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Bio:
Some People were originally called The Rollintones (or The Rollin' Tones),
managed by '50s Rock'n'Roll singer Jackie Johnson. The Rollintones won a competition for groups and showbands
in Dublin which led to some dates in the UK which in turn led to bookings in Germany in February or March 1965
through producer Peter Collison, one of the competition adjucators. Unfortunately the German gigs had
to be cancelled when work permits fell through due to one of the band members being underage. Some hastily
arranged dates in Holland were organised instead.
Confusion over the band's name resulted in a mini riot when 3000 dutch fans expecting to see the Rolling Stones
turned up in the small town of Sprundel.
A name change
was considered wise after this incident.
Once back in Dublin, a competition was arranged for fans to pick the new name. The winning entry was Some People. Some People started their own production company S.P.Productions to promote beat group gigs in Ireland. They signed to Tempo Records in 1965 and their debut release was announced for November that year but it never came out. The band would have to wait another 4 years approx for a chance to release their debut single. Niall Byrne was replaced (temporarily) by Brendan Bonass, but Byrne later returned to reclaim his place, ousting Bonass.
In February 1967 Some People made some demos in a used clothing warehouse
on the Quays in Dublin city centre. They were recorded by Peter Selwood, manning a two-track Studer.
These recordings were instigated by the manager rather than the band.
Two Peter Lee Sterling songs were recorded, "I Don't Want Nobody Else But You" (Harry Evans lead vocal) and
"How Can A Man Get It So Wrong" (Bob Bolton lead vocal).
These tracks were not part of the band's normal repertoire and were never performed them live.
They were very schmaltzy and the band was very into blues, so they were not representative of the bands sound.
I've read that these tracks were
suggested by John Woods of Pye, but this may have been spin from the manager. No deal with
Pye was discussed, and in fact the recordings were never mentioned again. I've also read that
a third track was recorded at the same
session, a cover of The Seeds "Pushin' Too Hard". Sadly this is not true.
These recordings have never been released and while they still exist on tape, they are probably
not worthy of attention.
Harry Evans decided to leave, in July 1967. Bob Bolton also left during 1967, joining the Uptown Band.
Fran Byrne left to join the the Sands in September 1967. His replacement Peter Carr
recalls playing on the demos, so Fran may
have left the band sometime earlier. Peter Carr also
recalls Jay Malone (guitarist of The Kingbees) playing with the band during his tenure
with Some People. Peter Carr also recalls Phil Lynott playing bass and singing with Some People
for a very short period, short because band leader Harry Evans wasn't happy with the standard of his playing
and the conflict over who was the real singer with the band, and so he had to go. This was probably in 1967.
Ditch Cassidy fronted the band for about six months (at a guess in the 67-68 period).
Peter Carr left for the Purple Pussycat and was later in Alyce.
By 1969 Niall Byrne had assembled a completely new line-up with
with Brendan Connolly (lead vocals),
Anthony Dunne (rhythm guitar), Con O'Brien (bass guitar) and Christy Kavanagh (drums).
This is the lineup which made the bands
vinyl debut in December 1969 on the Paddy Is Dead compilation LP (Pye Records)
with two tracks, one of which was to become
the A-side of their debut single in 1970. This was an
unremarkable (except that they chose to record it! . . . though actually it was manager Jackie Johnson's choice,
the band weren't all that keen) cover of "Walk Like A Man". The B-side
is much better, an instrumental that mixes The Shadows, surf guitar and Westerm movie themes
with a slightly psychedelic edge. This was a band original, written by Niall Byrne. It is well worth
tracking down.
Some People played one or both of the open air afternoon benefit gigs for the
Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin in July 1970, sharing the bill with Thin Lizzy.
They were still actively gigging in August 1971, playing at the Holyrood Hotel in Bundoran
on the 2nd according to contemporary listings. Two further singles were recorded for Pye in 1971,
"Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall", a Simon & Garfunkel cover and "Bluebird".
Niall Byrne left the band in '71 or '72. We're not sure if he is present on the final single which
paired a cover of Al Jolson's song "Mammy", the less said about which the better, with an unremarkable
cover of the Goffin/King classic "Goin' Back". This was released in April 1972. More of the same was
to follow on the band's debut LP, released in '72 or '73. The sleeve notes list the lineup as
Brendan Connolly, Tommy (sic) Dunne, Con O'Brien and Christy Kavanagh. It consists entirely of
covers.
Mick Tully & Christy Lundy
joined from Dublin band Switch circa 1972-73 by which time
only Dunne & Kavanagh remained from the previous lineup. Brendan Connolly was replaced by
Brian Conway. Tommy Mangan also played somewhere in this late timeline.
The band finally split ca 1973.
Fran Byrne was also in Rockhouse, The Creatures,
The Chosen Few and the Sands.
Bassist Bob Bolton played in a number of bands after Some People (1963-66) including
The Uptown Band (1966-67),
The Stellas (1967-69),
The Chosen Few (1969-71),
Stepaside (1971-78),
The Swarbriggs Band (1978-80)
and The Negatives (1980-81).
Peter Carr was later (mid-70s) in a band with John Farrell (ex Movement, Dreams, Groundhogs, etc.),
Eric Bell (ex Dreams, Thin Lizzy)
and keyboard player Andy ??? (The Editions); does anyone recall the details?
Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic. If you can help, then please get in touch.