The Bards Story (1968-2012?)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
The Bards can trace their history back to the day a young Diarmuid
O'Leary, who had been singing songs as a folk artist met Pat Ryan
from Clare and a musical partnership was born. They started playing
together around Dublin bars and folk clubs and were billed simply as
Diarmuid and Pat. The first mention we could find of "The
Bards" doesn't come until 1970.
The two boys continued as "the
Bards" for several years and Diarmuid takes up the story: "In 1973
we were asked to sing a song in the Castlebar Song Contest and
especially for that we took a girl singer, Rena Aherne, into the
group."
It would be another year before they decided to add a permanent female
to the group and the first was Kathleen O'Brien from Cork.
Unfortunately Kathleen left the band to get married and was replaced
by Anita O'Neill who was studying to be an accountant. She also
didn't stay long as the workload became too hectic.
It was at this point, which we
think would have been early 1975 that Ann Keaveney from Waterford
joined the band. At this point the band went to Canada for a short
tour and would soon put out their first album in 1976 called
Ireland's Bards which was recorded live in Heatherville, near
Mullingar. In 1976, original member Pat Ryan would leave the group
and was replaced by Christy Sheridan, another multi-instrumentalist
and the band seemed to continue without missing a beat. We found an
advert in the Donegal Democrat newspaper which says Joe
O'Donnell from Donegal was the group's manager at this time. In 1977
they also released their first single, "I
Once Met A Man" on the Polydor label and although it did not make
the charts it continued to help build their reputation as one of the
best folk groups in the country.
The late 70's brought more fame
and fortune to the group as they appeared on Hughie Green's
Opportunity Knocks, The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne and
in a variety of song contests and folk festivals across Ireland as
well as gigs in the Britain, the U.S., Holland and Canada. They were
playing all the top cabaret spots around the country including the
Embankment, Rathfarnham Inn and many more.
It would still be a few years
before magic happened for the band as in April, 1980, they released
"Lanigan's Ball" a six minute traditional song arranged by the Bards
and produced by Bill Whelan, then a member of the traditional group
Planxty. Bill would go on to be one of
the top producers in Ireland and eventually compose the worldwide
hit, Riverdance in 1994. Lanigan's Ball was an instant success and
climbed to number 7 on the Irish charts, remaining in the charts
for five months.
The success of the single rocketed
the group to the top of the folk and cabaret circuit and their
unique blend of music and humour ensured audiences had a great time.
They would release another single that November, "The Little Shirt
(My Mother Made For Me)," which barely made
the charts, topping out at number 24, but the success of Lanigan's
Ball was still fueling their growth in popularity. The success of
the single also prompted promoters to start advertising the band as
"The Bards and Julia."
In February, 1982, the band was
ready to expand due to the success of "Lanigan's Ball." They added
Fran Curry, a keyboard player, who had just agreed to join the
Kim
Newport Band after playing one date with them, but the Bard's
offer was too good to pass up as they were riding a crest of
popularity across the country and the Bards became a four piece.
In January, 1983, the band would
release Shaney Boy, a song written by Kevin Johnson, the Australian
singer-songwriter who had a huge international hit with "Rock n'
Roll {I Gave You All The Best Years of My Life)." Kevin's version
had reached number 15 in the Irish charts in 1979, and the Bard's
version would top out at number 17. A few months later they released
"Leavin' Nancy" which would reach number 14 in the charts but drop
out after only three weeks. The song was written by Eric Bogle, the
Scottish singer who had emigrated to Australia and written "The
Green Fields of France."
In December of 1983 the band
released "The Oldest Swinger In Town" written by
the English folk singer Ed Pickford, with writing credit also to Fred Wedlock
and Chris Newman. The record would prove popular but
stalled at number 12 in the charts, making Lanigan's Ball their only
top ten hit. Despite not repeating the sales success of Lanigan's
Ball, the band was still doing a booming business across the country
in the cabaret lounges and hotels as the ballroom Showband era was
in deep decline.
A story in the
Nationalist and Leinster Times newspaper reported that
Michael "Smithy" Smith (formerly with Spud) had joined the band on
bass around April of 1985, making them a five piece for a time. The
report also said the band would soon be off to Australia for a tour
and had just returned from a three week stint in the Bagdad
Sheraton Hotel playing got mostly European tourists. In 1984 and
1985 the band would release several singles and although two of them
made the Irish top thirty, they did not have the same impact as
their earlier hits.
In 1986, Ann
(now Ann O'Connor) left the band and they reverted to a four piece,
from this point on, they would often be advertised as Diarmuid
O'Leary and the Bards. It would appear (although we are researching
it) that the band became more of a comedy act in the years following
Ann's departure.
Throughout the
1990's and as last as 2012, the band appeared to be gigging fairly
regularly, although we know Fran Curry left the band some years ago.
They currently have a website but it appears to have not been
updated in some time. We will continue to research the band
and update this page as soon as we have more news.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
Discography
Singles
I Once Met A Man /
Early Morning Dew
Polydor Records - 2078-084 - 1977
Lanigan's Ball /
Song For A Winter's Night -
#7 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 2078 110 - April, 1980
The Little Shirt (My Mother Made For Me) / Planxty Maguire -
#24 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 2078 128 - November, 1981
Summer Friends (Come Easy) / Wandering Dream
Polydor Records - 2078 141 - 1982
Shaney Boy / Blind Mary - #17
Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 2078-153 - January, 1983
Leavin' Nancy / Yes Indeed -
#14 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - Unknown - April, 1983
The Oldest Swinger In Town / The Castle of Dromore -
#12 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 817 892 7 - December, 1983
The Rose / Matt Hyland
Polydor Records - 881 406 7 - November, 1984
Wind In The Willows / Wandering Dream -
#22 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 881 616 7 - November, 1984
The Old Dungarvan Oak / Ceol Bhride -
#18 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 881 775 7 - February, 1985
The Galway Races / Carrickfergus
Unknown Records - Unknown - December, 1985
Now You're Sucking Diesel /
Unknown Records - Unknown - April, 1988
Albums
Ireland's Bards
Unknown Label - Unknown - 1976
The Bards
Polydor Records - 2908 041
- July, 1984
The Bards Live (at the Concert Hall, Dublin)
K-Tel Records - December, 1985
Audio Clips
