The tearjerkers

The Tearjerkers a five piece power pop band from Northern Ireland. Formed at the height of the punk boom in Ulster in the late seventies the band where composed of members from other Northern Irish groups namely Cobra, Midnight Cruiser and The Detonators.

Their first single was issues on Belfast punk label Good Vibrations. The band organised a tour for the Good Vibrations label which took other leading punk bands Rudi and The Outcasts on tour with the Tearjerkers all over the North of Ireland. The Tearjerkers where offered a recording contract with Phonogram's Back Door label and issued their second single Murder Mystery produced by John Astley & Phil Chapman. This single charted in the lower reaches of the UK pop charts and also scored minor hit status in France and Sweden. The Tearjerkers recorded two sessions for BBC Radio One's John Peel Show [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/t/tearjerkers/ BBC - Radio 1 - Keeping It Peel - Tearjerkers ] ] and also received extensive airplay on Belfast Downtown Radio and Southern Ireland's Dave Fanning show.

The band travelled to England to start recording their follow up single and recorded Comic Book Heroes, Fingers and Can't You See with Chris "Merrick" Hughes and Davy Bates. These tracks where issues on the Mercury record label in the USA under the title 'In Though The Back Door'. The Tearjerkers also record another three tracks with Lawrence Juber at Radio Luxembourg's London Studios before retuning back to Northern Ireland.

The Tearjerkers continued to tour relentlessly across Ireland and England on their own or as a support act to groups including Thin Lizzy, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Doll by Doll and Rachael Sweat.

The pressures of touring lead to original manager and drummer Nigel Hamilton departure. This marked the beginning of the end for the group who had begun to record their first album with new drummer Greg Lindsay in Belfast's Downtown Studio. With the album partially completed the group travelled to London to pay a series of dates and headline a night in London's Venue club sponsored by the Irish Tourist Board. This tour was captured on tape and has been released a a free mini album on the bands website. Shortly after playing one of their biggest gigs in Bundoran, Co Donegal the band split, with Paul McIlwaine, Greg Lindsay and Paul Maxwell forming new band Etc Etc, while Howard Ingram and Brian Rawson kept the Tearjerker name going for another year releasing Where's Julie as a single. Nigel hamilton revived the Tearjerker name to release Comic Book Heroes as a single in 1982.

Further information can be obtained from the Tearjerkers official site at [http://www.tearjerkers.co.uk]

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