Merton to make cats laughThe British comic, Paul Merton, leads the line-up for this year's Murphy's Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in KilkennyTue Apr 28 1998 - 01:00
Royal county raises the flag as trade unionists honour socialistThe Socialist anthem, The Red Flag, came home to Crossakiel, Co Meath, yesterday.Mon Apr 27 1998 - 01:00
Happens all the timeAs the song goes: they got knocked down, but they got up againFri Apr 24 1998 - 01:00
Ventriloquism at dizzy heightsBringing ventriloquism to places it has never been before, and probably never wanted to go to in the first place, American Strassman…Wed Apr 22 1998 - 01:00
Bristol CallingIt's a geo-cultural thing: cities and the music they produce is a minor fascination, and we're not talking Nashville here, mister…Fri Apr 17 1998 - 01:00
`Hormones' hired for US hit comedyWhen the cast of the American TV hit comedy Friends arrived in London last week to film some episodes, they were looking for "…Sat Apr 04 1998 - 01:00
Waterford's WaterlooHonestly, kids these days: it's the post-gig party on the Rollercoaster tour in up-for-it Waterford and back in the hotel after…Fri Feb 13 1998 - 00:00
Comedic Dublin maestro is home in humorous bentProfession: actor of the never-out-of-work varietySat Jan 31 1998 - 00:00
Knock hard: life is deafThe first question you want to ask - but shouldn't ask - an Irish band which has just been signed to a major label is "what are…Fri Jan 30 1998 - 00:00
Squeeze Side StoryIn the liner notes to the Squeeze six-CD box set, Six Of One, Nick Hornby says that he only became a writer after listening to…Fri Jan 23 1998 - 00:00
Cannes' Mediterranean marketplace of musicThey use a different language in Cannes: bands are "the act", albums are "product", singles are "loss leaders" and countries …Fri Jan 23 1998 - 00:00
Dylan Moran plus guestsWith Jo Brand pulling out ill hours before the opening, the organisers of the Laughter Lounge had to scurry around looking for…Sat Jan 10 1998 - 00:00
Retrospective ReplacementsOf all the singles, all the albums, all the compilations, reissues, greatest hits, etc; from 1979 to when they officially disbanded…Fri Jan 09 1998 - 00:00
Rave On Nick DrakeFor someone who has so many fanzines and websites dedicated to him, someone who is cited by REM, Everything But The Girl, Paul…Fri Jan 02 1998 - 00:00
Name-dropping and talent-spottingSo what if you've never heard of them, this time next year you'll be queuing up outside HMV overnight, trying to get a ticket…Sat Dec 27 1997 - 00:00
The reluctant frontmanIt has always been said that the success of Have I Got News For You is largely due to a class-ridden British audience's vicarious…Sat Dec 27 1997 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryTony and Cherie Blair, when out buying their sun-dried tomatoes and scented candles on Islington High Street, are probably being…Tue Dec 23 1997 - 00:00
Giving It FiveA year of drums and basses, being here now and being there then, of candles and wind, pop tarts and marts, smacking people up…Fri Dec 19 1997 - 00:00
Our dearly departedOnce a morbid backwater of journalism, the art (which indeed it is) of obituary writing has been reclaimed by the normally staid…Wed Dec 17 1997 - 00:00
A box of unknown pleasuresIt was only when Peter Hook was moving house a few months ago and came across some old, never released, Joy Division tapes, that…Fri Dec 12 1997 - 00:00
He shoots, he scoresHe's a strange bloke is our Moby, one of the most in-demand re-mixers of our time (he's done Michael Jackson, David Bowie and…Fri Nov 28 1997 - 00:00
Exit Planet TechnoThe Second Summer Of Love they called it and when that awful "Daisy" scene started up, it seemed like they were coming back in…Fri Nov 21 1997 - 00:00
Great ScotThere's retro and there's retro: the paucity of imagination and unacknowledged plagiarism that goes into sounding like Traffic…Fri Nov 14 1997 - 00:00
Denis LearyBill Hicks once said of Denis Leary that "he is the Donovan to my Dylan" but due to the vagaries of the celeb system, it is Leary…Sat Nov 08 1997 - 00:00
