast
rack of on-line CDs, kept slipping in and out of the engagement slot. No need ever to press the play button. Now and then I had to hold back the
tears as the music of past friendship flooded the car and, with it, a terrible awareness of all the things that might have, but hadn't, been done.
Nearly a decade after the release of their debut single, U2 are widely regarded as the No. 1 rock band in the world. But the album and the film "Rattle And Hum" depict another kind of reality entirely. Larry, Adam and The Edge talk to Niall Stokes.
It's time to lock up your sons, daughters, pet poodle and drinks cabinet, as eight of Ireland's top bands descend on the venue, london, for the first major Hot Press-sponsored musical event of the year.
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.
Full profiles on Faithless, Antony & The Johnsons, Slayer, The Who, Bell X1, Status Quo, The Flaming Lips, 50 Cent, Madness, Christy Moore, Elton John and Lionel Richie.
In the following pages, hear about Bono's top secret solo album; meet The Joshua Trio, the band whose mission is to bring U2's music to a wider audience; thrill to an appreciation of The Fab Four in their native tongue; and, last but not least, discover The Greatest U2 Fan Letter Ever Written! And, remember, don't believe everything you read...
n a career spanning 25 years in the glare of the stagelight, CHRISTY MOORE has known every emotion from insecurity, despair and vilification to adulation, triumph and the warm glow of creative fulfilment. He has dabbed in drugs, drink to excess, suffered a heart attack for his troubles and made some of the finest records that have ever been subjected to critical scrutiny in this country. Now, in a frighteningly honest interview, he tells it like it is and was. Cross-examination: JOE JACKSON. Microscopic camerawork: COLM HENRY.
Since their debut single ‘Wired To The Moon’ went gold here The Revs have established themselves as Ireland’s hungriest and most energetic rock combo, with an appetite for gigging and an eye for publicity that has seen them embroiled in a number of amusing controversies. But behind the brash exterior is the fascinating story of three dedicated young musicians who have overcome their status as outsiders to build one of the biggest and most loyal grass roots following of any local act. Now with the release of their debut studio album, Suck, they are ready to go international.
They go together like a horse and carriage. You can't have one without the other - or words to that effect. In fact, however, even rock 'n' roll has yet to invent an erotic language that does justice to the breadth and complexity of human desire. In pushing out the boundaries, madonna has taken on the role of sexual pioneer, and done it with courage and no little success. Niall Stokes weighs up the evidence . . .
PHIL COULTER is far from the muzak-producing bore of caricature. Here, he talks to JOE JACKSON about family tragedy, northern politics, drink binges, having songs covered by Elvis and his experiences working with stars like Van Morrison, Siniad O Connor and Luke Kelly. Portraits: MYLES CLAFFEY
On the eve of the release of Snow Patrol's epic fifth album A Hundred Million Suns, Hot Press finds out how singer Gary Lightbody gets inspiration for his songs.
Exclusive: Kevin Shields, the missing presumed lost genius of Irish rock, re-emerges to tell the truth about sandbags and barbed wire, the making of Loveless, early Dublin days with Gavin Friday, Liam O Maonlai and U2, and his Bafta-winning work on Lost in Translation.
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.
Sinn Fiin s first sitting TD since 1918 chooses his words carefully for the Hot Press Political Interview. I m not measured or calculating, he explains, this is me. As I am. LIAM FAY fires the questions. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
Sinn Féin’s first sitting TD since 1918 chooses his words carefully for the Hot Press Political Interview. “I’m not measured or calculating,” he explains, “this is me. As I am.” Liam Fay fires the questions. Pic: Cathal Dawson
Never mind pressies and OD’ing on cranberry sauce, the important thing about Christmas is that it signals the return of the HP-10 Summit. Absolutely no blushes are spared as Ireland’s rock ‘n’ roll elite dissects the musical year that was 2006. Keeping order: Stuart “Paxman” Clark. Taking photos: Graham “Paparazzi” Keogh. Taking the piss: Eyebrowy
Never mind pressies and OD’ing on cranberry sauce, the important thing about Christmas is that it signals the return of the HP-10 Summit. Absolutely no blushes are spared as Ireland’s rock ‘n’ roll elite dissects the musical year that was 2006. Keeping order: Stuart “Paxman” Clark. Taking photos: Graham “Paparazzi” Keogh. Taking the piss: Eyebrowy.
From "Out Of Control" to "All I Want Is You", Neil McCormick presents a major critical retrospective on the complete recorded works of U2, the band who went from being one of the world's worst cover groups to become a leading force in modern Rock'n'Roll
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.
London has long been recognised as one of the world's leading centres of entertainment and musical excitement - not to mention pleasure in all its multifarious manifestations. But when you really need it, do you know where to find it? Fay Wolftree brings you the insider's inside guide to Europe's premier rock 'n' roll metropolis.
U2 are about to unleash their new album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The world’s media are descending on Dublin. And Bono is back at the punch-bag, getting into fighting shape before the shit storm really explodes. The gloves are off. He’s got work to do. And he’s going to do it. Words Stuart Clark, additional reporting by Niall Stokes.
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
And so, unbelievably another year has bitten the dust. Here, continuing a tradition as Christmassy as the eating of turkey and the consumption of way too much alcohol, The Hog reflects on a turbulent year, when we all grew older and much, much wiser.
