Without a doubt the best known rock’n’roller to come out of Cork is Rory Gallagher. But the Rebel County has produced a wide range of singular talents – from Sean O Riada through Jimmy McCarthy to Cathal Coughlan. To celebrate the Cork Live At The Marquee gigs and Cork 2005, we decided to compile an imaginary Best Of for the place by the Lee – and discovered that to do the music justice no less than 40 tracks would do. This is our selection.

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1. DANNY LA RUE – ON MOTHER KELLY’S DOORSTEP
Born Daniel Patrick Carroll in Cork in 1927, Ireland’s most famous cross-dresser hit the UK charts with this bouncy music-hall style ditty in December 1968 and it stayed there for nine weeks. Not a lot of people know that! A real late ‘60s Cork favourite…

2. SULTANS OF PING FC – WHERE’S ME JUMPER?
A legendary band – and this was their classic, raucously, naggingly brilliant single. They even got to do it on Top Of The Pops! Described as a camp mixture of The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit meeting classic Japanese pop, they’re influential, too. Dundalk’s The Gurriers do a cracking cover of this song in their live set.

3. FRANK & WALTERS – MICHAEL
Possibly the happiest and poppiest band to ever come out of Cork, the Franks have an amazing ability to craft a pop song – and this is among their finest. Complete with orange costumes – and an undying devotion to Cork City FC – they were a big influence on Franz Ferdinand and their ilk.

4. NUN ATTAX – WHITE CORTINA
The late Finbarr Donnelly, who later died in a drowning accident in London, was celebrated in hotpress as the first punk in Cork. He and his band – along with peers The Constant Reminders – really did shake some serious action in venues like The Phoenix and the Arcadia. Received timely, important support from Elvira Butler’s Reekus Records. If Cork could be bottled and turned into a sound this would be it. Funky, awkward, gifted – and on another plane, ‘White Cortina’ is brilliant.

5. LOKO PARENTIS – HOW ARE YOU, HUMAN?
Take two members (Mike and Paul) of Cork’s first punk band, Berserk (sadly, unrecorded), and put in a blender with Ricky and Smelley from Nun Attax and the guitar creativity of Giordai O Laoighaire – as an experiment, it was wonderfully punchy, quirky and it swung like f**k.

6. FIVE GO DOWN TO THE SEA – THERE’S A FISH ON TOP OF SHANDON SWEARS HE’S ELVIS
Finbarr Donnelly again, and friends. What a title! That driving bubbly sound, metronomic guitar, demented vocal and… a cello! They don’t make ‘em like this any more.
7. MICRODISNEY – TOWN TO TOWN
The best pop song ever from Cork by, arguably, its best songwriter, Cathal Coughlan. A small masterpiece.

8. FATIMA MANSIONS – ONLY LOSERS TAKE THE BUS
Cathal Coughlan again. In this incarnation, he proved irreverent, fiery, cold and angry. Standing at the front at their gigs was like being hit by a train!

9. STUMP – CHARLTON HESTON
Mick Lynch, originally of the Constant Reminders, once did a window display for hotpress in Porters’ newsagents on Patrick Street (and a fine job he did too!). The Stooges meet Beefheart meet Zappa in the Phoenix Bar, this is the essence of quirky Cork genius.

10. MAX VON RAP – WISH I HAD A KAWASAKI
Led by Joe Rex, in this ‘wish-ful’ cut, white funk meets The Stranglers – with Mick Finnegan’s famous “duck noise” guitar effect for good measure.

11. THE BANDITZ – JCB
Like Real Mayonnaise, The Banditz were keyboard oriented – although they brought a distinctly quirky and zany edge to their pop crusade. Drummer Wayne Sheedy later had spells in Driveshaft, 1990 and Cactus World News. If memory serves, he also used a Kosangas container as a percussion option! The angular pop of ‘JCB’ captures this oddness very well.

