Vipers The
The Vipers From; Dublin Active; 1977 – 1980
Many thanks to Dave & Robert Moloney, Ray Ellis, Brian Foley & Dave Sweeney for their help compiling this page.
(pre Vipers) Dave with the Boomtown Rats
Dave Moloney was also the drummer with the Boomtown Rats back in early 1977, replacing Simon Crowe for a short period (approx 3 months). He can be heard playing with the Rats on the first 10 tracks of the “Neon Hearts” demo tape. On the back cover of the tape, there is a message from Bob Geldof saying “Good luck with the Vipers, Dave”. If you have a copy of this tape, please get in touch.
In between leaving the Boomtown Rats and the formation of the Viper’s, Dave would play one gig at the Pembroke Inn with a short lived R ‘n’ B Band called Slick Coupe & the Convertibles. Dave had learned to play the drums while sitting in on the rehearsals of Dublin Jazz band No Buckets. His older brother Mike would sometimes pay Sax with the band. Photo supplied by Dave Moloney.
The advert that lead to the legend that became the Vipers
The Memories of Ray Ellis, The Vipers’ original guitarist. “Dave answered an ad looking for a drummer put in the paper by Paul Boyle.
They met up, and bass guitarist Paul Cusack was with Paul Boyle. They had a jam and mentioned they were looking for a lead guitar player, and Dave mentioned me. Dave and I were neighbors and had messed around with music, no more than jamming and getting to know our instruments. I dropped down to Dave’s and jammed, and it worked out. The two Pauls were mates living northside. Dave had a place to jam, so they made their way over.”
Paul had been writing songs. So we got into them. He was the main writer from then on. He was very driven from the off. Happily, we were all ready to work hard and give it 100%. Our first gig was the ill-fated UCD show. The Vipers were one of the first “New Wave” bands to come out of Dublin, along with the likes of Radiators From Space and Revolver. A Vipers set would include original tracks written by Paul Boyle and classic rock ‘n’ roll cover versions.
The Vipers 1st Line up; mid 1977 to early 1978
The picture above was taken in Dave’s parents back garden. The shed was their rehearsal room. The Vipers logo can still be seen today on that same shed wall. The Vipers also made at least one appearance on Irish TV RTE’s “Our Times” in 1977.
Guitar & Vocals; Paul Boyle R.I.P.
Guitar & Vocals; Ray Ellis
Bass; Paul Cusack
Drums; Dave Moloney
Image supplied by Dave Moloney
The Vipers’ first gig was the infamous Belfield Punk Festival at University College Dublin, where Patrick Coultry, a member of the audience, was stabbed and later died. Patrick was stabbed while the Vipers were on stage. They were playing their 3rd song, a cover of John Lee Hooker’s “Too Young To Die” (a very strange coincidence?). After this concert and the subsequent coverage it received in the Irish press, it became even harder for “Punk” bands to book gigs. Many venues would cancel performances when they discovered the style of music the band played. 25/06/1977 Belfield, University College, Dublin with The Radiators From Space, The Undertones, [Revolver](http://ghostown1976.local/artist-a-z/bands-r/revolver/), [The Gamblers](https://ghostown1976.com/?page_id=1414). Dave Moloney: Just to clear a few things up. 1. Stiff Little Fingers did NOT play at the punk fest in UCD in the late ’70s! 2. The Vipers were NOT causing trouble ‘as usual’ since it was our first gig! 3. The first song we played that night was “Let Me Be Your Car,” which I thought was hilarious because it was a Rod Stewart/Elton John duet. The very people the ‘punks’ were complaining about. 4. The lad who lost his life (RIP) was stabbed during our third song that night, which unfortunately was a cover of John Lee Hooker’s “Too Young To Die!” 5. The Vipers were cleared of all charges, even though every eyewitness report said one of us jumped off the stage!
Pete Holidai
The person jumping off stage was Pete Holidai who then became chief suspect and all he was doing was trying to calm the crowd down! ‘COOL IT!’ ‘COOL IT! I remember! 6. Any band members still at the gig were held in the toilets till 5 in the morning!!! The Undertones were completely segregated simply because they were from Northern Ireland! On a lighter note Steve Rapid/Avril (Radiators From Space) gave me unofficial ‘man of the match’ award as best drummer on the night! TA.
Moran’s Hotel with the Radiators From Space
During this time, the Vipers play Moran’s Hotel on a regular biases. At the time it was the top venue in Dublin. Often these concerts would feature 3 or 4 bands. The Vipers are making a reputation as a band worth going to see and start to get their own headline gigs at the Baggot Inn & Magnet Bar. The also appear in Heat fanzine.
