High hopes

Bono was not the only Irish musician to grace the front page of a US publication last month. Dublin teenager Carly Hennessy was pictured in the Wall Street Journal illustrating an article which questioned economic practices in the music industry.

The singer was signed to MCA records by Jay Boberg in 1999 for a purported $100,000 advance with additional monthly living expenses. Re-locating to the US, the 15 year-old was considered a priority act by MCA who invested almost $2.2 million dollars in the recording and promoting of her debut album Ultimate High. She worked closely with ex-New Radical the writer/producer Gregg Alexander, who had written for Ronan Keating but failed to give him a US smash.

However, despite MCA’s commitment, Carly’s album has sold less than 500 copies in its first four months of release.

Two singles from the album were issued but the suggestion that the first, ‘I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind’, had connotations of oral sex led to its being dropped from the playlists of conservative US radio stations. It sold 15,000 copies but the follow up, ‘Beautiful You’, was less successful.

Hennessy has now returned to Ireland where her album will get a UK/Ireland release in May. Miles Copeland, one-time manager of The Police has been brought onboard as Hennessy’s co-manager, with her father Luke, and the team are optimistic that Europe will prove a more accessible market for the 18-year-old.