April South

• April South - vocals, bass
• Gerry Curtiz - electric fiddle, rhythm guitar
• Brian McBreen - lead guitar (1982-)
• Alfie Dowd - drums (1982-)
  
  
  April South in 1983

Bio:

Pop metal goddess who outraged many a would be Oliver J.Flanagan and received extraordinarily hostile reactions from some quarters of the music biz in Ireland (famous Egghead and all round groovy 'enlightened' dude B.P.Fallon lost his cool and dismissed her as a 'tart' on Record Cabinet on RTE Radio. The mask slipping, oh groovy one?--ed.). She was listed among Ireland's Worst Dressed Women in the Sunday World by Micheline McCormick. And this in the age of Samantha Fox et al? Her raunchy image seems tame by todays standards. Shame on Hot Press for even questioning her about it. The past really is a foreign country.

Before all that April South (AKA Marian Curry) had spent a few years singing and playing keyboards with The Pennies showband (billed as April and The Pennies), something which didn't do much for her credibility later. She left school at 16 and moved to Dublin in search of a band to play with and settled in Bray. She spent a number of years on the showband circuit with the Pennies. Her negative experiences during this period informed the April South persona she later adopted. In an interview in Hot Press she claims to have spent four years with the Pennies, but the first single featuring April dates from 1973 - was this a different April?

April South formed her own hard rock/celtic rock band in September 1981 and toured the ballroom circuit, an unusual move at the time. She was the main songwriter and played bass. She penned a fake bio (claiming to be an American) and played up the sex angle in her live act. He act was described as "raw and crude" by Hot Press, and "her assertiveness vulgar rather than showbiz savvy". Her show was "Rock'N'Roll Burlesque, a comedy of errors and eros, that absolutely leaves it to the eye of the beholder". This kind of thing was simply 'not on' in 1981 and it led to bannings by the clergy, etc, but also a lunchtimeshow at TCD was picketed by feminists. By 1985 she'd toned down her image considerably and recorded a more MOR single.

April South recorded a handful of singles, all of which are sought after, especially the Rockelly releases. Her final single released in 1985 was a cover of Dobie Gray's 1973 hit "Drift Away" (recorded under the guidance of Louis Walsh?). The tracks on the "Green Metal" LP (1985) pre-date this drift into MOR mediocrity.

tracks:
Oro Se Do Bheatha Bhaile
Rock 'N' Roll Rodeo

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