Image supplied by Pete Holidai
Along with Revolver, The Gamblers & Toronto 69, The Vipers play the 10 Day, 1st New Wave Festival @ Dublin’s Project Centre. Image (left) supplied by Dave Moloney. Please note only two dates are given over to “New Wave” music the 8th & 9th. The rest of the festival is Jazz, or Rock bands. Toronto ’69 featured Tim McStay latter to be with New Wave bands “Noise Boys” & ” Resistors”. Freddie White is one of the superstars of Irish rock music at this time.
Supporting Dr Feelgood
Dave “We just went down to Pat Egan’s shop and ask if we could be the support for Dr Feelgood simple”.
Supporting The Radio Stars
12/11/1977 Tivoli Theatre, with The Radio Stars. Ray Ellis We supported, it was a last minute. There was a riot going on when we arrived seats being ripped up general mayhem.
We got into it and the place went wild. I was playing a guy in the crowd points at my shoe, lace was open I nodded, put my foot over to tie my lace. He grabbed my foot n started to pull me off the stage. The bouncer saw me disappearing but thought going down on my back n flying off the stage was part of the act till they saw my face so they grabbed my head There was a tug of between them and the crowd Happily they won.
Also I never saw so much gobbing going on. At one stage Dave had a big one running down his face. I had one land on the fret board and did not see until my fingers slid pretty gross.”
Dave Moloney “We supported The Radio Stars in The Tivoli Theatre. It was meant to be headlined by The Stranglers but they pulled out!”
National Stadium Ban On Punk/New Wave Concerts
Trinity College hosted concerts for many of the UK acts, like The Clash & Stranglers while touring Ireland, this was because the National Stadium had band “Punk/New Wave” concerts. Because the Trinity venue was smaller most of the bands played two nights at the college. Even Irish superstars The Boomtown Rats were band from playing the Stadium.
12/01/1978 JCR, Trinity College, Dublin with Radiators From Space. This is the second of two nights the Radiators & Vipers play at the Junior Common Room, Trinity College. When they were starting out the Vipers would often support the Radiators at their Moran’s Hotel gigs
Downtown Kampus Cork
14/01/1978 Downtown Kampus, Cork with Radiators From Space
04/02/1978 Downtown Kampus, Cork with The Adverts
U2’s First Appearance At A Major City Centre Venue
10/02/1978 McGonagle’s, Dublin, with The Hype (U2). Dave Moloney remembers this gig well as it was his 21st birthday, “I was upstairs trying to chat up this chick and people kept coming up to me and telling to check out the support band as they were really good. After a while I went down to see them, they were playing TRB’s 2, 4, 6, 8 Motorway, I thought yeah, great & went back upstairs”. After the show we were upstairs in the dressing room when Terry (manager of McGonagle’s) came into the room, is there a Barry or Gary in the room, Larry stood up and said do you mean Larry, yes Larry, your dads here, he says if you’re as late as this again, you can forget about playing in that stupid band again.
The Vipers 2nd Line up; March 1978 to July 1978
Vocals & Guitar; Paul Boyle
Guitar & Vocals; Ray Ellis
Bass; Ivor Rowan
Drums; Dave Moloney
Ivor Rowan replaces Paul on bass. Paul went back to his day job as a nurse.
This line up of the band does not last long, with Dave Sweeney soon replacing Ray Ellis on Guitar.
Left to right Dave Moloney, Paul Boyle, Ray Ellis, Ivor Rowan
University Collage Galway Rag Week
00/03/1978 At the Celebrity Club it was The Vipers’ turn to cry. Poor publicity and the resultantly small audience, broken strings, faulty guitar leads, new line up. With odds against them like that, it wasn’t surprising that everything could, and did, go wrong. Onstage, amidst that maze of set backs, The Vipers simply didn’t cut it. But do not let that deter you from further Vipers shows.
No Lack Of Talent
When they did, however occasionally, hit the balance, it became patently obvious that there’s no lack of talent in the band. In fact I enjoyed Paul Boyle’s singing. But with the inevitable acclimatization problems new bassist Ivor was encountering during this, his first gig with the group, it just wasn’t The Vipers’ night. More road experience should turn them into a live band worthy of high esteem. They already have the stuff to make good recordings. Keep an eye peeled for Vipers, they’ll eventually be hypnotising. Karl Tsigdinos Hot Press review
Project Arts Centre First Punk festival
08/11/1977 Project Arts Centre, Dublin with The Gamblers. This concert was the opening night of the first “New Wave” festival to be held at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin. The festival would last two nights, the second night was headlined by Revolver. The second festival a year later, would last two weeks and would be headlined on the first night by Patti Smith and the last night by U2.
