Bebo

Here is the Paul Lennon 12 inch extended dance remix of the history of the NMS - which after much research and soul searching (and several stiff drinks) includes the definitive list of all the NMS gigs from 1981 until1988 including many of the legendary gigs from Drogheda Boxing Club. Enjoy!
NEW MUSICAL SOCIETY In the years preceding the establishment of the New Musical Society in1981, the ripple effect from New York 1974, London in 1975 and 1976,Manchester in 1977 and 1978 and Dublin in 1978 finally hit Drogheda in 1979 and 1980 with an explosion of new wave bands.Two gigs were held in the Jayteens club rooms on Bachelor¹s Lane featuring up to five local bands. These were held in autumn/winter of 1980/81.A number of local groups also played in the Penny Farthing (later Joey Maher¹s), The Gem and The Hideout, both as headline and support acts.
On the alternative disco front, Paul Thomas ran a weekly bash in the White Horse Hotel on a Saturday night in late 1980 and early 1981.In late spring and early summer 1982, original NMS members Roger ŒGoosey¹O¹Reilly, Mary Roden and Joe McCormack set up the successful Subterranean alternative disco in the former Bibas nite club at number one, Shop Street.
It ran until early autumn.It was the tragic events of the Stardust fire on Dublin¹s northside on the night of February 13/14, 1981 that sparked the idea of holding a benefit gig to raise funds for those bereaved and injured.
That went ahead on March 8 and it was from this concert that the NMS was born.
Venues BC: Boxing Club,
Haymarket/Dyer Street.BIB: Bibas, Shop Street.BVH: Boyne Valley Hotel, Dublin Road.CEN: The Central, Peter Street.H: The Hideout, Dyer Street.JM: Joey Maher¹s, George¹s Street.KC: Karate Club, Scholes¹ Lane.RH: Rossnaree Hotel, Dublin Road.S: Sarsfields, Laurence Gate/Cord Road.SW: Swan Inn, George¹s Street.WH: White Horse Hotel, West Street.

------- 1981 ------- March 8: The Rock Cabaret (Stardust Benefit Gig) featuring The Prost Rejects, The Frustrated Barristers and No Go Dancers, Warr, Ulterior Motives, Against The Grain, Baldy Scaldies, Midnight Blues, Enzymes, Aztec Demons, Prophecy(BC).

July ate XXXXX: The Last Retreat From Russia (BC) November26: Gig (S)

December1: Joe McCormack elected treasurer of the NMS at a meeting in the Community Services Centre, Fair Street with Paul Lennon elected chairman. A seminal moment in Irish rock Œn¹ roll!
3: Gig (S)6: Futurist Disco (BVH)10: Gig (S)21: Futurist Disco (WH)31: New Year¹s Eve Party (KC)
------ 1982 ------ JANUARY2: The Last Dance On The Titanic (BC) **** During the first week on January the NMS hosted an art exhibition in the Sound Shop, Mayoralty House, North Quay. 12: Jim Page (H)
APRIL18: Virgin Prunes (WH) MAY Date XxX: Outcasts (R)
SEPTEMBER At a meeting in Mick Reid¹s house at Cherrymount in September 1982, a decision was taken to concentrate on running gigs. Money accrued in the NMS account at that point (from records £222 punts) was handed over to a new youth group in which Brian Conyngham (former editor of the Drogheda Independent and later editor of The Local News) was involved.Enda Murray, Mick Reid, Gavan Kierans, Niall Kierans, Jack White, Ann McAuley, Paul Lennon and Joe McCormack were the members involved in the NMS at this stage.
A decision was taken to investigate the possibility of staging gigs in JoeyMaher¹s on George¹s Street where promoter Jim McQuillan had run concerts for a number of years, both as Joey¹s and the Penny Farthing. McQuillan had quit operations in late 1981/early 1982.

