The Times (1968-1982)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
In
1964, two brothers, Joe and Ben Dolan, put together a band that would help shape
Irish pop music for the next decade and beyond.
The brothers knew they could make a go of music and quit their day jobs (Ben as
a carpenter and Joe as a compositor) and formed The Drifters in 1964 with Ben on
Sax and Joe as guitarist
and lead singer. The other members of the band were: Sid Aughey
(drums), Jimmy Horan (bass), Tommy Swarbrigg (trumpet), Joey
Gilheaney (trombone), and Des Doherty (keyboards). The band's first record was an an old Del Shannon
song, "The Answer To Everything," which went to No. 4 in the Irish
Charts.
The story
of Joe Dolan is well known and documented on this site on our
feature on The Drifters, but this is the
story of the "other" five lads in the band. For almost five years,
The Drifters Showband enjoyed enormous success on the Irish charts
and in the ballrooms. Joe Dolan (still the band's guitarist) was
enjoying a fast rise to the top of the Irish entertainment scene in
the mid sixties.
However, it was at a point when the band was possibly at it's
highest point in the sixties, that the five "non-Dolan" members
decided it was time to break away and strike out on their own.
Although it might seem strange looking back for a band to split up
at the height of it's popularity, it was not uncommon on the
showband scene. Defections were numerous as bands struggled to find
their identity. The Miami parted company with Dickie Rock, Brendan
Bowyer and Tom Dunphy left the Royal Showband to form the Big 8, Joe
McCarthy and Brendan O'Brien left the Dixies to form Stage 2, Billy
Brown defected from the Freshmen to form Brown and O'Brien, Brian
Coll split from the Plattermen, and the list went on and on.
It
was in mid
1968, that Tommy Swarbrigg and the younger members
of the band decided it was
time for a change in direction and they left the Drifters to form The Times.
Since the five musicians had been playing together for so long, all
they needed were replacements for Joe and Ben and they were ready to
hit the road. Tommy contacted his brother, Jimmy, who was
living in London, and he returned to front the new pop band, leaving Joe and Ben alone.
To round out the new lineup, they recruited Sean Kenny on guitar and
Gene Bannon on sax and hot the road without missing a beat.
Before
long, Sid Aughey gave up playing the drums to take over managing the
new band and was replaced by Micky O'Neill (who joined the Big 8 in
1971) and eventually Greg Donaghey. This would be the only
change in the lineup for many years.
Almost
immediately, the Swarbrigg brothers began to distinguish themselves
from the vast majority of bands in the country by writing their own
material. They enjoyed a string of self penned hit records as the
70's progressed. In 1973 they had their own television show on RTE,
which allowed the Swarbriggs to showcase their original songs. The
band enjoyed a reputation, along with the likes of the Freshmen, of
being one of the true "original" pop bands in Ireland.
They also hooked up with British singing star, Hurricane Smith (Oh
Babe, What Would You Say) as he helped produce several of their
singles.
As the
popularity and the success of the Swarbriggs continued to grow, in
the the tradition of the Irish showbands, the future of The Times
became more and more in doubt. In 1975 the Swarbriggs represented Ireland in Eurovision with
"That's What Friends Are For." In 1976, they came 5th in the Irish
contest with "The Way of Love." In 1977, they won the Irish national
Song Contest again with "It's Nice To Be In Love Again" as The
Swarbriggs plus Two (Alma Carroll and Nicola Kerr).
Finally,
the Swarbriggs did decide to leave and took manager, Sid Aughey, went with them.
Also departing was guitarist Sean Kenny, who went with the
Swarbriggs before eventually ending up with Sean O'Dowd and
Dingaling in the early 80's. Interestingly enough, Joe Dolan's
manager, Seamus Casey took over managing the
band, bringing them into the same stable as their former band mates,
Joe and Ben Dolan. The Swarbriggs continued to enjoy success with
their own band, and actually changed their name to Winter in 1978
based on a recommendation by their label in England, EMI.
Meanwhile,
The Times marched on, adding former Real McCoy member Eddie Campbell
on guitar and vocalist Benny White out front. The lineup would be
relatively should lived as Eddie was soon replaced by Vinnie Baker
and Gene Bannon's sax was replaced by Paul Mitchell's trumpet. Vinny Baker had been with several name outfits
before joining The Times and Benny and Vinny soon became the band's new
songwriters, penning several successful singles over the next few
years.
As the
seventies came to a close, the Times made, perhaps their final major
change, dropping brass from the lineup and adding a female vocalist, Maggie Maye,
who joined them in April, 1980. Jimmy Horan and Des Doherty were the
only remaining members of the original lineup and continued to carry
on the band's name.
We found the following passage at
Vinny Baker's website:
"The Times split up in 1982 during
the rapid decline in the Showband scene, brought about mainly by the
onslaught of the Disco craze and the complete inability of ballroom
owners to adapt to the changes which dance goers now demanded. Gone
were the days when people were content to socialise in cold, damp,
drab dance halls. And the disco bars and halls were mainly being ran
in the comfort of hotel ballrooms, which in general, were not much
better than the dance halls around the country, but had plenty of
dim lighting and flashing lights to disguise the dirt and drabness
in them, so they completely obliterated the dance halls and in the
space of a few years, the halls and ballrooms were closed and remain
closed to this day."
So, as the
industry shifted from ballrooms to hotels in the 80's, more bands
dropped their numbers to five or six piece lineups, thus allowing
them to continue to make money despite the dwindling opportunities
in the industry. The Times finally packed it in in 1982.
In closing,
the musicians who formed the Times played an important role in Irish
popular music: first as the backing band that helped make Joe Dolan
an international star. Then, as a fertile environment in which the
talents of Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg flourished, bringing them to
Eurovision. And finally on their own, making their living in the era
that was The Showband Era.
If you have
any additional about the Times or its members,
please email us.
Photo Gallery (click on thumbnail for full image)
