The Orchestras and Dance Bands of the 20's to 50's

Currently listing 250 orchestras as of 02/26/2021

Long before the Royal Showband, Dickie Rock, Brendan O'Brien and all the rest, it was the orchestras, dance bands and Ceilidhe bands that provided the bulk of Irish entertainment throughout the whole of the 20th century, right up until the fateful moment the Clipper Carlton decided to kick away their music stands, and beyond.

Names like Tony Chambers, Malachy Doris, Chris Lambe, Maurice Mulcahy Mick Delahunty, Brose Walsh and a host of others featured 7-12 (and as many as 18 or 20) musicians. Once they set up their music stands, they provided some of the most versatile (if not the most exciting) entertainment ever heard in Ireland.

In the very earliest days of the 1920's the word "orchestra" was applied to just about any form of music for dancing. An article in the Connaught Telegraph in September, 1921 about a recent dance in the Town Hall, Castlebar described the "excellence of the music rendered by the Castlebar Orchestra - Mr. Stephen Garvey (piano), Mr. John Gavin (cornet) and Mr. J. Byrne (violin) made dancing a pleasure." 

As times progressed the term usually meant a larger band, but most of the orchestras were actually part time musicians, many from local brass bands that worked "civilian" jobs by day and donned their finest tuxedos by night to play residencies, dinner dances, and galas around the country. In fact, many of these bands were actually resident bands in some of the larger ballrooms. During the "off season," they would pack up and tour the country at the weekends, although nothing like the showbands would be doing by the late fifties and early sixties.

Although this form of entertainment remained virtually unchanged from the early 1900's right through to the mid 1950's, as the fifties came to a close, a change was in the air. The Clipper Carlton is credited with creating the "show" on which the term showband is based. Their "Saturday Night Jukebox" segment allowed the patrons to take a break from dancing and the band included comedy skits, impersonations, or other acts that stopped the crowd in their tracks and they watched the "show" for up to a half hour or more, after which time dancing would be resumed. Once the Clippers got rid of their music stands, threw away their tuxedos and started to move to the music; the die was cast for the next generation of Irish entertainment--The Showbands.

The transition from orchestras to showbands was not smooth and it did not happen overnight. One music reporter who called himself Dancelot in what was then known as the Irish Pictorial described a "recent" showband experiences thusly: "I'm not opposed to showbands generally...But lately I've been unlucky. I heard three or four bands in a row and could find nothing good to say about any of them. The bands in question reached an all time low musically, the sounds they made being appalling." He finished up by reporting, "you can get a percussionist who can belt the skins and cymbals hard and loud enough to provide a jive beat, gather together indifferent musicians who fancy themselves as singers who can "busk" on musical instruments, you're in the Showband business!"

In fact, most of the earliest showbands were actually orchestras, including the Clipper Carlton. Savvy band leaders dropped a few brass players, added a guitarist, electric bassist (and the occasional organ player) and changed their name from Orchestra to Band Show, Dance Band or Showband. Dave Glover claims responsibility for being the first to use the term "showband" after seeing the success of the Clipper Carlton. However, this fact remains in dispute as we have uncovered bands using the term Show Band (two words) while Dave was still using the term Orchestra in 1957.

The late fifties were a time of turmoil for musicians in Ireland. As mentioned above, most were part timers, happy to make a few quid at the weekends (and more during the summer) playing the favourites of the day and not traveling very far. Many of the dances took place in local church halls (where the Parish Priest could keep a close eye on the proceedings) and small ballrooms started to spring up around the country.

The transition to the new genre of the showbands took a few years with some bands playing under different names, depending on the venue--"orchestra" one night, "showband" the next.

Eventually, guitars took over as the main instrument, and the age of electronics brought guitar amps, P.A. systems, electric organs, lights and a host of accessories that had been unnecessary during the orchestral era. However, it was a painful transition for the bands themselves. 

Once the showband era got into full swing, musicians faced some serious decisions. Many had to give up the "day job" to turn pro. In many cases these jobs were actually professional careers for which the musicians had invested years of college such as law or accountancy. If married, they were forced to leave their spouses and children behind each day to climb into a cold van and drive for up to 6 hours one way, play 3-4 hours and then drive home. They slept while their families lived. Being "on the road" was a severe test of even the strongest marriage and many did not survive the ordeal.

By the early sixties most of the orchestras were gone, except for a handful that carried on the "big band" tradition such as Mulcahy, Chambers and others. Not only did the downfall of the orchestras hinge on their perceived lack of excitement as Ireland's hunger for good entertainment grew, there was also an economic reality as well. As the residencies in the ballrooms disappeared or were taken over by 3-4 piece relief groups, bands were forced to turn pro if they wanted to survive in the new era of the ballrooms. When it came to transporting musicians and equipment, it seemed that 7 or 8 musicians and their instruments was about the most a band could handle logistically (not to mention the problems with transporting a piano-one of the staples of the orchestras - although most ballrooms had pianos on stage, at least in the early days, they too would soon disappear). The predominant form of transport (Ford Transit or Commer vans wouldn't hold any more than that). So that in the end, the orchestras also became financially unviable. 

The listing below is far from complete. Most of the names have been lifted from the pages of Irish newspapers with the vaeat that bands were often called bands, or orchestras, especially in the 1940's and 1950's. This practice would continue into 1960's when some of these bands renamed themselves as "showbands."   

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* All entries with a single asterisk were suggested by one of the following people: David Dwane of the Western People, Billy Swann, formerly of The Cossacks Showband, Joe Dodd, Liam O'Reilly of the Columbia Showband, Michael Nesbitt, Glen Brown, Jan Lynch, Anne Lynch, John Baird, Karl Compton, Lorraine Clarke, Paddy Brennan, and Teddie Palmer

** All entries marked with two asterisks were given to us by Patrick Hoye, a great supporter of the site and member of the era of Irish Showbands. I've asked him on several occasions how he remembers all these names and he said, they just keep coming to him. Thanks Patrick, your help in compiling this list has been invaluable! Patrick played bass with the Jivenaires, Swingtime Aces, New Drifters, and the Joe Dolan Band before emigrating to Boston!

*** All entries marked with two asterisks were taken from a list in Finbar O'Keefe's 2002 book, "Goodnight, God Bless and Safe Home."

^ All entries marked like this come from the 1967 Showband Annual which we received from Liam O'Reilly of Arklow, former member of The Columbia Showband, among others. Thanks Liam for the contribution and photos elsewhere on the site!

Although much has been added since its inception, the basis for this list was from Francis Kennedy's excellent website on Irish Showbands located at: http://www.irishshowbands.net Francis has photos of many of these bands, as well as information on members, showband posters, records sleeves, and a wealth of information. Visit his site today to learn more. Another great site for information on the showbands of the 50's and 60's is at www.jivenaires.com.