Frank Rynne is an Irish-born singer, record producer, art curator, film-maker, writer, and historian. He has played in three bands Those Handsome Devils in 1984, The Baby Snakes

The Baby Snakes

The Baby Snakes were an Irish rock band formed in 1985. The original line up featured Frank Rynne, Niall O'Sullivan and Johnny Bonney. In October 1985 they recorded a radio session for Dave Fanning's R.T.E. radio show and reached No. 13 in Fanning's Fab 50, an end of year listeners poll, in...

 (1985-1994) and Islamic Diggers (1996- ). He has produced three CDs of Moroccan folk music by the Master Musicians of Joujouka. In 1992 Rynne co-organised The Here to Go Show, an international art show featuring the works of William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...

 and Brion Gysin

Brion Gysin

Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...

 and, with fellow organisers Joe Ambrose and Terry Wilson, co-wrote Man from Nowhere. He co-produced the CD 10%: file under Burroughs (1996).

Early years

Rynne first came to national prominence in Ireland playing rhythm guitar with Those Handsome Devils, a Dublin-based rockabilly band with a large national following. In 1985 he formed The Baby Snakes

The Baby Snakes

The Baby Snakes were an Irish rock band formed in 1985. The original line up featured Frank Rynne, Niall O'Sullivan and Johnny Bonney. In October 1985 they recorded a radio session for Dave Fanning's R.T.E. radio show and reached No. 13 in Fanning's Fab 50, an end of year listeners poll, in...

, a rock'n'roll band strongly influenced by The New York Dolls and Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton

William Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...

. The Baby Snakes released an EP and two LPs, This City Sucks and Sweet Hunger, before moving to Brixton

Brixton

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1988.

Their third and final LP was produced by Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...

 soundman and producer, Dave Goodman

Dave Goodman

Dave Goodman was a record producer and musician, perhaps best known as the live sound engineer for Sex Pistols, and the producer of three of their studio demo sessions.-Sex Pistols:...

. In 1990, the band recruited drummer Nigel Preston

Nigel Preston

Nigel Preston was a British drummer . He was a founding member of The Cult. He also played and recorded with Sex Gang Children, Theatre of Hate, The Gun Club and The Baby Snakes...

, a founder member of The Cult

The Cult

The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...

. After Preston's death in 1992, Rynne began to work on projects related Burroughs and Gysin.

Further reading

• Ambrose, Joe; Wilson, Terry; and Rynne, Frank (1992). Man from Nowhere: Storming the Citadels of Enlightenment With William Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Autonomedia. ISBN 0-9520217-0-6.
• Rynne, Frank (October 2005). "Paris Notes by Frank Rynne". The Handstand. Retrieved Jan. 14, 2007.

External links

• Master Musicians of Joujouka official site
• Obituary of Hamri by Frank Rynne. The Independent, London, 19 October 2000
• Ira Cohen obituary by Frank Rynne. The Guardian (UK), May 13, 2011