Wheels - 1969-1971
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Wheels were a short lived band which are best known as one of
two bands that featured Brian "Red" Hurley, before he became a
major showband star when he joined the Nevada in 1972. Although not
on the road for long, the Wheels featured some major talent
including several members of the famous Airchords.
Red started his singing career in 1969 as the very young lead
vocalist with The Colours. The band was formed
when the Jackpots Showband changed their name. The band had featured Jack Cooke as
its lead singer who, it was reported in the May 3rd issue of Spotlight,
he had emigrated to Canada. Also joining the band was Bill Ward on trumpet. The band came
together around May of 1969 and Red cut his first record and had his first chart hit with A Poor Man's Roses (no.
14). From an issue of Spotlight from 28th June, an article publicising Red's
first single mentioned that the Colour's lineup included Brian and Bill Ward on trumpet,
although in August another article said Brian was no longer with the band.
When the Colours were featured in the August
16, 1969 issue of Spotlight, it described Red as a former opera
singer who also played drums. In fact, Red had previously sung with
the Dublin Grand Opera Society. The article also stated that Red
would have been in a band much earlier, but he had been seriously
injured in a road accident.
In November, 1969 an article in Spotlight
announced the formation of a new band by the Tom Costello
Organization, The Wheels. Fronting the band would be Red,
along with members of the Airchords and the group Magazine. From the Airchords came Dermot Ryan (sax), Arthur O'Neill (sax), Emmet Wynne
(trumpet) and Myles Mooney (guitar). From Magazine came Johnny Browne (bass)
and Denis O'Neill
(drums). They added Des Hickey on guitar. With Wheels, Red released a few
more singles including, Isadora and Take Me Tonight,
both of which caused a minor stir on the scene and made it into the
lower reaches of the Irish Charts. Around this time, Red and the
band also took top honours in the Castlebar Song Contest with their
song, The World Is Such An Empty Place.
Meanwhile, in 1968, Liam Hurley left the Jim
Farley All Stars to move to the The Nevada Showband.
It was an important move in that a few years later, when Roly Daniels left the
Nevada, Liam suggested his brother, Red, and together with "The Blonde Bombshell,"
Eileen "Kelly," Red Hurley and the Nevada took the country by
storm.
The announcement that Red was leaving the Wheels to join the
Nevada came in the March 6, 1971 issue of Spotlight.
After Red left the Wheels, Johnny Brown also left to
join Billy Brown's new Superband and was replaced by John Quarney. Before joining the Nevada, Red had been selected to
sing one of the entries in the Irish National Song Contest,
Going Away. He finished second to Angela Farrell's song, One Day
Love, and although the record didn't make the charts, the
experience helped establish him as one of the country's top vocalists.
As an aside, Des Hickey would also join the
Nevada, although much later in 1978.
At the same time the band called it quits with
Emmett Wynn, Denis O'Neill, Des Hickey and Dermot Ryan joining
Gloria Smith's new band, 's Cascades.
More to come...
Photo Gallery
 |
Red Hurley: Red left
the Wheels to join the Nevada, becoming one of the top
singers of the 70's with the band. After leaving the Nevada, Red formed his own Red Hurley band
and continued to tour the ballrooms for a few years.
However, at the same time, he moved into the growing cabaret
scene and when the end of the ballroom era came in the mid
80's, Red was already established as one of the top cabaret
artists in the country.
He is still very
active on the entertainment scene today and plays regular
gigs both at home and abroad. He also plays regularly in
charity golf tournaments both in Ireland and the United
States. |
 |
Des Hickey: We know
that Des joined the newly formed Stage 2 which featured
ex-Dixies Joe Mac in 1973. He stayed with the band until
around 1976 and then eventually went on to follow Red into
the Nevada, but not until 1978, by which time Red was long
gone from the band. If you know more,
please let us know. |
|
|
Johnny Brown: Johnny
joined the Real McCoy in 1971 after the split up of Wheels.
He also went on to be a part of the Billy Brown Superband. If you know more,
please let us know. |
|
|
Denis (John) O'Neill:
We know that John ended up in the Sands around 1974 and also
played with the Top 7 at some point. If you know more,
please let us know. . |
|
|
Myles Mooney: We
received an email from Arthur O'Neill in June, 2011 telling
us 69 year old Myles is
in Australia entertaining on tour buses.
From an old issue of Spotlight, we have discovered that
Myles first went off to Australia in the early 70's and was
playing with a group called The Drovers in Sydney in 1975.
It appears from an Internet search that the Irish Drovers
are still on the road! |
|
|
Arthur O'Neill:
We received an email from Arthur in
June, 2011 telling us he is still
gigging in Ireland. He is 70 and
living in Port Laoise and playing lots of golf. |
|
|
Emmett Wynne: After
Wheels, we know that Emmett joined up with
Brendan Shine's Superband in the
early to mid 70's. Emmet's daughter Jennifer wrote us in
November, 2021 to tell us he is doing well, still living in
Dublin and turning 80. If you
know more,
please let us know.. |
|
|
Dermot Ryan: We know
that Dermot joined Stage 2 at the same time as Des Hickey. If you
know more,
please let us know. |