3rd & Classic Line up
Vocals & Guitar; Paul Boyle
Lead Guitar & Vocals; Dave (George) Sweeney
Bass; Brian (Dolan) Foley
Drums; Dave Moloney
This is the best know & classic Vipers line up. After the Vipers slit Dave would play with The Reasons, G Force, Rhythm Kings, Teen Commandments, Flash Harrys, Johnny Logan. Brian would join The Blades & George played with Red Square.
How I became “George”
Dave Sweeney How I became George “When I joined the Vipers (after leaving the Gravediggers) there was already a Dave (Moloney) in the band so they thought I should change my name again- by then I had already used three stage names, Max Quad in The Max Quad Band, and Lord Lucan and Dave (guitar)
Hero in The Gravediggers. At the time there was a TV series called ‘The Sweeney’ and the main character was called George so that was what I was christened by The Vipers: the fact that they were all Beatle freaks could also have played a part. Dave was also in the Max Quad with Joe Savino & Adam Clayton.
Major Support Slots & TV Appearance
The Vipers also made at least one appearance on Irish TV RTE’s “Our Times” in 1977. They also played with some of the biggest names from that time, touring the UK with Thin Lizzy (Black Rose), The Boomtown Rats (Seasonal Turkey), and supporting The Boomtown Rats, The Jam, The Clash, Dr Feelgood, Graham Parker, The Radio Stars, The Adverts, Wilko Johnson & The Solid Senders, The Troggs on their Irish tours.
Supporting The Jam
When supporting The Jam at The Top Hat they were introduced on stage by Paul Weller’s father. They also toured in their own right in the UK, playing many of London’s famous rock venues including; The Rock Garden, The Marquee, The Moonlight Club, Bridge House, Fulham Greyhound & Music Machine.
In July 1978 an open air rock festival took place at Blackrock Park. Many of the Dublin punk bands were due to play including the Vipers & U2. Because indoor equipment was delivered by the hire company The Vipers & U2 did not play. The Boy Scoutz, School kids & The Sinners did take part.
The Top Hat & Tall Tails Memories of Brian Foley
In October 1978 we got a support slot on the Jam’s only two dates in Ireland. One in Dublin and one in Galway. The Jam were brilliant on those dates. They were promoting their new album ‘All Mod Cons’ and we had a ringside seat watching them perform great new songs like; ‘A’ Bomb in Wardour St’, ‘Down in the Tube Station at Midnight’ and ‘Mr. Clean’. They were in top form. They were managed by Paul’s dad John who was a big, stocky individual who looked like he’d been in a few scraps in his day and wouldn’t be averse to giving you a bunch of fives for the least little grievance.
Smoking
One thing I remember from those dates was when Paul, Bruce and Rick used to finish their last number, they would run off the stage and the roadie used to have a lighted cigarette ready for each of them as they came running past.
Sully
Well, naturally Paul Boyle was very impressed with this and at the next gig he instructed Sully our roadie to have two lighted cigarettes ready for himself and Dave when they came off the stage.
Now Sully wasn’t the sort that you’d want to meet in a laneway on a dark night. For a start he had an unnatural interest in sharp knives and any war memorabilia connected to Germany in World War 2. He also had a very heavy nicotine habit.
Backfired
And so I suppose it was a bit much to expect him to hold two lighted cigarettes in his hand and him an out and out tobacco fiend.
Naturally the temptation got too much for him and, by the time Dave and Paul came running by….well needless to say those cigarettes had been well and truly sucked to extinction.
Paul Weller
Paul Weller was a bit aloof. His girlfriend Jill was over and he spent most of the time with her though I remember at one stage George sitting down with Weller and showing him how to play some intricate ‘Who’ riffs.
Rick & Bruce
Bruce and Rick were more sociable. I remember being amazed when Bruce and Rick started complaining to me about the price of a bottle of coke in the bar. They were drinking whiskey and cokes at the time. Though looking back I suppose they were only on a small wage, as the Jam still hadn’t broken big yet.
Bruce was very generous to me all the same. He was after getting a sponsorship deal and he had a flight case full of bass guitar strings. He gave me around ten packets. In fact I think I have one or two packets still lying around the house.
