Comic books rebooted - my proud family origins

The Justice League

DC Comics rebooted your favorite superheroes last month with “the new 52” series, giving fresh coats of paint and new story lines to the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman.

It reminded me how much I loved reading about the origins of those characters as a kid, and how fascinated I was with the pain that drove the likes of billionaire Bruce Wayne to strike fear in criminals’ hearts by dressing like a giant bat.

There were some events over the last few weeks that made me reflect on my own origins. The first was a series of interviews that New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House conducted with my parents and myself as part of its Oral History Collection.

Ireland House is doing the Lord’s work preserving the histories of authors, clergy, bricklayers and everyone in between with this series. Hearing my parents’ stories told in their own words was an indescribable thrill and provides my family with an oral history of our own that will be passed down to subsequent generations.

I heard the origin of my family in their recount. The sadness of watching the farm in the review mirror as my grandparents drove them to Shannon Airport soon faded in the face of a new world’s bright promise and modern accouterments.

In this sharing, I can see the origins of my own sense of adventure that has me take on things that scare me in the face of growth -- like writing the personal column you’re reading now.

I heard the origins of my sly sense of humor in my father’s response to the question as to the degree of credit he gives his friend for introducing him to my mother at a wedding.

“Yerra, there are days I blame him as well,” he says.

The good-natured laughter between dad and his missus that immediately followed that joke provides an origin to the easy nature between my wife and I.

I hear the origins of the keen writer’s eye for observation and detail in listening to Mom’s gentle whispers in my father’s ear throughout the interview as she corrects his occasional lapses in facts.

The interviewer peppers me with questions during our session, and it brings back memories and introduces new observations long buried or never realized.

I’m reminded of the envelopes of waitressing tips my mother put under the blotter of the dining room table. One was labeled “trip to Ireland” and another one might say “poles” as she funded a telephone line off the main road and through the narrow boreen to her mother’s house.

In that memory I see the origins of my own obsession with saving for retirement and keeping debt levels low in a house full of ravenous teenage consumerism.

With a trip to Ireland last week, I can see the origins of what made me the person I am today with my own two eyes.

It hit me during a bittersweet visit that had me stare into the faraway gaze of my maternal grandmother’s sister, Peggy.  We both giggle spontaneously as she walks through the door of the pub, and I smile broadly at our mutual tendency of approaching each social situation with the enthusiasm of a tickled toddler.

Her mind has faded after almost nine decades, yet I can still see the origins of my own mischievous spark in the eye as she is about to assemble a good yarn while stirring her tea.

The origins of my sharp tongue and quick wit abound when my dad’s family gathers at my book signing in Tuam. When David Burke, the editor of The Tuam Herald turns and asks my 81-year-old bachelor uncle where his wife was, he shakes his head.
“Well, the girleen hasn’t been born yet and her mother’s dead,” came the instant reply.

I lean over the head stone of my paternal grandmother’s grave, and I can’t tell if the wind rustles the dry leaves or if that was her voice whispering, “Nice piece in the Herald about the book – aren’t ye the humble one? And peddling the book in the church parking lot after Mass was a grand gesture altogether.”

I make the sign of the cross and laugh to myself. No mystery where my tendency to get the last word comes from! Having your say when you’re six feet under is indeed a miracle, yet I expect nothing less from Brigid Farragher.

I am grateful that my family origins have so many amazing people that never wore a mask or cape but are superheroes nonetheless.

(Mike Farragher has a collection of essays just like this in his new book that is named after this column. Check out www.thisisyourbrainonshamrocks.com)

Westlife splits as Oasis Gallagher brothers talk of reunions

Westlife

After 14 years together, the Irish boyband Westlife have announced that they will be splitting up.

“After 14 years, 26 top 10 hits including 14 number one singles, 11 top five albums, seven of which hit the top spot and have collectively sold over 44 million copies around the world, 10 sell out tours and countless memories that we will forever cherish, we today announce our plan to go our separate ways after a greatest hits collection this Christmas and a farewell tour next year,” the band said in a statement.

Long time readers of the Irish Voice know that this reporter believes Westlife’s reign has gone on about 13 years longer than it should have. Then again, credit must be given to them for sticking it out that long, when bands like Boyzone and Take That have broken up AND staged reunions in that same timeframe.

According to wire reports, all is friendly among the aging heart throbs.

“The decision is entirely amicable, and after spending all of our adult life together so far, we want to have a well-earned break and look at new ventures,” the band said.

“We see the greatest hits collection and the farewell tour as the perfect way to celebrate our incredible career along with our fans. We are really looking forward to getting out on the tour and seeing our fans one last time. Westlife has been a dream come true for all of us.”

