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McClintic Sphere

From: Dublin

Active: 1983 - 1985

Style: Experimental pop

Lineup:

Bio:

McClintic Sphere was formed in summer '83 by Conneely, Mordaunt and O'Keeffe around a mutual interest in Talking Heads, King Crimson, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich and others. Inclined to dismiss pop lyrics, their initial idea had been to concentrate on music accompanying non-verbal vocalisations. A repertoire based loosely on north African modal improvisation was assembled before Byrne, Fox and O'Brien were added for timbral colour, vocal weight and percussive impact respectively. Support slots were filled at every opportunity and in autumn 1984 Donal Coughlan (The Departure, Hinterland) produced the '3 Things' demo at the short-lived Ella Guru studios in Baldoyle. Fox left when the other members wanted to incorporate conventional pop tunes (Shadow Catcher, Master Of Disguise, The Lamppost Song) into their set in an effort to develop a vanishingly small audience. The band continued to gig, mostly as a support act, in pubs and halls between Raheny and Howth, until the drummer's ex-girlfriend went mondo-Yoko by seducing the guitar player at which point they broke up.

Drummer Paul O'Brien later joined Thee Amazing Colossal Men and is currently in the Lee Harveys. Guitarist Mordaunt continued to write and record under the name McClintic Sphere with keyboardist Brian Lynch (ex Winter's Reign), cultivating some small interest from Deke O'Brien (of Scoff Records) which eventually came to nothing. In 1988 Mordaunt went to London where under the name Delta Gambit he produced ambient electronica for the warehouse scene with Mick Donlan (ex Some Kind Of Wonderful). O'Keeffe spent a short spell in The Incazincs (with clarinetist Byrne) then abandoned keyboards for bass guitar, played with Big Black Train Ride, then double bass with The Texas Kellys, a 'rhythm and bluegrass' outfit with Steve Wickham (The Waterboys) and Paul Byrne (In Tua Nua), and managed by Louis Walsh. Mordaunt and O'Keeffe came together again with Brian Lynch to form Jaylene Slide in the early nineties, after which O'Keeffe kick-started Jack L's career by recruiting him as the vocalist for his Jacques Brel showcase.

McClintic Sphere is a character in Thomas Pynchon's novel V, while Jaylene Slide was a character in William Gibson's Count Zero.



Discography

• 3 Things Demo
tracks:


Help!

We need your help to correct and/or complete this entry. If you can provide more information about this band, have scans, photos or any other memorabilia we can use, or spare copies of any releases, then please get in touch.


Last update: 21 September 2010.

Thanks to Michael King.

See Also: Cactus World News, Driveshaft, Hinterland



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