Aslan (rock band)
Encyclopedia
Aslan are an Irish rock
Irish rock
Rock and roll has been a part of the music of Ireland since the 1960s, when the British Invasion brought British blues, psychedelic rock and other styles to the island...

 band from Dublin who formed in 1982. Comprising Christy Dignam
Christy Dignam
Christy Dignam is the lead singer of the popular Irish rock-band Aslan. His career of over twenty-five years has been characterized by numerous successes on the Irish charts as well as recurring problems with drug addiction and recovery.-Life:...

, Joe Jewell
Joe Jewell
Joe Jewell is the Dublin born lead guitarist of the popular Irish rock-band Aslan. His career of over twenty-five years has been characterized by numerous successes on the Irish charts. He co-wrote many of the band's finest songs including "Crazy World", "This Is", "Where's The Sun?", "Hurt...

, Billy McGuinness
Billy McGuinness
Billy McGuinness is the rythmn guitarist and harmonica player and occasional keyboard player of the popular Irish rock-band Aslan. He was raised in Dublin's northside. His career of over twenty-five years has been characterized by numerous successes on the Irish charts. He lists David Bowie and...

, Alan Downey and Rodney O'Brien, the band has released five studio albums - Feel No Shame
Feel No Shame
Feel no Shame is the 1988 debut album by Irish band AslanTrack Listing# Loving Me Lately# Pretty Thing# This Is# Been So Long# The Hunger# Heat Of The Cell# Please Don't Stop# Down On Me# Sands Of Time# Feel No Shame# Book Of Life...

 (1988), Goodbye Charlie Moonhead (1994), Here Comes Lucy Jones (1997), Waiting For This Madness To End (2001) and For Some Strange Reason (2007).

History

Aslan, the lads who took their name from the great lion in C.S. Lewis's series of books chronicling the fictional land of Narnia, (Aslan
Aslan
Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...

 is the Turkish word for 'Lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

'), emerged from the working class areas of Finglas
Finglas
-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland* List of abbeys and priories in Ireland...

 and Ballymun
Ballymun
Ballymun is an area on Dublin's Northside close to Dublin Airport, Ireland. It is infamous for the Ballymun flats, which became a symbol of poverty, drugs, alienation from the state and social problems in Ireland from the 1970s...

 in Dublin's Northside, in the mid 1980s. They released a demo single, 'This Is', in the spring of 1986, which was a huge hit and became the longest ever play-listed single on Ireland's pop radio station, RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...

.

In the summer of 1986 they played a series of rapturously received shows in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

noted, 'Lucky the label that signs this band!' Janice Long
Janice Long
Janice Long is an English radio broadcaster currently working on BBC Radio 2. Her show is on Sunday to Thursday nights from midnight to 02:00. She is the older sister of TV and radio personality Keith Chegwin.-Early career:...

 at BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 recorded Aslan in session and went on to air it an unprecedented three times in the subsequent weeks. At the end of 1986 Aslan walked away with The Stag/Hot Press 'Most Promising New Band' award and signed to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

.
In 1988 they recorded their debut album, Feel No Shame
Feel No Shame
Feel no Shame is the 1988 debut album by Irish band AslanTrack Listing# Loving Me Lately# Pretty Thing# This Is# Been So Long# The Hunger# Heat Of The Cell# Please Don't Stop# Down On Me# Sands Of Time# Feel No Shame# Book Of Life...

, which shot straight in to the No.1 spot of the Irish charts
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

 and remained there for weeks. Within a couple of months it was certified Gold. Then in August 1988, just as the option for their second album had been picked up, Aslan imploded, torn apart by overindulgence of all kinds. The band, minus Christy, tried to keep the band alive by recruiting the vocal talents of Eamo Doyle, but as drummer Alan said on the Made In Dublin DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 "it was like U2 trying to go on without Bono...it was just never going to work". Christy during this period went on to form Dignam & Goff
Dignam & Goff
Dignam & Goff was the project of Aslan's frontman Christy Dignam along with guitarist Conor Goff in the early 90's before Aslan reunited in 1993....

 with guitarist Conor Goff and the other members went on to form another band, The Precious Stones.

On 11 July 1993, five years and a day after they had last gigged together, Aslan played what was supposed to be a one-off charity gig in Finglas; the spark was reignited and Aslan landed a new record deal with BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...

. The first fruit of the deal, their single "Crazy World", entered the charts at No 4 and stayed in the charts for three months, becoming one of the most played songs on Irish Radio for the year. "Crazy World" also won the "Single of the Year" in 1993's Hot Press Awards. A few months later the follow-up single, "Where's The Sun", reached No.3 on the chart.

The latter part of 1994 was spent touring consistently in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and recording their album Goodbye Charlie Moonhead, which was released in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 at the end of 1994 and charted at number one, going on to be certified Gold weeks later. Then in 1995 the band were dropped, the victims of boardroom changes at BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...

.

Undeterred, Aslan went into the studio under their own steam and began recording a new album, Here Comes Lucy Jones in April 1996. Released in October 1997, the album went into the Irish chart at 14 and Aslan were nominated in seven categories of the 1997 Hot Press readers poll.

