No, not a reference to my good self this Bandfriday...a reference to the group which sold more concert tickets in the UK than any other band in 1978. Who? Why these guys of course:
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| The Darts, c1978 |
The Darts were a 9-piece doo-wop band who came to The Liberties at least twice in the late 70s. They had a good deal of chart success (including
Daddy Cool,
The Girl Can't Help It,
Come Back My Love) which was testament to their talents, impressive since the late seventies was supposed to be the era of Punk.
Live, they were simply amazing. Very energetic and just good old-fashioned singing, harmonies and fine rock-and-roll music. Anyone from that era will most likely remember the facial expressions and mad eyes of the bass singer Den Hegerty (a Dublin man, believe it or not) although by the time this shot was taken he had left and been replaced by Kenny Andrews (back right).
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| The lads (and Rita Ray just disappearing out of shot on the left) |
Rita certainly added a touch of glamour to the proceedings (in an earlier band,
Rocky Sharpe & The Razors, she was described on the sleeve notes as "
...sexy, black and sophisticated, the female sex symbol of the band. She makes Diana Ross look like Arthur Mullard"). Well I can't vouch for that, since to my knowledge neither Mr Mullard nor Ms Ross came round these parts, but Rita did - and very welcome she was too.
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| Glamour Girl Rita Ray |
Front man Bob Fish clearly knew a good tailor. Check out the watch on his right wrist - I wonder if he's left-handed. Or just possibly the photograph is round the wrong way...
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| Sharp Dresser Bob Fish |
As you can see we have both B&W and colour snaps of The Darts, which means either The Brother and I were around and about (no doubt The Brother with colour, on the balcony
as per and me keeping it real at the front with FP4) or these sets were snapped on different occasions. Since both Mr Fish and Ms Ray are wearing different outfits in the B&W snaps compared to the colour ones I suspect the latter.
The Darts weren't afraid to mingle with the fans, as Griff Fender demonstrates below. I wonder if
Griff Fender could by any chance be a made-up name. No idea who the two ladies are, I'm afraid - I like the one on the right with the rosy cheeks...a combination of the good clean air we get in The Liberties and the hot sweaty atmosphere of
Chesters.
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| "Griff Fender" and fans |
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| The Band |
If you're into '
Where are they now?' type stuff, click
here.
Another great bandfriday done very well Michael :)
ReplyDeleteAnd great to see the header as well... Daddy Cool, as my younger daughter seems to know that song quite well, or at least that important part of the lyrics, enough to sing them every now and then. Old as I am I thought it was great in the beginning, until I realized that it could be for all the wrong reasons she did just that :)) Well, I hope she still sings them to me when I get home from sea in a couple of weeks time.
Thanks a lot for the post, and the photos are brilliant as usual. You guys, the brother and yourself, must have been like magnets to those bands coming over there these days as you seem to have managed to get loads of great snaps of them all :))
Thanks Roy for your supportive comments. Rapidly running out of Bandfriday material but hopefully be one or two more of interest. Can't believe you get Daddy Cool sung to you by your daughter - that's brilliant. Hopefully she will continue with that for some time to come :)
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