There are two gaping holes in this edition of Spotlight, which means 99.9% that there were two articles or photos of Rory Gallagher in Pat’s Let It Rock column. They’re probably in one of my scrapbooks… and who knows where those are right now. Such was my life back in June 1974… gathering up any photo or article I could find on Rory and sticking them in my scrapbooks. Pat’s column was one of the few places where you could find something on Rory back then. Right, let’s get stuck in and see what Pat had to say.
Ollie’s Back
Ollie Byrne, one time manager of Alyces Restaurant, is about to move back into his old venue as the new manager/owner of Zeroes (once the Countdown and Alyces rock club). As previous manager of the venue Ollie was responsible for bringing over such acts as Badfinger, Gene Vincent and Edgar Broughton to the venue.
British Influence
Nice to see some new blood coming into the scene in new groups like Aton, Lemming, Poseidon and Gandydancer. Interesting to note that all new young groups are strongly influenced by the younger breed of British bands like Genesis and Queen.
Spud Single
The new Spud single, Blackleg Miner, the group’s first release on a major label, is now in the shops. It’s a good recording of a well-known traditional song which could well find its way into the bottom half of the top twenty. One way or the other, RTE should give it a fair share of airtime which can only help boost the group’s already growing reputation.
Brinsley Here In October
Brinsley Schwarz, who pulled out of a tour here last month because of pressure of work and recording, will now come in October. “The boys are keen to get back to Ireland to play dates, they were concerned about the last trip falling through,” said the group’s London agent.
Comments
Disappointing One For The Boys, the latest Reform record, dropped out of chart after just one week… Peggy’s Leg in danger of being forgotten unless they come back with something new on the record scene very soon…new band Bananas causing a lot of interest. It will be interesting to see if they can come up with something new…very underrated, the current Sleepy Hollow line up…bad business due to the bus strike and recent Talbot Street bombings has forced the Gonzo rock palace into switching back to its original Tuesday night date. The new session which starts next Tuesday will feature Sundown and blues man Red Peters. The new gig which will take the form of a group musicians’ nite-out will be the Dublin mid-week rock gig.
Pat Egan
