- Blue in Heaven
Blue in Heaven was a 1982-1989
Irish rock quartet fromChurchtown, Dublin ,Ireland led by singer Shane O'Neill. They reformed in 1990 as the Blue Angels. Shane later went on to formSupernaut withDave Long fromInto Paradise .Signed to
Island Records , in1985 they released their first LP entitled "All The Gods Men" which was produced byMartin 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 toJoy Division , however the album was not a commercial success.Their follow-up, "Explicit Material" (
1986 ), saw them team up withIsland Records chiefChris Blackwell andEric Thorngren , showing them evolve into a more upbeatrock 'n' roll sound with clearIggy 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 theThe Chameleons ,Echo & the Bunnymen , andThe Damned , alongside achieving a minorcollege 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."Members
Original Recording Members
drums - Dave Clarke (later played drums for [The Black Velvet Band (Mark 2)|/Warren Zevon and most recently for
Hothouse Flowers )
bass -Declan Jones
guitar, keyboards, vocals - Shane O'Neill
guitar, keyboards -Eamonn Tynan
=Shane O'Neill=Dave Clarke=In 1997, O'Neill played and sang,and Dave Clarke played drum's/perc with Supernaut and released a self-titled album on Dirt Records. [http://www.redsunrecords.com/product_info.php?products_id=268&language=nl] Today he runs a
recording studio inDublin .Dave Clarke now plays drums with The Hothouse Flowers.Additional Musicians
On tour
guitar -
Kieran Kennedy Blue Angels
guitar -
Quentin Cowper Trivia
* In 1983,
Bono was asked byRolling Stone magazine for his 'Top 10 Favorites'. On his list was "The Lights Go Out" by Blue In Heaven. [http://www.richard.hare.dsl.pipex.com/u2info11.html]
* In an episode ofDegrassi Junior High , a band photo (with a yellow background, shot byLaura Levine ) taken fromSmash Hits magazine, was shown taped to the inside of Joey's locker.
* Feature article inSpin magazine , written by [http://www.citypaper.net/articles/040298/ice.shtml Glenn O'Brien] , May 1986
* "Explicit Material" was originally titled "Head" in all the originalpress kit s (the album'scover art consisted of a photograph of all the band members' heads), but was changed because at the time of its release, there was a move toward adding rating stickers to the covers of albums to warn of their lyrical content, spurred by parents concerned aboutheavy metal music , such as theParents Music Resource Center .Discography
Blue in Heaven
Full-length albums
* "All the Gods Men" (1985)
* "Explicit Material" (1986)EPs
* "Rock 'n' Roll R.I.P." (1988)
Compilations
* "Live for Ireland" (1986) -- "Tell Me" (recorded live during their performance for
Self Aid )ingles
* "The Lights Go Out" (1983)
* "Julie Cries" (1984)
* "Across My Heart" (1984)
* "I Just Wanna" (1986)
* "Track 01" (1988)Blue Angels
Full-length albums
* "Coming Out Of Nowhere (1993)
EPs
* "Get It Back" (1991)
* "All The Way" (1992)
* "When It's Gone" (1993)Compilations
* "HMV Unplugged: The Acoustic Sessions" (1993) -- "Candy"
ingles
* "Candy" (1991)
* "Loose" (1992)
* "Blow" (1994)External links
* [http://www.irishmusicdb.com/b/blueinheaven/frame.htm Blue in Heaven in the Irish Music Database]
* [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=blue_in_heaven Trouser Press Blue in Heaven profile]
* [http://www.redsunrecords.com/product_info.php?products_id=268&language=nl Supernaut review]
* [http://irish-showbands.com/images/rock/blueinheavenx.htm "Explicit Material" cover]
* [http://irish-showbands.com/images/dwane/ddxblueinheaven80s.htm Blue in Heaven publicity pic]
* [http://ilx.wh3rd.net/thread.php?showall=true&msgid=5063059 Blue in Heaven thread on "I Love Music"]
* [http://www.irishmusicdb.com/b/blueangels/frame.htm Blue Angels in the Irish Music Database]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=%22blue+in+heaven%22&srchst=nyt New York Times articles]
* [http://www.irishrock.org/ipnw/b.html#bluein Blue in Heaven - Irish Punk & New Wave Discography]
* [http://www.irishrock.org/ipnw/b.html#blueangels Blue Angels - Irish Punk & New Wave Discography]
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