Muskateers/Herdsmen/Family/Pals/Champions Story (1971-1991)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Editor's note: Every care
has been taken to present only factual information in this story
based on newspaper articles and photographic
archives. If you can add anything or correct info in this story,
please email us and let us know.
The story of the Champions, one of the late showband era's biggest
acts, actually started around 1971 when members of three bands
merged. Jerdi Mackey had been a member of a band called The Hymac,
along with members of the Muskateers (a band which included
the four eventual members of the Champions) teamed up with Martin
Codd, whose band called the Herdsmen had been on the road for
eighteen months and was well known locally. Although the Herdsmen
had been based in Wexford, all the new members were from County Cork
except Jerdi from Kilmacthomas in Waterford.
The line-up of the New Herdsmen included Jerdi on rhythm
guitar and vocals, Martin Codd
(vocals),
Mossy Walsh (keyboards), Pat Walsh (guitar), Eddie Fitzgerald (bass)
and Tony Hornibrook
on drums. Although the original Herdsmen appeared to have been an
"old-timey" outfit (fiddles and
accordions), the New Herdsmen now played country and western,
the genre of music which had swept the country in the late 1960's.
An article in April, 1972 in the
Waterford News, reported the band would be releasing their
first single shortly, "Good Night Irene" with
"Time Changes Everything" on the B-side. The band was advertised as
"Martin Codd and the Herdsmen" throughout this period. By mid-1972,
the band was doing very well, not only across the southern part of
Ireland, but slowly gaining in popularity across the country. The
band was being managed by John Costelloe.
In August, 1972, the band
expanded, adding a female vocalist named Eleanor Gallagher to the
line-up. However, by November, 1972, the band was being advertised
as Jerdi and the Herdsmen featuring Gina. Cork-born Gina, who
real name is Mary Hurley joined the band, replacing Eleanor and the
line-up for the Champions was set.
The original lineup was: Gina (vocals), Jerdie (also spelled Gerdi) Mackey (eventually to be known as Dale Haze-vocals), Mossy Walsh
(keyboards), Pat Walsh (guitar), Eddie Fitzgerald (bass) and Tony Hornibrook
on drums. The band released their first
single, Paper Mansions on a four track EP (also known back then as
an maxi single), but it did little for them.
The band was playing the smaller
circuit and not quite getting the exposure they wanted.
Their fortunes started to turn when they signed with Tony Byrne of
Dublin's Tommy Hayden Enterprises (THE). Tony knew the band had
talent, but that they also needed to overhaul their image. The work
to re-brand the band started when an advert in the Spotlight issue of September 6, 1973, advertised
the band as "Gina, Jerdy
and the Family." A few weeks later, Pascal Mooney's column, Jamboree, in
the September 27, 1973 issue of Spotlight included a photo of Gina
of the Herdsmen and stated that the band would now be known as The
Pals.
While the band continued to search
for an illusive new name, fate came into play when on
September 23, 1973, Cork beat Galway in the G.A.A. All-Ireland
Football Championship in Croke Park (3-17 to 2-13 for fans). It was
Cork's first All-Ireland title since 1945 and the county went wild.
Finally, the band had their name, The Champions. On October 4, 1973, an
advert appeared in Spotlight announcing the incredible "Champions"
featuring Gina and Jerdi, along with the re-release of the band's 10
month old single, Paper Mansions. Manager Tony Byrne
was confident the band's image change was complete.
Their first single recorded as the
Champions (and second single - released in February, 1974) was Dreams Are Good Friends,
which had been an International hit for Vicky Leandros in 1973. The
record hit
a chord with punters and climbed to Number 12 in the Irish
Charts. The Champions had their first hit and were off and running.
At this point, Jerdi was still using his real name and Gina was
still more or less being featured as the main lead singer with the band.
More tweaking of the band's image
would be required before they finally hit their stride. The early
70's was an interesting time in the Irish showband world. The "big"
showbands of the 60's were either gone, or had morphed into either
pop or country bands, or fractured as members left to form new
bands. What was actually happening was, the dancers that had brought
the showband era to its peak in the early-to-mid 60's were getting too old
for the ballrooms. A new generation of dancers was demanding
something new and fresh. At the time, many of the "new" bands on the
scene were either old names with new lineups, or some old lineups
with new names: Nevada, Sands, Royal, Big Eight, etc. The Champions
were a fresh new face and their music better represented the new
generation of dancers who were still filling ballrooms across the
country 4-5 nights a week.
In early 1975, Jerdi changed his
stage name
to Dale Haze and Gina, Dale Haze and the Champions finally
had their name and image solidified. Their next single in 1975,
Minnie, Minnie, climbed into the the Irish Top Ten to Number 5
and the band were official hit makers. Articles reporting on the new
single said Dale was the "new singer" with
Gina, despite being with the band far longer than her.
Throughout the 1970's the
Champions would lead the way for a new type of "showband" with no
brass (keyboard synths could now emulate these sounds) and two lead
vocalists which would become the norm for many bands like the
Nevada, Fairways and others. They would also have a plethora of
chart hits scoring 13 top twenty hits on the Irish charts, however a
number one hit eluded them. They seemed to favour covering hits from
continental Europe (as opposed to Britain or the USA). Records like
"You're the Greatest Lover" and "Who Do You Wanna Be?" (both hits
for the Dutch girl band Luv), were catchy and unique with a
definite appeal to Irish audiences.
What is possibly one of t5he most
unique things about the Champions is that, unlike so many bands of the
era, they did not undergo any lineup changes and continued
to grow their reputation and fan base the old fashioned way, through
hard work and a superior product. Like Galway's Conquerors, the band
did not exhibit the flash and flair of some of their competitors but
continued to play a solid dance program and put out well made
(although rarely original) records.
The band would continue to pump
out the hits until February 1992 when Gina retired from touring (in
her own words) "Eventually it came to a point in 1991 when I just
couldn't do it anymore, all the different pressures got too much."
At the time she was dealing with being a performer and a mother,
looking after her two children aged 8 and 3 and married to a member
of the band, Pat Walsh.
The band would go its separate
ways, but by December, Gina and Pat were putting a new band on the
road, along with Pat's brother Mossy. New musicians included Rossa
Mullen (drums) and John O'Keefe (bass). The article (see below) also
reported that Dale was selling insurance, Tony was doing local radio
and Eddie had returned to being an electrician. We're not sure what
the "official" name of the band was, but
they would be advertised as Gina and the Champions throughout
the country for several years.
Around 2009 the band reformed and
did a series of concerts and from what we can gather, they continued
to do gigs for special occasions, although performing rarely after
about 2012.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
