All About the Freshmen
(1962-1980)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Although
definitely one of the earliest "pop bands" the Freshmen, from Ballymena,
were different from the rest of the showband fodder of the early
1960's. Billy Brown, an extremely talented piano and sax player, had
been playing since he was twelve. By the time he got to college, he
had his first professional gig with the Billy McFarland Band
out of Belfast.
Two other members the McFarland band, bass
player Torry McGahey and sax player Maurice Henry became fast friends and
they all eventually
decided it was time to strike out on their own, although in a 1971
Spotlight interview with Davy McKnight it was reported Tory had been
sacked from the band and Billy and Maurice went with him. On one way
or another together they formed
The Freshmen in early 1962. They recruited the best of
musicians, each one a singer in their own right. The original lineup
included: Barney McKeon (vocals), Maurice (sax), Torry (bass),
Damien McIlroy (guitar), Sean Mahon (trombone), Davy McKnight (drums-who
was training to be a teacher)
and Billy (sax and piano).
The band's new sound took Northern Ireland by
storm. They were starting out just at the same time as The Beatles
and The Beach Boys and they were poised to ride the crest of the
"pop" wave in Ireland. Before long, the band attracted the interest
of a new manager, Peter Dempsey (band member Maurice Henry had
previously handled the band's bookings). Peter ran dances in
Andersontown and through this, met Johnny Flynn and made a host of
connections in the South...uncharted territory for the Freshmen.
By
1963, they were beginning to make inroads in the South when Barney
decided to leave. The search was on for a replacement and the band
recruited Limerick singer, Tommy Drennan. With Tommy out front, the
band continued to prosper, garnering rave reviews from the press and
the punters. Within a year though, Tommy had grown homesick and
returned to Limerick, leaving the band in bit of a bind. Billy
filled in for a time, but eventually they found their ideal front
man in Derek McMenamin, a handsome, tall singer whose good looks,
charm, and talent rivaled any of the other leading front men of the
time.
With Derek in place, the band cut its first
record in London during a tour of England in February, 1964, She's The One You Love. Released in
summer, the single faded quickly, making little impact. For a time
in early 1964, Derek left the band to complete his college education
where he was studying to become a teacher. By summer, he had taken
his finals and was back with the band. At the end of 1964, the band
announced that Derek was changing his last name to Dean and the band
also changed its name to Derek and the Freshmen.
In 1965, the band recorded and released more
singles. The first, I Stand Alone, failed to make an
impression. However, their recording of Yenka was a top ten
hit in November 1965. Over the next two years, the band's reputation
and status went from strength to strength. They became the top
Northern Band to play the South and at one point were ranked as the
number four showband behind only the Royal, Miami and the Cadets. In
August 1966, the band announced that it was changing its name once
again and would be known as Derek Dean, Billy and the Freshmen,
an obvious nod to Billy's growing influence in the band.
In 1967, the Freshmen were part of the showband
elite in Ireland. Oliver Barry took over managing the band in
mid-1967 and their record, Papa-Oo-Mow-Mow reached
number seven in the Irish charts and stayed in the charts for eight
weeks well into 1968. In September, 1968, the band announced a new
image...gone were the tailored suits of the showband era and now the
band took to the stage in "mod" gear. The move was actually seen as
risky. A Spotlight article in the September 7th issue stated,
"Ballroom managers were aghast....they felt dancers wouldn't go for
it at all."
They started a string of top ten hits and the
band was doing extremely well as the money came pouring in. They
released Go Granny Go, Number 12 in August 1968, Just to
See You Smile, Number 9 in March 1969, and Halfway to Where,
Number 10 in April 1970. In the April 26th, 1969 issue of
Spotlight, an article reported that the band had claimed to have
played before 16,000 dancers over the Easter week and that it must
be some kind of record. Things were going well for the Freshmen.
1970
was the year the band released their second album, Peace On Earth.
The album was heralded as an artistic masterpiece and is still
regarded by many as the greatest Irish pop album ever made. The same
year, they performed their "Peace Concert" at the RDS in Dublin
which featured noted actor Micheal MacLiammoir as narrator (the role
he also played on the album). Amid all
the success though, trouble was brewing. The band had become too
identified with the Beach Boys sound and as the Beach Boys fortunes'
faded, so too did the Freshmen's.
In February, 1971, it was reported in Spotlight that Billy
had been sacked by the band. The article said that Billy had been
ill for some time and started missing dates. Billy himself said he
had been feeling ill and thiat his doctor thought it was either his
appendix or gallstones, but that he was going into hospital within
the week. In the meantime, the band voted to sack the all star
singer songwriter and was looking for a replacement. which they
found in Ivan Laybourne.
When Billy returned to health, he decided to form his own group, The Billy Brown Superband. He recruited
one of the finest lineup of
musicians perhaps ever to play the ballroom circuit. Billy was
joined by Johnny Brown (bass), Dessie Reynolds (drums), Keith McDonald
(sax), Pascal Haverty (sax), Tiger Taylor (guitar), and
Mike Nolan
(RIP-trumpet). The musicianship was excellent, but the band lacked
originality and that
"certain" spark, lasting less than a year.
The early seventies saw the band continued to
slip in popularity and earnings. Following a false start with his superband, Billy teamed up with Mike O'Brien to form Brown and
O'Brien in 1972. Sadly, this band did find the magic either and
Billy rejoined the Freshmen after
folding Brown and O'Brien in late 1973, but then Lindsay Lunny left the band
around the same time.
Throughout the mid to late seventies, the
Freshmen continued to play, ending up as a six piece and trying to
make a living in a scene that was slowly dying and well past its
prime. Around 1978, Torry McGahey left the band, breaking the final
remaining link to the original Freshmen lineup. Although Billy Brown
had been an original member, he had left the band for several years.
Although we are not sure, we think the band called it quits around
1980.
By 1980, the Freshmen, one of the greatest
components of pop music in Ireland, were finally no more. After
almost twenty years the band who had smoothly made the transition
from pure 60's showband to 70's pop group successfully (while
staying true to their legacy of producing quality music) called it
quits.
In the years after the showband era ended, the
late Billy Brown continued to record, write and produce
excellent music. His legend as one of Ireland's most gifted
musicians continued to grow, but on June 6, 1999, at the age of 56,
Billy sadly passed away, leaving the Irish music scene without
one of the guiding lights that had illuminated the landscape of the
showband era.
Photo
Gallery
Click on thumbnails for full images
