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Bio:
Late 70s rock band from Limerick whose lineup included future comedian
Jon Kenny (from Hospital, Co.Limerick), who joined the band on rhythm guitar
(or possibly on bass guitar) after leaving school at the age 16. Apart from Kevin Sheehy,
the other four members of the band were all brothers.
Richard or Dick O'Sullivan AKA Richard Hannoway shared lead vocals with Jon Kenny.
In some sources he's listed as Mike O'Sullivan, but that would mean two brothers
named Mike and Mick which seems very unlikely. There was another O'Sullivan, Derek, in a later lineup.
Gimik supported The Bay City Rollers on their Irish tour in 1976.
Richard O'Sullivan left the band after this tour. There were further lineup changes in 1977:
Ed Keating replaced Mick O'Sullivan on bass,
and Tony Fitzpatrick replaced Paddy O'Sullivan on drums.
This new lineup supported Mud on their Irish tour in late 1977.
I've been told Gimik played the second Macroom Mountain Dew Festival on 26 June 1977.
Can anyone confirm?
Mud and Gimik both appeared on RTE TV's SBB Ina Shuí in November.
That same month Gimik appeared on RTE's Hullabaloo, presented by Shay
Healy and Marion Richardson. There are undoubtedly many more RTE appearances.
After the Irish tour, Gimik embarked on their first tour
of England, supporting Mud on at least two occasions there, before returning to Ireland
just before Christmas 1977.
Gimik were a very interesting band who straddled the Glam Rock/Punk Rock divide.
Their roots were in Glam, and they supported touring acts like the Bay City Rollers, Mud and
Smokie. but they were aware of the advent of Punk.
Some consider them as forerunners of Punk Rock. The band were aware
of the tension between their music and the arrival of punk: John Kenny has described
in interview playing the bands music to a crowd hungry for punk rock.
Their singles released between 1977 and 1980 illustrate this well. They show steady progress and are superior Glam Rock with Punk leanings. All are now very collectable. "Stood Up" is probably their best recording but "Changes", "Schools Out" and "I Don't Like It" (probably the most out and out Hard Rock/Metal of the four singles) are all very good Glam/Rock/proto Hard Rock tracks. The debut is relatively weak by comparison, so don't pay too much for it.
Ed Keating left in June 1978 and joined the Magic Band.
He was replaced by Oliver Reynolds.
The band then appeared on a Christmas album recorded by the Young Generation Choir from Waterford.
They played on a number of tracks, both in collaboration with the choir and in their own right. This album was
recorded somewhere between June 1978 and June 1979. The photo of Gimik on the back cover shows Kevin
Sheehy had left the band - quite a surprise given his role as songwriter.
One track from this Christmas LP "Hey Mr.Christmas", featuring Oliver Reynolds on lead vocal, was released
as a single before Christmas 1980.
When Ed Keating rejoined the band in June 1979 the lineup was Jon Kenny (guitar/vocals),
Derek O'Sullivan (lead), Ed Keating (bass) and Frank Dolan (drums).
This was reputedly the best lineup of the band.
Their live set was peppered with covers of Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Cheap Trick
and the like and they were an excellent live band. This lineup also has the distinction of appearing on
East German TV in November 1979 as part of the GDR's 30th anniversary celebration.
Foreign bands were invited to perform on a monthly TV show called
"Rund" (one foreign band per show) and on 3 November 1979 Gimik made their appearance
at the Halle-an-der Salle, performing "School's Out" and "Back On The Road" [Rund episode 74, 1979-11-03].
These recordings survive in the GFR TV/Rund archive.
Gimik continued playing Glam/Hard Rock into the early 1980s before eventually splitting up.
Don Woods (ex Magic Band) played bass during this late period.
Jon Kenny
became an actor and eventually developed a cabaret revue show, but is
best known now for D'Unbelievables, the comedy duo he formed with Pat Shortt. He's also
released comedy records on which ex members of Gimik backed him on occasion.
Derek O'Sullivan and Frank Dolan were later in Hi Energy.
Gimik made many more recordings during their lifetime. They recorded many demos for
TV appearances, especially in Ireland, and for other possible singles.
Someone should encourage Jon Kenny & co. to compile these recordings onto CD.
Notes: "Dancehall Queen" was demoed by David Valentine in REL Studios in Edinburgh in the mid-70s. Valentine's then manager was David Knights (original bassist with Procul Harum, appearing on their first 3 LPs) who somehow managed to get the song covered by Gimik. Valentine was later in Dillinger and R.A.F. who released material on A&M Records but he never released a version of this song himself. In fact, Gimik's is the only released recording of this song.
Sleeve Notes:
Y.G. - A young group of Waterford children brought together in 1971 by Fr.Billy Meehan,
who met each night in his house in Waterford. From this there emerged Waterford's
Folk Mass, at which Y.G. always sang. They have made numerous appearances on
RTE Television and Radio. Ages ranges from 11 to 18.
Gimik - A young Pop/Rock group from Hospital in Co.Limerick, whose
average age is 20. Already they have a single to their credit and
Jacqui on this Album is one of their originals.
Notes:
Apart from Gimik, this album features other musicians who presumably appear on one
or more of the YGC tracks: Brendan Murray (drums), Garbiel McQuillan (rhythm guitar),
Eugene Smith (keyboards, bass) and Basil Hendricks (lead guitar, steel guitar, bass, keyboards).
The album was arranged and produced by Basil Hendricks. Recorded during Ed Keating's absence
from the band between June 1978 and June 1979.
We need your help to correct and/or complete this entry. If you can provide more information about this band, have scans, photos or any other memorabilia we can use, or spare copies of any releases, then please get in touch.