Blue in Heaven
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Blue in Heaven was a 1982-1989 Irish rock quartet from Churchtown, Dublin, Ireland led by singer Shane O'Neill. They reformed in 1990 as the Blue Angels.
Signed to Island Records, in 1985 they released their first LP entitled All The Gods Men which was produced by Martin Hannett. The album conveyed a lush, gloomy aesthetic by focusing on its heavy bass, combined with O'Neill's often incomprehensible vocals. It was favorably compared to Joy Division, however the album was not a commercial success.
Their follow-up, Explicit Material (1986), saw them team up with Island Records chief Chris Blackwell and Eric Thorngren, showing them evolve into a more upbeat rock 'n' roll sound with clear Iggy Pop influences, particularly in O'Neill's vocals, but still retaining their new wave image and pop style lyrics. Their popularity grew thanks to touring with the The Chameleons, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Damned, alongside achieving a minor college radio hit with "I Just Wanna". The album appears on many "best of" and "favorites" lists.
Two years later they released an EP on the Solid label, Rock 'n' Roll R.I.P., which was a chronological compilation of their work: a 1983 track ("On and On") produced by The Edge, four from 1987 -- three Iggy-esque studio cuts and a live cover of The Stooges's song "Loose."
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[edit] Members
[edit] Original Recording Members
drums - Dave Clarke (later played drums for Black Velvet Band and most recently for Hothouse Flowers)
bass - Declan Jones
guitar, keyboards, vocals - Shane O'Neill
guitar, keyboards - Eamonn Tynan
[edit] Shane O'Neill
In 1997, O'Neill played and sang with Supernaut and released a self-titled album on Dirt Records.[1] In 2001, he performed in the An Grianán Theatre production of the musical Hansel & Grettel by Paul Boyd. Today he runs a recording studio in Dublin.
[edit] Additional Musicians
[edit] On tour
guitar - Kieran Kennedy
[edit] Blue Angels
guitar - Quentin Cowper
[edit] Trivia
- In 1983, Bono was asked by Rolling Stone magazine for his 'Top 10 Favorites'. On his list was "The Lights Go Out" by Blue In Heaven.[2]
- In an episode of Degrassi Junior High, a band photo (with a yellow background, shot by Laura Levine) taken from Smash Hits magazine, was shown taped to the inside of Joey's locker.
- Feature article in Spin magazine, written by Glenn O'Brien, May 1986
- Explicit Material was originally titled Head in all the original press kits (the album's cover art consisted of a photograph of all the band members' heads), but was changed due to the fact that at the time of its release, there was a move toward adding ratings stickers to the covers of albums to warn of their lyrical content, spurred by parents concerned about heavy metal music, such as the Parents Music Resource Center.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Blue in Heaven
[edit] Full-length albums
- All the Gods Men (1985)
- Explicit Material (1986)
[edit] EPs
- Rock 'n' Roll R.I.P. (1988)
[edit] Compilations
- Live for Ireland (1986) -- "Tell Me" (recorded live during their performance for Self Aid)
[edit] Singles
- "The Lights Go Out" (1983)
- "Julie Cries" (1984)
- "Across My Heart" (1984)
- "I Just Wanna" (1986)
- "Track 01" (1988)
[edit] Blue Angels
[edit] Full-length albums
- Coming Out Of Nowhere (1993)
[edit] EPs
- Get It Back (1991)
- All The Way (1992)
- When It's Gone (1993)
[edit] Compilations
- HMV Unplugged: The Acoustic Sessions (1993) -- "Candy"
[edit] Singles
- "Candy" (1991)
- "Loose" (1992)
- "Blow" (1994)
[edit] External links
- Blue in Heaven in the Irish Music Database
- Trouser Press Blue in Heaven profile
- Supernaut review
- Explicit Material cover
- Blue in Heaven publicity pic
- Blue in Heaven thread on "I Love Music"
- Blue Angels in the Irish Music Database
- New York Times articles
- Blue in Heaven - Irish Punk & New Wave Discography
- Blue Angels - Irish Punk & New Wave Discography
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