30-442: The Modern Māori Quartet (MMQ) is a showband musical group from New Zealand. The group comprises core members James Tito , Matariki Whatarau , Maaka Pohatu and Francis Kora , with occasional rotation of the lineup depending on availability of the performers or to allow simultaneous tours. Founding member Matu Ngaropo shifted from performing to acting as the group's musical director/dramaturg. Other performers who had been part of
60-620: A BBC Four documentary about the showband phenomenon. Brendan Bowyer Brendan Bowyer (12 October 1938 – 28 May 2020) was an Irish singer best known for fronting the Royal Showband and The Big Eight, and who had five number one hits in Ireland . He was also renowned for having The Beatles open for the Royal Showband at a concert on 2 April 1962 at the Pavilion Theatre, Liverpool , England, some six months before
90-778: A chance to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Naples with the song "Suddenly in Love", but could only manage fifth place. Their greatest success was to come in 1965 with " The Hucklebuck ," which spent a further seven weeks at the top of the Irish Singles Chart , and was a hit in Australia, but failed to appear in the UK Singles Chart . "Don't Lose Your Hucklebuck Shoes" returned
120-775: A dance band format popular in Ireland from the 1950s to the 1980s, with its peak in the 1960s. These bands typically featured seven to ten members, including a rhythm section, a brass section with various combinations of trumpet , saxophone , and trombone , and were fronted by lead singers, sometimes engaging in comedy skits. Their repertoire spanned rock and roll , country and western , dixieland jazz , big band tunes, Irish Céilí dances, Latin, folk, and more. Showbands were noted for their live energy, chart-topping covers, and sometimes choreographed performances. Originally touring within Ireland, successful bands later performed in Britain,
150-483: A large band for the seventies. There were a few bands that changed their name from dance bands and orchestras to 'Bandshow' before calling themselves 'Showbands'. For example, The Jimmy Wiley Orchestra changed its name to The Jimmy Wiley Bandshow and then to The Jimmy Wiley Showband. Dave Glover renamed his group to the Dave Glover Showband in 1955, pioneering the use of the word "showband"; he chose
180-412: A star with The Miami Showband , and later represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1966. At its height in the mid-1960s, there were as many as 800 full and part-time bands travelling the country. The business as a whole employed many thousands of musicians, support staff and managers. A second wave of bands emerged in the late sixties and early seventies with personnel coming mostly from
210-468: Is about a contemporary group of unemployed Irish youths who start a soul band in the manner of the late-1960s Irish showbands. The novel spawned a popular 1991 film of the same name , which in turn led to a touring band, The Stars from the Commitments , and a 2013 musical, The Commitments . The 2005 Irish TV movie Showbands and its 2006 sequel, Showbands II , both starred Liam Cunningham as
240-688: The Salisbury International Arts Festival in 2016 where they had a New Zealand focus. Other places in the UK include St John’s Smith Square (London), Komedia (Brighton) and Norwegian Church Arts Centre (Cardiff). Other tour locations have been Festival of Voices ( Hobart ), Hawaii Theatre Center ( Honolulu ), Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahilu Theatre ( Hawaii Island ), Hard Rock Café ( Sentosa Island , Singapore), Empire Cinema ( Rarotonga ), New Zealand Festival (Wellington) and Māoriland Film Festival (Ōtaki). In 2014,
270-427: The 1960s Irish showband era. On 6 September 1963, Brendan Bowyer and the Royal Showband became the first Irish artists to top the Irish Singles Chart , with the hit "Kiss Me Quick," which stayed at the number one position for seven weeks. They were to return to the top position later that year with " No More ," and repeated the feat in 1964 with " Bless You ." Bowyer took part in the 1965 Irish National Song Contest for
300-713: The King of the Showband era, not least of which was due to his powerful & fantastic voice, handsome good looks coupled with his energetic dance moves on stage. The Capitol Showband released the first showband L.P. record in 1962, 'Presenting Ireland's Premier Showband, Envoy Records, VOY 9144. The Freshmen from Ballymena, Antrim, led by Billy Brown and Derek Dean, combined to produce harmonies on their covers of hits by The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean . Dickie Rock performed mainly big ballads. First singing with Dublin's Strykers, Blackbirds, Echoes and Melochords, he became