Well, you know what they say. One man’s dream is another’s nightmare, and this reviewer is waking up to a brand new morning of sunshine!

On the same week we had news of this break up comes word of a possible make up. Liam Gallagher tells Rolling Stone that he would consider reconciling with his brother Noel to reunite Oasis for the 20th anniversary of the release of (What's the Story) Morning Glory.

"In 2015, if we can put our s*** aside, we can tour and play the album in its entirety for the 20th anniversary," he says. "I'd be up for that, if it's on our terms. There's got to be two-way respect."

Could these boys be on the same hymn book in their church pew at long last?  During a radio interview in August, Noel Gallagher said that breaking up Oasis was a rash decision.

"We could maybe have all gone off and done other things for a few years," he said. "In my own head the 2015, 20-year anniversary of Morning Glory is looming and we could have maybe come back, made a new album and played that album in its entirety and gone and been the greatest thing ever, but there you go."

The two brothers no longer speak, but Liam tells Rolling Stone that Noel's public comments got him thinking about the anniversary tour.

"He's the one that keeps mentioning it," says Liam. "I want to put him out of his misery. But I think he needs to do his solo thing first and realize he's not that good without his brother. He's got to find out for himself.

“I'm up for it – I'm not desperate for it. If it doesn't work out, I don't give a s***, I'm quite happy with (current band) Beady Eye."

He should be happy with Beady Eye because they rock like the world is coming to an end tomorrow on their Different Gear, Still Speeding release.

Rolling Stone interviewed Noel last month about the possibility and he said, "Liam has said that the idea makes him vomit and it would never happen. So I don't need to add anything to that. I don't need the f*** money, but I think it's a shame that songs like 'Champagne Supernova’ and 'Rock and Roll Star' 'will never be played again."
He continued, "There's bands that say, 'We don't want to get back together. We'd have to make a new record.' Why? F*** a new record. No one gives a s*** about your new record. "

Okay then! Noel does have a point. The band’s output has been spotty (you caught me in a generous mood, what can I say?) since What’s the Story, so he all but confirms that Oasis has been an oldies band for more years than we all care to admit.

So, count on the deluxe, remastered version of the Oasis classic, no doubt complete with commemorative booklet and DVD of the brothers slagging one another, available in three years. I might not buy it, but I would stand in line to see it live!

Home is where the heart is for the Celtic Tenors

The Celtic Tenors

I’m just back from a trip over the pond to the homeland and I can report that the Celtic Tenors new disc, Feels Like Home, was great company on the trip!

This 13-song CD celebrates the uplifting music of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, while borrowing a few songs from other cultures along the way. The feeling of getting touch with your roots was something important to the group in light of Ireland’s tough economic spot, according to tenor James Nelson.

“It is land of 100,000 welcomes, yet there is a lot of press about how our country is run by thieves and bankers,” he says.

“I am reading a book about the subject now called Snouts in a Trough. It turns your stomach, the level of corruption in government. We decided to do something positive and make the album warm in these times. We were blessed to be able to work with the RTE Orchestra and put fellow Irish musicians to work. It was an extraordinary experience!”

The Celtic Tenors are a three-man vocal group that includes Nelson, Matthew Gilsenan and Daryl Simpson. The trio has been working together since 2000, and the easiness between them is evident in the warmth of the songs.

The CD opens with “Going Home,” a poignant ballad written by American folk singer-songwriter Mary Fahl. “They say there’s a place where dreams have all gone/they never say where but I think I know/it’s miles through the night just over the door/on the road that takes me home,” the trio sings, a tip to the economic troubles before reassuring the listener on the chorus that “love waits for me around the bend and sorrows will come to an end.”

“Red Haired Mary” is one of those sassy songs that call to mind Maureen O’Hara’s Quiet Man performance. “Silent Sunlight” is a beautiful piano-based song by Yusef Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens. “When the heart is young and the night is done and the sky is blue/morning songbirds sing away/lend a tune to another day,” is a sample of the optimistic lyrics.

“We just happened to come across him in a studio in London a while back,” says Nelson. “We sang a traditional song in our native tongue for him.

“He loved our harmonies and suggested this gem of a song to us. We fell in love with it immediately. There was something very positive about it.

“We were looking for a theme for the new album,” Nelson reasons. “It just kind of happened by itself. In almost every one of the songs on this record, you’ll find a very positive and hopeful message. It’s even in the way that we sing.

“You have people from three very different and distinct cultures singing in harmony. It makes for a very positive image and a very powerful musical statement.”

