Flames (1969)

Photo Gallery - Band Lineups - Discography - Audio samples - Where Are They Now?

The Story

The Flames are really notable mostly because they featured former Gents lead singer, Gene Chetty but also for almost as much notoriety, they were only on the road for a matter of months in 1969.

According to report in newspaper, Gene left the Gents as they weren't "busy" enough for him. They hired a singer named Gary and continued on the road for a short time. Meanwhile Gene and guitarist Pete Cresswell, formed a new band and were being managed by Sammy Smyth. The band included: Billy McKittrick (keyboards), Hugo Andrews (sax), Davy Quinn (bass), Gene Chetty (vocals), Gerry McIlduff (drums) and Pete Cresswell (guitar). Based in Enniskillen, the band debuted on Easter Sunday.

By June, newspapers were heralding the band's success, "After only six weeks on the road, the Flames are burning brightly." However, by the end of July, Gene had left the band to front the Lions Showband sharing vocals with Tony Hughes. This too ended in disaster as the Lions broke up within a few months as well.

More to come.....

Photo Gallery

click on thumbnails for full image


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Lineup Changes

Years	Vocals	Guitar	Bass	Drums	Keyboards	Sax	Trumpet
1969	Gene Chetty	Pete Cresswell	Davy Quinn	Gerry McIlduff	Billy McKittrick	Hugo Andrews

Discography

S - #3 Irish Charts
M

Audio Clips


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Coming Soon

Where Are They Now?

	Gene Chettty: After the band split, Gene briefly fronted a new "pop" band called The Flames and six months later was asked to front The Lions, which he did for a short while. He then returned to his studies, completing a post grad in Business studies. Today he lives and works in Letchworth (near Cambridge) as a Management training consultant. He recently returned to Ireland to do a few concerts with Henry McCullough and the response was so good, he is thinking about doing more gigs. Gene recently set up a website at http://www.myspace.com/geneandthegents.
	Pete Cresswell - RIP: Pete sadly passed away June 18th, 2024 after suffering from liver cancer.
	Billy McKittrick:
	Davy Quinn:
	Gerry McIlduff:
	Hugo Andrews: