Virgin Prunes | |
---|---|
Origin | Dublin, Ireland |
Genres | Post-punk, gothic rock [1] |
Years active | 1977–1986 |
Labels |
|
Past members |
|
Virgin Prunes were an Irish post-punk band formed in 1977 in Dublin. They disbanded in 1986 after the departure of singer Gavin Friday. The other members continued under the name the Prunes until they split up in 1991.
The Virgin Prunes were founded in 1977 by vocalists Guggi (né Derek Rowen), Gavin Friday (né Fionan Hanvey) and Dave-iD Busaras, guitarist Dik Evans (brother of U2's The Edge), bassist Strongman (Trevor Rowen, brother of Guggi) and drummer Pod (Anthony Murphy). [2]
Two of the band members, Guggi and Friday, had been part of Lypton Village, a "youthful gang" in early 1970s Dublin, which had also included U2's Bono (né Paul Hewson).
Known for their outrageous and controversial stage performances, led by theatrical singer/songwriter Friday, the band began playing small shows in Dublin, gaining them a cult audience. [2] Pod left the group and was replaced by Haa-Lacka Binttii (né Daniel Figgis). With Binttii on drums, tape loops and keyboards, the band secured a deal with Rough Trade Records. [2] They released their first single, "Twenty Tens" [3] on their own Baby Records label (distributed by Rough Trade) on 8 January 1981, followed by a second single, "Moments and Mine (Despite Straight Lines)", on 27 June 1981. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Two other tracks recorded with Binttii were released during 1981 before conflicts with other members forced him out of the band. [2] "Red Nettle" was included on NME compilation C81 and "Third Secret" appeared on Cherry Red compilation Perspectives and Distortion. Work had already started on the "A New Form of Beauty" project while Bintti was with the band, but after he was replaced by Mary D'Nellon (né David Kelly) on drums, [2] some of his tracks were rerecorded and his name was not included in the credits. He later formed the project Princess Tinymeat. [8]
"A New Form of Beauty" was a project that originally contained four chapters and was released in various formats: a 7" single, 10" single and 12" EP released in 1981, and a cassette issued in 1982. [2] All four parts were later collected as the A New Form of Beauty Parts 1-4 compilation album. [9] The project also included two additional pieces, the unpublished book A New Form of Beauty 6 and the unreleased film A New Form of Beauty 7. [3] [4]
In November 1982, the Virgin Prunes released their debut studio album, ...If I Die, I Die (produced by Colin Newman of Wire), as well as the double 10" EP Hérésie , a French box set. [2] Commissioned by Yann Farcy after seeing them perform at the Rex Club in Paris, Hérésie was based on a loose examination of insanity. In 1984, both Guggi and Dik Evans, unhappy with the music business, left the band. [2] This forced drummer D'Nellon to switch to guitar and allowed Pod to return as the band's drummer. [2] The Virgin Prunes started to record but abandoned the unreleased album Sons Find Devils.
A retrospective video titled Sons Find Devils - A Live Retrospective 1981-1983 was released in 1986 by Ikon; this video had nothing to do with the unreleased album of the same name. In April 1985, rarities compilation Over the Rainbow was released.
In July 1986, the band, now a four-piece, finally released a second studio album, The Moon Looked Down and Laughed (including recordings of music written for Sons Find Devils). [2] Later that year, Friday left the group. His departure was confirmed in the liner notes of the band's 1987 live album The Hidden Lie , which contained a short statement confirming the band's breakup. [2]
After disbanding as Virgin Prunes, D'Nellon, Strongman and Busaras formed an offshoot group called The Prunes, which released three albums between 1988 and 1991 (1988's Lite Fantastik, 1989's Nada, and 1991's Blossoms & Blood ). Dik Evans played on ”Lite Fantastik" while 17-year-old Justin Kavanagh (aka Valley Limberg) from the Dublin hardcore band Mutant Asylum took the helm as guitarist for "Blossoms & Blood". In 1993, Kavanagh went on to form Gormenghast and Snifferdog with Ger Griffin. Binttii's youngest brother, Jonathan Figgis, was the boy who appeared on the cover of the second Virgin Prunes single, "Moments and Mine".
