Cheebah and all that - Limerick, Ireland

Broken Funk

As half of the Broken Funk team Dj ‘Jims’ Irish passport gives his Government name as Paul Dowling.
Designer, Lecturer, and determined supporter of diversity who is currently setting up Broken Funks first International franchise in a bar in London! However he maintains a Craggy island/Rugged  Island relationship with his Fr Dick Byrnesque partner Pete the Beat on these monthly ‘I have washing with me, Mammy’ trips home.

These visits will continue to stoke the original flame of the long running Broken Funk nights held down on Thursdays in The Wicked Chicken for nearly 4 years . Now that Petes packin his palestinan scarf and heading over the water these return visits will be important reminders of the varied reggae and funk based musical alternative that have entertained the masses in the Chicken, Mickeys, and the Trinity rooms in recent times.

Thursdays in the Chickens Funky curve ball attitude will be continuing with a lineup drawn from the towns similar minded record luggers! so the name lives on, check here for updates. Pete's going away bash is in the Chicken this Thursday31st of January. See you there!

Paul Dowling is in Mickey Martins on 9th of February.

Paul Tarpey

Wedding- Lenny & Claire 25/1/8

If tickets had to be sold for the party that was Lennys and Claires wedding i'd have price em high such was the atmosphere. Non stop dancing from before 12 to 5 in the morning with the dressed up wedding party swingin with the gang invited up from the town.
As befits Limericks most rockin Dj who has flexed Funk, Hiphop, House, and Drum and bass for years at parties, the music honouring the couple and their friends had to touch all bases. A 7’ funk set by Andy, and a full on Drum n Bass set was interspersed by the grooms rapid fire serato classics set,so fast I bet he dropped Abba in there!
Lenny generously invited everybody and everybodys pals for the total wedding and set the pace for anybody thinking about ‘a Do’ after agreeing to the ‘I Do’. I predict to soon hear the phrase ‘a wedding?, will it be like Lenny n Claires ?’on the street.

Congratulations guys.

Paul Tarpey

The Healer

five years is a long time to wait for a release from an artist of the calibre of Erykah Badu but sometimes these things are just worth waiting for...nothing for an age and then the promise of three albums in one year, it's like the bus analogy and when you have two people like Badu and Madlib both clearly on top of their game, the results sound a little something like 'the healer'…it's like having Maurice Fitzgerald and Colm 'gooch' Cooper both at the peak of their playing powers on the one team…it's only January but this is my track of the year already... 'this one is for dilla'…

pc

(photo of madlib by Paul Tarpey)

Vote

Irish Dance music awards are on this Sunday in Dublin. Local nominees are Trinity Rooms, Dan Sykes and Strutt, who Phil has already given the accolade 'promoter of the year' to here. The event will be co presented by Limericks own Aoife Ni Canna. Only hours left to vote so go here.

Shane

Unfringed 2008

Launched tonight in the Belltable, a large programme of events over 10 days in February celebrates Unfringed ' Eleven years a Leaping'. The music programme doesn't seem to be as high profile as last year but an interesting one on opening night, 13th February entitled, "Word on the Beat". Commissioned by Unfringed, size2shoes invite Limerick fabcity Rap artists (little did this subeditor know what he was doing back in 2002) for a night of homegrown hip-hop/acoustic crossover. The O'Suilleabhain brothers (Eoin & Moley) are really talented and it should be good to see Jay Red and co in this environment.

Other highlights that grabbed my attention are also local, Teaspach have a Naomi O' Kelly directed 'The Pied Piper' in Leamy House, while Kevin Barry reads from 'There are Little Kingdoms' in Little Catherine Bookshop on Saturday 16th. Last year on the view Katie Verling seemed to speculate that one of Kevin's stories could easily be set on a snooker hall in Nicholas Street and it is to this snooker hall, Stix, that Impact bring their new production, Problem Child, directed by Canadian Jeff Culbert, who also hosts a workshop during the festival. Staying with theatre, Galway based company, Mephisto, will premier two plays by Limerick born playwright Padraig Meehan in the Belltable.

Much more as well, make a date,

Shane

Fagin

'To cut a long story short…..' (Spandau Ballet)

The short sharp shocks of the 3 min pop song from the late 70s and 80s zapped from the speakers in Mickey Martins early last Saturday week. Think school disco if you are 30-ish, or think 'catchy!' if otherwise. Behind the decks in all his peroxide ganglyness was Fagin, flinging around vinyl with a coating of mould on each single. "Its Eighties mixin Kid!," he shouted, "one off, one on! Someone had obviously been out to the garden shed and in the attic", he confirmed.

