Westmeath Archaeological and historical society hosted a most unusual lecture in the Greville Arms Hotel on Wednesday last
Ireland’s foremost expert on The Showband era, Tony Brown from Limerick, himself a musician who played in the bands, shared some of his unique collection of over 4000 photos with the well attended audience which turned up despite the terrible weather.
The showband era stretched from 1960 to 1970 and up to 1000 bands were formed during this time. They played in so called “Dry halls” as they only were allowed a mineral bar
Also they had to take an enforced 6 week break during Lent due to the prohibition on dancing during this time of abstinence
The Showbands followed the Dance bands such as Maurice Mulcahy – the latter could read sheet music and sat down for the performance.
The showbands wore exotic suits, very often with the obligatory pioneer pin on the lapel and no wedding ring on the finger -for the duration of the dance anyway!
Many bands split up due to disagreements over money and personality differences -Johnny and the Jokers had a dispute and when Johnny departed they were known as The Jokers!
Albert and Jim Reynolds were major players in the industry and owned a string of halls around the country including the Horizon in Mullingar, the Roseland in Moate and Jetland in Limerick.
Many members of the showband scene in Mullingar attended the lecture including Tommy Swarbrigg, Ray Dolan, Vincent Dolan and Kathleen Dolan.
Tony is a tailor by trade and made outfits for the stars including many shirts for Joe Dolan.
