Energy Orchard
Encyclopedia
Energy Orchard were an Irish
guitar
-based rock
band
of the late 1980s and early 1990s, from Belfast
. Fronted by Bap Kennedy
(brother of Irish singer-songwriter
Brian Kennedy
), their style drew heavily on the influence of Van Morrison
and other R&B
, but incorporated traditional elements of Irish folk music
. The band emerged from the remnants of two other Belfast-based punk
/new wave
bands, The Bank Robbers and 10 Past 7.
s at the New Pegasus they were signed to MCA
on the recommendation of Steve Earle
.
The band consisted of:
Whilst the majority of the song
s were written
by Kennedy, it was Fox that wrote their biggest hit
"Belfast". However, following personal problems Fox left to be replaced for a short time by Steve Lawrence. Following another re-jig McQuade switched to bass, in what would become the final line up until the band parted in 1997.
Their debut single
, "Belfast" was their most successful song, and reached 52 in the UK Singles Chart
, and featured on EastEnders
. The 1990 follow-up was "Sailortown". The first album, Energy Orchard
, was released to some critical appreciation. Subsequent albums included the 1992 release Stop the Machine
, 1993's Shinola
(released on Essential Records
), Pain Killer
(1995) and the 1996 live album
, Orchardville.
Despite extensive touring, the breakthrough to mainstream success eluded them. The band having completed their recording contract
with Castle Communications in 1996 disbanded. The split up saw Kennedy go on to launch a successful solo career (his first album saw a renewed partnership with Steve Earle), whilst McQuade and Breslin relocated to Jacksonville
, Florida
. Whilst there they played together in local band Celtic Soul, prior to McQuade launching his own group Spade McQuade and the Allstars.
Both Paul and David Toner left the music industry with Paul reading Law at Queens University, Belfast; and David for a time moving to Sweden
to teach English
.
With Stan Lynch
from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
and Jim DeVito, Breslin formed Buffalo Diamond and recorded The Things You Do, released in November 2005. He has since worked with other musicians on a multitude of session
recording
s.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
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...
-based rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
of the late 1980s and early 1990s, from Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. Fronted by Bap Kennedy
Bap Kennedy
Martin "Bap" Kennedy is a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland and older brother of singer Brian Kennedy. He is noted for writing the song "Moonlight Kiss" which was on the soundtrack for the film Serendipity .Kennedy was in a successful band, Energy Orchard for many years and has...
(brother of Irish singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Brian Kennedy
Brian Kennedy (singer)
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland at Eurovision 2006. He is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.-Personal life:...
), their style drew heavily on the influence of Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and other R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, but incorporated traditional elements of Irish folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. The band emerged from the remnants of two other Belfast-based punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
bands, The Bank Robbers and 10 Past 7.
Career
Following the band's early concertConcert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s at the New Pegasus they were signed to MCA
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
on the recommendation of Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
.
The band consisted of:
- Bap Kennedy (lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - Paul Toner (lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
) - David Toner (percussion)
- Spade McQuade (rhythm guitar/mandolin/vocals)
- Joby Fox (bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) - Kevin Breslin (keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
)
Whilst the majority of the song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s were written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
by Kennedy, it was Fox that wrote their biggest hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
"Belfast". However, following personal problems Fox left to be replaced for a short time by Steve Lawrence. Following another re-jig McQuade switched to bass, in what would become the final line up until the band parted in 1997.
Their debut single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Belfast" was their most successful song, and reached 52 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and featured on EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. The 1990 follow-up was "Sailortown". The first album, Energy Orchard
Energy Orchard (album)
Energy Orchard was the self-titled, debut album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1990.-Track listing:#"Belfast" - 4:56#"Somebody's Brother" - 6:42#"Lion" - 4:48#"One, Two Brown Eyes" - 3:53...
, was released to some critical appreciation. Subsequent albums included the 1992 release Stop the Machine
Stop the Machine
Stop the Machine was the second album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1992.-Track listing:# " All Alone" - 2:59# "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" - - 3:56...
, 1993's Shinola
Shinola (Energy Orchard album)
Shinola was the third album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:# "Coming Through" - 4:34# "Madame George" - 6:01# "Atlantic City" - 3:40# "Stay Away" - 4:20...
(released on Essential Records
Essential Records (London)
Essential Records is a subsidiary of London Records and is an offshoot of Pete Tong's Essential Selection programme on Radio 1.The US label, run by London-Sire Records from 2000-2001, released dance music compilations from well known DJs and artists including Paul Oakenfold, Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox,...
), Pain Killer
Pain Killer (Energy Orchard album)
Pain Killer was the fourth album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1995.-Track listing:# "Wasted" - 4:48# "She's the One I Adore" - 4:06# "Remember My Name" - 4:41# "The Past Is Another Country" - 5:38...
(1995) and the 1996 live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Orchardville.
Despite extensive touring, the breakthrough to mainstream success eluded them. The band having completed their recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Castle Communications in 1996 disbanded. The split up saw Kennedy go on to launch a successful solo career (his first album saw a renewed partnership with Steve Earle), whilst McQuade and Breslin relocated to Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Whilst there they played together in local band Celtic Soul, prior to McQuade launching his own group Spade McQuade and the Allstars.
Both Paul and David Toner left the music industry with Paul reading Law at Queens University, Belfast; and David for a time moving to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
to teach English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
With Stan Lynch
Stan Lynch
Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch is an American songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994.- Early years :...
from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
and Jim DeVito, Breslin formed Buffalo Diamond and recorded The Things You Do, released in November 2005. He has since worked with other musicians on a multitude of session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
s.
Albums
- Energy OrchardEnergy Orchard (album)Energy Orchard was the self-titled, debut album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1990.-Track listing:#"Belfast" - 4:56#"Somebody's Brother" - 6:42#"Lion" - 4:48#"One, Two Brown Eyes" - 3:53...
(1990) - UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#53 - Stop the MachineStop the MachineStop the Machine was the second album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1992.-Track listing:# " All Alone" - 2:59# "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" - - 3:56...
(1992) - ShinolaShinola (Energy Orchard album)Shinola was the third album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:# "Coming Through" - 4:34# "Madame George" - 6:01# "Atlantic City" - 3:40# "Stay Away" - 4:20...
(1993) - Pain KillerPain Killer (Energy Orchard album)Pain Killer was the fourth album from Northern Ireland based rock band, Energy Orchard, and was released in 1995.-Track listing:# "Wasted" - 4:48# "She's the One I Adore" - 4:06# "Remember My Name" - 4:41# "The Past Is Another Country" - 5:38...
(1995) - Orchardville (1996)