All About The Casino/Indians Showband
(1964 - Present)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Not many bands of the showband
era had the success and continuous staying power of the Casino. Formed in
Dublin in 1964, at the height of the showband era, the
Casino was a middle of the road showband. They did a nice business,
but were nowhere near the top of the showband food chain.
The story of the Casino starts at the De La
Salle school in Ballyfermot where Eamon Keane, learned the
accordion. In 1959, together with Shay O'Reilly, and some other
lads, they formed a group called the Silvertones, playing at local
hops and socials. The band included Eamon Keane (trumpet and
accordion), Shay O'Reilly (RIP-trombone and accordion), Nick McEvoy
(RIP-sax), and Gussie Maguire (accordion and piano).
A local duo, Greg Doran
(sax/clarinet) and Frank Magee (guitar) joined next. During a gig in
Waterford, Eamonn decided Frank would also take on the vocalist slot
and this new lineup became the Goldentones.
In March, 1961, after a time playing locals
gigs and relief, Frank, Greg and Gussie left to pursue careers
outside of music. To replace their guitarist, the lads drafted John
Woodful, another former De La Salle pupil. They then
asked John's brother, Brian to join on bass and continued to play as
the Goldentones. As fate would have it, Liam Ryan heard the boys and
offered to manage them and it didn't take long before they were
ready for the big time. They added Jimmy Breen (vocals), Paddy
Reynolds (RIP-sax), and
Peter Brady (drums) and hit the road as the Casino Showband.
Within a short time, Jimmy Breen had left the band and was
replaced for a time by Eddie Morgan. The band had still not released
a record (a showband prerequisite by the mid 60's) and were still
not generating the interest it would take to establish them as one
of the top bands. Eddie's replacement was 20 year old Mel Austin,
who joined the band from the Jimmy Johnston Showband and the
Casino seemed to be hitting their stride.
Throughout the late 1960's the band played a
good middle of the road program, but could never quite crack the big
time. In 1970, future country star,
Ian Corrigan
joined the band on vocals and although he didn't stay long, the
Casino finally released a couple of singles including their first,
In The Middle of Nowhere. With Ian out front, the band knew they had what it took to make
it, but were still waiting for that "big break." Also around this
time, International Showband drummer, Chris Mullahy joined
the band replacing Peter Brady on drums. By the time Ian joined,
original member Nick McEvoy had also left, reducing the band from
eight to seven pieces.
By 1971, the band was looking for a new
manager, and found it difficult enough. Tom Doherty of Topline
Promotions suggested the band don feathers and war paint and become
Ireland's first "gimmick" band, The Indians. Ex-newspaper and
publicity man, Paddy Burns became their manager.
Eamonn Keane takes
up the story, "We had been trading as the Casino for some years and
we obviously did not hit on the right gimmick. The Indian gimmick
was good. It got people in to see what was going on, but no band can
last on a gimmick alone." The band also added a new front man,
as Ian decided it was time to head out and form his own band,
Country Style. Noel Brady
replaced Ian and when the band took Indian names as part of their
gimmick, he became known as Big Chief Flaming Star. The rest of the band also took Indian stage
names including Sitting Bull Jr. (Eamon), Dull Knife
(John), Medicine Crow (Shay), Spotted Tail (Doug),
Little Thunder (Chris), and Crazy Horse (Brian).
During the early 70's the band became one of the top country
bands in the nation, a position they held until the waning years of
the ballroom era in the mid 1980's. Interestingly enough, though,
the band never had a single enter the Irish Charts, which is strange
given their phenomenal success in the ballrooms over the years!
Many
have speculated that although the Indian gimmick helped the band
overcome the anonymity that had plagued them as The Casino, it was
their stage presence and musical variety that sustained them as a
top act. Not only did they have the typical brass section of the
showbands, but they also could switch to the accordion, and well as
having a front man in Noel Brady that could rock with the best of
them. They were an all around band that provided everything a dancer
could need.
Amazingly, despite the upheaval that
characterized the showband scene in the early and mid 70's with lead
singers coming and going, and gimmicks everywhere, the Indians
maintained their popularity and drawing ability through it all. It
wasn't until the late seventies that things changed for the band.
The next lineup change took place in 1976 when Doug Walsh was
replaced by Derry Whitelaw (who also took the stage name Spotted
Tail) on keyboards.
But two years later, in 1978, Derry announced he was
not only leaving the band, but was forming another Indians themed
band, The Apaches. Former Plattermen front man, Simon Scott, was recruited to
play the part of Big Chief and like the Indians, the band donned war
paint and feathers and hit the road in December, 1978. They also featured a female
vocalist that they originally called Squaw.
When Derry left, the remaining Indians decided
not to replace him and Eamon Keane moved over to feature more on
keyboards than trumpet. They reduced their lineup from seven to
six members, a fairly typical move in the late seventies as the
ballroom scene continued to slowly shrink. They would remain that way until
the mid 1980's.
Throughout the 1970's the band released albums
of country music which sold very well. They had a stable following
and continued to draw big crowds in the ballrooms despite the lack
of a hit record. The creation of the Apaches did little to affect
the success of the Indians.
More to come.......
Our thanks to Frank Magee for his
contribution to this story.
1998 - Band
lineup: Rising Sun (Paul Brady), Sitting Bull (Eamonn
Keane), Little Thunder (Chris Mullahy) Crazy Horse (Brian Woodfull)
and Dull Knife (Tommy Hopkins).
click on thumbnails for full image
