A playlist of old radio interviews recorded for Songs To Learn And Sing on 103.2 Dublin City FM.

From the Archives

Produced by The Maple Rooms Recording Studio - Cormac O'Connor
Mastered by Pete Maher
Song: The Nether Regions
Composer: Kieran O'Sullivan
Lyrics:
Please can you help me, I'm looking for something
Something that will make be feel extremely good
I've been waiting. long time, maybe too long time
I'm sitting on a chair and I'm stuck to the wood
And I'm sitting in Sloane Square, running on empty
My face is a mess and my eyes are wild
There's a man in the corner, just given him dollar
He's going to bring me something now to make me smile

And I'm sipping a glass of Napoleon brandy
It looks like we could be here for quite a while
I've just seen two birds now, who look like they're randy
but I couldn't get it up right now to save my life
And I'm crashing in Sloane Square, I'm out of my face
I've got the herbed-jeebies, super paranoid
I've go to escape now, get on a night train
If I wake up tomorrow it will be alright
And there are people talking , laughing, joking, woh oh oh oh
People crawling, falling dying, who oh oh on

Young Mrs Mendy was offering plenty
If we bumped of her old man we'd be rolling in clover
Conny the beaver, I know how to please her
She's always quite eager when I have her over
Running in Sloane Square, running on empty
Got to get myself together before I fall apart
Running in Sloane Square, running on empty
Running through the square that's got the darkest heart
And there are people talking , laughing, joking, woh oh oh oh
People crawling, falling dying, who oh oh on

You don't want to get yourself trapped here in Sloane Square
Oh man, you're a good looking felon
You know what the future holds for you in Sloane Square
Hog-tied, gagged and bound in leather
Fighting with your rivals, fighting for survival
Punch-drunk, wandering in the ether
Get yourself together, get out of Sloane Square
Oh man you don't know when you got it good

Sloane Square

Sloane Square (MASTER)

Inspired by Paul McDermot’s Tweet 

https://twitter.com/learnandsing/status/1412337693422493696?s=21

I copied the piece of music from the Tweet, mangled it with my modular (Morphagene and Monsoon) and recorded it straight out into my handheld recorder.

You can hear the original drift back in around one minute twenty six seconds

Irish Rhapsody Redux

OUT: 14/10/22

Love is a real place now
I moved away, but I can't move on

I know your name, I felt your pain, I got caught in your rain 
Admired your view, I felt anew, swam in your sea of blue 
Your minarets, your silhouette, smoked your funny cigarettes

Love is a real place now
I moved away, but I can't move on

I breathed your air, I brushed your hair, I knelt and said a prayer 
You let me be, I climbed a tree, I worked on your farm
I learned your streets, I changed your sheets, fell asleep in your arms

I thought I could always stay the night 
I thought I was beginning to do it right 
But these things happen, these things happen

Love is a real place now
I moved away, but I can't move on

Love Is a Real Place

Na píoba (An Phíb Uilleann): Rose Ní Laoghaire
Léiriú: F Giordai Ua Laoghaire

Recorded using Reaper/Spitfire Audio
I Stiúideo na nUamhanna ins na hUamhanna
a deineadh an Innealtóireacht fuaime, agus an taifead ar fad

Griangraf: Duine gan ainm i dtír gan anam

Táimse Im Choladh (Ein traditionelles irisches Stück)

The Band Nuisance is a drama/documentary hybrid, telling the story of the revolutionary period in Cork in the early years of the 20th century, through the prism of musical marching bands in the city at the time, drawing new insights from the intersection of history, music and drama.

The documentary content of the programme features analysis from, among others, John Borgonovo of the School of History at University College Cork, who has written extensively on the subject of band activity during the revolutionary period. The drama content features excerpts from the Frank O’Connor short story ‘The Cornet-Player Who Betrayed Ireland’, which focuses on political rivalries between marching bands, as realised by the Intersections Collective.

The programme also features recordings of The Barrack Street Band playing music popular in the revolutionary period.

Produced by Conor O’Toole
Sound Supervision by Kieran Hurley for UCC98.3FM
www.ucc.ie/983fm

Sound Engineering by Cormac O'Connor
www.cormacoconnordesign.com

Featuring
Dr John Borgonovo, School of History, University College Cork
www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution/

Maura Cronin, Emeritus Senior Lecturer in History at Mary Immaculate College Limerick
dspace.mic.ul.ie/browse?type=auth…=Cronin%2C+Maura

Dr Hilary Lennon, Frank O’Connor Research Fellow in the School of English, Trinity College Dublin
www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/…s/hilary-lennon.php

Heather Laird, English Department, University College Cork
publish.ucc.ie/researchprofiles/A014/hlaird

Mary Mitchell Ingoldsby, School of Film, Music and Theatre, University College Cork
publish.ucc.ie/researchprofiles/A021/mmitchell

Billy O’Callaghan, Chairman and Cornet Player, The Barrack Street Band
www.facebook.com/CorkBarrackStreetBand

Drama Scenes Produced by The Intersections Collective
Drama Scenes Voiced by Mark D’Aughton
Original musical arrangements composed by Mark Wilkins
and performed by Mark Wilkins and Victoria Keating

Extracts from “The Cornet-Player Who Betrayed Ireland” by Frank O’Connor are dramatised with kind permission of the Frank O’Connor Estate

This programme was funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee

*This is Part 1 of an extended edit of the original 60 minute programme first broadcast in February 2023 on UCC98.3FM.