Fagin was a club Dj in the early 90s when Dance music was piano pulsed anthems and the house based Hiphouse groove looked then like a motorised horse to bet on. At this time the City held a couple of Music shops and in them were 'Dance compilations'. These selections always had a couple of killer beats that were balanced with Euro pop strangeness. The hot contents of these 'Deep Heat' packages not only allowed heads to catch up with current grooves but provided a forum for a good old argument, "Whaat!..how can you like that ?? " etc. If you thought the flick knifed phrase 'Gay!!' was a recent insult, I can testify that there were some very creative variants of it applied to those early House music adopters !

With Sir Henrys down the road, Djs like Fagin began to challenge what the conventional notion of the towns Dance/Disco scene should be. Less we forget at this time the country was still accommodating the 'Hall-Showband- Fanning session rock band- visit by a 2fm roadshow' notion of music in venues. Like a whiff of Old Spice, I was reminded of this tonight when a promo postcard of the broadcaster Gerry Ryan popped out from one of Fagins old singles. Ryans lipsticked façade, teased mullet and Miami Vice garb stared from the card, 'I have the Power' the picture seemed to say. "Hang on to that", the blond Fagin says to me, "I have a few of them."
In the early 90s, moves were being made to develop the idea of a night of progressive music in Limerick as in other towns. Those carrying out these plans aimed to break the grip of the 'Fast, Slow, Rock, ballad, Pop' that constituted a night at the Disco'.

Through the airwaves hints of a change could be heard from amongst others, Limericks own wireless guy 'Mickey Mac. Mickey was one of the traditional commercial jocks who embraced the Church of dance with an enthusiasm that was alien to the likes of Gerry Ryan and the D4 jocks. The Dublin 'real Djs' who had in the main transferred from pirate stations placed their cultural and financial stock in a traditional entertainment model that securely looked to BBC Radio1. Dance music seemed to be  way 'too fancy' to merit more than a passing tolerance. Mike Murphy, when he was a Radio institution used to use the disco group  Chics chant 'yowsa yowsa yowsa' as a catchphrase.This was his version of Gay Byrnes patronising 'deerie deerie me' phrase that he pulled out when trends appeared that as gatekeepers, they felt were a litte Un–Irish. These were the things that  Homer Simson would sneeringly refer to as 'European'.

DJ Dave Fanning for example who then  was probably the 'hippest' spinner in Rte Radio 2  had no problem castigating the mid school forms of Hip hop and 'Dance' on his show. This gallingly, was after initially giving the embryonic art form airtime that allowed those of us deep in the countryside without access to  Pirate radio or Record shops to experience the evolving rhythms . In retrospect this makes Mickey macs flagwaving significant. His contribution to the Dance is now forgotten, which is a shame as he was responsible for more than he is remembered for. When we look back his flag should fly alongside the skull and crossbones of the independents.
Specific nights hosted by the likes of Fagin soon got the Kids throwing down to tracks like 'Voodoo Ray' mixed with the Limerick youth club staples (ie Ska and anything by Bowie). The stage was now set for the rush of adrenalin fueled Rave business that dominated in the 90s.

So many innocent stories from those 'Tape it off the Radio days' are gradually being forgotten as a generation settles down. For example, an image of a stage masked with a white screen flanked with the shapes of  mysterious female figures flickering behind it may sound touchingly naive today, but Fagin assures me that in initiating it in a Limerick venue, it became 'quite the thing' in pre-digital dancehalls.
The history of the period from 1985-1995 in the scene described above says more about growth in the country through music than an equivalent document from 1995-2005 when the history would have to factor in drug use in venue/scene description. There is more transitional texture in this earlier narrative as distinct from the latter apeing of the English Scene post the Criminal justice Bill.The seminal history of the showband days is rounded up in the book 'Send em home sweatin' but I believe there is certainly a book to be had mapping the scene from Dublin, Galway, Limerick, and to Cork ('Get im in to Sweat'?).
Like his new romantic Haircut, tonights performance in Mickeys by this dangerous fossil, mixed post punk classics with Top of the Pops jaw droppers ('Si Si je suis un rock star'). It  proves that if you wait long enough for something it all comes around again. Keep your ears out for his repeat performance and hopefully we might see some other survivors from that era surveying hair product and poking around their attics. Remember, any records you won't play ill probably take off your hands!
( I received 'Voice of America' by Cabaret Voltaire and 'Making plans for Nigel' by XTC from Fagin. I let him keep the Bill Wyman single)

Paul Tarpey.

(Photo of Fagin by Adam)

Mama Feel Good!

bobbalin' hot and sister 45

Mama Feel Good! are DJs Bobbalin’ Hot & Sister 45 who are united by their love of good-times and soulful music. MFG! celebrates soulful black music, played all on wax and mostly on 45-inch vinyl. Based in Birmingham they play mainly Funk and Soul but also Gospel, Northern Soul, Afrobeat, dance-floor Jazz, Rare Groove, Boogaloo and Latin. They play the first birthday of funkshun this Saturday night in Mickey Martins pub in Limerick.