In 1998, Cleopatra Records rereleased the Sons Find Devils video, along with a soundtrack album on CD. This was the first commercially available Virgin Prunes material to be released since 1993 and, for a few years, the only commercially available full-length Virgin Prunes album on compact disc (though studio recordings of the songs "Baby Turns Blue", "Pagan Lovesong" and "Caucasian Walk" had cropped up on various goth and post-punk CD compilations).
Friday went on to have a reasonably successful solo career in both music and film, releasing five solo albums and several scores, while Guggi remained an influential artist in Dublin and Busaras continued to record as a solo artist in Ireland. After 20 years of self-imposed seclusion from the rock world, Dik Evans gave an overview of he and his brother The Edge's early years in U2 for the December 2005 issue of Word Magazine .
Daniel Figgis later became a composer and multimedia producer and curator, becoming composer in residence with Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, Dublin. One of his compositions, "Post Production", a 23-section suite for four musicians, was performed at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City in December 2006. In 2008, the Arts>World financial centre commissioned Figgis to compose and perform the sole European commission to celebrate their 20th anniversary of arts programming. His multi-disciplinary festival, "Snakes & Ladders", appeared on Broadway on 8 January 2010 at Symphony Space.
The Virgin Prunes discography was remastered and reissued on Mute Records in 2004. The set of reissues included ...If I Die, I Die, The Moon Looked Down and Laughed, Over the Rainbow, Hérésie and an album of selections from the A New Form of Beauty series. In 2006, Busaras, Guggi and Friday contributed a track to the sea shanty collection Rogue's Gallery , appearing in the track listing as Three Pruned Men.
On 4 October 2009, three original members of the band (Friday, Guggi and Dik Evans) performed two classic Virgin Prunes songs, "Sweethome Under White Clouds" and "Caucasian Walk", at Carnegie Hall as part of "An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends", to celebrate Friday's 50th birthday. J.G. Thirlwell appeared with them as backing vocalist. [10]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
UK Indie [11] | ||
...If I Die, I Die |
| 8 |
The Moon Looked Down and Laughed |
| 5 |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
The Hidden Lie (Live in Paris 6/6/86) |
|
Sons Find Devils |
|
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
UK Indie [11] | ||
A New Form of Beauty Parts 1–4 |
| — |
Over the Rainbow (A Compilation of Rarities 1981–1983) |
| 22 |
Artfuck: A Compilation of Rarities (1980–1983) |
| — |
Over the Rainbow (A Compilation of Rarities 1980–1984) |
| — |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Sons Find Devils – A Live Retrospective 1981–1983 |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
UK Indie [11] | ||
A New Form of Beauty 1 |
| 44 |
A New Form of Beauty 2 |
| 47 |
A New Form of Beauty 3 |
| — |
A New Form of Beauty 4 |
| — |
Heresie |
| — |
An Extended Play |
| — |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
UK Indie [11] | ||
"Twenty Tens (I've Been Smoking All Night)" | 1981 | 25 |
"Moments and Mine (Despite Straight Lines)" | 50 | |
"Pagan Lovesong" | 1982 | 13 |
"Baby Turns Blue" | 15 | |
"Love Lasts Forever" | 1986 | 18 |
"Don't Look Back" | — | |
"Baby Turns Blue" (Director's Cut) | 2004 | — |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Adam Charles Clayton is a British-Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Clayton attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where he met schoolmates with whom he co-founded U2 in 1976. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2.
Boy is the debut studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Steve Lillywhite and was released on 20 October 1980 by Island Records. Boy contains songs from the band's 40-song repertoire at the time, including two tracks that were re-recorded from their original versions on the group's debut release, the EP Three.
David James Ball is an English producer and electronic musician, who has played in bands such as Soft Cell and the Grid, and collaborated with other producers including Ingo Vauk and Chris Braide. He is usually called Dave Ball on record sleeves.