The Band Nuisance - Marching Bands & Political Activity in Revolutionary Cork: Part 1

babyrain

I interviewed Sufjan on 27 October, 2004 prior to his gig at the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Trinity College, Dublin. Seven Swans was just out and in this old interview for Songs To Learn And Sing on 103.2 Dublin City FM. Sufjan chats about recording the album with Daniel Smith of The Danielson Famile. 
More information here: https://www.paulmcdermott.ie/blog/sufjan-stevens-interview
www.paulmcdermott.ie

Songs to Learn and Sing

From the Archives - Sufjan Stevens Interview (2004)

Originally broadcast on Songs To Learn And Sing on 103.2 Dublin City FM. This interview is from January 2009. Colin Blunstone chats about his career with The Zombies and his solo records. We talked about his Neil MacArthur recordings and his trio of early 70s solo records: One Year, Ennismore and Journey. Colin was a great interviewee and I must admit that I was absolutely thrilled to be talking to him about his records because I'm such a huge fan. He was really gracious with his time and was happy to chat about the recording of Odessey and Oracle, working with arranger Chris Dunning, his working relationship with Rod Argent and his (then) latest record The Ghost of You And Me.
More Information here: paulmcdermott.ie/blog/colin-blunstone-and-the-zombies

www.paulmcdermott.ie/

From the Archives - Colin Blunstone of The Zombies (2009)

I interviewed Robert Forster on 8 September 2017 for my documentary Iron Fist in Velvet Glove - the story of Microdisney. In his book Grant & I, Robert described Microdisney’s Cathal Coughlan as “one of London’s secret heroes”. Short extracts of this interview were utilised in that documentary and the section of the interview about Grant & I was broadcast on my radio show, Songs to Learn and Sing. But this is the full interview. We chatted about how The Go-Betweens and Microdisney met while practising nextdoor to each other in Camden; Microdisney supporting The Go-Betweens at the Town & Country Club in London; the tough economic realities for both bands in London; Rough Trade Records in the 80s; The Go-Betweens touring around Europe; The Go-Betweens first time in Dublin playing the Trinity Ball in 1986; the process of writing his biography, and loads more. More Information here: paulmcdermott.ie/blog/colin-bluns…-and-the-zombies

www.paulmcdermott.ie/

From the Archives - Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens (2017)

Originally broadcast on Songs To Learn And Sing on 103.2 Dublin City FM. In 2005 Toasted Heretic released Now In New Nostalgia Flavour which compiled their first two cassette albums (Songs For Swinging Celibates and Charm and Arrogance). The band played a gig in Dublin to promote the release and I spoke to Julian before he took to the stage in Whelan's. Julian chats about how Toasted Heretic recorded and released those first two albums from the band's hometown of Galway. The move to a record label for the third album, touring France, and eventually calling it a day. Julian also introduces 'Galway Bay' and 'LSD (Isn't What It Used To Be)'.
www.paulmcdermott.ie/

From the Archives - Julian Gough of Toasted Heretic (2005)

I Interviewed Dave Simpson for Songs To Learn And Sing on 103.2 Dublin City FM upon publication of his book The Fallen: Searching for the Missing Members of The Fall. We'd a great chat about his quest to track down all the ex-members of The Fall. I regaled Dave with my own MES encounter, which involved operating a slide projector for a Fall gig in 1997.

www.paulmcdermott.ie/

From the Archives - The Fallen by Dave Simpson (2008)

A music podcast about iconic Irish albums. Each episode takes a deep dive into the making of an album with one of its creators.

In this episode I’m joined by Cypress, Mine! members Ciarán Ó Tuama, Ian Olney and Mark Healy to tell the story of the band and a whole lot more. Cypress, Mine! formed in 1984, they released three singles and the album Exit Trashtown (Solid Records, 1988), before disbanding in 1989. Morty McCarthy from The Sultans of Ping and Craig Walker from Power of Dreams also contribute their memories of Cypress, Mine! to this episode.

Episode notes are here: www.paulmcdermott.ie/episode-52

Produced by Paul McDermott for Learn & Sing Productions.
www.paulmcdermott.ie/podcast

THKW EP52 - Exit Trashtown by Cypress, Mine!

We Had Light Gauge Railways In Our Country Too You Know

A short 2004 piece from Segments a radio show I co-produced for Dublin City FM. Segments was a weekly series of documentary shorts reflecting different aspects of Dublin life. This particular feature was recorded at a record fair at the Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire.
It's a simple audio collage of interviews with record dealers and collecters, chatting about what records they're after and what sells well. It gives a unique glimpse into the mind's of vinyl collectors. Brian O'Kelly the organiser, also chats about what records people always ask for. 1973's Early One Morning by Mushroom (Aonghus McAnally's prog/Celtic rock outfit), that a few of the dealers mention in the feature was reissued on CD by Radioactive Records in 2006. Original LPs still go for over €500 on Discogs.

From the Archives - Record Fairs (2004)

Paul McDermott
educator
broadcaster
documentary producer
writer

From the Archives - Record Fairs (2004)

Paul McDermott

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