330-933: The North East, the Adelphi ballroom, owned by Dee O'Kane and Jimmy Hamilton in Dundalk, attracted audiences from both sides of the border. Summer dancing was held in marquee tents during parish carnivals throughout the country. Mineral Bars dispensed hot beverages and soft drinks. Ballrooms and dance halls did not sell alcoholic beverages. Alcohol sales remained the prerogative of the local pub, who then began to build extensions onto pubs and operate their own disco or cabaret show. Various internationally successful Irish singers and musicians began their careers in showbands, including Van Morrison , Henry McCullough , Mick Hanly , Rory Gallagher , Eric Bell , Eric Wrixon and Colm Wilkinson . The 1987 Roddy Doyle novel The Commitments
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#1732781044989360-522: The U.S. and Canadian Irish club circuit. Brendan Bowyer , Tom Dunphy and the Royal Showband from Waterford toured professionally around 1958, and became a crowd-drawing success. They were managed by the promoter T.J. Byrne and were the first such band to have a record enter the Irish charts, "Katie Daly", sung by Dunphy. Soon after, Brendan Bowyer had a hit with "Kiss Me Quick", a song taken from an Elvis Presley album. Many would consider Brendan Bowyer to be
390-673: The US, Canada, and on the German nightclub circuit and U.S. military bases in Europe. In the 1940s and 1950s "orchestras" were popular in Ireland. These were dance bands usually with ten to fifteen musicians, and sometimes more. They wore dress suits and dickey bows . Often there would be a community brass band based in the town where the orchestra came from and the orchestra members would have learned to play instruments in this brass band. They sat down and read sheet music from stands. Instrumental music
420-495: The amount depending on how popular the band were. It became riskier for ballroom operators to run dances and make a profit with falling attendances and increased fee demands from bands. In July 1975 members of the Ulster Volunteer Force murdered three members of The Miami Showband , Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoy and wounded two others, Des McAlea and Stephen Travers. The killings, which occurred as
450-531: The band to the number one position later in 1965. In the summer of 1971 Bowyer, along with singer Tom Dunphy, left the Royal Showband and formed the Big Eight Showband. The band spent the summers playing the ballroom circuit in Ireland but also spent six months of the year in Las Vegas , Nevada , US. Within a short time, Bowyer and the band made the decision to relocate to Las Vegas permanently. He
480-624: The band was returning from a show in Banbridge in Northern Ireland , became known as the Miami Showband killings . Cross-border band touring dropped significantly as a result and this also hastened the decline of the showbands. Of the bands that did not break up entirely, many reduced their numbers and revamped into small outfits playing locally. The city ballrooms were often purpose built and lavish. Many rural dance halls, on
510-435: The beat-groups scene. They young proponents of a rock , blues and soul style. These bands included The Dreams, The Real McCoy, The Arrows and The Chessmen. They were most popular in urban areas, while Country and Western leaning bands were generally more popular in the rural areas of the country. Johnny McEvoy and Danny Doyle started out as folk singers but changed to showbands in the 70's. They subsequently returned to
540-441: The folk scene after a relatively short period. By the mid-1970s the phenomenon had peaked, and was in decline. A number of factors contributed to their drop in popularity, including the advent of upscale discothèque , the opening of hotel music lounges and cabaret rooms with alcohol licenses, and changing musical tastes. The big bands started employing smaller bands, known as relief bands, to play before them. People often stayed in
570-482: The group had a legal dispute with their former manager, Teresa Brown, who had trademarked the name "The Modern Māori Quartet" in 2013, a month after her relationship with the band had ended. In 2017, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand invalidated Brown's trademark registration as having been made in bad faith. Showband The Irish Showband ( Irish : seó-bhanna ) was
600-1113: The group include Rutene Spooner, Tainui Kuru and Jamie McCaskill . The group aims to put a contemporary spin on Māori showbands of earlier decades such as the Howard Morrison Quartet and the Maori Volcanics Showband , as well as capturing the spirit of the Māori "garage party". They formed in 2010 after the original members met at Toi Whakaari drama school. They were invited to the 10th Sharq Taronalari International Music Festival (2015) in Samarkand , Uzbekistan, where they won an award for 'Most Daring & Emotional Performance'. On this tour they also performed in Singapore and in Selangor , Malaysia. The Modern Māori Quartet have performed at festivals and venues throughout New Zealand and internationally including
