Swarbrigg's Band / Winter Feature (1975-1980)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg were born in
Castlerea, Co. Roscommon and brought up in Cootehill, Co. Cavan. Two of 11 children in the Swarbrigg family,
their brother Paddy played with the Navak Showband. Their father
Pat, worked in the poultry industry, but also played three nights a
week with local dance bands. Growing up, both boys were taught to
learn the trumpet by their father, but Jimmy was more interested in
other things and never learned. When the boys came of age, Jimmy went
off to London to find work. Meanwhile in Ireland, Tommy got a job
with a local electrical shop in Cootehill.
At the age of fifteen, Tommy joined local
Cootehill band, The Jordanaires, who also included in their lineup a
future member of the Times, Gene Bannon on sax. The band were part
timers and it wasn't long before Tommy was drafted into a
professional outfit as a founding member of The Drifters from
Mullingar. Over in England, Jimmy began to write poetry, which he
would send home to Tommy, who would try to put music to the words.
As their songwriting partnership matured, Jimmy starting writing
lyrics and their first real songs were recorded by Joe Dolan.
Despite the success of the Drifters, Tommy and four other members of the band decided to
split, it was his brother, Jimmy, who was brought on board to front
the new band, The Times. It was 1968 when the Times hit the road,
but it didn't take long for it to become obvious, it was the
Swarbrigg Brothers who were the leaders of the band.
The story of the Times is chronicled
elsewhere on this website.
Soon, the Swarbrigg brothers began to distinguish themselves
from the vast majority of bands in the country by writing their own
material. They enjoyed a string of self penned hit records as the
70's progressed. In 1973 they had their own television show on RTE,
which allowed the Swarbriggs to showcase their original songs. The
band enjoyed a reputation, along with the likes of the Freshmen, of
being one of the true "original" pop bands in Ireland.
They also hooked up with British singing star, Hurricane Smith (Oh
Babe, What Would You Say) as he helped produce several of their
singles.
As the
popularity and the success of the Swarbriggs continued to grow, in
the the tradition of the Irish showbands, the future of
The Times
became more in doubt. In 1975 the Swarbriggs represented Ireland in Eurovision with
"That's What Friends Are For." In 1976, they came 5th in the Irish
contest with "The Way of Love." In 1977, they won the Irish national
Song Contest again with "It's Nice To Be In Love Again" as The
Swarbriggs plus Two (with Alma Carroll and Nicola Kerr).
A front poage story in the Evening Herald on October 2nd, 1975
announced the departure of the brothers from the band they had
formed, the Times. Although they left the band, they took manager, Sid Aughey, with them.
Also departing was guitarist Sean Kenny, who went with the Swarbriggs before eventually ending up with
Sean O'Dowd and Dingaling in the early 80's. Interestingly enough, Joe Dolan's
manager, Seamus Casey took over managing the
Times, bringing them into the same stable as their former band mates,
Joe and Ben Dolan.
The new
band debuted at the end of the month and featured Mickey O'Neill
(drummer and former member of the Times, Big 8 and Paddy Cole band),
Tommy Moore (brother of Butch on bass), Pat Crowley (formerly of
beat group Sleepy Hollow on keyboards), Sean Kenny (from the Times
on guitar) and Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg (vocals).
The Swarbriggs continued to enjoy success with
their own band, and actually changed their name to Winter in 1978
based on a recommendation by their label in England, EMI.
This is a work in progress...more to come
shortly...
click on thumbnails for full image