Shame About Lucy Moonhead, a compilation of the best of Aslan's recorded work on EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

, released in July 1998, shot into the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 albums charts at No.1 and has since turned double platinum.

In March 1999, Aslan played 5 sell out shows in Ireland's most prestigious intimate venue, Vicar St, during which their live album and video concert movie/DVD 'Made In Dublin' were recorded. Both shot to No 1 in their 1st week of release. The album turned platinum within 3 weeks and remained in the top 10 for 8 weeks. Aslan finished 1999 on a high note by selling out Ireland's largest indoor venue (9000 capacity) , the Point Theatre
Point Theatre
The Point Theatre was a concert and events venue in Ireland, that ran from 1988–2007, enjoyed by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall Quay of the River Liffey, amongst the Dublin Docklands...

 on 26 December, sharing the billing with Picture House
Picturehouse (band)
Picturehouse are an Irish band from Dublin, Ireland.-Studio albums:-Irish charts:-Compilations:Picturehouse performed a cover version of Sweet Dreams My LA Ex and a hidden track of Papa Don't Preach on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1....

.

In summer 2000 Aslan toured Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 for the first time to promote the release down under of the album Shame About Lucy Moonhead and, in the process, sold out shows in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. Aslan ended 2000 by playing their first gig in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 to a sellout crowd and then returned to home soil to sell out the Point Theatre again on December 27.

In the spring of 2001 Aslan recorded a single, "She's So Beautiful" (featuring Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....

 on backing vocals), which entered the Irish singles charts at number 9. The band released the follow-up "Different Man", which charted at number 7.

In September 2001, the band's most recent studio album, Waiting for This Madness to End went straight into the Irish Album charts at number 1, out selling the number 2 album four times over. The following week it remained at number 1 and kept Kylie Minogue off the top spot! "Waiting For This Madness To End" hit the platinum sales mark after only four weeks.

In Christmas 2001 Aslan again sold out the 9000 capacity Point, and in 2002 Aslan were nominated for eight categories of the Hot Press readers poll, demonstrating the immense following the band have in their homeland.

October 2005 and the band released a 48 track CD, simply called Platinum. The album chronicles the singles, b-sides and rarities of their long career. The platinum collection went into the charts at no. 3 and after a few weeks lived up to its name by achieving platinum sales. The band played yet another headlining gig in the point on 27 Dec 2005.

The band helped write and perform "How Can I Protect You", the tenth track for Alabama 3
Alabama 3
Alabama 3 are a British band mixing rock, dance, blues, country, and gospel styles, founded in Brixton, London, in 1995. In the United States, they are known as A3, allegedly to avoid any possible legal conflict with the country music band Alabama...

 on their 2006 album, Outlaw
Outlaw (Alabama 3 album)
-Track listing:# "Intro" – 0:53# "Last Train To Mashville" – 4:11# "Terra Firma Cowboy Blues" – 3:29# "Keep Your Shades On" – 4:46# "Hello... I'm Johnny Cash" – 4:00# "Up Above My Head" – 3:57# "Adrenaline" – 4:24#*featuring MC Tunes...

.

The band's most recent album, For Some Strange Reason, was released in October 2007 and debuted at no. 8 in the Irish album charts, their first album based solely on new material not to debut in top spot since 1997's Here Comes Lucy Jones. Two singles, "Here Comes the Sun" and "Jealous Little Thing" were released prior to the album. Popular singer Damien Dempsey
Damien Dempsey
Damien Dempsey is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk with contemporary lyrics to deliver social comment on the positive and negative aspects arising from Ireland's Celtic Tiger society.-Early life:...

 makes an appearance on the new album on the track "Bullets and Diamonds".

On 15 February 2008 Aslan were named 'Best Irish Band' at The Meteor Irish Music Awards. Tony McGuinness announced shortly after on the bands website that he was to move to Australia for one year with his family and would be replaced by Rodney O'Brien as bass player for Aslan during that time.

In April 2008, the band announced that they will record an album consisting completely of cover versions. This will be the band's first ever album without Tony McGuinness
Tony McGuinness (musician)
Tony McGuinness was the London-born bassist of the Irish rock band Aslan. He originally started his music career as a drummer in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but switched to bass guitar soon after being influenced by watching his cousin Steve Garvey on bass guitar for UK punk outfit The Buzzcocks...

. In May 2009 Uncased reached number 2 in the Irish Charts, behind Eminem's Relapse.

On 7 November 2008, Aslan performed "Always" on a Balcony overlooking Dame Street, Dublin for the music viral show BalconyTV
BalconyTV
BalconyTV is a leading daily online viral music show that features bands, musicians and other variety acts on balconies around the world. It was founded in Dublin, in June 2006....

., and a new song "Let Go" on 24 December 2010.
They are currently working on a new album and a new documentary, both due for release in early 2012 to coincide with the band's 30th anniversary.

Lyrics from their song "Down On Me" will feature in the upcoming novel by Cecilia Ahern.

