Good Vibrations Record Label
When the history of the Northern Ireland punk scene is looked at the majority of people will mention 2 bands. These are most probably The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers. Though this is a statement that belies the truth, as there were many fine punk bands and records that were released, and the majority of these were on the ‘Good Vibrations’ label. Certainly, a great deal more people have been exposed to the history of the label with the release of the excellent film ‘Good Vibrations’ a number of years ago. Many of the original singles are sold for extremely high prices.
The two separate countries of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland embraced what were known as showbands in the 1950’s and the 1960’s. The showbands were very much a phenomenon confined to the whole of Ireland, playing various pop hits. This is not to say that rock bands did not play in Ireland. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and others had all played. Them featuring van Morrison had formed in Belfast in 1964. Though by 1968 van Morrison had decamped to America.
By the late 1960’s civil rights appeared to be the order of the day. Protests in The United States of America, had a domino effect which led to protests in Europe. The songs ‘Street Fighting Man’ by The Rolling Stones, and ‘Revolution’ by The Beatles are indicative of the time, and Northern Ireland was not immune. The civil rights marches of 1968 to 1969 pushed Northern Ireland over the Rubicon and into conflict. The British army arrived in August 1969 and various armed terror groups began to appear on the streets. This became known as ‘The Troubles’. The 1970’s was almost a no go area for touring bands in Northern Ireland as many were reticent to play, bands that did play had connections to Ireland, bands like Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher. By 1975 The Bay City Rollers had played as had Gary Glitter and The Glitter Band, and The Wombles. The showbands still plyed their trade, but many of these bands were nervous about playing in Northern Ireland after the horrific event of 31st March 1975.
A bogus military checkpoint had been set up about 30 miles south of Belfast on the main road from Belfast to Dublin, on which many of the showbands travelled to gigs. This was manned by a locally recruited regiment of the British army known as the Ulster Defence Regiment (U.D.R). Horrifically the members of the unit were also members of a terrorist grouping. The Miami showband, probably the most popular of the showbands having been stopped at the checkpoint were then set upon. Three members were shot dead, and two of the terrorists blew themselves up with their own bomb. This could nearly have been construed as ‘the day the music died.’ Surely the music scene in Northern Ireland had reached the bottom?
However, during this period of late 1975 a new nascent musical movement was beginning to grow in London. At the forefront of this was The Sex Pistols. The music press christened the new movement ‘Punk Rock.’ Though it did not prick the general population’s conscience for another year.
Within almost 3 years of The Miami Showband massacre, Northern Ireland had its own vibrant music scene, and an independent record label had appeared. This had been started by a local entrepreneur Mr Terri Hooley.
Terri had been a fanatical record collector for years. He originally started selling records from his bedroom and doing market stalls. He had already finished up his job working for Kodak the photographic company. Terri states, “I set up the shop at 102 Great Victoria Street Belfast, at the end of 1976. I had a butcher’s bike with a basket. People would order records from me.” Terri would then cycle to the local record wholesalers buy the records and go back to the shop. The name “Good Vibrations,” was chosen, the name came from The Beach Boys song. Above the shop was a printers called “Community Press.”
Around the time of the shop opening The Damned had released “New Rose,” and The Sex Pistols had just released “Anarchy In The U.K.” this was October 1976, the shop almost became synonymous with punk. Though Terri states, “I was aware of punk, I bought The Ramones 12”s. I was into garage bands stuff like that, we bought U.S imports weird stuff, garage bands, stuff that was on the ‘Nuggets,’ records.”
By June 1977 The Sex Pistols crashed into the U.K. top 40 chart with’ God Save The Queen.’ The general public felt it was anger unleashed on the civilised world. Belfast punk fans with a hunger for British punk bands had their appetites sated when The Clash announced they were going to be playing on 20th October 1977 at The Ulster Hall. Though at the last minute the gig was called off. Belfast City Council or some body cancelled the insurance, terrified of what might happen if they let The Clash play, or somebody mentioned there might never have even been insurance in the first place. Though the outcome was probably worse than if the band had played, as there were scuffles on the street with the local police force the Royal Ulster Constabulary (R.U.C.).
