The Apaches (1978-1990)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Editor's Note: Our ability to
research this band has been hampered by the fact that their name
"Apaches," is a very common search term which brings up many false
results for the actual Apache Indian tribe.)
A latecomer to the scene, our
archival research shows the Mullingar-based Apaches hit the road in
late 1978. At the time it seemed strange to many to have a second
band now dressing up as Indians. The Indians
by this time were one of the biggest bands in the country. However,
it was no surprise to many that the band was the brainchild of ex-Indian
Derry Whitelaw who had left the band earlier that year. They
featured ex-Plattermen lead singer Simon Scott (aka Ivan Vaughn-RIP) who went
under the name, Big Chief. The band was being managed by Robert
Irwin of the Top Rank Entertainments office.
The band were not well received by
some in the press who labeled them as "just another gimmick"
and worse yet, not even an original idea. However, Simon was a great
frontman and Derry an accomplished musician and they were given the
benefit of the doubt by many. One way or another, the band
did well, Top Rank at the time had grown to be one of the biggest
promoters in the country with a large stable of bands and great
connections with ballrooms across the country. The band played
mainly pop (Simon's forte) with some "progressive
country" contributed by Derry and several other singers in the band.
In March, 1979 Henry McGlade
reported in the Connaught Telegraph that the band had
recorded two songs for release as a single. The two numbers were a
remake of Elvis Presley's "Wooden Heart" and a song written by Ray
Doherty which had been entered in the Castlebar Song Contest two
years earlier called "My Name Is Joe." The record would be released
in June with the Doherty penned song as the "A" side. Unfortunately
it did not make any inroads in the charts.
After six months on the road, the
band seemed to be doing well, and more importantly, the initial
reservations (pun not intended) about their gimmick seem to have
been forgotten with the focus now being on their pop-oriented dance
program and the quality of the musicians in the line-up. Although
they were playing all around the country, our research (based on
newspaper adverts) shows at this point they played most often in
Donegal, Mayo, Galway, the border counties and the midlands, however
they were still seen as a "new band" after only 6 months on the road
and their reputation was still on the rise.
In May, 1980, the band added a
female vocalist to the line-up. An article by Donal K. O'Boyle in
September, 1980 named her as Raphaelle, although in later newspaper
adverts her stage name was "The Squaw." She was also called "Little
Squaw" but her real name, as reported by Tom
Gilmore a few months later, was Caroline Reilly who was a niece of
the Mighty Avons' Smith brothers. Also in September, the band
left the Top Rank stable and switched managers to Peter Sheridan and
it was hoped the addition of a female vocalist would help bolster
the band's image. Apparently the name "Squaw"
did not go down very well as by the end of November she had been
renamed "White Dove." Further research points to the possibility
that the original Squaw was Raphaelle Ward, but she did not stay
long and was replaced by Caroline.
An interesting aside around this
period (late 70's and early 80's) many female artists were having
huge hits in England and Ireland with acts like Blondie, Pat
Benetar, Kate Bush, Joan Jett, Girlschool, Bananarama, Elkie Brooks,
Toyah and Suzi Quatro. A female vocalist was a definite plus in the
waning days of the showband era.
At some point after this and for
the next few years the band was being managed by Anthony Sheridan.
As 1981 started, things were still rolling along for the band. In
January, Simon Scott sang Brendan Graham's winning entry in the Wild
Rose Song Contest, "My Best Love." The
addition of White Dove seemed to give the band a big boost,
although that could be based on the fact that her photo started to
appear in more and more newspaper entertainment pages where they played.
In April 1981, it was reported
that the newly reforming Miami had added the "ex-Apaches female
vocalist" to their ranks, but this was Raphaelle Ward, not Caroline.
By mid 1981, the band was still going strong and according to some
journalists, had outpaced the Indians at their own game, especially
since adding White Dove to the line-up. In fact their next single
was "Where Do You Go" which featured Caroline instead on Simon.
For the next few years, the band
was rolling along and as previously mentioned, seemed to be often
outperforming the rival Indians for
popularity. There was also some confusion about the type of music
they played as they were often referred to as a "country" act as
that was what their name sounded like, despite the fact that they
played mostly pop.
In January 1984, Caroline wrote an
entry for the Cavan International Song Contest which qualified in
the song about Cavan category which she sang with several other
friends, it was called "Cavan Through My Eyes." Around this time the
band also released the first duet featuring both Simon and Caroline
called, "We Were Meant To Be Lovers."
At some point in either late 1984
or early 1985, Simon Scott left the band and was replaced by Derek
Simpson as "Big Chief." We can find no reference to his leaving the
band in the papers so we are not sure when it happened. By the
summer of 1986, Derek had left the band and renamed himself Spyder
Simpson, embarking on a solo career under the guidance of Shay
Hennessey at Crashed Records, putting his own band on the road. We
are pretty sure at that time the band changed its name to simply
Apache.
In June, 1986 the band had changed
its name to Apache Lightning (later in November, it was reported by
Con Downing in the Southern Star that the band changed its
name from Apache to Apache Lighting). They re-released the old
single "All We Need Is Love," but it is unclear whether it was
re-recorded with the current line-up. Later that year the band
recorded a new number written and produced by future Eurovision
star, Charlie McGettigan called "People
Are Telling Me" which was sung by the new female vocalist Philomena
Smith. Finally in March, 1987, Con Downing reported they had changed
it yet again from Apache Lightning to Apache Lightning Strikes.
By August of 1987 it appears the
band was down to a four or five piece line-up and all signs of the
"Indian" gimmick (feathers and face paint) were gone and they were a
normal pop group. We have been able to trace the band, which dropped
the Apache from their name shortly after this to discover in 1993,
the band Lightning Strike, were still seen as the "same band" which
had been once known as the Apaches, having changed their name four
times: From "Big Chief and the Apaches" to "Apache" to "Apache
Lightning" to "Apache Lightning Strikes" to finally "Lightning
Strikes."
It is doubtful by that point there
was any connection between the original band and the 1990's pop/rock
group which claimed the same heritage, but we will continue to
research and try to find more answers.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
