Stuart Clark is an English-Irish music journalist who has written extensively for Hot Press , and is a regular contributor to Irish TV and radio. He has a current album review slot with Pat Kenny every Friday on Newstalk. Before going into print journalism, he spent time on board the Voice of Peace and Radio Caroline ships, was part of the abortive Radio Free England/Ventura project on the MV Manor Park and spent six months with Radio Sovereign in northern Italy.
While still at Sevenoaks School in the 1970s, he was running round the fields of Kent as the operator of short-wave pirate Radio Mercury, eventually being raided and arrested on Christmas Eve 1977 while broadcasting from a wooded area next to Princess Diana's former school, West Heath. [1] Clark is the deputy editor of Hot Press and has penned an official Why Can't We? book in collaboration with The Cranberries. A roving reporter on Virgin Media's The Uprising TV show, he has further contributed to the likes of 2fm, RTÉ Radio One, Today FM, BBC Radio Ulster, Radio Nova, the Irish Daily Mail, Business Post, Evening Herald, Food and Wine, the Ritz Hotel magazine and the Ryanair, EasyJet and Wizzair inflight magazines. [2]
The Cranberries were an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland, in 1989. The band was originally named The Cranberry Saw Us and featured singer Niall Quinn, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan, and drummer Fergal Lawler; Quinn was replaced as lead singer by Dolores O'Riordan in 1990, and the group changed their name to the Cranberries. The band classified themselves as an alternative rock group, but incorporated aspects of indie rock, jangle pop, dream pop, folk rock, post-punk, and pop rock into their sound.
No Need to Argue is the second studio album by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries, released on 3 October 1994 through Island Records. It is the band's best-selling album, and has sold 17 million copies worldwide as of 2014. It contains one of the band's most well-known songs, "Zombie". The album's mood is considered to be darker and harsher than that on the band's debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, released a year prior.
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan was an Irish musician who was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the alternative rock band the Cranberries. One of the most recognisable voices in rock in the 1990s, she was known for her lilting mezzo-soprano voice, signature yodel, emphasized use of keening, and strong Limerick accent.
Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? is the debut studio album by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries. Released on 1 March 1993 through Island Records after four EPs, it is both the band's first full-length album and major label release. The album was written entirely by the band's lead singer Dolores O'Riordan and guitarist Noel Hogan and contains the band's highest charting US single, "Linger". The album reached number one on the UK and the Irish albums charts. It spent a total of 86 weeks on the UK chart. On 24 June 1994, it became the fifth album in rock history to reach number one more than a year after release. At the end of 1995, it ranked as the 50th best selling album in Australia. It reached number 18 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart and stayed on this chart for 136 weeks; the album sold six million copies worldwide.
"Linger" is a song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries from their debut studio album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (1993). Composed by band members Dolores O'Riordan and Noel Hogan, and produced by Stephen Street, "Linger" was first released as the second and final single from the album on 15 February 1993 by Island Records. It was later re-released on 31 January 1994.
"Zombie" is a protest song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries. It was written by the lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan, about the young victims of a bombing in Warrington, England, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The song was released on 19 September 1994 by Island Records as the lead single from the Cranberries' second studio album, No Need to Argue (1994). Critics have described "Zombie" as "a masterpiece of alternative rock", with grunge-style distorted guitar and shouted vocals uncharacteristic of the band's other work.
"Downtown" is a song written and produced by English composer Tony Hatch. Its lyrics speak of going to spend time in an urban downtown as a means of escape from everyday life. The 1964 version recorded by British singer Petula Clark became an international hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. Hatch received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
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.
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.
The Hitchers are a band from the Irish city of Limerick. They formed in 1989.
Dewey Phillips was an American disc jockey based in Memphis, Tennessee, best known as the host of the WHBQ radio show "Red, Hot, and Blue". He was one of rock and roll's pioneering American disc jockeys, helping to popularize the genre in radio airplay along with Cleveland's Alan Freed.
The Dave Fanning Show is a radio program broadcast on RTÉ Radio. The show is presented by Dave Fanning and has, at various times, been broadcast on both RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ 2fm.
"The End of the World" is a pop song written by composer Arthur Kent and lyricist Sylvia Dee, who often worked as a team. They wrote the song for American singer Skeeter Davis, and her recording of it was highly successful in the early 1960s, reaching the top five on four different charts, including No. 2 on the main Billboard Hot 100. It spawned many cover versions.
Alan Fisher is a Scottish broadcast journalist and war correspondent.
"Dreams" is the debut single of Irish rock band the Cranberries. It was originally released in September 1992 by Island Records and later appeared on the band's debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (1993). The song reached the top 50 of the US Hot 100 and the top 30 of the UK Singles Chart in early 1994. A 1990 demo version was released in Ireland only in the summer of that year under their initial band name, the Cranberry Saw Us. At the end of the song, the backing vocals are sung by Mike Mahoney, ex-boyfriend of Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan.
Nothing Left at All is the first commercial EP of the Irish band The Cranberry Saw Us. It was released by Xeric Records in cassette format. Xeric Records made 300 copies and they sold out at local stores within a few days. This is the band’s last album to be released under their original name. The song "Shine Down" appears only on this tape. It was later known as "Take My Soul Away", but was never re-recorded.
Water Circle is the second demo EP of the Irish band The Cranberry Saw Us. It was released in cassette format and was used as an unsolicited demo sent to various major record labels. This is the first release to feature the vocal stylings of Dolores O'Riordan. All songs on the EP are written by Dolores O'Riordan and Noel Hogan. A bootleg MP3 of Water Circle appeared on the internet in 2002 courtesy of The Cranberries' drummer Fergal Lawler, who gave two CD-Rs of rare tracks to Alex Kraus, owner of the now closed fan site zomebieguide.com. In 2011, the actual cassette EP had appeared on eBay with an asking price of US$1499.95. It is the only copy known to still exist in a fan collection, owned by Mr Kraus. At least one other copy exists, because Noel Hogan posted on his Instagram account a photo with some of his old The Cranberries' tapes and Water Circle is among them.
"Analyse" is a song by Irish rock band the Cranberries. It was the first single released from their fifth studio album, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2001), on 27 August 2001. The promotional video, directed by Keir McFarlane, had to be edited in consequence of the 9/11 attacks, which was partly responsible for the single's low chart positions in their native Ireland and the United Kingdom, but it became a top-10 hit in Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
Neil McCormick is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been the chief music critic for The Daily Telegraph since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV in the UK, Neil McCormick's Needle Time. McCormick is a close associate of rock band U2.
Gregory Gray, born Paul Lerwill, was a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of Rosetta Stone, a 1970s boy band, and became an influential cult musician who made indie music and videos under the pseudonym Mary Cigarettes. He published his work on online platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud. During the course of his career his musical style ranged over an eclectic spectrum of pop, post-punk, indie rock, electronic dance music, jazz and folk.