12. FACTOR FICTION – TIME AND REALITY
For a while, this three-minute power-pop outfit were heading for the stratosphere, with a 7-track EP, a Fanning session, national radio play, and so on. But they broke up, not long after this track – in which they broaden out to peculiar, space-pop territory – was recorded! They may well be tampering with the space-time continuum as you read this.

13. BELSONIC SOUND – YOURS SINCERELY
Musical fusion of punk, funk, soul and reggae, complete with sexiest keyboard player alive. Allegedly. Their potency is well captured in this timeless tune.

14. RORY GALLAGHER – GOING TO MY HOMETOWN
There are dozens of cuts in the Rory canon that would make a great addition to any Cork album. The choice might have been ‘Same Old Story’ by Taste, ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ or ‘Philby’ – but anyone who heard Rory perform this rousing acoustic shindig at his annual City Hall gigs will also remember the mutual feeling of pride between singer and audience. “Going to my hometown/Don’t care even if I have to walk”. Brilliant (with an acknowledgement to Ballyshannon, too, of course!).

15. JOHN SPILLANE – DUNNE’S STORES GIRL
He earned his spurs with The Stargazers, but has really come into his own as a solo artist. Good, too, that he’s willing to stand up and be counted. “The Dunne’s Stores girl/she rules my world,” he sings. Whenever a Dunne’s stores girl gets married, guess what will be sung at the wedding?

16. JIMMY CROWLEY – THE BOYS OF FAIRHILL
A great Cork character, this is his finest hour. Could anyone else do the song as much justice as he?

17. JIMMY McCARTHY – RIDE ON
Christy Moore made it famous, Jimmy wrote it. A bona fide Irish classic by a songwriting legend, it slips in ahead of Jimmy’s equally well-known ‘No Frontiers’.

18. LOUDEST WHISPER – YOU AND I
Brian O’Reilly’s Fermoy folksters, are best known for their Children Of Lir album. This is West Coast classic folk rock at its finest that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Byrds album.

19. FREDDIE WHITE – FROZEN HEART
One of Cork’s first nationally successful singer-songwriters, White originally made his name covering songs by the likes of Randy Newman, Tom Waits etc., in his own unique style. He co-wrote this hit with one Johnny Duhan.

20. SINÉAD LOHAN – WHATEVER IT TAKES
The Cork born singer-songwriter is one of the city’s great musical enigmas. But there is no doubting the anthemic power of ‘Whatever It Takes’ – a fine and memorable statement of intent from her Malcolm Burns produced second album No Mermaid.

21. INTERFERENCE – LEONIE
Fergus O’Farrell remains one of Ireland’s finest songsmiths and occasionally ventures out from his West Cork base for gigs that are remembered, rightly, as ‘events’. Less is more. And even better when Paul Tiernan joins them on stage. This boasts a big soaring chorus with a folk-rock flavour and a lyrical edge.

22. THE HIGH LLAMAS – CHECKING IN, CHECKING OUT
Co-founder of Micro Disney – in which he was the yin to Cathal Coughlan’s yang – Sean O’Hagan cut loose with the wonderful High Llamas. ‘Checking In’ reflects influences such as The Beach Boys and Steely Dan and boasts a sweet, sweet melody!

23. 1990 – DON’T GIVE IT UP
Kieran Kennedy has paid his dues over the years and crops up on notable sessions on a regular basis (as well as being married to one Maria Doyle Kennedy!). 1990 were a fine rock band and this is one of their lost classics – a slice of melodic, punchy, impassioned rock. Kennedy later established The Black Velvet Band and subsequently pursued a solo career.

24. HOT GUITARS – NASTY PEOPLE
Singer Joe O’Callaghan and guitarist Bill O’Brien are legends of Cork blues-rock, although even this original riffy ditty fell short of capturing fully their live energy. They supported Rory on many occasions, Joe looking a bit like Joe Cocker and soaking his harmonica in beer – while Bill played the first transparent perspex guitar in Cork!

