Drive The
The Driven from; Rathkeale Active; 1988 – 1993
Line up;
Vocals & Rhythm Guitar; Brendan Markham
Lead Guitar; Pat Madigan
Bass; Noel Brennan
Drums; Ned Kennedy
Carling/Hot Press 1989 competition
The Drive took part in the 1989 Carling Hot Press competition at Sir Henry’s in Cork. They won the 4th heat. They were the only band from Limerick to make the final twenty that year. The Drive played in Heat 4 along with Stands Looking Back (Cork), Lunatic Fringe (Belfast) and So She Said (Dublin). In heat 5 the Train Walkers were a late replacement for Cut The Bag from Belfast. In heat 5 the judges could not split Just A Philistine & Trenchtown, so both bands went into the final.
The competition is held at Sir Henry’s, in Cork over 5 weeks. With the winner each week going on to the final.
Heat 1, 3rd May The Sugar Rays (Navan), October (Fermanagh), The Elite (Dublin), The Surrealists (Ennis).
Winner; The Surrealists
Heat 2, 10th May The Outpatients (Dublin), The Boy The Boy (Sligo), Birds & Ghosts (Waterford), Stateline (Dublin)
Winner: Out Patients
Heat 3, 17th May Lipstick Vogue (Dublin), Jerusalem (Derry), Thrupenny Opera (Wexford), Andrew Bass & The Innocent Ones (Dublin)
Winner; Thrupenny Opera
Heat 4, 24th May So She Said (Dublin), The Drive (Limerick), Lunatic Fringe (Belfast), Stands Looking Back (Cork)
Winner; The Drive
Heat 5, 31st May Train Walkers, Just A Philistine (Naas), Trenchtown (Drogheda), New Hollande (Dublin)
Winner; Just A Philistine
Final 7th June The Drive, Just A Philistine, Thrupenny Opera, Out Patients Trenchtown, The Surrealists
The Judges, George Byrne (Irish Independent), Richie Taylor (Sunday Press)Jackie Hayden (Hot Press), Niall Stokes (Hot Press), Emmett O’Reilly (Hot Press)
The Reindeer Age album
The Reindeer Age album, was recorded at the Xeric Studio in Limerick in 1989. This compilation album featured fellow Limerick Bands, The Hitchers, The O’Malley’s A Touch Of Oliver, Up The Downstairs, Tuesday Blue, They Do It With Mirrors, Private World, The Separators, Toucandance, Perfect Moment, Utopian Puppets, The Surrealists, X-It, Big John’s Bootleggin Band. The cassette version featured two extra tracks by Preachers Story & Mike O’Mahony.
