Over the moon

It may be just a coincidence, but the DIY punk ethos sweeping the country could hardly have come at a better time for The Moondogs, prime examples of all that was most vibrant about the Northern Ireland ’70s punk explosion, to re-emerge with not one but two albums.

The Moondogs’ crackin’ single ‘She’s Nineteen’ on Good Vibrations is now a much sought-after collectors’ item, and, in the wake of the dust it kicked up, the band toured Ireland with The Undertones and before long had scored a record deal with a branch of Sire Records. So last week, the ’Dogs’ legendary bassist Jackie Hamilton took time off from his current duties in the world of comedy with the Empire Comedy Club to bring us smack up to date on all things Moondoggy:

“The Peel Sessions album is just out on Detour Records, and it has songs like our early singles ‘She’s Nineteen’ and ‘Who’s Gonna Tell Mary’ on it. It’s based around two Peel sessions of four songs each, one from April 1980 and the other from March 1981. That first session played a major part in getting us a recording deal with Real Records, as it gave us a chance to record our songs with some decent quality for the first time. This was long before home studios and all the technological stuff we take for granted today.

“The release came about when Detour recently approached the BBC looking for permission to use the Peel Session recordings for a CD release. They had to clear it with us too and that’s when we found out about it. Presumably Detour see an opportunity on the market for the kind of sound we make. But more by coincidence than anything else, we’ve also got a Moondogs album of new songs coming out at the start of May. It’s called Red Fish and it’ll be released on Reekus Records. We paid for the recordings ourselves and then did a licensing deal with Elvira Butler of Reekus because she approached us after she heard about the Peel Sessions coming out. We like Elvera and it all fitted into place quite well.

“Although up to now we’ve been concentrating on the new record we’ve also been limbering up for some live dates to link up with the release of Red Fish. It’s not so much a tour, more a series of selected dates. On the first of May we play Belfast with The Buzzcocks, and with them again in Dublin on May third. We do Derry too, and a few other places as well.

“We won’t get a proper fix on how much things have changed since the ’70s, or perhaps haven’t changed at all, until we start to try to press the buttons with the new album and the tour. But I think one significant change is in the quality of venues. Sound systems overall have really improved since way back then. Most venues now have a decent PA system and that let’s you concentrate on other things, like your guitar, amps and so on. In the old days the big killer was trying to get a decent PA system.

“I notice another big change myself from the perspective of the comedy scene. It goes back to the early nineties when comedy was the new rock’n’roll and you were as likely to see a comedy act on the cover of hotpress as you might get Bono or Avril Lavigne. Whereas comedians used to be seen more as a warm-up act, they now gig in their own right. So the comedy scene has changed too, just like I’m sure the music scene has. Anyway, we’ll find out soon enough when we get out there with The Moondogs on the road! I’m really looking forward to it.”