So it looked likely that no major punk bands would be allowed to play in Northern Ireland.
In January 1978 The Sex Pistols were storming their way like a hurricane through the southern ‘Bible belt’ states of America. The steam ran out in San Francisco and the band violently imploded.
Despite what seemed like inertia in the English punk scene in 1978 the Northern Ireland punk scene was gaining traction and certain bands were beginning their vertiginous ascent. RUDI and The Outcasts were both booked to play The Pound club in Belfast on 12 January 1978.
This was the night Terri Hooley made his way to The Pound, and thus began the genesis of the Good Vibrations label. Well known local school truant Wee Gordy who spent more time in Terri’s record shop than studying at school had tipped off Terri about RUDI. As Terri states “I went down to see RUDI and The Outcasts and loved RUDI.”
The well known English fanzine ‘Sniffin Glue’ had released a flexi disc in their September 1977 issue, and ‘Alternative Ulster’ fanzine printed in the printers above Terri’s shop by Mr Dave Hyndman was going to include a flexi disc, recorded by RUDI. It was discovered that it was only nominally more expensive to produce a proper 7” single. This was to be the fledgling single on the Good Vibrations label. This was an opportune time for RUDI. As the band had been playing the longest of all the bands associated with the punk. The band had formed around late 1975 and played all through 1976. As Brian Young who played guitar in RUDI states. “The only bands around at the time were show bands and heavy metal bands.” Many venues weren’t suitable or they didn’t want them. So with a bit of entrepreneurial spirit venues like the Girton Lodge and the Glenmachan Hotel Stables were booked under the guise of private parties. As Brian Young opines. “We played covers by Bo Diddley, T.Rex, Chuck Berry and glam rock songs.” Again Brian Young comments. “This was as punk was beginning, we saw ourselves fitting in with punk, because they were different. We didn’t try and be a punk band. We played all through 1976 as it began to get known as punk. We started to write our own stuff. Everything began to move really quickly. The Sex Pistols had released ‘Anarchy In The U.K.’. And John Peel was playing punk sessions. As Brian Young states, “The big game changer was the release of The Ramones 1st LP in 1976.”
Following on from the legendary Pound gig, RUDI were to support The Buzzcocks at Queen’s University, Belfast at the end of January 1978 As The Buzzcocks van broke down in Wales and couldn’t make it over to Belfast, RUDI were asked to play the gig for free. And with many exuberant fans expecting to see The Buzzcocks they were exposed to the songs of RUDI. Who by this point were now writing their own material. And so RUDI entered the recording studios on 7th February 1978, with Brian Young guitar and vocals, Ronnie Matthews guitar and vocals, Gordy Blair bass and Graham Marshall drums, and recorded ‘Big Time/Number One.’ This was released in Spring 1978. This came with a picture of Boris Karloff as the mummy. These sleeves were all printed in the printer’s shop above The Good Vibrations shop. As Terri states. “Sometimes different coloured sleeves were used. If Dave the printer had different colours we used that.” The singles were then sold in the shop and played on The John Peel radio show. As Terri recalls. “We sent RUDI’s single to record companies in England but nobody was interested.” Brian Young can sum up everybody’s view on releasing their first single. “The most important thing was that when ‘Big Time’ was released, it installed a great sense of pride, and we realised that anybody could make a record.”
The second single released was Victim ‘Strange Thing By Night/Mixed Up World.’
The third single was released by The Outcasts. Greg Cowan takes up the story. Again the common thread of a nearly redundant music scene is brought to the fore. “When we first started playing there was no live music scene. There were the showbands. There were very few bands came over from England. If you were interested in music you had to go to England. My first gig was Alice Cooper in Liverpool I was 15.” Greg comments. “My older brother played me ‘Anarchy In The U.K.’ I was already an N.M.E. (New Musical Express) reader, and I started to hear stuff about The Sex Pistols. It’s funny but that song actually changed my life.” The Outcasts formed in early 1977and their first gig in a Belfast pub degenerated into a small riot. Again similar to other bands they began to book their own venues at which to play. Following the historic gig at The Pound where The Outcasts played with RUDI, ‘Big Time’ had been released. Greg states. “We had been hanging around the Good Vibrations shop, it was somewhere to go. We asked Terri would he bring out our next single?” And so The Outcasts released the single ‘Justa Nother Teenage Rebel/Love Is For Sops.’ The band was made up of Greg Cowan bass, Colin Getwood guitar, Colin Cowan drums and Martin Cowan guitar. Incidentally Greg states. “We had a single out before that which was recorded 6 or 7 months before it was released.” It was released on IT Records in March 1978: ‘Frustration/Don’t Want To Be No Adult/You’re A Disease’.