Band members

  • Christy Dignam
    Christy Dignam
    Christy Dignam is the lead singer of the popular Irish rock-band Aslan. His career of over twenty-five years has been characterized by numerous successes on the Irish charts as well as recurring problems with drug addiction and recovery.-Life:...

     (lead vocals)
  • Joe Jewell
    Joe Jewell
    Joe Jewell is the Dublin born lead guitarist of the popular Irish rock-band Aslan. His career of over twenty-five years has been characterized by numerous successes on the Irish charts. He co-wrote many of the band's finest songs including "Crazy World", "This Is", "Where's The Sun?", "Hurt...

     (lead guitar
    Lead guitar
    Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

    )
  • Rodney O'Brien (bass
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

    )
  • Billy McGuinness
    Billy McGuinness
    Billy McGuinness is the rythmn guitarist and harmonica player and occasional keyboard player of the popular Irish rock-band Aslan. He was raised in Dublin's northside. His career of over twenty-five years has been characterized by numerous successes on the Irish charts. He lists David Bowie and...

     (keyboards, harmonica
    Harmonica
    The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

    , guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    )
  • Alan Downey (drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

    /percussion
    Percussion instrument
    A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

    )

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales thresholds)
IRE
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

1988 Feel No Shame
Feel No Shame
Feel no Shame is the 1988 debut album by Irish band AslanTrack Listing# Loving Me Lately# Pretty Thing# This Is# Been So Long# The Hunger# Heat Of The Cell# Please Don't Stop# Down On Me# Sands Of Time# Feel No Shame# Book Of Life...

  • Released: 1988
  • Label: EMI Ireland
  • Formats: CD
    Compact Disc
    The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

    , LP
    LP album
    The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

    , Cassette
    Compact Cassette
    The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

1
  • IRE: Gold
  • 1994 Goodbye Charlie Moonhead
  • Released: 1 October 1994
  • Label: BMG
  • Formats: CD, Cassette, LP
  • 1
  • IRE: Gold
  • 1997 Here Comes Lucy Jones
  • Released: October 1997
  • Label: Solid (RO #19)
  • Formats: CD, Cassette, LP
  • 14
    2001 Waiting For This Madness To End...
  • Released: September 2001
  • Label: EMI (SLAM #01)
  • Formats: CD, Cassette, LP
  • 1
  • IRE: Platinum
  • 2007 For Some Strange Reason
  • Released: 5 October 2007
  • Label: EMI Ireland (SLAM #07)
  • Formats: CD, Cassette, LP
  • 7

    Live albums

    Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
    Music recording sales certification
    Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


    (sales thresholds)
    IRE
    Irish Albums Chart
    The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

    1999 Made in Dublin - Live at Vicar St.
    • Released: 1999
    • Label: EMI Ireland
    • Formats: CD
      Compact Disc
      The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

      , LP
      LP album
      The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

      , Cassette
      Compact Cassette
      The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

    1
  • IRE: Platinum

  • Compilation albums

    Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
    Music recording sales certification
    Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


    (sales thresholds)
    IRE
    Irish Albums Chart
    The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

    1998 Shame About Lucy Moonhead - The Best of Aslan
    • Released: July 1998
    • Label: EMI Ireland
    • Formats: CD
      Compact Disc
      The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

      , LP
      LP album
      The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

      , Cassette
      Compact Cassette
      The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

    1
  • IRE: Platinum x2
  • 2005 The Platinum Collection
  • Released: October 2005
  • Label: EMI Ireland (SLAM #05)
  • Formats: CD, Cassette, LP
  • 3
  • IRE: Platinum x3
  • 2009 UNCASE'd
  • Released: 22 May 2009
  • Label: EMI Ireland (SLAM #09)
  • Formats: CD, Cassette, LP
  • 2

    Singles

    Year Single Peak chart positions Album
    IRE
    Irish Singles Chart
    The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...


    1986 "This Is" 12 Feel No Shame
    "Loving Me Lately"
    1987 "Pretty Thing" 14
    "Please Don't Stop" 7
    1988 "Loving Me Lately (Re-Issue)" 20
    "This Is (Re-Issue)"
    1989 "Don't Make Me Cry... Again" 18 non album single
    "Strangelove"
    1993 "Crazy World" 4 Goodbye Charlie Moonhead
    1994 "Where's the Sun?" 3
    1995 "Rainman"
    1997 "Lucy Jones Part 2" 17 Here Comes Lucy Jones
    "Hurt Sometimes" 35
    1998 "Lucy Jones Part 1"
    "This Is '98" 7 Shame About Lucy Moonhead
    "Crazy World '98" 22
    2001 "She's So Beautiful" 8 Waiting For This Madness To End...
    "Different Man" 9
    "Love Is All You Need"
    2002 "Six Days To Zero" 19
    2004 "Shine A Light" 4 The Platinum Collection
    "Crazy World (Re-Issue)" 3
    2005 "Fall On Me" 9
    2007 "Here Comes The Sun" 5 For Some Strange Reason
    "Jealous Little Thing" 22
    2009 "Jealous Guy" UNCASE'd

    External links

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