Although he is hailed by the label as ‘the most imaginative Japanese producer’, Watanabe has not yet scaled the heights of Sakamoto and the Yellow Magic Orchestra, but this deep, spaced out techno collection is still worth an hour of your time.
The late Tim Buckley, father of the less talented Jeff, was a sixties singer-songwriter whose extraordinary vocal range gave him one of the most lyrical voices of his generation.
This double-CD by a variety of generally B-list alt-rockers gallantly falls somewhat short of their hero’s achievements.
Siobhán Long was at the Olympia Theatre to hear Ireland’s finest musicians
pay their respects to the much lamented Altan flautist who died last September.
The event, sponsored by Smithwicks/Hot Press, was a truly memorable and moving occasion.
PAUL RODGERS is real special. You can name the duff albums since Free split up, you can say he's old hat, or a hanger on from the days of Deep Purple, Led Zep, and dinosaur rock.
Stalwarts of Irish punk rock Paranoid Visions are to release an album of their own unique interpretations of Christmas classics. And with titles like 'Harp The Herald Angels Drinking', it won't be your granny's present sorted.
So says our not-normally-easily-ruffled news hound Stuart Clark - and so will you be when you hear that country-noir legend Lee Hazlewood is playing the Dublin Olympia in September
The New York based Lorson makes gorgeously
understated music which truly deserves to be heard. The combination of her
mellow, slightly ragged voice, her engaging melodies and low-key production
make this a must for Americana fans.
Following on from his sold-out visit to Cork during the summer, Roger Waters brings his elongated version of Dark Side Of The Moon to the Point Theatre, Dublin
Disappointingly not a cover of the Def Leppard track, this is instead a typically plodding pseudo-industrial workout from the perennially gloomy Devonshire boys.
No slouch on the fiddle and banjo, Donegal’s Diver also plays guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán, bass, shaker and is a dab hand at writing new tunes, several of which feature on the album
The second album from Manchester duo My Computer is a complete box of tricks, covering the ground from orchestral pop (‘The Boy I Used To Be’) to electronica (‘Dig A Hole’), country (‘Stumble’) and even balladry (‘Life’, ‘Heart’). What’s unusual is that they seem equally proficient in whatever genre they’re subverting, turning styles on their head and having fun while they’re doing it.
Throughout Workbench Songs you get the sense of being in the hands of real craftsmen, musicians who have an unerring instinct for creating the right mood. But, overall, a little more risk-taking might have been required to make a great record of it.
Tributes have been pouring in, following the death yesterday of the remarkable Irish musician Tommy Makem. Aged 75, he died after a lengthy battle with lung cancer.
Proffering a delicious taste of her forthcoming album, Throw Down Your Arms, due for release this autumn, Sinead O’Connor thrilled punters at the Prime Minister’s 2005 Independence Gala in Jamaica with her impassioned version of Bob Marley’s ‘War’, accompanied on drum and bass by famous riddim twins, Sly and Robbie.
Duetting pairs Lisa Hannigan (pictured) and Gary Lightbody as well as Sinead O'Connor and Republic Of Loose, are set to perform live together at the forthcoming Meteor Irish Music Awards.
Northern Ireland's The Amazing Pilots, having signed to Chrysalis last year amid tanti industry kerfuffle, launch their first single this week. Just in time for their unbelievably cool support slot in a fortnight - with none other than Lee Hazlewood in the Olympia
The most unlikely record to get into the UK top 5 since Motörhead’s No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith, Troublegum turned Therapy? into pop stars for one gloriously rambunctious summer.
A few years back, Austen was introduced to Austrian producer Patrick Pulsinger who has worked his magic and weaved the singer’s silky voice into a series of gloriously funky house tracks.
This third volume in a series of multi-artist homages to über-folkie Pete Seeger differs from its predecessors in that it includes new work by the man himself.
Neil Hannon fought off tough competition from the likes of Duke Special and The Immediate to win the second Choice Music Prize at Vicar St, Dublin, last night.
Fleadh Cowboy Pete Cummins lends his weight to the Irish anti-war movement with the release of ‘Flowers In Baghdad’, a reference to the Iraqi blogger Salam Pax who wrote about the lack of colour in the capital since the American invasion.
Attempting to step into the shoes of a legend, especially one such as Billie Holiday, would be a daunting task for anyone. But it does help if, like Mary Coughlan, one is a bit of a legend oneself.
A new 'Best of Luke Kelly' CD, containing previously unreleased material, is due for release October 1 as a homage to the ex- Dubliner also starts in the Gaiety, twenty years after his death.
Fresh from his criticisms of RTÉ radio’s music policy in the current issue of Hot Press, Pierce Turner has announced details of his new single ‘Julie London’.
This album opens with a cover of the Goddess Kylie's 'Better The Devil You Know'. It's pretty much a photo-copy of the original, except for the extra oomph you can now get 'cos the machines have come on some since SAW days. Steps are assuming that their audience won't be familiar with the song. And they're probably right.
The December 1 show will feature songs from his not yet recorded debut album, and you can pick up a limited copy of his signature song, 'Hang the Moon'.
