An Emotional Fish

Last updated

An Emotional Fish
Origin Dublin, Ireland
Genres Alternative rock
Years active1988–present
Labels Mother Records
Atlantic Records
East West Records
MembersGerard Whelan
Enda Wyatt
David Frew
Past membersMartin Murphy
Website http://www.anemotionalfish.net

An Emotional Fish are an alternative rock band from Dublin, Ireland. An Emotional Fish were formed in 1988, and consisted of Gerard Whelan (founding member, lead vocals, percussion), Enda Wyatt (founding member, songwriter, bass, vocals, keyboards), Martin Murphy (drums, percussion) and David Frew (guitars, vocals). [1]

Contents

Their musical influences include The Clash, The Doors, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and T. Rex.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, An Emotional Fish were signed to Mother Records in Ireland, Warner Bros Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in America. They were personally signed to Atlantic by Ahmet Ertegun, after seeing them play a sold-out concert at the Baggot Inn. An Emotional Fish supported U2 and Simple Minds on tours of Europe, also supporting Blondie, Depeche Mode and others.

Career

The vocalist Gerard Whelan met bassist Enda Wyatt in a band that Whelan was auditioning for. Whelan joined the band, but it broke up soon after. After the break-up, Whelan and Wyatt formed their own band. They originally performed alone, and recorded their works on a four-track tape recorder. After a year, Whelan brought his friend David Frew into the band. Whelan and David Frew had attended the same school and lived in the same housing estate. In 1988, they decided to name the band An Emotional Fish. For a few months, they performed with a drum machine, but soon added drummer Martin Murphy as the final member of the group.

In 1989, they signed to independent Mother Records to release their first single "Cry Like a Baby/Grey Matter". [2] It was followed by "Celebrate", [3] which hit the top 10 in the Irish chart. It also peaked at No. 46 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1990, where it remained in that listing for five weeks. [4] College radio stations began to pick up the song. It received significant airplay, and eventually reached the Top 5 in the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Atlantic Records signed the band, re-released "Grey Matter" in the US, [5] and released their debut album internationally. [6]

"Celebrate" was covered in Italian by the singer-songwriter Vasco Rossi in his 1993 album Gli Spari Sopra [7] which went platinum 10 times. The song lyrics are largely a phonetic translation of the original (prominently the chorus verse "this party's over" is changed into the eponym "gli spari sopra", which means "the shots above" and is entirely unrelated to the original lyrics).

After a tour to support the debut album, An Emotional Fish returned to the studio to record Junk Puppets . [8] The songs were recorded over eight months, and four of the songs were produced by David A. Stewart. In 1993, the album was released, and An Emotional Fish opened for U2 on the Zoo TV Tour. In 1994, the band were signed to German label ZYX Records and their third album Sloper was released in Europe. The album was released in the US two years later. [9]

Break up

In 1999, after a few years of relative inactivity, the band played a short tour of the Netherlands in spring, and a single date in Dublin in December. Their final show was in the following December in Dublin' Isaac Butt's [10] with the band breaking up soon after.

In 2002, Whelan formed a new band, Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, with a new style and musical presence, in which he continued to work with Enda Wyatt. They co-write the first album Be Yourself [11] and three songs on the second album The Beautiful Untrue. [12] The band has a rotating line-up of collaborators and plays gigs around Ireland regularly.

David Frew performed on The Marigolds Abbey Street EP which was released in 1998. More recently he has been playing with former Marigolds frontman Paul Woodward. David performed a series of low key gigs in Scotland at the end of 2011.

Reunions

On 30 March 2012. the band played in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin at a concert in aid of Barretstown alongside such other Irish bands as Engine Alley and Republic of Loose. [13]

The band played a five-song set at the Féile Classical festival on September 22, 2018, [14] and dedicated their song "Julian" [15] to their late drummer Martin Murphy. Two of the songs from this performance were later released on Feile Classical: The Live Album. [16]

Martin Murphy died in January 2017. [17]

Enda Wyatt died on 26 November 2022, in Dublin. [18]

Discography

Albums

Live albums

Videos

Singles

YearTitleChart positionsAlbum
Irish Singles Chart US Modern Rock
1989"Cry Like a Baby"23-non-album track
"Grey Matter"28-An Emotional Fish
"Celebrate"104
1990"Lace Virginia"4-
"Blue"30-
1991"Grey Matter" (remix)-18
1993"Rain"1115Junk Puppets
1994"Time Is on the Wall"22-Sloper
"Aeroplanes"--
1995"Superman"--
"Summertime"--

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marillion</span> Neo-progressive rock group from the UK

Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the most commercially successful neo-progressive rock band of the 1980s.

Bill Whelan is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, Riverdance, was a seven-minute display of traditional Irish dancing that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish dancing and Celtic music and also won him a Grammy. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Cantrell</span> American guitarist, singer and songwriter

Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to international fame in the early 1990s during Seattle's grunge movement, and is known for its distinctive vocal style and the harmonized vocals between Cantrell and Layne Staley. Cantrell started to sing lead vocals on Alice in Chains' 1992 EP Sap. After Staley's death in 2002, Cantrell took the role of Alice in Chains' lead singer on most of the songs from the band's post-Staley albums, Black Gives Way to Blue (2009), The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013) and Rainier Fog (2018), with DuVall harmonizing with him in the new songs and singing Staley's vocals in the old songs in live concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Vapors</span> English music group

The Vapors are an English new wave and power pop band that initially existed between 1978 and 1981. They had a hit with the song "Turning Japanese", which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980 and No. 36 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Frames</span> Irish rock band

The Frames are an Irish rock band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six studio albums. In addition to Hansard, the band's current line-up includes original member Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Dave Hingerty, Joe Doyle, and Rob Bochnik.

