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 4 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
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
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
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 9 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 2 1998 - 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
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
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 8 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 7 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 7 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 6 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 3 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 Sep 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 Sep 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 Sep 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 Sep 5 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 8 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 2 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 1 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 4 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