OCTOBER23: The Alsatians (JM)30: Some Kind of Wonderful (JM) NOVEMBER6: Eugene (JM)13: The Business (JM)20: The Outfit (JM)27: Freddie White (supp Seanie McPhail) (JM) DECEMBER11:18: Tokyo Olympics (JM) 31: Coup d¹Etat (New Year¹s Eve Party) (BIB)

--------- 1983 ------------- JANUARY1: Mama¹s Boys (JM)8: Auto de Fe (JM)15: Zen Alligators (JM)Joey¹s closed at the end of January when sold b

Punk in Drogheda – the 12 O’Clock Drunken Remix (Draft copy subject to corrolation and more pints)

My experience of contemporary music (punk is as good a shorthand as I can find) in Drogheda came through my involvement with the New Musical Society (NMS).

The NMS was a group of people who came together in Drogheda in the early 80’s to entertain themselves and others with gigs, clubs and assorted nefarious activities. The NMS came together as a result of a number of events.

The first gig that was organised was in the Boxing club in 1981. It was organised as a benefit for the victims of the Stardust fire on Valentine's Day 1981.

There was a couple of us who were particularly affected by the Stardust fire because we had been there exactly one month before (14th January 1981) for a gig by the Specials and the Beat (I still have the ticket stub). I went to the gig under my own steam but I’m sure there was a bus from Drogheda with Ciaran ‘Quigser’ Quigley and the Ballsgrove mods.

I was hanging around with Roger ‘Goosey’ Reilly and I tagged along with him to the Jayteens gigs which I think were in the Summer of 1980. I remember being smitten with the excitement and the energy – so much so that I did stayed for the end of the gig and didn’t go back to work as a nurse’s aid in St. Mary’s Hospital and was promptly fined by the nuns.

I hung out some more with Goosey and spent as much time as I could in the Carlton where he was practising with the Enzymes. Roger was a bit of a guru for me and I was impressed by his ideas……such as dressing as convicts complete with leg irons for New Year’s Eve 1978 (despite there being no fancy dress on) and then carrying a coffin bearing the “Remains of the 70’s” across West St. before setting it alight and tossing it into the Boyne from the Bridge of Peace on New Year’s Eve 1979.

We were keen to find a place for the bands who had come together for the Jayteens gigs to find some more local gigs because there was nowhere to play in Drogheda at the time. I was also keen to find something to do on Saturday afternoons and hopefully meet some GIRLS.

The Jayteens gigs took place in a deathtrap basement in the Lourdes Band bandrooms in the Backlanes opposite the back of the Augustinian church. There were a couple of discos and at least one gig where the Enzymes (Goosey Reilly, Gavan Kierans, Joe McCormack) played along with a couple of other bands. Notable for me was the one and only memorable appearance of the Baldy Scaldies (Mick ‘Dali’ Reid, David ‘Gus’ Gavin and David ‘Milish’ Milne). I was a member of the band previous to the gig but dropped out beforehand (due to musical differences of course).

After the Jayteens gigs we called a meeting on a Saturday afternoon in the Community Services Centre in Fair St. and formed the New Musical Society. I pushed for the name because I got the idea from a New Music Society that had formed in Trinity College (where I was studying rats). Present were: me, Paul Lennon, Joe McCormack, Anne McAuley, Gavan Kierans, Goosey Reilly, Mary Roden, Michael Reid, Derek ‘Zip” Traynor, Mary Doyle, Karen Doherty, Jackie Quinn and a few more who I can’t remember. John “Jack’ White joined soon after. I have the original Minutes book from that meeting somewhere so I can check it when I get a chance.

We had been trying for some time to get a practise room and “Youth drop-in” centre off the ground. We had even spoken at a meeting of Drogheda Corporation to get access to an empty premises on James’ St. which was earmarked for demolition for the new dual carriageway. We were actually successful but then the County Manager overruled the corporation with a Section 4 and so we never got access to the premises.

We saw an opportunity to get a gig in the Boxing Club as a benefit for the Stardust. At the time it seemed that there were the ‘Oldies’ in the town who ran everything and owned everything a

Hi all, We have a lot of pictures now which we will be uploading everyday, so keep dropping in. Also if people join up, and we get enough people we are thinking of doing some boxing club nights. All the old heads out on one great night. Proper music like the bunnymen, cure, smiths, slf, clash. So please join up and we can get something set up.