25. DRIVESHAFT – HEARTBREAKER
Cork hasn’t had many hard rock/metal outfits over the years, but Gerry Lane took the 'Shaft from Bandon to London – and for a while they looked like they might crack it, with ‘80s style riffarama like this. Alas and alak – but this is a tasty reminder of what might have been…

26. CYPRESS, MINE – SUGARBEET GOD
Flying the flag for all things jangly, Cypress, Mine hit the spot with this. Boasting a great chorus and superb bass line, the track that has become their legacy should have been massive.

27. BURNING EMBERS – SWEET YOUNG LADY
Big hair ‘n’ big sound – this was a slice of pure pop from the pen of Sean O’Neill. A Cork classic – but which local sweetie was it about?

28. WITHOUT THE – TOMORROW
The best band not to make it out of Cork (even as far as Dublin, as they say!)? Great songs, great live shows, the latter unfortunately never recorded. This is classic “indie”garage power pop (when the term indie actually meant something).

29. SIMPLE KID – AVERAGE MAN
One of the standout tracks from what many regard as the best Irish album in the last five years, the extraordinary SK1. Velvets meets Dylan (Bringing It All Back Home) meets Modern Lovers meets Phil Spector meets one guy alone in a studio with a bucket load of fine songs. Expect great things to come.

30. BASS ODYSSEY – REMOTE CONTROL SOUL
Considering Cork’s illustrious reputation in Irish clubbing circles, it’s amazing that more tunes haven’t been forthcoming. This, however, had it all. A tough street smart production, complete with a stunning vocal.
31. DANCING BASTARDS FROM HELL – SKIPPY
Crazy Horse on glue meets Right Said Fred on draincleaner. Three guitars, no chords and the truth! Great stuff…
32. RULERS OF THE PLANET – THINGS FALL APART
Singer Barry is the most energetic man to get on a stage in Cork for years. This is one of the highlights of their fast, furious and rocking In Thirty Minutes We Destroy The Earth album. In a word, happenin’.

33. BOA MORTE – BURN
There’s real breadth to the Cork scene right now. Or to put it another way, Boa Morte could hardly be more unlike Rulers Of The Planet if they tried! Strong songwriting on a bit of an alt.country trip, this oozes genuine class.

34. STANLEY SUPER 800 – MOONLIGHT
Their eponymous debut combines elements of electronica, psychedelia and good old fashioned rock ’n’ roll in one sumptuous whole. Stan O’Sullivan – once of The Shanks – shows his softer and quirkier side on this fine piece of lo-fi electronica.

35. MÉTISSE – BOOM BOOM BA
Métisse – with ex-Belsonic Scully to the fore – are a breadth of fresh air on the Irish scene, thanks in no small measure to the presence of the gorgeous Aida on vocals. So impressed was Madonna with this track that she used it in her movie, The Next Big Thing, and it featured on the soundtrack alongside Madge’s version of ‘American Pie’.

36. DEEP SOUTH PRODUCTIONS – THE JAZZ
The sound of Sir Henry's! Stevie G, Shane Johnson & Greg Dowling lay down some smoky, late nite jazzygrooves, with sexy looped vocal.

37. GMC – NOT TONIGHT (BOUNCER SONG)
GMC, along with Dutch Gold Kid, are two of the leading lights in Cork’s highly prolific hip hop community. This is bedroom hip hop of the highest order.

38. ANNETTE BUCKLEY – HONEYSUCKLE
There’s been a paucity of women to the fore in contemporary music in Cork – so it is all the more gratifying to see a fine new talent like Annette Buckley emerge. Great voice – wonderful and inspiring!

39. SEAN O’RIADA – MISE EIRE.
Composed as the score for a film about the War of Independence, it launched on a classical score and soared majestically to capture the spirit of the whole nation. Gael Linn recently released a remastered ‘O’Riada Sa Gaiety’ featuring a famous Cork tenor. Speaking of whom …

40. SEAN O’SE – ON THE BANKS OF MY OWN LOVELY LEE
In many people’s opinion, this is the definitive version of the Cork anthem, although we’d love to have heard Patti Smith’s rendition in the Opera House last year…