Avoiding the obvious mega-group (because we might be a little bit tired of them dominating the Irish rock conversation – you too?), ILYOS celebrates St Paddy’s Day with some of our favourite Irish rockers. Check out some classic Celtic rockers from Van Morrison & Them, Horslips, Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher, Stiff Little Fingers, The Cranberries and more.
Them
Before Van Morrison became a solo hitmaker with the likes of “Brown Eyed Girl” and seminal album artist with the likes of Astral Weeks and Tupelo Honey, he fronted the rough and unruly Belfast R&B band Them, who was one of only a few groups to rival the Rolling Stones in the 60s. Them recorded a couple of brilliant albums and had two absolutely seminal hit singles “Here Comes The Night,” and the one that started it all for them, the oft-covered “Gloria.”
Horslips
Jumping back to the 70s, Horslips from is credited with being the first “Celtic Rock” band. They combined traditional Irish instrumentation with contemporary rock instrumentation and traditional Irish melodies and songs with rock styles. Unlike Thin Lizzy, they kept their base in Dublin, and their songs remained primarily based around Irish themes. Interest in the band remained mostly local although they did make inroads in the UK, Europe and even the US.
Rory Gallagher
Dublin’s great blues and hard rock guitarist, Rory came to prominence in the tremendous Cream-influenced outfit Taste in the late 60s and early 70s before launching a solo career that made him the preeminent artist in Ireland by the mid-70s. His Irish Tour ’74 album and film is brilliant, showing off his blues chops as well as his brilliant rock playing and writing on such classic tracks as “Tatoo’d Lady.” Rory sadly passed in 1995, but his influence lives on in every rock musician coming out of Ireland, and in legions of fans around the world.
Thin Lizzy – Whiskey in the Jar
Yeah yeah “The Boys Are Back In Town” is the obvious one, but we’re talking St Paddy’s Day so “Whiskey” is in order, and this still must go down as the greatest synthesis of traditional Irish music and hard rock ever. Before the classic twin guitar line-up of the second half of the 70s formed, Lizzy was a trio, with the familiar front man Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey, as well as guitarist Eric Bell. That band was bluesier and more soulful than the hard rock outfit they became, but early albums like Vagabonds of the Western World and their self-titled 1971 debut are full of great songs. And this, their first hit, is unbeatable.
Boomtown Rats
Bob Geldof’s old gang were punk rockers by name, by a listen to their records reveals a band more influenced by the likes of Graham Parker & the Rumour and even Bruce Springsteen & The E-street Band. Granted they were harder and faster, but the piano-led “I Don’t Like Mondays” sounds like a Born to Run-era Springsteen ballad, and “Rat Trap“ sounds like one of the Boss’s character-driven rockers from the same album.
Stiff Little Fingers
Known and loved for their anthemic and politicized punk, Stiff Little fingers almost missed the punk boat, appearing out of Belfast as the Sex Pistols were breaking up and their biggest influence, the Clash, were heading in new directions. But the strength of their material cut through, and classic singles like “Suspect Device,” “Alternative Ulster” and “Nobody’s Hero” went on to influence subsequent waves of punk, including notably the American West Coast punk sound of the 90s as typified by the likes of Rancid and early Green Day. The band, still fronted by the raspy-voiced Jake Burns, continues to tour and pull large crowds worldwide.
The Undertones
The other incredibly influential Irish punk band, The undertones were also latecomers, but after releasing “Teenage Kicks” – which quickly became the all-time favorite song of hugely influential English DJ John Peel – they rose quickly. Sire Records head Seymour Stein flew from New York to Derry to sign them, as the band was very much like an Irish version of Stein’s most significant discoveries, the Ramones.
Hothouse Flowers
Dublin’s Celtic Soul outfit released People, the most successful debut album in Irish history (reaching No. 1 in Ireland and No. 2 in the UK) in 1989. Their biggest Australian hit, a cover of the Johnny Nash classic “I Can See Clearly Now” which reached #22 in 1990, came from their second album Home.
Gary Moore
Known to many initially via his stint replacing Brian Robertson in Thin Lizzy after their classic double live “Live & Dangerous LP, Moore actually had his first stint in Lizzy pre-Robertson, when he replaced Eric Bell in 1974. Moore went way back with Phil Lynott - they’d been in the band Skid Row together in the late ‘60s. Of course, post-Lizzy Moore found even great fame, first as a self-styled heavy metal guitarist/solo artist, and then as a blues guitarist. I was in the latter guise that he found his greatest success with the Still Got the Blues album in 1990.
The Cranberries
We sadly lost Dolores O'Riordan just over a year ago – this is the second St Paddy’s day without her. But there won’t be one for many a decade that doesn’t feature this one blaring.
The Frames (& Glenn Hansard)
The most recent heroes of Irish rock, the Frames never really broke internationally, although they did tour Australia a number of times, including, in 2007, as support to Bob Dylan. The Dublin band, however, did give the world singer-songwriter Glenn Hansard. Hansard’s successful and acclaimed solo career has included an Oscar for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly" from the film Once, in which he also starred.
