Hello....Does anyone know where I can get any info on the Folk group 'SPUD'? Thanks  :)

8) as i type im looking @ a picture of them from the new spotlight yearbook 76  8)

According to this site Spud had a huge hit with Wind In The Willows

Yes they did. It is a lovely song - my favorite by far. Thanx for the info - I shall have a better look around this site soon.

As far as I know Dermott o' Connor [Mandolin player] from Spud is still in london? I usta bump into him at gigs when i lived there in the late 80s-brilliant player as well.
Hope this helps
Kev

they were 11 weeks in the charts with Wind In The Willows, reaching No 5 one week.  Nice song, pity about the appalling name "Spud" which has to have been against them.
"A Silk Purse" was their first album released in 1975.

More info -  see
http://grown-so-ugly.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_grown-so-ugly_archive.html

Dermot o' Connor [Mandolin player and the singer of "Wind in the willows"] now lives in Germany.

1976 - 1980
The Permanent Cure
“The Permanent Cure” began life as a band in the year of our lord 1976 on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland.  The band comprised George Kaye, Dermot O'Connor, Leo Gillespie and Pat Gibbs. They attracted huge crowds throughout that long hot summer and after just a few short months they had moved into the mainstream music venues.
 
They appeared on prime time Irish Television and played theatres in Dublin, Cork and Galway. With their singular mix of virtuoso Bluegrass, BeBop, Blues and surrealistic comedy routines they became firm favourites in experimental theatres and clubs such as The Project Arts Centre in Dublin. They were never afraid to experiment and incorporated whatever objects they could find in various places into the performance – something for which they received glowing critiques in the high-brow arts publications of the day.  
 
They even recorded an LP The Permanent Cure "WORKS" and had attracted the attention of a top English management company. Their heroic acts became legend but eventually management problems and contractual hold-ups led to disaffection amongst the band and when George received a very lucrative offer from the USA he had very little option but to accept. Whilst they remained friends, this inevitably lead to the break-up of the band. But little did they know, there were to be other days…….

Dermot played with various groups in Dublin until he formed "Hobo Junction" with celebrity twin-fiddlers John Caulfield and Eimer Burns and guitarist/bazouki player Brendan 'Hairy' Hearty. They toured pubs and folk clubs to great acclaim and when Eimer tragically died suddenly, fiddle player Clive Collins was recruited to fill in. However, the magic and spirit had gone and the band soon fell apart.
 
Dermot then moved to London and joined  Irish group "Shenanigan"

1980 - 1992

In 1980 he joined The Wes McGhee Band with whom he stayed until teaming up again with George in 1992. During this time he also worked with singer/guitarist Guy Prichard and eventually George joined them and they toured as The City Gents.

1993 Reunion The Pemanent Cure
(with Dermot O'Connor, George Kaye, Tommy Gallagher, Leo Gillespie, Squeezebox Teddy)

Well, anyway they decided to go to Braunschweig and in the allotted time they recorded their first CD, the classic album, Bottled.
 
In the subsequent 7 years the went on to record 3 more CD's - Country Archives,  The Permanent Cure Live and Four to the Bar. After George left once more to form the band Touch and Go with brothers Andy and Micky Plate and Lars Möller, Dermot, Tommy and Squeezebox Teddy continued playing as Lock Stock and Barrel.
They recorded a CD Dynamite but the band finally broke up for good in 2000 when Squeezebox Teddy embarked on a highly and enduring successful solo career.
 
Dermot and new bass player Heiner Creutzfeldt formed Murphy's Lawyers with fiddler Pete Sage and Tommy joined folk rock band Loose Chippings. Heiner left after about 6 months and Tommy then re-joined Dermot in Murphy's Lawyers. They made many recordings but nothing ever got released. The band lasted till June 2007 when Pete moved back to Flensburg to be near his beloved Baltic Sea.
 
During all this time the Permanent Cure re-united temporarily couple of times with new guitarist Ande Plate to play selected gigs whilst Dermot and Tommy continued as the duo Part n Parcel and played pubs and festivals right up to December.
 
Then on the occasion of Dermot's 60th Birthday he pulled the band back together for a special birthday show in the Wild Geese Irish Pub Braunschweig. They played to a standing ovation and the reaction was so fantastic that they they just had to officially put the band back on the road.
So now The Permanent Cure lives again permanently with George, Dermot, Tommy and Andy playing their first official concerts in The Wild Geese, Braunschweig on
23rd and 24th February 2008!!

Information taken from the website
http://www.thepermanent-cure.de

::)  Here you can see Dermot O'Connor today:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=_BwIuq5_n1M

The Permanent Cure Reunion Gig in The Wild Geese Irish Pub performing the "79th`s Farewell to Gibraltar"   :) :o ;)