Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SOUNDS OF AN ERA
The Limelight gets Scientific
We’re digging into Trouble Songs, Stuart Bailie’s new book about the political situation in Northern Ireland and its relationship with music. Of all the great things Stuart has done in a life well lived – assistant editor of NME in its last hurrah during the Britpop madness, founder of the Oh Yeah music hub, Thin Lizzy biographer, Belfast music tour guide and John Smedley afficianado – this might be the greatest. It’s a kind of historical record that adds context to the grim facts of our not too distant past, fleshing out the bones, so to speak, with emotion and back story, lyrics and melody.
And, like so much of what went on here (and continues to do so), it’s not a linear path. So Christy Moore tells of his own conflicts, how he went from IRA supporter to critic, there’s a transcript of an interview with Bono about the Dublin and Monaghan bombs and how Stiff Little Fingers influenced The Edge’s trademark guitar sound. Then there’s the unlikely rebel in Phil Coulter, whose Town I Loved So Well was a subtle lament to his Derry, with barbed wire and CS gas heavy in the air. “It could have become a rabble-rousing song, which then was the last thing we needed,” he tells the author. “But no, it’s been accepted for what it is, a love song to the city.”
Phil sits cheek by jowl with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, the Miami Showband massacre, the Civil Rights Association protest songs, how Van went from the “whiskey and moonshine” of Tupelo Honey to St Dominic’s Preview. And it chronicles how punk became the natural soundtrack to our civil disorder, first with The Clash and then through our own explosive, important scene.
And that’s what makes this book so remarkable. Amid all the chaos and seemingly unconnected events runs a narrative thread that ties it all together with an engaging style that it makes it seem obvious. It’s a picked at and plucked thread, in places, some of the strands veer off into a fading tangent much like real life.
Stuart was well placed to document
Trouble Songs, first as a participant in an ill-fated punk band in the 70s and later as a journalist able to look at things from a distance, detached yet never too far away. He witnessed all the great musical movements that washed over us, getting involved in some and inspired by others, and was on the sidelines at some of the biggest moments in our lifetime.
Like we said, we’re digging into
Trouble Songs and are beginning to guess at how great it is. But we do know its importance. New York power pop outfit We Are Scientists are in town tonight, playing the Limelight 2. Singer Keith Murray explains the thought process behind latest album Megaplex and it sounds right up our street. “We want it to be taut, to bang hard, to have a big hook every four seconds or so.” Can’t be bad to that. Catch them from 7pm –early show – tickets £16.50 plus booking fee.