Horsplay
DAVID CREEDON takes a look back at a 30 year career as trad legends Horslips reform… - 24/11/09
It is almost thirty years since the night in October 1980 that Charles O’Connor threw his fiddle over the heads of the audience in the Ulster Hall, Belfast. Caught in the glare of the spotlight, the violin spun over the outstretched arms of the fans that were eager to grab a trophy that belonged to one of their heroes. After ten years on the road and with over two thousand performances behind them, Horslips had called it a day.
Formed in 1970 after taking part in a Harp beer commercial, they went on to be one of the biggest Irish bands on the international stage. With a unique style of Irish traditional music played on electric instruments, they gave birth to a new genre of music – “celtic rock”.
Ireland was a far different place than it is today, unlike the multimedia world we now live in. At the time, there was only a single television and radio station, which didn’t really play modern pop/rock music, except for maybe half an hour a week with programmes like “Ken’s Club” or “Discs-a-Cogan”.
Young people interested in modern music would tune in on the medium wave to Radio Luxemburg or Radio Caroline, and keep tweaking the dial to get a better reception ( before the advent of FM Radio).
Horslips’ arrival on the Irish music scene was like a revelation. Described as the rock and roll equivalent of the rural electrification scheme, they dressed in green velour and gold Lamé suits and looked like a cross between Mott the Hoople and The Sweet.
Playing riffs like “Oro Se Do Bheatha Bhaile” and “O’ Neill’s march” on a Gibson Les Paul, they horrified the self-appointed guardians of Irish culture, who had an apocalyptic vision and accused them of defiling Irish traditional music.
One letter-writer to a newspaper at the time said, “ It was bad enough that Charles O’ Connor was playing traditional tunes on the concertina in a T-shirt, but you could actually see the hair under his arms – and that was no way to behave while you were playing traditional Irish music!”
Even though the purists hated what they were doing to the music, it struck a chord with young people, who saw them not only as a breath of fresh air to the scene that existed at the time, but more importantly, they were Irish and someone to call their own.
For the full article, buy this week's Irish World at your local newsagents, or pick up a copy HERE from only 50p!
Horslips play the Odyssey Belfast on Thursday 3rd December and the O2 Dublin on Saturday 5th December. Tickets available from www.Ticketmaster.co.uk.
Related Articles
Headlines
-
News
-
Opinions
-
Politics
-
Business
Job losses as three Irish newspapers close
-
Sport
Trappattoni: Keanes Freshness is an advantage
-
GAA
O'Connor stays on as Kerry Coach
-
Travel
Visit Dublin App now available
-
Lifestyle
-
Music
-
Subscribe
-
Supplements