They spoke to us early in the week in advance of their first Irish gig

When did you start DJ'ing and who were your main influences?

Sister 45: I was influenced from an early age by my mom’s record collection; She had loads of Motown and Soul records that I remember being allowed to put on the turntable. As a teenager I was into Hip Hop, I was listening to tapes by Freddy Fresh and Cutmaster Swift. I was given a James Brown Funky People LP that blew me away and made me want to find more records like it. I started playing records about 5/6 years ago and have been into buying black music; mostly Funk and Soul but also Gospel, Northern Soul, Blaxpoitation Soundtracks, dance-floor Jazz, Disco & Rare Groove.

Bobbalin’ Hot: I started djing in late 2001/early 2002. I had my large CD collection stolen and was given a demonstration (by a DJ friend) showing the superiority of the vinyl format. I then started to blow most my wages on records. After a few months my housemate- who was doing a spot of promoting, decided it was time I played a set for him.  Half an hour later it was decided that I was going to play at his night called ‘Rocksteady’. I had very little choice in the matter and started to get very nervous!

My pop's record collection has probably been my biggest influence; my dad always played vinyl records and was very protective over us touching them- mainly to do with the fact that as a kid I might have drawn over some of his reggae 45s in crayon. Music was always played in the house, and the annoyingly heavy bass lines would spill into my bedroom, waking me up on early Sunday mornings. My dad played a lot of reggae, calypso, disco, soul and a bit of Paul Simon and Garfunkel.

My journey to the funk was mainly through following the university flock to the urban path of Drum and Bass to Hip Hop and finally to the rawness of funk grooves. I was always more interested in the whereabouts of Hip Hop breaks then the word play, so started buying funk compilations and then finally 45s.

Birmingham has always languished somewhat in the shadows of other cities in Britain, but it has a proud tradition in the area of Black music whether it was through probably the strongest pirate station PCRL or some of the most important albums like Steel Pulse's Handsworth Revolution'. What was it like as a city to grow up in, and what should be we keeping an eye on coming out of west midlands today.

Bobbalin’ Hot: For me Birmingham was an alright city to grow up in; fairly friendly and a good mixture of cultures.  When I was a kid I used to detest going to market with my mum as I always got trampled on and the 60s architecture was grim. I did however like the small record stores and I can remember being bought tapes (for the first time) for my 8th birthday- Bobby Brown's 'Don't Be Cruel" and Rick Ashley's first album- I still know the words to 'Never Gonna Give you Up"!

In terms of Brummie artists, as a music educator I have come across some really talented individuals, but there seems to be an unhealthy cliquey tribalism that prevents musicians from making it into the mainstream.

Nights like funkshun are really playing homage to slabs of vinyl. What future do you see for the format ?

Sister 45: I think its great the A2DF, Rainer and the boys are keeping vinyl alive. God save the 45. I love 45s, they can fit through your letterbox, they’re easy to carry, they’re stylish, they’re really loud, and they are tangible. MP3’s can piss off if you ask me. I like a music collection that you can see and touch. There will always be people championing the wax, especially funk and soul DJs. It doesn’t sound the same when the sound has been compressed.

Bobbalin’ Hot: The Mini Disk has died a sad death in commercial sales, the VCR tape has disappeared but vinyl is here to stay- well as long as oil prices don't deplete the blessed format. The sound quality is far superior to CDs and the records sleeves are bigger and better too. Vinyl aint going nowhere- the crackle and hiss are what make it; analogue sound for me cannot be contested.

Have you used any of the new technologies-serato etc?

Sister 45: No I haven’t, although some DJ friends of mine use Serato. Which doesn’t do a lot for all those local record shops.

Bobbalin’ Hot: Nope. I have seen my mates use it and with great effrontery have loudly cackled when it broke down at a house party and someone yelled: "Has anyone got any vinyl?”

Most of your music seems to be rooted in the past, what do you make of new musical movements coming out of UK at the moment, dubstep, grime. etc.

Sister 45: Our music is definitely not rooted in the past, the funk scene is always moving forward with bands like Nicole Willis, Sharon Jones, Poets of Rhythm and The Apples. I haven’t got anything to say about grime.

Bobbalin’ Hot: I have helped quite a few young people make beats and tracks in genres such as grime, niche and speed garage; I am neither a fan or offended by the music. To be honest, I prefer these styles to the watered down Indie pop and boring commercial RnB and Hip Hop the charts are infested with.

Funk is still alive; although I can’t stand some of the generic, formulaic bands out there. I have seen bands like The Bamboos, Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators breath new life into the genre.

