Straight Outta Portydown
All the time growing up in Portadown, I didn’t really have
much feel for there being likeminded individuals who had ideas about being in a
band and getting famous. However, around that time Therapy? were starting to make
serious in-roads and their manager at the time, had also interests in a band
from Portadown called Joyrider. I can still recall shambling into Caroline
Music in the Magowan Buildings and picking up a copy of the 7” of their song ‘Dweeb
King’. It seemed almost impossible to me that a band from my hometown could
have a record out. Albeit my own big brother’s band had pressed up a 7” record
themselves a few years before that, but that was a low key affair.
Eventually the big record deal landed in front of Phil
Woolsey and his band and soon they were being played regularly on the radio and
getting tours and support slots. They even appeared on Top of the Pops with
their cover of ‘Rush Hour’. Yet we’d never met. Until one night I was at a gig
in Belfast’s Limelight and clocked Phil standing by the bar chatting to some
fella. I shimmied up to him and introduced myself, but the response wasn’t exactly
welcoming. To me, Phil was right up himself and this didn’t go down well. I un-shimmied
back to the corner I was inhabiting and felt so disappointed. We were from the
same town! How could he?!!! Thinking about it now, they were riding on the
crest of a sizeable wave. He was minding his own business and I had probably got
in the way with my twitterings.
As time went on, the indie rock bubble burst and Joyrider
found themselves without a label. Joyrider were no more. Nine Bar
International, Phil’s follow up band had been and gone too. Now I have jumped
ahead a little here, but know that at some point in our career, Al and I
decided to have a bit of a name change, around the time of the 1998 World Cup.
So we settled for Roque Jnr. after the Brazilian midfielder. We recorded one
album, played one show (I’ll talk about it in a later blog) and that was that for
us. Sitting in the house one day, the phone rings. It’s Phil Woolsey. After our
previous exchange I’m taken a little by surprise. He chats for a bit then asks
if I’m still using the Roque Jnr. moniker. “No”, says I bewildered. “Could I
use it for a new band I’m putting together?” I was astounded and ecstatic at
the same time. At last, this local legend and I had a kinship. Nowadays we exchange
the odd pleasantry on social media. I still yearn to hear that unreleased
Joyrider album and Phil still has a cracking way with a tune and a lovely raspy
set of pipes.
There was one other music related legend from (around) Portadown I
want to mention. I’d mentioned the Duke of York bar in my last blog. There used
to be a Saturday night local gig night in there, showcasing three bands
usually. The man responsible for putting on these shows went by the name of “Shep”.
Gerard “Shep” Sheppard was the man to get in touch with if you wanted to tread
them boards again. The problem was, you contacted Shep, him contacting you back
was another thing! Turned out that when I frequented Shamrock Park to watch the
(then) hugely successful Portadown FC, so did Shep. He used to stand down in
front of the stand where I sat, not sure at what stage I worked it out that this
ginger massive pony-tailed dude was Shep, but I think that might be how I
managed to cadge so much mileage out of his enterprises. I’d like to also
mention Lurgan sound man Declan Harbinson, or “Harbo” at this point too. He
looked after us the few times we played in the Duke. Even getting some rowdy
punks evicted one night before scaredy pants me took to the stage with my brand
of angsty tunes and crumbly falsetto vocal styling.
Shep also looked after gigs in the Empire (see the Roque
Jnr. reference above) and was the main man behind the week-long showcase
festival BelFest. At that time, there were a plethora of venues across Belfast
and Shep commandeered all of them for a week, putting on multi-band gigs in
every nook and cranny. There was a lovely booklet produced with all the bands
featured, a timeline/planner and more importantly a CD with about 20 bands on
it. The CD would be on sale for a few quid in all the stores, big and small.
Getting on this was prime exposure. My music features on at least four of these
compilations. I would get multiple copies of them when it did. I would cry and
curse Shep up and down if we missed out on either a CD appearance or a gig
slot. Until I learnt that sometimes, you could get one or the other. I still
have those CDs, on one of them we were the first track. We sat alongside a pre-“Run”
Snow Patrol and a host of other successful acts who were maybe making their way
at that time. Those BelFest weeks were amazing, the buzz around the city was
electrifying and vibrant. Local radio would be all over it too, with features
and recordings and journalists reporting in from their trails around the town.
You just wouldn’t see this happening these days. The venues have mostly gone,
money is tight for throwing at such things and Shep appears to be taking it
easy, doing whatever Shep does. At least he doesn’t have to suffer me hounding
the shite out of him!
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