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Bio:
From Howth, Co.Dublin and originally known as The Dark, with Gerry Daly on drums.
They were influenced by The Doors (covering "Maggie McGill" and "Peace Frog" live), but also
The Kinks, Dylan, Dr.Feelgood and B.B.King ("Four in the Morning" was in their live set). They played
Sundays at the Summit Inn in Howth in September/October 1979. The band recorded a 4-song demo
in late '79 which led to an appearance on Our Times (RTE) in 1979 and attracted record company
interest, including Automatic Records in London. At some point they changed their name to
The Spies, Stuart McMillan became the drummer, and their music became more
consciously new wave.
The Spies were a great pop punk/new wave band whose sole single is one of the
essential Irish rock singles. Alex McGrath left just
before it was recorded and
so Jack Dublin (of Rocky De Valera,
Deaf Actor, In Tua Nua and a
Howth local) plays bass on both sides. Their demo includes unreleased tracks, including (probably) "Let’s Go Insane". I came across a reference to a second single
(probably in the Local Motions column in Hot Press) but before anyone jumps
down my throat for spreading misinformation I stress that this single was probably never released and certainly
not under the Spies name. Joey Barry and Gerry Leonard's next band
Above The Thunderclouds did make some
recordings, and perhaps it was they who intended a single release.
Joey Barry was later in Above The Thunderclouds and
Thee Amazing Colossal Men.
Gerry Leonard was later in Above The Thunderclouds,
Hinterland
and now plays guitar for David Bowie among others.
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.