Despite what appeared to be the majority of punk rock bands coming from Belfast and its environs, that was about to change. In Londonderry about 80 miles to the north west of Belfast, a band had formed around late 1975, and was beginning to make its presence felt. They began playing around 1976. As Michael Bradley who played bass guitar in The Undertones states. “Around 1977 we started playing in The Casbah in Londonderry regularly.” The Undertones became aware of an emerging Belfast punk scene via the radio. Michael Bradley enthused. “Whenever John Peel played ‘Suspect Device’ by Stiff Little Fingers that was it. We were a wee bit knocked by it. We went by what we had heard, there’s a Belfast band, that was January/February 1978.” Demo tapes of their music had been dispatched to Stiff, Radar, and Chiswick record labels, but to no avail. As Michael adds. “We knew there was a record label out there as ‘Big Time’ by RUDI had been released, we thought we were never going to make a record at all.” In fact they had thought of splitting up. As again Michael states. “By a convoluted route we got in touch with Terri, a friend of ours, his brother was a friend of Terri’s, and he took the demo tape to Terri.” Terri then decided to sign them.
As Terri mentions. “The first homegrown punk gig was ‘The Battle Of The Bands’ gig. The first punk festival in Belfast.” This was to be held on 14 June 1978, and The Undertones were invited to play. As Michael Bradley states. “This was the first time we met Terri properly.” Michael had called into the Good Vibrations shop a couple of months earlier on the day of an Eddie And The Hot Rods gig and bought some badges. The gig was to be held at Queen’s University, Belfast and was also to feature RUDI, The Outcasts, The Detonators, The Idiots, Ruefrex and Rhesus Negative. As Terri booked the festival he states. “I said I was from The Belfast Musical Society. They thought we were Queen’s Classical Music Society. It was at a much reduced price. When they found out it was punk bands, 7 bands playing a benefit for the ‘Anarchist Book Shop,’ they tried their best to stop it. Some windows got broken. I got a letter banning me for life from Queen’s University. It was a great night, and it proved we could put on a gig and people could have a great time.” As Brian Young from RUDI states. “When The Undertones played at ‘The Battle Of The Bands’ everybody had a real shock, all the Belfast bands knew each other. The Undertones had been playing for years, and they were really tight.” The Undertones had been booked to record their debut single the next day. The band then went into Wizard Studios, which included Michael Bradley bass and vocals, Feargal Sharkey vocals, John O’Neill guitar and vocals, Damian O’Neill guitar and vocals and Billy Doherty drums and recorded ‘The Teenage Kicks’ EP.’ This was released in September 1978. This has since changed hands at the remarkable price of £370.00. Famously John Peel went on to play it 3 nights in a row, and twice on the same evening, and became his favourite record of all time, and subsequently became the most famous record released on the label. Some commentators call it a slice of pop perfection.
The Xdreamysts were again another band from the north west of Northern Ireland. They released the next single on the label. They were considered more of a hippy band than a punk band. Their single ‘Right Way Home/Dance Away Love.’ This was released in November 1978.