The Celtic Tenors conjure up images of Ireland on this, their greatest CD to date, but they have an eye on their adopted American home as well. The rousing title track comes from the canon of Randy Newman.

“It works on many levels,” says Nelson. “We were drawn by the resonance of home and its place in our own loves. We spend a lot of time on the road, touring the world, and singing this song just seems to bring home just a little closer.”

Fair play to The Celtic Tenors for including an emotional rendition of Richard Thompson’s “Dimming of the Day.” This legendary songwriter from Fairport Convention is the quintessential Celtic folkie, yet his melody making talents are criminally underrated at times.

The group will be travelling around the world to support Feels Like Home. Nelson is excited to bring the album into the Cathedral of Sligo, where he first began singing.

“We go to the Middle East and then we start in Connecticut next month and will be there until Christmas. We are hoping to go to China at some point, so these are exciting times for us!”

I spoke with Nelson about the album and band dynamic. Here’s how it went.

How did you guys get together, and how did you arrive at your sound?
We’re all classically trained. We met at a Strauss opera. We were all steeped in that.
When EMI first heard us, they encouraged us to do more than the Celtic nations and further afield as well. The first album had songs from our homeland.

Because we do most of our work in the U.S. and Canada we included songs by Randy Newman, who wrote the title track. Three-quarters of our show is Celtic, with the rest deviating.

So, a record buyer is standing in a shop and is staring at album covers of yours, the Irish Tenors and the Three Tenors. What would you tell the buyer about why you are different?
We were inspired by the Three Tenors, to be sure. We did want to do a similar thing.
That said, our emphasis is on harmony. The big Three Tenors would have harmonized occasionally, but there is more emphasis on the solo performances. They also do a full symphony orchestra.
We mix it up. We do harmonies and sometimes we do symphonies. Often times, we do a capella three part harmonies and some shows are just us with a piano. I think we’d be bored if we were just belting out opera tunes. We just love creating harmonies.

Two of us are also musicians. I play church organ.

Some groups are friendly and some are not, with the uncomfortable space being a source of creative tension. How would you describe your dynamic?
We often say it is a democracy, but we are more like brothers. I was best man when Matthew got married. I am told I am passive aggressive. I think Matthew invented it (laughs).

I wanted to use “The Valley” made famous by k.d. lang. It was a big disappointment and it is an example of the many disappointments between all of us. We don’t always get our way but that is a democracy.

We haven’t agreed all along but in this one, we think we did our best ever and that could be because we agree.

What can someone who never saw Celtic Tenors live expect from a show?
What we try always to do is mix it up for the audience. We will do an Irish song and then throw a curveball like Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally” or an Air Supply song. We just sing songs we like and the audience seems to like it.

The house is on fire and you have to save your favorite CD in the house. What’s in your hand?
Jussy Bjoerling is a Swedish tenor --Pavarotti’s favorite. I just love his voice. There is a definitive collection of his that I would rush in to get.

Friends are coming over for dinner and you have to hide your most embarrassing CD. What’s in your hand?
ABBA Gold.

I love ABBA!
I know, so do I. The other lads tease me about it.

It’s interesting how a song takes on new meaning in a different circumstance, and one recent instance made me fall in love with ABBA all over again.

I do work with AIDS orphans. Last time I was in Kenya I heard the kids singing “Bare Necessities,” the Disney song. It has a whole new meaning in a Nairobi slum. They then sang “I Have a Dream” by ABBA and it gives you chills.

New Irish singer Ciaran Gribbin to join INXS

Ciaran Gribbin, aka Joe Echo

A piece of good news for Irish music arrived this week, as Belfast-born singer-songwriter Joe Echo -- or Ciaran Gribbin as per his passport -- was named the new lead singer of INXS.

The Oz rockers made the announcement via INXS.com and also unveiled their first demo recording with their new vocalist. Entitled Tiny Summer, it was written by Gribbin and Andrew Farriss.

He co-wrote Madonna’s hit “Celebration,” which was nominated for a Grammy. But he has also worked with a who’s who of Irish, Australian and international acts including Snow Patrol, the Script, Gotye, Powderfinger and even Paul McCartney.

Gribbin told Hot Press, "I'm getting over the initial, 'Wow, this is unbelievable' thing but I'm still coming to terms with it. The last 24 hours have been crazy. I've had very little sleep because I've been bombarded with phone calls from all over the world – from Los Angeles to Sydney and back again."

Gribbin revealed that he has been a long time fan of the band and is pinching himself that he now has the lead!

"I first met Andrew about two years ago in Sydney," he explains when asked how he landed this dream job.

