The title of this blog and a great song by a great band - Blue In Heaven. The first band I ever saw live, bottom of a bill headlined by Simple Minds in Dublin's Croke Park in 1985. They only recorded two albums, the Martin Hannett produced 'All The God's Men' released that year and the slightly more successful 'Explicit Material' released a year later which contained the closest thing thing to a hit single they ever had in 'I Just Wanna', it also featured the aforementioned 'Rolling In The Crowd'.
It was as a live act that BIH really worked. Lead singer Shane O'Neill was as charismatic as they come and as crazy a frontman as you could hope for, once even controversially appearing, pubes out, on the cover of Ireland's national music paper, Hot Press. But it was on stage that he thrived, whipping a crowd into a frenzy with ease, even in an afternoon show I saw once in the now defunct McGonagles of South Anne Street in Dublin.
A live favourite of mine and most of their following was the Stooges track 'Loose'. It was a beast of a track, visceral, gutteral and guaranteed to cause a riot. Later BIH gigs were punctuated with incessant calls for this song that wasn't even their own. It featured on their last vinyl release, fittingly titled 'Rock N' Roll RIP' and you can hear the strength of their live performances encapsulated in this recording.
It was as a live act that BIH really worked. Lead singer Shane O'Neill was as charismatic as they come and as crazy a frontman as you could hope for, once even controversially appearing, pubes out, on the cover of Ireland's national music paper, Hot Press. But it was on stage that he thrived, whipping a crowd into a frenzy with ease, even in an afternoon show I saw once in the now defunct McGonagles of South Anne Street in Dublin.
A live favourite of mine and most of their following was the Stooges track 'Loose'. It was a beast of a track, visceral, gutteral and guaranteed to cause a riot. Later BIH gigs were punctuated with incessant calls for this song that wasn't even their own. It featured on their last vinyl release, fittingly titled 'Rock N' Roll RIP' and you can hear the strength of their live performances encapsulated in this recording.
They called it a day soon after this, briefly resurfacing as The Blue Angels with a single called 'Candy' and their last release was the single of their version of - oddly - 'Loose'. Perhaps acknowledging it's importance to their fan base, maybe a cynical money making ploy, it turned out to be a rather tepid affair further underlining the difference between their recorded output and their live work. Rock N' Roll RIP.
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