Kangaroos / Ramblin' Rakes Photo Gallery (1968 - )

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

The Story

The Kangaroos made their debut on Christmas night, 1968 in the Beechmount Ballroom in Navan on a double bill with the Crested Knights. Star of the show was 17 year old Eileen King (vocal and guitar) from South Armagh, along with the original line-up which was: Pat Ferrigan (Dundalk - accordion), Barry McAllister (keyboards and accordion), John Coyle (bass), Lenny Matthews (guitar) and Dan Bracken (drums).

The band was part of a new wave of country bands which included outfits like the The Cowboys and the Smokey Mountain Ramblers as the showband era started to splinter into country and pop acts, whereas the showbands played something for everyone. The band's "gimmick" was a song and dance routine called the "Kangaroo." They were also a little different as most country bands at the time either featured fiddle or steel guitar, and two accordions was more like a Ceili band than a country outfit.  They were managed by Malachy O'Neill from Dundalk. By August of 1969, they had added a seventh member, Dick Barton from Newry on steel guitar.

The band would release their first record in November, 1969 on the Spin label. It was called "The Kangaroo" with "Dear John" on the B-side and both songs featured Eileen on vocals.

In January 1970, it was reported Donal O'Boyle in the Donegal News that Deidre Murphy from Newry, formerly with the Defenders, was replacing Eileen in the band. Deirdre had previously sang for the run of the "Gaels of Laughter" show in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre the previous year under the name Kerry Lane (see below).

The band was playing regularly and doing very well in the East and North, but based on advertisements, they never seemed to break big into the West or Southern parts of the country. They were also often advertised as a "Ceili and Old Time" band, a tag which seemed to increase as time went on. In 1970 and 71 they often appeared regularly in the Irish Club in Dublin. By late 1971, the started playing further afield travelling to Kerry, Galway, Sligo, Mayo and all places in between.  

At the beginning at 1972, their adverts started to promote the band featuring Jackie Hearst, "Ireland's Ace Accordionist." We have to assume the Pat Ferrigan may have left the band as that was previously his role in the band. Even more amazingt though was the return of Eileen King to the band in early 1972. We are not sure where she went when she left the band, but had spent some time with the Countrymen.

With Eileen once again as lead singer the band continued to feature Jackie Hearst in many adverts. The band continued to do very well all across the country but within a year, in February 1973, there was change again when the band, still being managed by Malachy O'Neill, changed its name to the "Ramblin' Rakes."

This would basically signal the end for the band as the last advertisement for the Ramblin' Rakes we could find was on April 20th, 1973.          

More to come.....

Photo Gallery

click on thumbnails for full image

Discography

Do The Kangaroo / Dear John
Spin Records - SP.2014 - November, 1969

Audio Clips

Coming Soon

Where Are They Now?