Mama's Boys
Encyclopedia
Mama's Boys were a 1980s hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

/heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 group from County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 featuring the three McManus brothers Pat, a.k.a. 'The Professor", (guitar and occasionally fiddle), John (bass and vocals), Tommy (drums). Later in their career they became a four-piece adding Rick Chase on vocals in 1985 who was later replaced by Keith Murrell in 1987 due to Rick's ill-health. Keith was later replaced with Mike Wilson in 1989.

Biography

The McManus brothers, who grew up on a farm near the village of Derrylin
Derrylin
Derrylin is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is on the A509 road between Enniskillen and the border with County Cavan . It had a population of 423 in the 2001 Census.-History:...

, Co. Fermanagh, started off their musical career as award winning traditional Irish musicians, but were inspired by the legendary Irish celtic rock
Celtic rock
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock and a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context...

 band, Horslips
Horslips
Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs based on traditional Irish jigs and reels. The group are regarded as 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' for their fusion of traditional Irish music with rock music and went on to inspire many local and international acts....

, as well as younger brother Tommy’s passion for the drums to form a rock band. In the late 70s the brothers had become big fans of Horslips and attended their gigs at every possible opportunity. They eventually got to know and became friends with the band members. It was around that time that they started their own band which was originally called Pulse before they changed it to Mama’s Boys. Barry Devlin of Horslips heard about their band and went to see them rehearse at their home. He was suitably impressed and offered them a support slot for Horslips’ 1979 tour.

Although their heroes Horslips mixed traditional music with hard rock and the McManus brothers were top notch traditional musicians, Mama's Boys didn't really go for the celtic fusion sound, apart from the occasional fiddle solo by Pat, but went for a harder edged more heavy metal sound.

By 1980 Mama’s Boys had a bootleg circulating and were touring extensively in Ireland. In 1981 they were invited to support Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....

 on their UK tour. They recorded and self-financed their first album, a raw blast of rock power entitled Plug It In in 1982 and achieved a hit single in Ireland with the most pop-oriented song on the album, "Needle in the Groove".

The second album Turn It Up was released in 1983. The same year they toured with Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...

 on that band’s farewell tour, played at the Reading Rock Festival and signed a worldwide record deal with Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...

. The first album released on Jive was a self-titled compilation of Plug It In and Turn It Up with a few new songs added. One of the new songs, a cover of Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...

's "Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
"Mama Weer All Crazee Now" is a popular song originally recorded by the British Glam rock band Slade on their album Slayed?.Written by Jim Lea and Noddy Holder and produced by Chas Chandler, it was the band's third number-one single in the United Kingdom. The single entered the charts on its first...

" was released as a single and reached number 54 in the American charts. The video for the song got a lot of airplay on MTV and helped the band to become known in the US which they toured in 1984. Coincidentily, the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American Heavy Metal band. They are best known for their hit singles "Metal Health" and "Cum On Feel the Noize". They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, under the original name Mach 1, before changing the name to Little Women and finally Quiet...

 also released their cover version of the song at the same time as Mama's Boys, but Quiet Riot's version gained more airplay.

1985’s Power and Passion album broke into the Billboard top 100 in the US and the band toured in the US, Europe and Japan. During the European leg of the tour Tommy had a relapse of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

 which he had been treated for as a child and a replacement drummer Jimmy DeGrasso
Jimmy DeGrasso
Jimmy DeGrasso is an American heavy metal drummer. He is currently the drummer for F5.DeGrasso was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and graduated from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1981....

 was brought in to complete the tour. The recovering Tommy rejoined the tour in Ireland but had to be rushed back to hospital after another relapse.

In 1987 vocalist Keith Murrell was brought in after Rick Chase started having trouble with his vocal cords and they recorded the album Growing Up the Hard Way. Jive Records chose Murrell with the idea of giving them a more polished commercial sound but it backfired as the unique raw sound of the band was replaced by a bland AOR
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...

 type sound. This was also contributed by the Producer Phil Begley who produced the single "Pop music" by "M". The Jive contract, which ended that year, was not renewed and Keith Murrell was let go.

In 1989 with a new vocalist, Mike Wilson, and under new management they moved their base to the UK. The live album Live Tonite was released in 1991 and the band toured extensively in Europe. They released the album Relativity in 1992. While on tour in Italy in 1993, Tommy became ill again and the tour had to be cancelled. The following year Tommy underwent a bone marrow transplant but tragically he did not survive. His brothers were devastated and Mama’s Boys did not continue after this blow. On the first anniversary of Tommy’s death John composed a traditional lament on the low whistle for his brother and this led to himself and Pat revisiting their traditional Irish music roots and forming a celtic/new age group called Celtus.

In 2003, Pat McManus joined with Irish rock band 'Indian' for an album and live shows.

Pat McManus has his own band with Gordon Sheridan on bass and Paul Faloon on drums. They have just released a new live CD and DVD called Live and in time. The live recording features songs from Pat's previous CD In My Own Time and Mama's Boys songs.

John McManus is currently playing with Eddie Clarke in the re-united Fastway
Fastway
Fastway may refer to:* Crawley Fastway, a guided bus transport service in the UK* Fastway Couriers, courier franchise business* Fastway , a heavy metal band** Fastway , the self-titled first album by Fastway....

.

Former members

  • Pat McManus – lead and acoustic guitars, fiddle, backing vocals (1978–1993)
  • John McManus – bass, lead vocals, backing vocals, low whistle, tin whistle, uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes) (1978–1993)
  • Tommy McManus – drums, bodhran drum (Irish drum), backing vocals (1978–1993)
  • Rick Chase – lead vocals (1986–1987)
  • Keith Murrell – lead vocals (1987–1989)
  • Mike Wilson – lead vocals (1989–1993)
  • Alan Williams – Keyboards (1989–1993)
  • Jimmy DeGrasso
    Jimmy DeGrasso
    Jimmy DeGrasso is an American heavy metal drummer. He is currently the drummer for F5.DeGrasso was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and graduated from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1981....

    – drums (1985–1986)

Albums

  • Official Bootleg (1980)
  • Plug It In (1982)
  • Turn It Up (1983)
  • Mama's Boys (1984)
  • Power and Passion (1985)
  • Growing Up the Hard Way (1987)
  • Live Tonite (1991)
  • Relativity (1992)

Singles

  • "Belfast City Blues" (1982)
  • "In the Heat of the Night" (1982)
  • "Needle in the Groove" (1982)
  • "Too Little of You To Love" (1983)
  • "Midnight Promises" (1984)
  • "Mama Weer All Crazee Now
    Mama Weer All Crazee Now
    "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" is a popular song originally recorded by the British Glam rock band Slade on their album Slayed?.Written by Jim Lea and Noddy Holder and produced by Chas Chandler, it was the band's third number-one single in the United Kingdom. The single entered the charts on its first...

    " (1984)
  • "Needle in the Groove" (1985)
  • "Higher Ground" (1987)
  • "Waiting for a Miracle" (1987)

External links

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