Letters The

The Letters From; Dublin Active; Dublin 1977 – 1979
Style; Punk
Line up;
Vocals; Mark Phelan
Guitar & Vocals; Tom Doyle
Guitar & Vocals; Stephan Ryan
Bass; Des O’Byrne
Drums; Dave Herlihy

Mark Phelan would later be in the Ju Ju Gooks
Tom Doyle would later be in the Ju Ju Gooks & Fallen Angels
Stephan Ryan would later be in the Ju Ju Gooks
Des O’Byrne would later be in the Ju Ju Gooks & Golden Horde
Dave Herlihy would later be in the Ju Ju Gooks, he then went into acting (Glenroe)

The band had it’s beginnings in Belvedere College, Dublin & were originally called The French Letters, they shorten their name to The Letters so they could get gigs in Dublin. During their brief career the band went through many line up changes. The original line included Mark Phelan, Des O’Byrne, Colin Dolan & Paul Hyland.

Gig Guide
16-17/02/1979 Project Arts Centre, Dublin 24 Hour “Dark Space Festival” with The Mekons, Revolver, The Atrix, Virgin Prunes, Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers, U2, New Versions, Berlin, Rudi. Friday evening on the smaller stage was a succession of surprises. If words are shorter than desired, it’s down to the impossibility of catching every instant. The Letters were a proficient synthesis of mainstream punk and R & B, accurate and adept but a more distracting setting will have to wait for a band who appeared a capable addition to the scene. Bill Graham Hot Press review

08/04/1979 McGonagle’s, Dublin with Revolver
05/05/1979 Liberty Hall, Dublin with Revolver & U2
20/05/1979 Dandelion Market, Dublin with Black Catholics
23/05/1979 Silks Nightclub, Phoenix Park, Dublin with Bunko Squad, The Strougers, Romaniacs 
07/07/1979 Dandelion Market, Dublin with Zebra
13/07/1979 Liberty Hall, Dublin with Zebra
16/06/1980 McGonagle’s, Dublin with Side FX