"I was doing a tour in support of Paolo Nutini and we met at a party through some mutual friends. We got on really well that night and it was the usual story – an acoustic guitar came out at four in the morning.

“I ended up singing loads of my own stuff and then someone asked me to do an INXS song. That was when it clicked for Andrew, he could see that I had potential. Standing on a balcony at four in the morning, singing 'Mystify.' That was it.

“We kept in contact and kept bumping into each other, but it wasn't until six months ago that I got a call from Andrew to come and write some songs. At that stage they were still gigging with a singer and there was no word of me becoming the frontman. So it's been a pretty organic, natural thing."

Hopefully, he will provide “What You Need” as a fan when he sings “Need You Tonight” on tour!

U2’s Bono and his tribute to Apple’s Steve Jobs

Bono and Steve Jobs

Many artists paid tribute to fallen Apple founder Steve Jobs last week, but leave it to Bono to have colorful insights.

“He's the Elvis of the kind of hardware-software dialectic,” Bono said, a sound bite that was liberally quoted in the media.

He went on to say that Jobs “was a creature of quite progressive thinking, and his reverence for shape and sound and contour and creativity did not come from the boardroom.”

Rolling Stone magazine pressed the singer to see if the Elvis analogy really held up.

“I really respect people who are involved in business who have an artist's eye and ear,” he said.

“Steve was a very, very tough and tenacious guardian of the Apple brand, but the thing that endeared him to artists was his insistence that things had to be beautiful. He wasn't going to make ugly things that made profits.

“Elvis changed music. Steve changed music. He changed film, he changed the personal computer. It's a wonderful encouragement to people who want to think differently, that's where artists connect with him. The picture of Einstein with his tongue sticking out, that's actually the very heart of the brand, and that's the punk rock piece, the attitude, and the anarchic mind that dreamt up the 21st century.”

Bono revealed in his interview with Rolling Stone that his last conversation with Jobs was about the singer’s health, not his own.

“When I hurt my spine and I was in trouble, this package arrived of books and CDs and music and honey from their garden -- tons of stuff arrived at the house,” he reveals.

“And so, yes, he was a captain of industry, a warrior for his companies. But I found him to be a very thoughtful friend, and a wonderfully detailed and interested parent of his kids, and lover of his wife. There were those two sides to him.”

The Lost Brothers - lost in the music

The Lost Brothers

If you like your heartache with a dollop of acoustic guitar, then let me introduce you to the Lost Brothers.

“Something taken long ago/all the love you’ll never know/on the days you’ll leave behind and the dreams you’ve kept undone/don’t be angry at the sun,” is one sample of the heartache put to song on “Angry at the Sun,” the first track on their debut album Trails of the Lonely (Parts I and III).

The Lost Brothers intersect between the Greenwich Village folk of Simon and Garfunkel, the pristine harmonies of the Everly Brothers, and the raw heartache of Hank Williams. It makes for an engaging new musical voice that emerges from deep traditions.

“Wake Me Up,” has a country lilt anchored by a whistle. “I have no time for growing old/so please release me from this fold/when darkness comes I’m going home,” they sing in gorgeous harmony.

“Joker Ghost Laughing Track,” 1:20 of the band cracking up with one another in the studio, shows that they’re not all about sadness behind the scenes.
This is the kind of gorgeous yet understated music that is perfect for puttering around the house on a day off, a perfect companion as you read, clean, paint or write (in my case).

They’re a bit shy at naming their names on the website, but that hasn’t kept Hot Press and The Irish Times from heaping praise on faux-siblings Mark McCausland and Oisin Leech, who’ve previously been in Irish outfits The 747’s and The Basement.

The Lost Brothers will be doing a pair of dates in Manhattan in The Living Room and Rockwood Music Hall, both on 10/23.

They have been announced for Other Voices New York, alongside the National, Martha Wainright, Roddy Doyle and many more. It will take place at the Poisson rouge October 27 and 28 in Manhattan.

Other Voices, the internationally acclaimed music series from Ireland, crosses the Atlantic this fall for a special two-night celebration of music and literature.

Other Voices NYC is presented by Imagine Ireland in association with the Burgundy Stain Sessions and will feature performances by Oscar winning Irish artist Glen Hansard (The Swell Season), Bryce and Aaron Dessner (The National), Thomas Bartlett, Bell X1 and AfroCelt’s Iarla O’Lionaird among others.

I spoke with the Leech about their sound and their show. Here’s how it went.

How would you describe the band to someone who has never heard your sound?
Two mechanics lost in the middle of a junkyard, building a Cadillac and waiting for people to stumble upon it.

