Showbands

Showbands

Interview collection exploring the ‘showband era’ (late 1950s to early 1970s) in Ireland from the perspective of Cork-based musicians and family members. Six audio interviews with eight people totalling 251 minutes.

In 1996-1997, researcher Stephen Hunter interviewed a range of musicians, family members and one author on their memories of the ‘showband era’ in Ireland. In the first interview, Seán Lucy (clarinet and saxophone player with Cork band the Dixies from 1954) and Terry McCarthy (singer with the Dixies from 1985) speak briefly about their backgrounds and childhoods in Cork before tracing their musical careers and discussing their experiences as members of the Dixies. Tommy Rooney from Crosshaven recounts playing with army and civilian bands (Trumpet player) before founding the Second City Jazz Band, and talks about the showband era and his experiences of playing in Cork and in Protestant halls in Northern Ireland. Pat Nolan, a saxophone and clarinet player who grew up on Cork City’s Northside, traces the rise and fall of the showbands on the Island of Ireland, and describes playing in dancehalls in Northern Ireland. Vincent Power, author of the book Send ‘Em Home Sweatin’, reflects on the showband phenomenon in his interview. Liam Foley from Blackpool, Cork, a drummer and guitarist, recalls his experiences as a musician in that era. Frances McCarthy and Betty O’Mahony, wife and daughter of the late Christy O’Mahony who played bass with the Dixies from 1958-1985, talks about Christy’s involvement with the band.

1996-1997

Accession number for collection [CFP Acc. No. 1997-004];
CFP_SR00051_dixies_1996; CFP_SR00052_rooney_1997; CFP_SR00053_nolan_1997; CFP_SR00054_power_1997; CFP_SR00055_foley_1997; CFP_SR00056_various_1997:

Cork; Belfast; Northern Ireland; Ireland; music; showband music; dancehalls; 1950s-1970s

Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive

Cork Folklore Project. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

English

Audio

6 .wav files [digitized at 96kHz, 24-bit audio from 90-minute cassette tapes]