<i>Unleashed in the East</i> 1979 live album by Judas Priest

Unleashed in the East is the first live album by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in September 1979 on Columbia Records. It was recorded live over two nights in Tokyo during their Hell Bent for Leather Tour in February 1979. Upon release Unleashed became the band's best-selling album up to that point, reaching the US Top 100 and the UK Top Ten, eventually the album became one of the five Judas Priest albums to gain a RIAA platinum certification. It is the first Priest album to be produced by Tom Allom who would remain at the helm for the next decade for the band, and the last release to feature drummer Les Binks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LCD Soundsystem</span> American indie rock band

LCD Soundsystem is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, co-founder of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy, Nancy Whang, Pat Mahoney (drums), Tyler Pope, Al Doyle, Matt Thornley, and Korey Richey. They are currently signed to both DFA and Columbia Records.

The Wrens were an American indie rock band from New Jersey. The group consisted of Charles Bissell (guitar/vocals), brothers Greg Whelan (guitar/vocals) and Kevin Whelan (bass/vocals), and Jerry MacDonald (drums). They released three albums; a fourth album was recorded and mastered for a planned 2013 release, but was subsequently retracted. After reworking his contributions, Bissell teased a 2021 release for the new album, but the band broke up shortly after following disagreements over business arrangements. The band had a reputation for their intense live shows – following a gig at the University of London Union in London in March 2006, The Guardian declared that "on this form the Wrens are surely one of the best live bands in the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vasco Rossi</span> Italian singer-songwriter and poet

Vasco Rossi, also known mononymously as Vasco or with the nickname Il Blasco, is an Italian singer-songwriter and poet. During his career, he has published 30 albums and has written over 250 songs, as well as lyrics for other artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mic Christopher</span> Irish musician (1969–2001)

Michael "Mic" Christopher was an Irish singer-songwriter, best known for his posthumously-released debut album Skylarkin'.

The Pale are an Irish band of varying genres including rock, and indie. They have recorded twelve albums and have toured extensively in Ireland and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attack in Black</span> Canadian indie rock band

Attack in Black was a Canadian indie rock band from Welland, Ontario, formed in 2003, whose music evolved from Hardcore punk to indie rock and folk rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Again (Alice in Chains song)</span> 1996 single by Alice in Chains

"Again" is a song by American rock band Alice in Chains and the third single and sixth track from their self-titled 1995 album. It peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1997. The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999), Greatest Hits (2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006). A remixed version of the song was included on the box set Music Bank (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club</span> Musical artist

Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club are an independent alternative band from Ireland.

The Chapters are a six-nine piece band from Dublin, Ireland. The band are composed of Ross McNally, Michael Murphy, Ciaran Fortune, NC Lawlor, Aoife Ruth and Biggles Flys Again. Additional string, brass and guest players join the band on occasion.

Kojii Helnwein is an Irish actress, musician and model.

The Infomatics is an Irish hip hop musical ensemble from Dublin. They consist of Bugs, BOC, Steo, and Mr. Dero. Steo's brother, Damien Gunn, was lead vocalist and saxman with Tokyo Olympics and previously DC Nien, a 1970s band who at one stage rivalled U2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rubyworks Records</span>

Rubyworks Records is an independent record label and music management company created in 2001 by Niall Muckian and based in Dublin, Ireland.

<i>No. 2 Patrick Street</i> 1988 studio album by Patrick Street

No. 2 Patrick Street is the second studio album by the Irish folk band Patrick Street, released in 1988 on Green Linnet Records.

Busta "Cherry" Jones was an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is known for his bass work both live and in the studio with Albert King, Talking Heads, Gang of Four, Chris Spedding as well as many others during a decade spanning career that lasted from the late 1960s until his death in 1995.

References

  1. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 19. ISBN   0-85112-579-4.
  2. ↑ "An Emotional Fish - Cry Like A Baby / Grey Matter". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "An Emotional Fish - Celebrate". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 23. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  5. ↑ "An Emotional Fish - Grey Matter". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "An Emotional Fish - An Emotional Fish". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  7. ↑ "Vasco Rossi - Gli Spari Sopra". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "An Emotional Fish - Junk Puppets". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "An Emotional Fish - Sloper". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "Search for setlists: an emotional fish | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club - Be Yourself". Discogs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  12. ↑ Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club – The Beautiful Untrue (2009, CD) , retrieved 10 February 2021
  13. ↑ kevmeagher (23 February 2012). "An Emotional Fish reform for Barretstown Inspirations gig | News". GoldenPlec. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  14. ↑ "An Emotional Fish Setlist at Semple Stadium, Thurles". setlist.fm. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "It's been emotional: Féile comes full circle for Jerry Fish". independent. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  16. ↑ Feile Classical The Live Album (2018, CD) , retrieved 10 February 2021
  17. ↑ "The former An Emotional Fish drummer, Martin Murphy, has passed away". Hot Press. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  18. ↑ https://rip.ie/death-notice/enda-wyatt-kingswood-dublin/515647
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.