What are your influences and what song from your influence(s) did you wish you had written?
I wish I had written any song by Hank Williams. He was the first punk rocker and the most honest songwriter that ever lived. He really wrote the rule book.
We were also influenced by a number of disparate things, like Steinbeck novels, the sea and Twilight Zone episodes.

Ireland has seen a resurgence in folk music these last few years, with people like the Frames and Damien Rice breaking big on both sides of the Atlantic. How does that scene help or hurt what you are doing and why?
It’s great to see Glen Hansard doing so well. We respect him and look up to him a lot. It’s also nice to see Fionn Regan going to the states and making a bit of noise. The idea of Irish songwriters going to America and vice-versa, learning from each other, is so important to music. That is a tradition that should never die.
What have been the highlights of making the album? The low-lights?
A highlight was going to Hastings for a week to write songs for the album. The lowlight is leaving Hastings and realizing that we did nothing but stay by the pool all week.

What can people expect from your live show?
Lots of folk ‘n’ roll!

Back to school is no longer tough

Like so many dads, I find myself this past Sunday in an outlet mall with my elbows hooked around the back of a bench while my girls diminish my net wealth by the millisecond.

There’s a heightened sense of urgency around back to school shopping this year for three reasons -- the hurricane wiped out a whole week of buying, the first day of autumn marks a new season, and one daughter is obsessed with getting her look right as she steps into high school for the first time.

As they ping-pong between stores and the bags at my feet pile up, I can’t help but be envious at the choices they have at this age.

Both girls are zaftig, just like their mom and dad were in their teens. Unlike them, I didn’t have much decision in clothes at a time I needed it the most.

We certainly didn’t benefit from the proliferation of cheap Chinese clothing or sympathetic designers that catered to plus-sized teens back in the seventies.

Then there was the small matter of budget. Any extra money Mom and Dad had when I was growing up either got sent home to their parents in Ireland, or toward a fund to spring us out of the cramped two-family house in Jersey City and into the suburbs.

When you were an irregular shape, you had two choices -- the hand-me-downs from my older cousin Robert or the husky section of Sears.

Like my brother Brendan, Rob had a wiry, athletic build, so my brother usually benefitted from Rob’s clothes pile.

Vertigo was the best way to describe the dizzying effect the loud checkered patterns had when stacked next to one another on the racks at Sears.

The Toughskin jean was the fabric of choice for your favorite fatty, and I cursed the sadistic designers that thought putting loud patterns on a wide rump would look attractive.

I remember how well Sears touted the new line of Toughskins children's pants as "the toughest of Sears tough jeans...lab tests prove it!"

The pants were manufactured with a blend of materials, including Dacron Type 59 polyester, DuPont 420 nylon and cotton.

If the cotton part makes you think the fabric was breathable, think again. And good look trying to bend your knees in them the first few months after purchase!

To demonstrate just how tough the new jeans were, Sears launched a famous "Tough Jeans Territory" ad campaign in 1974, in which the department store constructed a trampoline out of the Toughskin material. Sears was so sure of the new line of pants that they were sold with a guarantee that children would grow out of their Toughskin jeans before the jeans wore out!

That was all my mother had to see. Durability was the most important feature for her because of budgets -- and the chore of trying to shoe-horn my flab into new back to school gear was the kind of torture she would endure but once a year.

Altering this tough fabric was impossible. Mom would either slice it with industrial sewing scissors that left a jagged edge of a hem, or she’d make a cuff by rolling the seam away from my shoelaces.

Through countless years of continuous overtime work at the New Jersey Turnpike, my father had finally saved enough to move one summer. When I stepped into my new suburban school that September, I was a sight to behold.

Two wires strained to pull the tombstone buck teeth back into a mouth situated below the bowl haircut and just above the pillowy double chin. My pale flesh spilled like an albino muffin top over the unforgiving fabric, which resisted the flab avalanche with the aid of a thick white belt.

Of course, I was the laughingstock of the school while my thin brother assimilated by scoring countless goals with the soccer team.

I took a job on a lawn service one summer and lost weight, which allowed me to fit in.

Today, I just try to fit into a plane seat because I now look like the thin lawn boy Mike if he had taken on water-bloat after his lifeless self was dredged from the bottom of a lake.

“I saw some nice shirts in there,” my wife said gamely, glancing over to the Guess outlet.

I know better than to waste the energy to move from the bench because the folks from Guess make those “slim fit” shirts that have no tolerance for distended stomachs like mine.

If they come up with a husky section, maybe they’ll get my business during the next back to school season.

(Mike Farragher's got a book of essays just like these. Check it out on www.thisisyourbrainonshamrocks.com)