Fabulous Fabrics
Fabulous Fabrics From; Dublin Active; 1977 – 1980’s
Style; Punk
Line Up;
Vocals; Gerry Oliver
Rhythm Guitar; Paul Rooney
Guitar; Sean Carroll
Bass; Mick Nolan
Drums; Bernie Creegan
The Fabulous Fabrics & U2
The Fabulous Fabrics & The Sinners were signed to Heat Records, a label set up by Heat fanzine co editors Pete Price & Jude Carr. No singles were released, this may have been due to the trouble that Heat fanzine got into after publishing an article about U2’s manager Paul McGuinness.
It’s All In A Name
Paul Rooney “The Fabrics had the wonderful names of Terry Leane, the Onn brothers Niall and Ray. We were beginning to struggle then so, in homage to the Damned we had General Drapery and really struggling Billy Cotton”.
U2
“We, The Fabrics, never got on with U2 and spent most of our time heckling them at gigs. I saw their first gig in Sutton when they morphed half way through from The Hype to U2. All I really remember is they did a Thin Lizzy cover and a Bruce number as well. If only I had a camera at the time!!!!”
Money
Above Fabrics poster for concert at the Magnet Bar. Image supplied by Paul Rooney. Below Dream Dates tour poster from El Ruedo, Carlow supplied by Paul Rooney.
It was a very cliquey scene back then and most bands didn’t like each other. U2 were thought to have money, (Paul McGuinness) behind them and were universally disliked because of this, despite what other people may say now. Mick, our bass player, got in to a row with Bono in McGonagles, threw him down the stairs, where a certain member of a well known Irish Beat Combo kicked him on the way down !!!!
Fun at the times but who got the last laugh!!!!
The First Gig at Moran’s Hotel
The Fabulous Fabrics first gig was not only at Dublin’s top venue Moran’s Hotel, but with Ireland’s top three punk bands the Radiators from Space, Revolver & The Vipers. The band only purchased their guitars from Wollies a couple of days before the gig. They traveled down from the Navan road on the bus with their guitars still in the cardboard boxes they purchased them in. As you can imagine the gig it’s self was mayhem.
With A Bit Of Practise
Project Arts Centre, Dublin with Kamikaze Kids, Revolver Hot Press review by Liam Mackey The second night of the Project punk mini festival attracted a smaller crowd – just topping the 100 mark – to bear witness to the unlikely combination of the Fabulous Fabrics, the Kami Kaze Kids and bill toppers Revolver.
I missed the Fabric’s set unfortunately, arriving just in time to hear the final strains of their personal anthem “Spiderman”.
The darlings of the Irish punk elite, their patented brand of subliminal Albertos like zaniness was the mainstay of their stage act the last time I’d caught them in Moran’s. Whether they’ve changed and possibly struck out for a modicum of New Wave credibility I couldn’t ascertain but enough people were smiling and cheering for more to indicate that they still retain much of their humorous but calculated naivete.
00/06/1978 Phibsboro State Cinema lunchtime with Keith Chegwin
07/07/1978 Finglass, Open Air concert with The Sinners & Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers
16/12/1978 Assembly Hall, Navan Road Dublin this was reported in Hot Press as their final gig
Plaster Of Paris Tour
03/02/1979 Downtown Kampus, Cork with Sacre Bleu
07/02/1979 RTC, Waterford with Scare Bleu (Lunchtime)
07/02/1979 Showboat, Waterford with Scare Bleu
08/02/1979 UCD, with Scare Bleu
14/02/1979 McGonagle’s, Dublin with Sacre Bleu
15/02/1979 The Pond, Belfast with Sacre Bleu
16/02/1979 College Of Technology, Kevin Street, Dublin with Sacre Bleu
17/02/1979 Clonmel with Sacre Bleu
19/02/1979 Regional Technical College, Sligo with Sacre Bleu
Dream Dates Tour
28/06/1979 Wexford with Boy Scoutz & The Sinners
29/06/1979 Youth Club, Monaghan with The Strougers & The Sinners. Pete McCluskey the Strougers stepped in for the Boy Scoutz for the Monaghan gig..the catholic youth hall…we went across to a pub before the gig – time to kill before the punters came..there was a local cabaret/pub band playing covers – 16 year old guitar player with them lashing out riffs all over the place…he was humongous…we felt pretty inadequate with our 3 little chords compared to him…how and ever…punk/new wave was the thing then and we had it in spades….we played a great gig across the road….the fabs and the sinners rose the roof also………we were also forced by the crowd, at the end of the gig, to sing the national anthem…..they were chanting and wouldn’t leave until we did. me and i don’t know who else went back out on stage and for a moment – because we were politically and stupidly naive – we weren’t quite sure which national anthem to play. we took a punt on the Irish national anthem – luckily enough!!!!!!
Bitzy Fitz I went out with ya and sang it you played it on one string. They also smashed the windows of the van.
Picture (right) Supplied by Paul Rooney, fellow Navan Road band the Jags are on the left.
Hot Press Review
30/06/1979 Navan Road with Boy Scoutz & The Sinners Hot Press review by Bill Graham Four hours and two pubs later, the Fabrics play for their parishioners on the Navan Road. Innocent at first sighting but hardly guileless, the Fabrics are perfecting a brand of pop music that is unlike any of the teen formulae currently on London offer.
They aren’t mods but they’re a damn sight closer to original mod attitudes in their refreshing originality and determination to fashion their own sound. Between Buddy Holly and Beserkerly, the Fabrics refuse to be serious, rebellious or committed to any thing but the best of times. Which I had. In reparation, I had to go to Dalymount the next day.
16/07/1979 Blue Lagoon, Sligo with Boy Scoutz & The Sinners
20/07/1979 Community Centre, Kiltimagh with Boy Scoutz & The Sinners
“The Defenders”
The Cream of Irish of the Irish Music scene perform free to try and help save Heat fanzine.
25/07/1979 National Ballroom, Dublin with The Defenders & Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers. This was a benefit gig for “Heat Fanzine” to help raise money for their legal costs. The Defenders were an all star band put together for the sole purpose of helping “Heat”. Their line up included; Billy Morley (Revolver), Gary Eglington (Resistors), Frankie Morgan (Sacre Bleu), Steve Rapid & Mark Megaray (Radiators From Space), Charles O’Conner, John Fean & Eamon Carr (Horslips). The Defenders also released a record.
The Break up
12/08/1979 McGonagle’s, Dublin with Boy Scoutz & The Sinners
After the Dream dates tour The Sinners & Boy Scoutz split up, Mick left the Fabrics to form a new band the New Heroes, with Tony & Bernie from The Sinners & Carol from the Boy Scoutz.
Paul Rooney In answer to your Boy Scoutz/Sinners question, there was, obviously, some secret talks going on behind the scene of the Dream Dates tour. Jude poached Bernie and Tony from the Sinners, Carol from the Boy Scoutz and Mick from the The Fabrics to form The New Heroes. We did n’t know anything of it until Mick left!!!!! They played a few gigs in Ireland, then upped and left to make their fortune in London. Never played over there, something to do with Carol and a new guitar we heard. Mick, Tony and Bernie came back after about 6 months and formed Ghostdance with me.
Ticket image supplied by Shay Hiney.
I think this gig took place in December 1979.
After Mick
The Fabrics continued to play live after Mick left, they had a 3 month (Jan ’80 – March ’80) Saturday residency at Toners in Dublin. I don’t know if they played any other dates.