 |
 Hot Press's "40th birthday" on the cover of the June 2017 issue | |
| Editor | Niall Stokes |
|---|---|
| Categories | Music, current affairs |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | June 1977 |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 0332-0847 |
Hot Press is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes.
Hot Press was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who continues to be its editor to the present day. [1] [2] Since then, the magazine has featured stories in the music world, both in Ireland and internationally. [3]
The first issue of Hot Press featured Irish blues rock musician Rory Gallagher ahead of his headlining performance at Ireland's first open air rock festival, the Macroom Mountain Dew Festival, in 1977. The magazine has covered the career of U2 since the late 1970s. Sinéad O'Connor first talked to Hot Press about her lesbianism.[ citation needed ]
The magazine has been at the centre of several controversies: for example, Hot Press writer Stuart Clark was interviewing Oasis band member and songwriter Noel Gallagher when Gallagher found out that his brother Liam would not take the stage for that evening's performance, and the band came close to splitting up.[ citation needed ]
Hot Press was at the centre of a legal dispute over the copyright of the term De Dannan in 2009 after it featured an advertisement using the term to promote a new tour by the traditional group. [4]
In September 2009, an interview conducted by Olaf Tyaransen with the comedian Tommy Tiernan at Electric Picnic 2009 proved controversial when Tiernan made some remarks which were later perceived as antisemitic. The comments were reported in the Irish and international media; [5] [6] however, both Tyaransen and Hot Press editor Niall Stokes, as well as Tiernan himself, defended them as being taken out of context. [7]
In 2020, in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic lock down in Ireland, Hot Press held a set of online music sessions called the Lockdown Sessions featuring artists such as Celaviedmai, Doppler, and Tebi Rex. [8] [9]
Past writers for Hot Press have included ninth President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, [10] the authors of BAFTA award-winning Father Ted , Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, Sunday Times television reviewer Liam Fay, author and Daily Telegraph columnist Neil McCormick, Bill Graham, The Sunday Business Post US correspondent Niall Stanage, Irish Examiner soccer correspondent Liam Mackey, author Damian Corless, the former The Irish Times columnist John Waters and film critic Tara Brady, food writer John McKenna, Sunday Independent journalist Declan Lynch and The Guardian football writer, Football Weekly regular Barry Glendenning, Daily Mail writer Jason O'Toole and Olaf Tyaransen[ citation needed ].
Current writers include Peter Murphy, [11] Jackie Hayden, [12] and Pat Carty. [13]
Hot Press has had a centrist stance on politics and social issues.[ citation needed ] During the 2007 general election it supported many smaller left wing parties such as the Green Party and Labour.[ citation needed ] It was critical of the then Fianna Fáil government, pro-Seanad reform and was opposed to the June 2007 decision of the Irish Film Censor's Office to ban the videogame Manhunt 2 [14] This is the first time a video game has been refused certification by the IFCO. [15]
The magazine has interviewed several politicians, including Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams, DUP's Ian Paisley Jr. MLA, leader of the Green Party, John Gormley and Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen.
The sort of smug know-all commentator... I suppose if anything annoys me, that annoys me... I could instance a load of fuckers whose throat I'd cut, and push over the nearest cliff, but there's no percentage in that. – Former Taoiseach Charles Haughey speaking to Hot Press writer John Waters in 1984. [16]
In his May 2007 interview with Jason O'Toole, former Minister for Health Cowen admitted to smoking marijuana, saying,
Anyone who went to the UCD bar in the '70s that didn't get a whiff of marijuana would be telling you a lie. I would say there were a couple of occasions when it was passed around – and, unlike President Clinton, I did inhale! There wasn't a whole lot in it really – (it was like) a Sweet Afton, as a 10-year-old, under a railway bridge on a rainy day, in small town Ireland in the late '60s. I certainly got more enjoyment out of a few pints.
This confession later provoked much criticism from opposition parties in the Dáil. Ministers Willie O'Dea and Brian Lenihan Jnr played down the controversy, denying Cowen was "setting a bad example". [17] Mr. Cowen later became Taoiseach following the resignation of Bertie Ahern.
In June 2007, DUP's Ian Paisley Jr. MLA caused uproar in an interview with Jason O'Toole by publicly denouncing acts associated with homosexuality. This was the year before Iris Robinson, wife of First Minister, Peter Robinson made her thoughts on the issue.
Hotpress.com is the magazine's website which as of this writing offers free articles to readers. It was launched in 2002, initially promising a free archive with 25 years of content. [18]
The Hot Press Yearbook is released annually. [1]
Hot Press has published several books:
Brian Bernard Cowen is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011.
Tommy Tiernan is an Irish comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his stand-up career, hosting The Tommy Tiernan Show (2017–present) and playing Gerry in the sitcom Derry Girls (2018–2022).
In Ireland, the state retains laws that allow for censorship, including specific laws covering films, advertisements, newspapers and magazines, as well as terrorism and pornography, among others. In the early years of the state, censorship was more widely enforced, particularly in areas that were perceived to be in contradiction of Roman Catholic dogma, including abortion, sexuality and homosexuality. The church had banned many books and theories for centuries, listed in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
David Fanning is an Irish television and radio broadcaster, rock journalist, DJ, film critic and author. Fanning currently hosts weekend midday magazine/chat show The Dave Fanning Show on the Irish national radio station RTÉ 2fm and a number of RTÉ Radio 1 programmes. He regularly deputises on RTÉ Radio 1 across a range of primetime programmes and also presented his own Monday-Friday 9 am show Mornings With Dave Fanning in 2015.
