Formed in the aftermath of Ireland’s punk explosion, the Howth-based outfit had a brief but glorious lifespan, which lasted from November 1977 to their final gig at McGonagles on New Year’s Eve 1979.
The Gravediggers 2005 features original members, Rocky (aka Ferdia McAnna), Jack Dublin on bass, Martin (“The Lizard”) Maher on guitar, along with drummer Paul Byrne [ex In Tua Nua]. The reunion was instigated by Rocky himself, as he explains
“I did what all mad, middle-aged blokes do,” he says. “I quit my job [as RTE Producer] and bought a guitar. I rang The Lizard who I hadn’t seen since 1984 and then I contacted Jack Dublin. We got together, just started playing again and it worked.”
The band’s moniker caused no little controversy at the time while numbers like ‘Sine Fianna Fail Blues’ ruffled a few feathers.
“It was as close to sacrilege as you could get,” McAnna chuckles. “The Irish Press used to call us names like Rocky Malaria.”
Image-wise the Gravediggers were a menacing bunch too, resembling extras from Marlon Brando's Wild Ones - all black leather jackets, dangling chains and Rocky’s trademark eye-patch.
“We based ourselves on The Pirate. Johnny Kidd was one of my heroes and we did stuff like ‘Shakin' All Over’, ‘The Peter Gunne Theme’ and ‘Gloria’. And we did ‘Brand New Cadillac’ long before The Clash! “Playing again is just for fun,” he concludes. “It has to be at this stage though we take having fun seriously and we’ve written a few new songs.”
You can see how they’ve weathered on February 4 when they play Eamonn Doran’s in Dublin. The full story of The Gravediggers is told in Ferdia McAnna’s book, The Rocky Years.