Electric Fans
It’s hard to believe but we nearly got kicked off our little mini tour with ‘the Jam’ after the first gig in the Top Hat in Dun Laoire. It just so happened that Paul, Bruce and Rick had nice electric fans mounted in front of them while they were on stage. I suppose they needed them as they wore heavy suits and shirts and ties when they performed.
George’s Guitar Solo
I remember we were near the end of our set (and going down really well I might add) when George launched into one of his screeching guitar solos. His fingers were squeezing the life out his strings and he was moving like a whirling dervish on speed. He promptly ended his solo on an ear shattering power cord and suddenly kicked out his foot and sent Paul Weller’s precious electric fan flying across the stage. Accidentally of course.
All Hell Braking Lose
Well, all hell broke loose and the road crew were lining up at the side of the stage giving us menacing looks. The fan was in a crumpled heap lying by a monitor damaged beyond repair. When we finally came off the stage there was a lot of bowing and scraping and apologies.
Profuse Apologies
John Weller suddenly appeared, eyes bulging, veins throbbing in his neck. Explanations were sought. More profuse apologies. Some restitution was offered. Finally it was accepted that there was no malice intended and with that we were back on the tour.
Mind you, Paul Weller didn’t half sweat like a pig that night.
Seasonal Turkey
Dave managed to get the gig with the Boomtown Rats by ringing Bob Geldof & pulling in a favour. Before the Boomtown Rats signed their record deal Dave was their drummer. This show led to the Vipers being invite to tour the UK with the Boomtown Rats on the Seasonal Turkey tour.
Left; Dave’s younger brother Robbie recording the Vipers progress as they tour the UK.
Black Rose with Thin Lizzy memories of Brian Foley
Black Rose, Red Devils and Dublin in the Green.
The night before the Manchester gig, Philo came over to us and said; “Youse can stay at me ma’s place”. Philo’s ma Philomena ran a small hotel in Manchester and it was a popular stopping off place for bands. In other words it was pretty basic.
Siouxsie Sioux
The rooms consisted of a mattress, a duvet, low lighting and no questions asked. Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees had been recent residents. Like I say, no one ever got turned away.
Manchester Utd
The gig in Manchester had gone okay for us. In other words we managed to play the whole set without being bottled off. Afterwards back at the hotel, Philomena held court behind the bar, which was in the basement. It was her usual clientele-criminal types, dodgy boilers and out of work actors. Suddenly a hush descended on the room as a tall, good looking athletic type walked down the steps accompanied by a girl on each arm. It was none other than Manchester united player Gordon McQueen who had left Leeds the year before and was now playing for Man U. Phil greeted him like a long lost brother. Needless to say, Phil was a big Red Devils fan. He even had shares in the club.
Big Stars
Lizzy were great to hang out with. In Philomena’s hotel, like anywhere else the band and crew socialized together and the band didn’t walk around with ‘big star’ attitudes. They’d been through rough times themselves and had paid their dues.
Brian & Scott
Gary was a bit shy and spent most of his time with his Australian girlfriend Lisa but many a night George and myself ended up playing pool with Brian Downey and Scott Gorham.
Brian Downey was a gentle soul. Liked to go fishing in his spare time but once he got behind a drum kit it was sawdust and splinters time.
Pool Bet
One night George and myself bet our backline on a game of pool with Scott. He thrashed us. Though he never did call in the debt. That was the measure of the man. A top guy.
Phil
Philo looked like a rock star no matter what time of the day you met him. He lived it 24 hours a day. Though he was surprisingly insecure underneath it all. I remember he asked Paul (Boyle) at one stage; ‘Do you rate me man?’
Working The Audience
One night he gave us advice on how to work an audience. ‘Glick the chicks’ he’d tell us. ‘If you spot a good looking chick half way down the hall, glick her and every chick in the place will think you’re giving them the eye.’ Sound advice but with Lizzy fans being almost 95% male this proved to be a lost cause.
Another night at a sound check Phil tried to sell me his Marshall stack. He was turning all the knobs and talking it up and I hadn’t the heart to tell him that I hadn’t got a pot to piss in. Seemingly Phil had bought some state of the art equipment and his pride and joy was a new flanger which he had heard Jean- Jacques Burnel (bassist with the Stranglers) using and this was his new bass sound for the tour.
Dave The Rocker
On one of the gigs, our driver Dave the Rocker celebrated his 30th birthday. When Phil heard about this he sent him a special present—a bottle of whiskey and a gram of coke. Typical Phil. He even let the Rocker introduce us on stage one night and the Rocker took out his mouth organ and played the theme tune to the ‘old grey whistle test’ before we came on.
The Black Rose tour was a sell out and Lizzy delivered a blistering set night after night. They were utter professionals.
