Sean Lucey, Terry McCarthy: Blackpool, Dixies Showband
Interview exploring the ‘showband era’ (late 1950s to early 1970s) in Ireland from the perspective of Cork-based musicians and family members.
Seán Lucy was born in 1936. Seán is from a family of four. He started work as a radio and television repairman in 1950, before becoming a professional musician in 1960. He played the clarinet. He played with the Butter Exchange Band, a brass and reed band that started in the late 1940s.
Terry McCarthy was born in 1948. Terry is from a family of eight. He became a stonecutter in 1963. He joined a band in 1968 and began a career in music; he was a vocalist. Both were educated by the Christian Brothers at the North Monastery.
Seán and Terry talk about the Irish showband scene, and their band, the Dixies. The band started playing Trad Jazz as the Dixieland band, copying English bands who copied American bands. Terry had been in a band called The Sunset; joined the Dixies in 1985. The Dixies went professional in 1961, toured England and America. Showbands had to leave the country during Lent and play elsewhere. They identify the heyday of the showbands as being approximately from 1965 to 1971. Seán’s favourite venue in Cork was the Arcadia, in Lower Road, later the CIE club, with audiences of 3,000. They played in Northern Ireland before The Troubles began.
Rory Gallagher played support to The Dixies when he was very young. Terry saw Rory’s band Taste play their first gig, at the Cavern Club, Leitrim Street.
The arrival of discos killed the live music scene.
They discuss the extent of the Northside area.
They topped the bill at Carnegie Hall, New York in 1964. The band has an entry in the Guinness Encyclopaedia of Popular Music.
Cork Folklore Project
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Cork Folklore Project
9 December 1996
Interviewees: Seán Lucy and Terry McCarthy
Interviewer: Stephen Hunter
Cork Folklore Project
<strong>Showbands Collection Catalogue Numbers: <br /><br /></strong>Accession number for collection [CFP Acc. No. 1997-004]; <br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/57">CFP_SR00052_rooney_1997</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00053_nolan_1997</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/59" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00054_power_1997</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/60" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00055_foley_1997</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/61" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00056_various_1997</a>:
1.wav File
English
Sound
CFP_SR00051_dixies_1996
Cork: Ireland; 1930s-1990s.
Frances McCarthy and Betty O’Mahony: The Dixies, Christy O'Mahony
Interview exploring the ‘showband era’ (late 1950s to early 1970s) in Ireland from the perspective of Cork-based musicians and family members.
Frances has always lived on the Northside. She was born in Poulraddy, went to school in North Presentation school. When she was seven she moved to Ballyvolane and went to school at St Patrick’s College, Gardiner’s Hill, and Mayfield Community School. After she married she lived in Fairhill, and then in Tivoli. (The other interviewee, Betty O’Mahony, is her mother.)
Frances talks about her father, Christy, who was a musician with The Dixies showband. She describes the extent of the Northside area, which she says consists of Fairhill, Churchfield, Farranree, and Blackpool.
Cork Folklore Project
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Cork Folklore Project
26 May 1997
Interviewees: Frances McCarthy and Betty O’Mahony
Interviewer: Stephen Hunter
Cork Folklore Project
<strong>Showbands Collection Catalogue Numbers: <br /><br /></strong>Accession number for collection [CFP Acc. No. 1997-004]; <br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/56" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00051_dixies_1996;</a> <a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/57">CFP_SR00052_rooney_1997</a>; <a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00053_nolan_1997</a>; <a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/59" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00054_power_1997</a>; <a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/60" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00055_foley_1997</a>;
1.wav File
English
Sound
CFP_SR00056_various_1997
Cork; Ireland; 1930s - 1990s;