Ciarán Mac Mathúna was an Irish broadcaster and music collector. He was a recognised authority on Irish traditional music and lectured extensively on the subject. He travelled around Ireland, England, Scotland and America collecting music.
Niall Breslin, known as Bressie, is an Irish ukulelist and musician, former Westmeath Gaelic footballer and Leinster Rugby player. Breslin found success as the lead singer, guitarist, songwriter with pop band The Blizzards, as a co-writer and producer with XIX Entertainment and as a solo artist. He was the winning coach on the first, third and fifth seasons of The Voice of Ireland.
Niall Stokes is a music journalist who has served as editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. He was involved with The Music Show, an exhibition of the Irish music industry held in the RDS in October 2008. He was Chairman of the Independent Radio and Television Commission between 1993 and 1998. He has written several books, including Into the Heart: The Stories Behind Every U2 Song.
"Going to America" is the series finale of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. It is the eighth episode of the third series, and the 25th episode overall. Dermot Morgan, who played the show's title character, died the day after filming was completed.
Live at the Marquee is a season of music concerts and other live performance events organised by Aiken Promotions in a large marquee in Cork, Ireland, every summer since 2005. For about a month in June and July, a concert is held most evenings; tickets for each night are sold separately, with varying lineups and pricing. Acts have represented many genres of popular music, including rock, folk, electronic, hip hop, rhythm and blues, and country; as well as stand-up comedy acts.
Jarlath Regan is a London-based Irish comedian and podcaster. A former graphic design consultant, he began his stand-up comedy career in 2003 and by the end of 2004 was a finalist for three major UK comedy newcomer awards: So You Think You're Funny, BBC New Comedy Awards and the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year. While attending University College Dublin, he was auditor of the Literary and Historical Society.
Jennifer D'Arcy is an Irish radio personality who came to prominence during the 2000s as Ray D'Arcy's producer on his self-titled radio show on Today FM. The pair now have one daughter and one son together. Kelly previously worked for East Coast FM and then for the state broadcaster's pop music station RTÉ 2fm.
"Moment of Surrender" is a song by rock band U2 and the third track on their 2009 album No Line on the Horizon. During the initial recording sessions for the album in 2007 in Fez, Morocco, the band wrote the song with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois within a few hours. Together, they recorded the song in a single take; Eno called the song's recording "the most amazing studio experience [he's] ever had". According to him and Lanois, the track is the closest the band came to realising their original concept for the album of writing "future hymns". The seven-minute song features gospel-like vocals in the chorus, along with a predominantly organ- and piano-based musical accompaniment. Lyrically, the song is about a drug addict who is undergoing a crisis of faith.
Jason O'Toole is an Irish author, filmmaker, and playwright. He is a former print and magazine editor, journalist and Sunday newspaper columnist.
Electric Picnic 2009 was the sixth edition of the Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday 4 September, Saturday 5 September and Sunday 6 September at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. The festival was launched on 15 April 2009 and featured performances from artists such as Orbital, The Flaming Lips, Brian Wilson, Basement Jaxx, Madness, Klaxons, Bell X1, Fleet Foxes and MGMT.
Olaf Tyaransen is an Irish journalist and a contributing editor with Dublin's Hot Press magazine.
Cathal Mac Coille is a retired Irish broadcaster, researcher and journalist. He was a co-presenter of Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 for most of the period from 1986 until his retirement in 2017. He currently writes opinion pieces for Tuairisc.ie, a role he took up in 2014. He was used by RTÉ in numerous political broadcasts and interviewed several prominent politicians.
The Far Canals were an early 1990s band based in Galway, Ireland consisting of Frank X. Hibbet (vocals/guitar), Vlad (bass) and God the Father (drums). They were managed by Olaf Tyaransen and released two albums and one EP with Hunter S. Records. The band's anarchic, anti-establishment ethos was reflected in many of their songs which railed against the police, drug laws, organised religion and political corruption. Influenced by punk and blues, the Far Canals combined unusual guitar arrangements and distortion pedals to produce a highly distinctive sound. The band regularly played in bars and clubs around Galway such as Monroes and the Róisín Dubh. The group disbanded in 1996. The band produced a video for their single “When I was Out of My Head” which was played on RTÉ’s No Disco and, according to their former manager, Larry Gogan was the first DJ to play their music on the radio.
Bill Graham was an Irish journalist and author. He attended Blackrock College and Trinity College, Dublin and resided in Howth. In addition to authoring several books, Graham wrote for Hot Press magazine from its founding. He died of a heart attack at forty-four on 11 May 1996 being survived by his mother Eileen.
Oisín Quinn is an Irish lawyer and former politician who is a judge of the High Court and former Lord Mayor of Dublin. He was formerly a barrister and an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 2013 to 2014 and a Dublin City Councillor from 2004 to 2014.
Maimouna Salif, known professionally as Celaviedmai, is an Irish rapper.
