‘What happened to the Lucozade?’

Memories of the North Tipperary showband era

It is estimated that there were around 700 showbands operating in Ireland at the height of what is known as the ‘Showband Era’ from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s.

Three showbands were based in Nenagh; the Cortina, the Swing College and the Eamon O’Toole Showband.

In Cloughjordan, Tom Williams was guitarist and vocalist with the Slick Six, which was formed in 1962 and disbanded in 1967. The other members of the band were John Williams as vocalist, the older brother of Tom; Billy Sheppard on guitar, also from Cloughjordan; Shay Spain on drums from Moanfin; Billy McCarthy and Michael Glennon, both saxophone players and both from Ballymackey. Neddy Lillis from Cloughjordan was also a drummer with the band for a period. The band was managed by John Williams.

All the showbands at that time wore tailored suits, and the outfits for the Slick Six cost each member £7. When the band was being set up, they received great help with the supply of musical instruments from Jackie Whelan’s Music Shop in Nenagh.

The first night the Slick Six performed was in the Parochial Hall in Cloughjordan and the venue was full to capacity with dancers anxious to hear the local band perform. The band was paid £12 for their first night’s work. Tom Williams recalls Shay Spain, the drummer with the band, telling him that he was getting the same amount of money (£2) for a few hours work with the band as he was getting for a week’s work at Lipton’s grocery shop in Nenagh where Shay was employed as a shop assistant.

The band held a practice once a week in the Farmers Hall in Cloughjordan and the venue would be full of children and adults dropping in to listen to them. It became very difficult for the band to have a productive practice session with the big crowds and the constant requests from the onlookers. The band then decided to move to the Floating Ballroom (later the Fr Niall O’Meara Centre) in Kilruane for the practice sessions.

ON THE ROAD

The Slick Six played a number of times in the local hall before they played in their first venue outside of Cloughjordan. This venue was a hall in Rathdowney in Co Laois. They would usually play three nights each week and they played in most counties in Ireland from Kerry to Donegal.

Neddy Lillis was the drummer with the band for about a year when Shay Spain worked in Dublin.

The band made one weekend journey to play in Manchester and Liverpool. They played in the Irish Centre in Manchester on the Friday night, and Tom recalls, as the dancing had just started, when a shout was heard from the dancefloor: “Up Toomevara!” They played in Liverpool on the Saturday night. The following morning, as all the band members were walking down the street from their hotel to go to Mass, they met Johnny Winters, from Emill, Cloughjordan, in his working clothes heading to work on the buildings.

Tom did all the driving for the band to venues all over the country in a mini-bus. Tom would collect and return each band member to their homes after every performance and it could be as late as 9am when he would get back to Cloughjordan, if they had been playing in Donegal for instance. He then had to get a couple of hours of sleep before going to work.

THE MAJORCA SHOWBAND

The Slick Six disbanded in 1967 and Tom then formed the Majorca Showband. Michael Egan from Ballyhasty, Cloughjordan, joined on piano accordion and keyboard. The other band members were Tommy Flynn as vocalist, Tony Rodgers as drummer, and Noel Collins and Neil Barry, both guitarists. All four were from Killaloe. Later they were joined by Jimmy Nolan from Cunnahurt, outside Nenagh.

Michael Egan drove the van with all the band’s musical instruments to the venues where the band was playing. He was regularly accompanied by a well-known character, Johnny ‘The Lord’ Walsh, from Bantiss, Cloughjordan.

In 1968 the Majorca Showband entered the Castlebar International Song Contest, singing a song written in Irish entitled ‘Ailliliú Liom’. The song, written by John Fahy from Killaloe, was very catchy and it finished as runner-up to the winning song. The contest was compered by Gay Byrne and he liked the song ‘Ailliliú Liom’ so much that he played it on his radio show the following Monday, and never played the winning song.

Bridie Gallagher from Donegal, one of Ireland’s first internationally-acclaimed singers, appeared as a guest artist on a number of occasions at dances where the Majorca Showband was performing.

Tom and Michael Egan both left the Majorca Showband on the same day; their last performance with the band was in the Scouts Hall in Nenagh on December 31, 1970.

THE MELODY MAKERS

Tom married his girlfriend, June Davis from Shinrone, and purchased a house in Cloughjordan in 1971. Thinking that he was finished with the showband business, the guitar was put away in the attic.

However, his retirement lasted about a year before Michael Geaney from the Melody Makers Showband in Nenagh contacted Tom. The Melody Makers had a couple of engagements at the weekend and, as one of the band members was unavailable, they urgently needed someone to fill in for him. Would Tom be able to stand in - just only for the weekend? Tom, after some gentle persuasion from his wife, June, reluctantly agreed to go with the Melody Makers for that weekend. The weekend lasted for 35 years, until Tom finally got to retire from the Melody Makers in 2007.

The other members of the Melody Makers were Tony Geaney, on the accordion, Sean Hogan on drums, Pat White on guitar, Brendan Treacy, who played saxophone, and Michael Geaney was the vocalist and manager.

Michael Geaney always looked after the provision of refreshments for the band members, ready for the break in the night’s dancing.

Those refreshments, for years, always included a bottle of Lucozade for everyone.

One night they were playing in the Ormond Hotel in Nenagh and when the break came in the dancing Michael, to the band members’ surprise, produced a bottle of 7Up for everyone. One of the lads asked him: “What happened to the Lucozade?” Michael explained that he had read in the paper that Lucozade was bad for your heart. Sean Hogan, the drummer, blurted out, “Ah, Jaysus Michael - you have given us Lucozade for the last 25 years and now you tell us it’s bad for our hearts!”

The Melody Makers regularly played at dances in the Garda College in Templemore. Tom retired from the band in 2007.

However, he still remained very active in the music business and has recorded 30 songs on three CDs, which have raised over €11,000 for various charities, such as Children of Chernobyl, Living Links, Pieta House and the Autistic Unit at Saint Michael’s National School in Cloughjordan.

In 2016, the centenary of the 1916 Rising, Tom along with the pupils of Saint Michael’s National School recorded the song ‘Thomas MacDonagh 1916’, written by Seamus Doran from Roscrea. This song was the most requested song on Tipp FM during 2016. Tom still sings with the choir in St Michael and St John’s Church and he is always available to perform at local functions in the Parochial Hall or the MacDonagh Museum.

Obviously, all the Lucozade that he consumed with the Melody Makers did him no harm!

- This article is an edited version of a chapter written by Paddy Williams in the recently published ‘Cloughjordan Heritage, Volume XI’. You can read lots more - with more photographs - in the full version, along with 30 further chapters in the latest Cloughjordan Heritage publication, which is on sale in local shops now.