Author Archives: Nick Kelly

Free September 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26?

Laters with Griff… is a series of ‘hybrid live and livestream gigs’ across five nights at Drop Dead Twice, Francis Street, Dublin 8.

Hosted in a table-service only environment by David Griffin (A.K.A. Griff), the shows will feature some of Ireland’s up-and-coming artists……Including ​Bi Curious, Blackbird and Crow, Blue Fish Diamond, Chris Kabs, Contour, Dubh Lee, Dublin City Rounders, Emily 7, Fanacanta, Funkulele, Gaolbyrd, God Creative, Jaxson, JyellowL, Kieran Mulvihill, Lethal Dialect, Marcas Carcass And The Trail Gang, Modern Love, New Valley Wolves, The Last Vinci, TYG, Vernon Jane, Vulpynes, and Witch Trials.

In fairness.

Laters With Griff Hybrid Music Festival

Steo Wall – My People

“Your rich history is written on every stone in every town.”

Dublin troubadour Steo Wall pays tribute to the travelling folk musicians who came before him through the generations.

It’s a powerful song that wears its heart on its sleeve and is enhanced by the priceless archive footage in the video, directed by Alex Gill.

Nick says: Build that Wall.

Steo Wall

Sundays would never be the same again.

Unless you had BBC and ITV obviously.

Any excuse.

Pete Kavanagh – To Hold The Red Rose

In bloom.

Kildare songwriter Pete Kavanagh channels personal grief on his new album Join Up The Dots.

The single To Hold The Red Rose has a rootsy feel and is accompanied by a graceful video of MN Dance Company which is edited by Pete’s wife Pamela.

Nick says: Heavy petal.

Pete Kavanagh

A recent apartment block planning application with just two south-facing windows

Architect Orla Hegarty writes:

Dublin City Council set standards for all homes to have daylight and sunlight (critical to well being and mental health); the Department of Housing guidance overruled it; above is new planning application.

On every floor there are 14 north-facing windows, and two south-facing [preferable as the sun follows a slightly southern east-to-west arc). One is on the stairs…

Anyone?

Dublin chemist Thomas Smith (top).

He came up with the formula for the nappy rash cream at his pharmacy at 1 Old Cabra Road.

Via Glasnevin Heritage:

He called it Smith’s Baby Cream and had the following detail printed on the label – ‘Smith’s Special Skin Ointment for the treatment of ulcers, pimples and all skin eruptions‘.

His son, Brendan, came up with the idea of sending the cream out to new mothers. He would trawl the local papers for the births announcements and send out sample cream to all of the mothers on the lists.

Smith wasn’t just a whiz at direct marketing it seems, he was also unusually pro-active about dealing with customer feedback. If someone wrote to complain about Sudocrem, he would visit the family personally to find out what the problem was.Such dedication paid off in the ’60s and ’70s when lucrative new markets opened up for his creation.

The recipe for Sudocrem hasn’t changed much from the one Thomas Smith first whipped up in 1931. Nowadays it’s a team of gowned workers who mix together the main ingredients – zinc oxide, benzyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, benzyl cinnamate, and lanolin with various waxes – to produce the thick soothing paste.

From something that started in the back room of a chemist’s shop on the Old Cabra Road, Sudocrem now ships to 44 territories all over the globe from the factory which is now situated in Baldoyle…

In fairness.

Pic montage via Glasnevin heritage

This morning/afternoon

Meanwhile…

FIGHT!

The votes are in.

Last week, with ravishing €25 Golden Discs voucher on offer, I asked for your favourite underrated/obscure gem from the 1990s?

You answered in your hundreds, supplying another stunning playlist of overlooked masterpieces. Thank you.

Sadly, there could be only one winner.

Third Place:

Play On by Rae & Christian featuring The Jungle Bros

Nevan writes:

It just squeaks into the 90s, released in 1999 on a mix album by Rae & Christian called Blazing the Crop  but it was never released as a single. To this day the only version you’ll find is the one that cuts off before the next song on the mix comes in. It’s a very more-ish tune, I can never help skipping back to the start when it finishes.

Runner-up:

Change by Sandals

SOQ writes:

The 90s were a time when everyone thinks of the tail end of rave but there was a lot of other interesting stuff bubbling under the surface too. One such genre was acid jazz and my favourite group was from that genre was ‘Sandals’- they released an album called ‘Rite To Silence’ in 1994 which I still play a lot….

Winner:

Sometimes Always by Jesus And Mary Chain & Hope Sandoval

Brother Barnabas writes:

Saddest, sexiest song ever. Should have been massive – J&MC’s most underrated single off their most underrated album.

Nick says: Thank you all.

Last week: Win Nick’s Voucher

Golden Discs

Stop that!

Car-loathing punky tykes.

Name that jammer, anyone?

Meanwhile…

Anyone?

Lilla Vargen – Love You Twice

Breaking up is hard to do.

But there’s always Lilla Vargen (top) to make things better. The Ballymena [County Antrim] songstress delivers a haunting meditation on lost love that will stop you in its tracks.

The song has already garnered over 3 million streams online.

Nick says: LV forever.

Lilla Vargen