Rich HallWith a speaking voice placed somewhere between Tom Waits and one of the Simpson family, and a pissed-off expression on his face…Fri Nov 07 1997 - 00:00
One step beyondDespite all the blah blah blah about punk, it's oft forgotten that the two main protagonists were both signed to major labels…Fri Nov 07 1997 - 00:00
Surfing on a wave of adulationStill collared by his televisual antics, which never harms the size of his audience, the stand-up within Ardal O'Hanlon always…Thu Nov 06 1997 - 00:00
Bonding sessionKids these days. There was a time when you could say with some reasonable degree of certainty that singers like Matt Monro and…Fri Oct 31 1997 - 00:00
Beside the hitAnother reason to mourn the passing of vinyl is the death of the B-side as we knew and loved itFri Oct 24 1997 - 01:00
Caveat EmptorAlice Moore was a huge Spice Girls fan, had all the records, magazines, "books", posters and videosFri Oct 17 1997 - 01:00
They crawled from the southThere's only one band which can combine gazillion-selling commercial acclaim with fawning critical acclaim and that's REM - no…Fri Oct 10 1997 - 01:00
Definitive danceA few years ago there were people on the pitch - they thought it was all overFri Oct 03 1997 - 01:00
It was 20 years ago today..."There's nothing for us in Belfast", Jake Burns rasped on the opening line of Alternative Ulster but like so many aspects of …Fri Sept 26 1997 - 01:00
A clearing in the jungleI lost a fortune on this year's Mercury Music Prize (cash donations to the usual address, marked "sad loser" please) thanks to…Fri Sept 19 1997 - 01:00
A riot of my ownSome go to Graceland, some to Windmill Lane, some to Athens, Georgia - I go to a huge piece of concrete and metal known as the…Fri Sept 12 1997 - 01:00
Fun from Northern BritainVodka at 20 pence, tequila at 50 pence, bottles of lovely beer at 60 pence, Teenage Fanclub on the stage and it's all in the …Fri Sept 05 1997 - 01:00
Cabbies offer tips while comics pop (or pip) PerrierThere's still a week to go and already I'm lying in a darkened room, only able to take food through a straw and having hallucinogenic…Wed Aug 27 1997 - 01:00
Top prize nomination for Cork comedianCork comedian Graham Norton has been nominated for the Perrier prize at the Edinburgh Fringe FestivalThu Aug 21 1997 - 01:00
Right here right nowPutting the DIY back into music and returning it to where it rightfully belongs, the gently anarchic spirits at Hope Collective…Fri Aug 15 1997 - 01:00
South Of HeavenWhen local noiseniks Pincher Martin went in to record their new album, they characteristically opened the proceedings with a …Fri Aug 08 1997 - 01:00
The Bubba of all cartoonsIn the Southern part of the US they're called "bubbas" - the sort of blue-collar workers who drink beer from cans, scratch their…Sat Aug 02 1997 - 01:00
Welcome back Moz, we've missed youStill bearing more grudges than lonely high court judges, Morrissey speaketh unto us anew with his new solo album - and we may…Fri Aug 01 1997 - 01:00
Mercurial machinationsGiven that the Mercury Music Prize (the best British or Irish album of the year) has as its criteria "exciting and challenging…Fri Jul 25 1997 - 01:00
Songs From Southern DublinThere's nothing like an indie gig in Camden Town to evoke memories of times pastFri Jul 18 1997 - 01:00
Bands from Northern BritainDESPITE the fact that we have produced one of the biggest bands in the world and many other international heavyweights across…Fri Jul 04 1997 - 01:00
Soap with no flannelIF anything sheds new light on how incredibly twee the pucino favoured angst of those half humans, half dolls is in the hit US…Sat Jun 28 1997 - 01:00
Coolest man on earthIF you are looking for anything by Burt Bacharach in a record shop you'll find it in the "easy listening" category: how cruelly…Sat Jun 28 1997 - 01:00
Hip hop hurrahIT's been a funny old rock'n'roll world for Michael Franti - first discovered by the heroic Jello Biafra when he was with the…Fri Jun 27 1997 - 01:00