Whilst RUDI played The Glenmachan Hotel Stables one night in early 1978, the other band on the bill was Protex. Aidan Murtagh who played guitar states. “I think this was where Terri asked us to record for the label.” Aidan and his friends had played in another band before being influenced by punk. “We were heavily influenced by Dr Feelgood. I was at the Dr Feelgood gig at Queen’s University. Once we saw Dr Feelgood that was that. Then John Peel through his radio show introduced the world to punk and new wave. We formed a punk band after that.” Again another important factor was The Clash gig that never happened in October 1977. “We met The Clash that was the time we were putting the band together.” Certainly a big catalyst at the time of the Northern Ireland punk movement gaining momentum was the legendary Dr Feelgood gig this was around the end of 1976. Brian Young was at the show he states. “The big thing was going to see Dr Feelgood in Belfast in Queen’s University, with Wilco on guitar. They had a savageness and a rawness. You knew a lot of faces in the crowd as half the audience were in punk bands.” Also Michael Bradley states. “We were influenced by Dr Feelgood, Cream, The Rolling Stones, and The New York Dolls.” Aidan Murtagh states when approached by Terri Hooley to record a single. “Those were bleak times for music in Belfast with ‘The Troubles,’ so it was like being asked to go to Mars.” The band comprised of Aidan Murtagh guitar and vocals Owen McFadden drums, Paul Maxwell bass and vocals, and David McMaster guitar and vocals. A 3 track EP ‘Don’t Ring Me Up,’ was then issued.
Subsequently another EP was released ‘The Battle Of The Bands’. This was to include all the bands who had been at the ‘Battle Of The Bands’ gig. But as The Undertones had recorded ‘Teenage Kicks’ the day after the event, they were not on the EP. ‘The Battle Of The Bands’ EP, included The Outcasts ‘The Cops Are Coming,’ Spider ‘Dancing In The Street,’ RUDI ‘Overcome By Fumes,’ The Idiots ‘Parents.
Following on from this the next singles were from Ruefrex ‘One By One/Cross The Line/Don’t Panic.’ The Tearjerkers ‘Love Affair/Bus Stop.’ The Moondogs ‘Ya Don’t Do Ya/She’s19,’ The Tee Vees ‘Dr Headlove/War Machine.’ During the Summer of 1978 RUDI moved to London hoping to garner record company interest, after playing various gigs and after a run in with the police returned home in December 1978. To the casual spectator this would have been regarded as negative to their career, but as Brian Young states. “It changed the band completely, we wrote new songs, and threw out our boiler suit stage wear.” The fruits of which could be seen in their next release. The RUDI EP ‘I Spy/Genuine Reply/Sometimes/Ripped In Two.’ A copy was sold on ebay for the staggering price of $1000.00. The Outcasts ‘Self Conscious Over You/Love You For Never,’ followed on from this. These singles rounded out the Seventies, and are probably the most celebrated releases on the label. As Terri Hooley states, “Some bands formed in the shop.” Sometimes a band was signed as Terri hints at “Because I fancied the band’s girlfriend.” The Outcasts released the only official LP ‘Self Conscious Over You.’ This has been seen on ebay for £100.00. RUDI recorded ‘The Pressure’s On’ and ‘Who You’ on Boxing Day 1979, and the band was then approached to play on the Northern Ireland edition of ‘Something Else’ which was a youth TV show on BBC2, in January 1980. Considering the bands that played on other editions of the show and what they achieved, it is a question for thought what RUDI could have achieved?
Various questions can be asked about the Northern Ireland punk rock scene. The Sex Pistols sang about anarchy. The Northern Ireland punk bands were actually living through a period of strife. Why did nobody want to sing about it? Stiff Little Fingers first release had raised awareness over the airwaves, with the jagged and abrasive sounds of ‘Suspect Device’ in early 1978. They had been encouraged to write about Northern Ireland by their management. And the first demos were sent as letter bombs. As Aidan Murtagh from Protex states. “It was a route we chose not to go down, singing about ‘The Troubles’.” And as Brian Young mentions. “We were sick to death of ‘The Troubles,’ most bands preferred to use music as an escape from everyday life.” Dublin in the Republic Of Ireland had a punk scene from which a band called Feedback had emerged, and who would change their name to U2. U2 knew of the Good Vibrations label and Terri’s record shop, as they had been seen there. U2 and other Dublin bands like Revolver and The Virgin Prunes had been involved in The Dark Space Festival held in Dublin on 16 February 1979. The line up included RUDI, Protex and The Idiots. As Aidan Murtagh from Protex states. “We played The Dark Space Festival with U2, The Virgin Prunes, and RUDI.” Terri Hooley took John Peel to the show. John Peel described the Good Vibrations record label office as “A Dinky Toy telephone booth at the top of the stairs.