Richard G. "Dik" Evans is an Irish musician. He is a co-founder and guitarist of the band Virgin Prunes, and a co-founder and early guitarist of the band that later became U2. He is the older brother of U2 guitarist The Edge.
Rock music in Ireland, also known as Irish rock, has been a part of the music of Ireland since the 1960s, when the British Invasion brought British blues, psychedelic rock and other styles to the island. The Irish music scene in the 1960s and much of the 1970s was dominated by the unique Irish phenomenon of the 'Showbands' which were groups of professional performers who played at dancehalls and clubs across the country putting on a professional 'show' and playing all the American and British hits of the era. From the mid-1970s onwards rock music in Ireland has followed a similar path to rock music in Britain.
Gavin Friday is an Irish singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter, best known as a founding member of the post-punk group The Virgin Prunes.
The Best of 1980–1990 is the first greatest hits compilation by Irish rock band U2, released on 2 November 1998. It mostly contains the group's hit singles from the 1980s, but also mixes in some live staples, as well as a re-recording of the 1987 B-side "Sweetest Thing". In April 1999, a companion video was released. The album was followed by another compilation, The Best of 1990–2000, in 2002.
The Radiators from Space, also known as The Radiators, The Rads, Radiators (from Space), and The Radiators Plan 9, were an Irish punk rock band. They have been described as Ireland's first punk band. Initially active 1976-1981, the band had a brief reunion in 1987-1988, and reformed in 2003 until the death of founding member Philip Chevron in 2013, with remaining members continuing as Trouble Pilgrims.
Guggi is an Irish artist, painter and sculptor, once a member of the post-punk band Virgin Prunes alongside his close friend Gavin Friday.
"Bad" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the seventh track on their 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. Thematically, the song is about heroin addiction, though lead vocalist Bono has given varying accounts of who was the inspiration behind his lyrics. "Bad" is considered a fan favourite and is one of U2's most frequently performed songs in concert. The band's 12-minute performance of the song at the Live Aid charity concert in 1985 was a breakthrough moment for them.
...If I Die, I Die is the debut studio album by Irish rock band Virgin Prunes. It was released on 4 November 1982 by record label Rough Trade. It was produced by Colin Newman of Wire.
Twenty Tens (I've Been Smoking All Night) is the first EP by the Irish rock band Virgin Prunes. It was released on 8 January 1981 by Baby Records.
A New Form of Beauty Parts 1–4 is a 1983 compilation album by Irish post-punk band Virgin Prunes. It collected parts 1 through 4 of the A New Form of Beauty project, which were issued by Rough Trade Records during 1981 and 1982.
Hérésie is a double 10" extended play box set by the Irish post-punk band Virgin Prunes. It was released in November 1982 by L'Invitation Au Suicide, which had commissioned the band to create a work dealing with the concept of insanity. It was released simultaneously with the band's debut studio album, ...If I Die, I Die.
Over the Rainbow is a compilation album by the Irish rock band Virgin Prunes. It was issued by Baby Records in April 1985. In 1986, the album was issued on CD augmented with the studio recordings from Hérésie.
The Moon Looked Down and Laughed is the second and final studio album by the Irish rock band Virgin Prunes. It was released in July 1986 by Baby Records in Europe, and on Touch and Go Records in the U.S.
The Hidden Lie is a live performance album by the Irish post-punk band Virgin Prunes. It was issued by Baby Records in May 1987.
Artfuck: A Compilation of Rarities (1980–1983) is a compilation album by the Irish post-punk band Virgin Prunes. Released on New Rose Records in 1993, it marked the first time the "Twenty Tens" and "Moments and Mine" singles had been issued on CD.
"Moments and Mine (Despite Straight Lines)" is a single by the Irish post-punk band Virgin Prunes, released as a vinyl 7" on 27 June 1981 by Rough Trade Records.
Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q Hewson is an Irish rock musician from Killiney. He is best known for being the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Inhaler, with whom he has released two albums, It Won't Always Be Like This in 2021 and Cuts and Bruises in 2023. He is the son of U2 frontman Bono and activist Ali Hewson.
![]() | This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines.(July 2024) |