All About The Memories (1963-2005)

One of Ireland's most beloved pop bands, the Memories, had their humble beginnings when came together at St. Vincent's School in Glasnevin. Mike Swan, Daire Doyle, Jim Barry and Colm Harpur had all attended the school and knew each other well, but their paths didn't come together musically until the early 60's when Jim joined the local church choir at St. Peter's in Phibsboro where the other three lads were already members.

Mick, Daire, and Colm had been involved in various vocal harmony groups as teenagers, the members of which seemed to vary with alarming frequency, and were keen to set up something a bit more permanent. Wanting to tape themselves to see how they sounded (a difficult task in the early 60's for teenagers without any money), they had a major problem. Luckily (for us) they discovered new choir member, Jim, owned a tape recorder and their problem was solved after they offered Jim the position as lead singer with the band. The four lads continued to rehearse and it was starting to sound good.... with one little problem, the material they thought they sang best - The Beach Boys, The Lettermen, Mamas and Papas - needed more than a piano accompaniment.

It was 1963 and the boys had been going out to socials and hops for a couple of years and they had seen a group a few times that they admired. One of the members of the group, Ray Crowe, went to school with Jim and as luck would have it the group was about to split so Ray was at a loose end and it turned out to be the perfect opportunity to add an extra voice (and a guitar) to the fledgling band. Thus the original Memories line up whose first professional gig (for a staggering £8) was at the interval of a bingo session in St. Peters Hall, Phibsboro in 1964. Billed as a "vocal group," they featured heavily in cabaret and within a couple of years they appeared on The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne.  

In the early sixties in Ireland there were really only two "scenes" the ballrooms and the folk/cabaret circuit. The Memories had put together a class act which featured close vocals harmonies that were more suited to the cabaret scene, which also at the time featured a lot of folk acts. By 1966 the boys were appearing regularly on the Dublin cabaret circuit and had a residency in the Hotel Montrose Cabaret show Sunday through Thursday with Paddy McGowan and Norman Metcalfe among others.  

By July, 1967, they had signed with Decca Records and released their first single, A Summer Song, with Words I Remember on the B-side. Interestingly, an article in the Evening Press at the time described the boys as: Mick Swan (a sales manager), Ray Crowe (airport official), Jim Barry (estimating clerk), Daire Doyle (compositor) and Colm Harpur (advertising clerk).

A year later they released their follow-up, Oh No, was a hit and reached the Irish Top Ten, paving the way for the band's eventual success. In the summer of 1968, they were playing summer cabaret in Jury's Hotel and in the legendary "Gaels of Laughter" show in the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. A five piece, they were still very much a folk/cabaret group. The band were still semi-professional as they all had day jobs. An article in Spotlight's August 24th, 1968 issue mentioned the boys were "considering going full time into music."  In October, 1968 they were interviewed by B.P. Fallon and told him of their plans to get into the pop scene.

When discussing their follow up to Oh, No, Jim said, "We spent ages trying to select material, listening to LPs by The Doors, The Association, Harper's Bizarre, Simon and Garfunkel and the Fifth Dimension. We had rows for three weeks, then Ray came along with this Cowsills record his mother had bought in Canada."

B.P. went to see the boys' show in the Gaiety that night and reported, "their act was a medley from West Side Story that included The Jet Song, Maria, Officer Krupke and Tonight. All very polished, all in true showbiz tradition even ending their songs with arms outstretched in true Bachelor's style. All very good if you like that sort of thing." At this point the band did not do any dance music.

In fact, in the same interview, the boys discussed the possibility of moving from cabaret into the ballrooms. Said guitarist Ray Crowe, "our present environment is cabaret and concerts, because people can't dance to us. But we're rehearsing bass and rhythm. After here (the Gaiety gig) we go on a fortnight's holiday, then practice for a month. But even in ballrooms we wouldn't like people to dance to us - we'd do a cabaret type spot."

For the next couple of years, the band continued to focus on their cabaret show, resisting the temptation to move into the ballrooms. They continued to release records, but had little success after "Oh, No" which topped out at number 10 in the Irish Charts. They made the move towards pop, releasing Jim Webb's Where's the Playground Suzie, but this had little impact on sales. At the same time, they we in the process of "updating" their clean cut image. moving towards a pop look.        

In early 1970, an article appeared on the cover of the Evening Herald announcing the band had signed a major record deal in the United States and were even contemplating a name change (see below). Given their eventual history, we can't confirm this ever happened. The band dropped their folk image and turned to play more contemporary music, still focusing on cabaret and concert venues. However, several members were still completing their studies at university.

It wasn't until February, 1972, that the band finally decided to join the showband circuit when they brought drummer, Chris Heenan, into the band, making them a six piece. Managed by Des Kelly, the band played its first gig on the same bill as Dickie Rock and the Miami in Dublin's Television Club on Thursday, February 16th, 1972. To support the launch of the new Memories, the band released a single which had two original numbers, Say Good Morning and Sing Me A Happy Song.

Immediately, they became a hit on the ballroom circuit, mainly because they were so different from the other top bands. While other bands regurgitated the top hits of the day, the Mems (along with the top twenty) added specialty numbers like a medley from Jesus Christ Superstar and other harmony rich, complex numbers. Their reputation in the halls continued to grow and finally, they seemed to be hitting their stride musically.

Lineup Changes