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Bio:
The Captions were a power pop band who played around the triangle area of
Coleraine, Portstewart and Portrush between 1980 to 1982. They were contempories
of The Xdreamysts, Perfect Crime and Know Authority among others.
The Captions began life as a punk band called Miracle Cure (1979-80)
which included Eamon, Chris and Sean along with Louie Coulter (vocals/rhythm
guitar). When Louie left, the others took the opportunity to change their name
as their sound was evolving but also because Robert Smith's band The Cure was
gaining prominence by that time.
Louie's replacement was Francie McFaul who became the band's chief songwriter though Sean Corr contributed several songs to their set. Though the band concentrated on original material, on rare occasions they included a cover in their live set, usually Bowie ("Jean Genie", "Diamond Dogs", "All The Young Dudes") or a non-stop Rock & Roll set they called "Tyrannicide" which could last up to 30-minutes.
They were prolific songwriters and recorded two demo tapes. Their first was
recorded in 1981 on a (Tascam?) 4 track recorder. The 5 songs are
basically power pop. Terri Hooley liked the tape and encouraged the band to persevere
but he wasn't looking to sign any new bands at that time as he'd just been abandoned
by The Undertones and the Good Vibrations label was in
one of it's periodic periods of limbo. Unfortunately Dave Fanning
or his producer didn't consider the tape to be broadcast quality and declined playing
it on his radio show. Hot Press gave the demo a complimentary review, describing
the band as "abrasive guitar pop with a garage edge". The second 4-song demo was
in fact recorded during a gig at Spus of Portstewart. It was described by Chris as
"a cacophany of sound". The band split in 1982.
The band members all emigrated. Sean Corr now lives in New Zealand, Francie
McFaul in Scotland, Eamon Connor in the USA and Chris Hickey in England.
Francie McFaul continued to write songs and record demos after the band split.
He is now better known as Gospel singer David Isaac
who recorded 8 albums, toured Europe and America, and appeared many times
on TV over a 10 year period. He currently teaches guitar and
plays in his local church band, and is still writing songs.
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.