Fleapit Hotels & “Bubble & Squeak
We didn’t even have a manager or a record deal yet Lizzy looked after us while they could have had any one of a million bands willing to pay to get on their tour. The money we got from the gigs paid for our accommodation and we stayed in every cheap fleapit across England. We would have starved to death only Lizzy let us avail of their catering while on tour. A husband and wife team ran it under the name of ‘Bubble and Squeak’ and we would saunter down to the catering area at any time and have our pick of whatever delicacy was on the menu.
“what happens on tour stays on tour”
This all took place almost 35 years ago but I can remember those times like it was yesterday. Still, there are some tales that must remain untold.
The old adage ‘what happens on tour stays on tour’ unfortunately applies here and so alas some of the best stories can only ever be related in a darkened room….with a lawyer present.
Footnote
The last time I met Phil in London was at his stag night. It was held in the Grosvenor House hotel on Park Lane. The Irish ‘Murphia’ were out in force. There were members of the Chieftains, Stiff Little Fingers, ourselves and many others at the bash. There was an assortment of rockers and axe men present including Simon Kirke (Free) and Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits).
Irish Folk Songs
There was a free bar, strippers, and a buffet to nourish us through the night. Though my abiding memory is of Phil at the end of the night, sitting in the corner playing the acoustic guitar belting out some Irish ballads. I remember he was singing of all things ‘the Merry Ploughboy’ and we all joined him in the chorus; ‘Oh we’re all off to Dublin in the green in the green….’
And that’s how I like to remember Phil; A mop of black curls, a big smile on his face happily singing an old Irish folk
John Peel Session
The Vipers were one of the very best Irish bands that never “made it”. They did record a 4 track session with Radio 1 DJ John Peel on the 27/02/1979, something U2 never managed to do. The 4 tracks were; “You’re On Your Own Kid”, Playin’ The Game”, “Too Rough”, You’re So Strange”. Paul Boyle has a digitised copy of the session, hopefully it will be available to the general public soon. All four songs were written by Paul Boyle.
Sounds Single Of The Week
Two singles were also released;
“Sounds” single of the week, in December 1978 “I’ve Got You”/”No Such Thing” written by Paul Boyle & Produced by Steve Brown. LUNS718 Mulligan Records, Gaby Smyth of “The Reasons” played keyboards on the “A” side. The Mulligan single was available as a limited edition double pack with the Boomtown Rats single “Rat Trap”.
Energy Records
“Take Me” on Energy Records NRG1, this was part of a 4 track EP, “Room To Move”. The other tracks are Big Self “Snakes & Ladders”, The Outcasts “Cyborg”, Shock Treatment “Belfast Telegraph”. The other 3 bands on this record are all from Northern Ireland.
Project Arts Centre
The backdrop in the picture is stolen after the Project Arts Centre gig.
4th & Final Line Up September ’79 December 1980
Vocals & Guitar; Paul Boyle
Lead Guitar & Vocals; Dave (George) Sweeney
Bass; Brian (Dolan) Foley
Drums; Bernie Smirnoff
Bridge House, London
After Dave left the band at the end of the Black Rose tour. A comeback gig at the famous venue in East London. The show went well. Bernie fit right in.
19/10/1979 Electric Ballroom (with the Ruts) back to the big time courtesy of promoter John Curd. A good set with Ruts singer the late great Malcolm Owen keen that we were well looked after.
12/12/1979 Moonlight Club, Westhampstead with Echo Brava
07/01/1980 Hope & Anchor, Islington A very good show, it looked like we were on our way back. I remember Hot Press being and for some reason asking them not to review the show.
Toyah, Tom Robinson & The Ruts
07/01/1980 Hope & Anchor, Islington A very good show, it looked like we were on our way back. I remember Hot Press being and for some reason asking them not to review the show.
Electric Ballroom, with Toyah & Section 25
09/04/1980 Music Machine, Camden
19/05/1980 Music Machine, Camden
13/06/1980 Heber Arms, Dulwich, London.
27/06/1980 Heber Arms, Dulwich, London
20/07/1980 Cherry Tree, Dulwich, London. This was the Vipers final gig. Dave S. “We had some new material including a good one from Paul called ‘When You Hold Me’ – the gig itself was a let down. A small pub in an anonymous part of South London.
Returning To Ireland
George & Brian returned home to Ireland, Brian joined the Blades & George joined Red Square while Paul & Bernie stayed in London. Paul tried his had at acting and had a few minor roles. George now works in online games industry, while Brian still plays with the Blades.