CAR discos have made a welcome return to my life. Road trips require a mixture of sing-along classics and upbeat songs that everyone enjoys.
My niece and nephews kept me entertained for years with their back seat antics. I remember the nephews aged 4 and 5 giggling as they sang Shut Up and Dance With Me, while the eldest niece loved singing Push The Button.
Song lyrics can often stretch the limits, push the boundaries, providing both exhilaration and trepidation depending on who is listening.
The Saw Doctors I Useta Love Her was one such song. For 12-year-olds like me, hearing a song which rhymed mass and – well, you know – as well as the idea of stories which would require "six months in confession" prompted a lot of innocent giggling.
In 1990 that song was never off the radio. The Saw Doctors' debut album If This Is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back is 30-years-old this year. Three decades later, the album has been re-issued on vinyl – to appeal to people like me – and it seems that the idea was a good one. It recently entered the Top 5 in the Irish Charts, 30 years after it first went to number one.
The songs told stories of everyday life in a small Irish town, in this case Tuam, Co Galway (the fastest town in Ireland – sorry, couldn't resist). Most of the band grew up there, and their ability to tell the stories of the characters and places they knew well resonated much further afield.
With the right exposure, these songs became anthems. 2FM's Larry Gogan was a big hit in our house, and he championed The Saw Doctors from the very beginning.
Ahead of releasing their debut album, it was decided that the fathers of the band members should get involved in the process. Enter the 'Saw Dads' – they took to the streets of Galway city and the surrounding area, photographed at the airport, on the steps of the Great Southern Hotel and, most famously, on the iconic stage of the Warwick Hotel which was synonymous with live music (it was demolished in 2019).
The five fathers wore leather jackets, struck a pose and made it to the cover of the album. One of the best album covers ever, in my opinion.
The magic of the Saw Doctors was that although they were attracting audiences wherever they played in the country, and further afield, they never took themselves seriously. They were unlikely rock stars, and people could relate to them. The audience had lived their songs.
I remember seeing them live for the first time – it was shortly after I went to university in Galway. I saw them first in Leisureland, then the Warwick, but the night that rocked my world was a gig in the new college bar during Rag Week when they sang a song they had written after going to a party in no 47 Hazel Park – the Holylands of Galway's university area.
Their live gigs were the stuff of legend, and I was sad to see that part of their story come to an end. But their legend prevails.
Coming full circle, the Saw Doctors captured our imagination yet again earlier this year when N17 was re-interpreted by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, with Tolu Makay on lead vocal. It was re-imagined at a time when thousands couldn't get home for Christmas, we were in lockdown and, for many, the emotion of missing home was more poignant than ever. I was overcome with emotion when I heard it, and immediately forwarded the video to one of my best friends who lives in London, but is from Tuam, Co Galway. She knows the N17 well.
I spoke to Leo Moran of the Saw Doctors last week on my radio show. As unassuming as ever, Leo told me how the N17 was the band's first single. It was produced by Mike Scott and, when it was released, it was a flop.
Thankfully, this didn't deter them and they kept going. Since then, they have given us anthems like Green and Red of Mayo, Joyce Country Céilí Band, Tommy K and not forgetting their Sugarbabes cover All About You Now, plus a duet with the legendary Petula Clarke.
Their songs will be staples in my car disco and on my radio playlists for some time to come.