As Terri comments. “I hadn’t a clue how to set up a record label. But I knew how to send out a press release.” Due to the violence that enveloped Northern Ireland Terri states. “I think we did the best in the circumstances. We had no masterplan, it wasn’t a proper label, it was a one man operation. As Michael Bradley of The Undertones states after the band signed to Sire records. “Fair play to him, he didn’t take any money, he said take it away, he was the complete antithesis of the average music type.” It could be viewed that the label was a stepping stone to greater things. As Terri mentions. “We were a jumping off point, but all the first 7 bands all got record deals.” The shop finally closed its doors in 2015. Though Terri states. “The label has never folded.” Nirvana probably the biggest band in the world in 1992, Kurt Cobain after being hospitalised after their Belfast gig in June 1992 stated, if he died he didn’t care as it was the home of the Good Vibrations label. Surely this is a fine tribute to the bands on the label?
The release of the ‘Good Vibrations’ film in 2013 has introduced many people to the music released on the label. As Greg Cowan of The Outcasts states. “We went to the Czech Republic recently and played a hall in the middle of nowhere, and people arrived with their original singles.” And what of the bands today? Michael Bradley still plays with The Undertones, Greg Cowan still tours with The Outcasts. Aidan Murtagh plays with Protex. And Brian Young from RUDI fronts rockabilly band The Sabrejets.
Four decades on from the first Good Vibrations release, many bands hail from Northern Ireland. This has helped push the value of the records released ever upward. It could be stated that Terri Hooley helped lay the foundations for this musical renaissance. Terri said. “My ethos was to say we had great bands over here, and to put Northern Ireland on the musical map.” And he has more than achieved this.
Protex release an album soon called ‘Wicked Way.’
The Undertones release a compilation album ‘Dig What You Need,’ on Dimple Disc records.
The Outcasts are touring.
Brian Young from RUDI now in The rockabilly band The Sabrejets who have released the CD ‘The Restless Kind,’ on Raucous Records.
Good Vibrations Selected Discography 1978-1979
Singles
GOT 1 RUDI Big Time/Number one fold out p/s various colours. £80
GOT 2 Victim Strange Thing By Night/Mixed Up World p/s. £150
GOT 3 The Outcasts Justa Nother Teenage Rebel/Love Is For Sops
white p/s, yellow p/s £40/£140
GOT4 The Undertones The Teenage Kicks EP
Teenage Kicks/Smarter Than You/True Confessions/
Emergency Cases white poster p/s, various colours £220/£70
GOT 5 Xdreamysts Right Way Home/Dance Away Love p/s £100
GOT 6 Protex Don’t Ring Me Up/Just Want Your Attention/
Listening In £90
GOT 7 Battle Of The Bands EP The Outcasts-The Cops Are Coming/
Spider-Dancing In The Street/RUDI-Overcome By Fumes/
Idiots-Parents p/s. £90
GOT 8 Ruefrex One By One/Cross The Line/Don’t Panic p/s £25
GOT 9 The Tearjerkers Love Affair/Bus Stop p/s £45
GOT 10 The Moondogs Ya Don’t Do Ya/She’s 19 p/s £20
GOT 11 The Tee Vees Dr Headlove/War Machine p/s £20
GOT 12 RUDI I Spy EP I Spy/Genuine Reply/Sometimes/Ripped In Two £30
GOT 17 The Outcasts Self Conscious Over You/Love You For Never p/s £15
BIG 1 The Outcasts (LP) Self Conscious Over You £25
A Plea From Louder Than War
Louder Than War is run by a small but dedicated independent team, and we rely on the small amount of money we generate to keep the site running smoothly. Any money we do get is not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to think and write, or hungry shareholders. We know times are tough, and we want to continue bringing you news on the most interesting releases, the latest gigs and anything else that tickles our fancy. We are not driven by profit, just pure enthusiasm for a scene that each and every one of us is passionate about.
To us, music and culture are eveything, without them, our very souls shrivel and die. We do not charge artists for the exposure we give them and to many, what we do is absolutely vital. Subscribing to one of our paid tiers takes just a minute, and each sign-up makes a huge impact, helping to keep the flame of independent music burning! Please click the button below to help.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