630-423: The manager of a struggling Irish showband in the mid-1960s. In 2010, Ireland's postal service, An Post , issued a set of four commemorative stamps depicting four of Ireland's biggest showbands: The Drifters , The Freshmen , The Miami Showband and The Royal Showband . An An Post spokesman said that the showbands "rocked Irish society from its postwar depression ". In March 2019, Ardal O'Hanlon presented
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#1732781044989660-402: The name because he wanted to indicate that their act incorporated both music and skits. Strabane's Clipper Carlton are credited with being the first to incorporate a 'show' in the middle of their act, 'Duke Box Saturday Night' where they imitated the hits and singers of the day. Fronted by Fergus O'Hagan, they were originally a touring Dance Orchestra. They later became popular in Britain and on
690-411: The orchestras downsized and morphed into showbands, going from eight or ten brass down to three or four brass. The Maurice Mulcahy Orchestra went from fifteen members, five saxophones, four trumpets, one trombone, rhythm section and a singer in the early sixties to ten members in the early seventies, which included two singers but still held five brass, four saxophones and one trumpet, which would have been
720-582: The other hand, were simple buildings at the edge of the town. Dance halls in smaller towns and villages would host a dance once or twice a month. The fans often travelled miles from the surrounding countryside to see their favourite band. A chain of venues in the midlands was operated by Albert Reynolds , who would later become Taoiseach of the Republic. Associated Ballrooms was owned by mining magnate Con Hynes. The Lucey brothers had large ballrooms in Cork. In
750-408: The pub until the main band was about to come on stage. It got harder and harder to try and draw people out of the pubs and in to the ballrooms. Bands tried changing names and coming up with gimmicks to try to attract people. Some of the bigger bands started demanding a guaranteed fee no matter what the attendance would be. Some even demanded a percentage of the door takings from the ballroom operator,
780-634: The release of Follow On , a covers album, where Bowyer performed some of the most popular Irish songs, such as "Summer in Dublin," " What's Another Year ," "Past the Point of Rescue," and " I Don't Like Mondays ." 2005 saw Brendan and Aisling headlining the entertainment list for the Tall Ships Festival in Waterford , performing in the open air to an estimated crowd of 12,000. In 2015, Bowyer
810-522: The release of The Beatles first single " Love Me Do ", in October 1962. Bowyer was regarded as one of the first headlining Elvis impersonators . Elvis Presley himself was a big fan of Bowyer's performances and would often attend Bowyer's concerts in the Stardust Resort & Casino , Las Vegas during the 1970s. Although born in Waterford , he relocated to Limerick with his family when he
840-538: Was based in Las Vegas from then on, though he made frequent trips back to Ireland. In 1977 he made a brief return to the Irish charts with his tribute, "Thank You Elvis." Having enjoyed a semi-retirement phase, Bowyer returned to the spotlight, touring Ireland each year, some for months on end, with his daughter Aisling Bowyer, and a six piece band. They performed his showband era hits, dance numbers, nationalist songs, modern contemporary songs and concert hits. 2001 saw
870-520: Was to the fore providing the backdrop to a long night's dancing which could be up to five hours long or more (e.g., 9 PM to 2 AM). Amplification was limited in the early days, just one microphone was used so the vocalist could be heard above the large band. As technology improved and became more available, the bands started using it, using more microphones for each section alongside more powerful amplifiers and larger loudspeakers. As singing and singers became more popular and instrumental tunes less popular,
900-525: Was two years old. There he was educated at the Model School and Crescent College , singing with the Redemptorist choir before returning to Waterford with his parents. Brendan Bowyer began his career with the Royal Showband in 1957. His ability to tailor American rock and roll music to the tastes of Irish audiences, and his athletic, spirited on-stage performances made him a popular vocalist of
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