There is an argument that such new styles are not even getting a chance to breathe before major media spotlight, thus killing them in their infancy? Is this valid or is it an excuse for failed artists who never had the talent in the first place.

Sister 45: I think if its good enough somebody will pick it up. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to press a 45, I think you have to be entrepreneurial about how you get seen and heard these days. Whether that is at festivals or through Myspace.

Bobbalin’ Hot: I'm no expert when it comes to the music industry but I would say the record companies and media throw a lot of weight on the sort of music they feel should be in the limelight. It's the same with the reggae industry and Hip Hop, talented and talent-less thugs are being paid vast sums of money to perpetuate negative stereotypes and rather shallow lifestyles, it stigmatises people. Less coverage is given to conscientious/ poetic artists in the same genres. This makes me angry. 

What is your top 5 at the moment?

Sister 45:

1. Sylvia Striplin You Can’t Turn Me Away (Uno Melodic Records)

2. The Ikettes I’m just not ready for love (united Artsits)

3. Juice Catch a groove (Greedy Records)

4. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Mean Man (Daptone)

5. Ann Sexton You’re Losing Me (Seventy-Seven Records)

Bobbalin’ Hot:

1. Funky Walk- Dyke and The Blazers
2. The World (Is Going Up In Flames)- Charles Bradley
3. Con- Funk-Shun- The Night-Liters   
4. I’ll Keep Holding On- The Marvelettes
5. Organize- Mugo

Can I use some of the photos from your flickr album?

Yep.

Shane

I am curious, Pink

The New Bridge by the Jurys roundabout functionally, briskly, accommodates the daily trail of traffic from Cork to Galway. The bridge itself is an anonymous Celtic bar off the Tigers cage, and when built briefly earned itself a moniker as the wind ‘whistled’ through its metal bars. Last summer I noticed the whistling bridge was sporting a decidedly un-corporation shade of pink, that neatly covered the Ennis side support. Was this the beginning of a radical makeover for the whole bridge? Were MAC cosmetics sponsoring the Munster Team? Had someone bought a job lot of the landscape artist Christo's vast pink curtain? Art wise, there was a beginning of something no doubt. However, this gash of colour stalled on the Ennis road bank as a beginning of sorts. The bridge could whistle now if it wanted the job finished.

Months later curiosity led me to check out what is now a pink wall,spat with daubs, scrawls of ‘f ck u’, names in paint etc.The bright base work appears to be the work of a civilian. The neatness of the execution and its unintentional conceptual audacity left it as a blank canvas for months until it reverted back to a concrete bush drinking backdrop.

Underpasses are traditional Graffiti flex points. Over the years the Drogheda painters convention has thrown up many an impressive piece under and around concrete‘non-spaces, and these days its almost expected to get the graff wink on turning of the bypass entering any Irish city. Its a visibility issue with urban artists.When the NY transport authority cleaned up the trains in the 80's the New York artists hit the walls and rooftops around the tracks. Because they were prevented in viewing their rolling own Art Gallery, the rolling commuters could check their static endeavors instead. Limericks greeting (or wave good bye) to commuters for summer and Autumn was a pink salute.

The whistling bridge's landscape throws up some authorship clues for all this curiosity in the shape of a large,neat but discreet graff piece to the right of this pinkness. Up the embankment and hidden from four wheel dictated eyes there is a traditional graff bubble topped letter name. The traditional elegance of this piece is built up from at least 3 paint layers and tellingly the base colour is the same tone of pinkness as flagged under the underpass. What ever conceptual romanticism I had wished of the slab of colour (something along the lines of  the french artist Kliens situationist colour biz, mashed with a tribute to graff icon,NY,s Lady Pink) was dashed as it became evident that some New york school follower painted a base colour for an attempted traditional work and then didn’t follow through. End of.

Still, it’s a hint. Limerick has a sublime graff B boy painter/ breakdancer whos always on the down low by the name of Baz. He has got some striking canvas pieces that I came across one night in a window on a street facing Corbally.Huge, spraycanned, glossy portraits leaned against his rented walls magnolia backdrop colour . But Baz is not our mystery interventionist, not his style. Is it some Banksy follower, loose from the Art college? No, too much work. Once kids found out you can download stencil graff imagery from the net, the exaust sputtered on that vibe.

I feel our follower of the old schools classic graff era is long gone.

Unintentionally this pinkpainting trooper is my artist of 2007. The artist spotted the conduit from Cork to Galway and the start of a piece became an unusual finish.

‘Technically. by its own definition, the word ‘Art’defines practically every thing in the universe and couldn’t possibly exclude if anything, our contribution to the world at large.’ Phase 2. Classic old school NY graffiti painter.

Paul Tarpey

Arthur Salutes Sean

Bedford Row, Limerick. Pic by Paul Tarpey