The Squeee

Today, I found out that the last of the founding members of The Dubliners, and thereby the one who has been with the group the longest, has passed away. I can't relate to the maker of a guitar amp, although Mr. Marshall's contribution to musicians everywhere is admirable, and I've never really heard more than Hey Hey We're The Monkees to feel other than "aww, well, sorry for his family and friends" about Davy Jones's passing a month or so ago ... and I've not said more about Whitney Houston's death than reviewing The Bodyguard . The Dubliners is different. They're probably my favourite Irish folk band, for starters, and they're legendary . We had the chance to see them last year when they were in Nottingham. They were back again this year, for the 50th Anniversary Tour in March, and I was really torn, because I really wanted to go and see them, and on the other hand, we saw them the year before, and we also had other plans for that eve...

Two wonderful things have happened recently on the BBC. Or, technically, four. The first ones, I came across by accident on BBC Four when channel hopping: a Christy Moore concert accompanied by the two programmes Folk Hibernia at the BBC (2007), which is a one-hour show with clips from various BBC shows where Irish musicians have performed. Clannád, The Dubliners, The Pogues and many more; and the second, a ninety-minute documentary about Irish folk music called Folk Hibernia (2006). It gave the background of the Irish folk movement, and how it started out being sort of hidden away and only really played in the countryside, and then how it was popularised in America by the Clancy Brothers, who brought it back to Ireland and paved way for groups like The Dubliners . A highly interesting programme to watch for anyone who loves traditional Irish folk music. The other thing I've come across, #4 in order, is a show I came across when flicking through Virgin Media's Catch up on D...