All About Sunshine
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Although Stuart Bingham and Bryce Norrie played
together in a group called Sunshine in the early seventies, Stuart
left the band when Paul Lyttle left Chips to form Lyttle People in
1973, he also did a short stint with The Sands around that time. For a short time, Sunshine was forgotten. Then in mid 1974,
Tapestry returned from an extended tour of Canada and started
looking for a guitarist. By that time, Paul had rejoined Chips and
Stuart was looking for a job.
Tapestry members Irene McIlroy (vocals), Shaun
Magee (bass) and Arty Moorhead (drums) teamed up with Stuart
(guitar), who suggested the band add vocalist, and his former band
mate, Bryce Norrie to the lineup. "We decided to use Sunshine
because it was probably a better known name, hence better gigs,
etc." reports Shaun Magee, "then Stuart suggested bringing in
Bryce, which we thought was a good idea, and that was it." Sunshine
hit the road.
At around the same time, the newly reformed
Chips were losing bass player, Robin Irvine to the United States and
a group called Bananas. At Sunshine's first gig (the Revolution Club
in Dublin), Paul Lyttle, Linda Martin and Robin Irvine arrived to
watch the newly formed Sunshine and a few days later, Shaun Magee
received a call from Louis Walsh asking him to officially join
Chips.
The departure of their bass player just as they
started was a blow to the band, but they quickly regrouped and
drafted Trevor England to replace Shaun. (Trevor would later join
Chips, replacing Shaun). Within a year, things changed again for the
band when Irene was invited to join Chips, replacing Nicola Kerr who
went on to spend a short time with the New Seekers in the UK. The
found Rosie Hunter to replace Irene and continued to build a solid
following as one of the top pop groups of the late seventies.
More to come.......
Photo Gallery
Click on thumbnails for full images
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Bryce Norrie: |
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Stuart Bingham: |
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Shaun Magee:
Shaun left the band to join Chips, and played with them
until 1978. After leaving Chips, Shaun went on to play with
Gibney and Donovan,
Sheeba,
The Joe Cuddy Band and finally
Vienna (with Dee Mahon, formerly
Julie of Starband) before emigrating to Canada in 1985. Today, Shaun lives and works in Toronto where
he manages a construction company. |
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Arty Moorhead: |
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Irene McElroy:
After leaving the band, Irene moved to Scotland where she teamed up with Alex Mathieson and they toured Scotland and the North of England, before moving to Tenirieffe where they stayed for four years. Irene then came home to Ireland and did not sing for a couple of years, until she met Jerry McLarnon and they have played together for five years under the
name It Takes Two. She lives in Ballymena, County Antrim with her husband, Derek Archibald
and we thank them for the update. |
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Trevor
England:
Our thanks to David Martin, who emailed us to say that up
until recently, Trevor was teaching in a school in Belfast.
We understand that as of March 5, 2008, Trevor is
teaching music in SERC College in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Our thanks for the update.
If you have more info
please email us |
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Rosie Hunter: |
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James Meredith: |
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Frankie Cullen: |
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Bryan Greenwood: |
