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Jump Iceland was in fact the third manifestation of a north Dublin band which started
life in 1978 as Human Error and then became the Human Dance Faction
in 1980 before finally morphing into Jump Iceland in 1981. The sound evolved through these
line-ups from dissonant and confrontational to more melodic and persuasive.
My thanks to Mik Skelly for his generous help with this page.
Bio:
Human Error formed at school in Glasnevin when Mik Skelly met the other three
after moving to Dublin from the USA in 1978. The band formed in December that
year.
For their first gig the band hired St. Peter's Hall in Phibsboro in May 1979 and
asked D.C.Nein to headline (they were all big fans). The gig was a
success. Gavin Friday's younger brother witnessed it and a couple of weeks later
Human Error opened for the Virgin Prunes at
McGonagles where they met Bono and The Edge which in turn led to opening for U2
at McGonagles, the band's third ever gig.
Their sixth gig was supporting D.C.Nein at the Dandelion; the seventh
was an experimental one-off project
called 49 Guitars And One Girl following one of U2's sets at the
Dandelion in August 1979. The lineup was
Dik Evans and Mik Skelly on guitars, Strongman and John Tisdall
on basses, Pod on drums and Gavin Friday on vocals. They performed just one piece which reputedly
received a mixed reception.
John Tisdall left Human Error at the end of 1979 and was replaced by Fintan Grimes from Omagh. The
new lineup became the Human Dance Faction .
Bio:
Human Dance Faction lasted about a year and did approx 7 gigs in all. The first was
opening for D.C.Nein at the Baggot Inn. They did several shows
at the Magnet, including
supporting Microdisney & Nun Attacks
in September. They also played with 1991 and
Bodies Move. When Garvin Moore left at the end of 1980, the others stole Derek Dunne
from Bodies Move and changed name to Jump Iceland.
Bio:
Jump Iceland did about 16 gigs in total over a 2 year period.
Their first gig was in the Underground Bar on Dame St in Dublin with The Five
Cigarettes (pre- Thee Amazing Colossal Men). They played
several venues around Dublin including The Ivy Rooms, The Afrospot (in fact they were the first band to play there)
and the Judge & Jury, which included one gig with Frank Kearn's Myster Men (Frank
would later form Cactus World News with Eoin). They also played further
afield in Drogheda.
They shared the bill with such diverse bands as
Mouzhik Strap (ex Bodies Move), Atonomy, Of Xerox,
and Kissed Air (at the North Star Hotel on Amiens St.) among others.
But by far their biggest gig was supporting U2 at the RDS Main Hall on 26 January 1982.
Some Kind Of Wonderful were also on the bill that day.
Jump Iceland recorded a couple of demos and a radio 2
session for Dave Fanning's show but neither they nor their antecedents released any
recordings.
Derek (drums), Fintan (bass) and Mick (vocals, guitar, processed shortwave) were involved in
an experimental side project called F.F.F. in 1982 with Nikki Moss (vocals, synthesizer).
FFF performed just twice. The first was one saturday afternoon gig in Base X (The Basement
Exchange Record Shop) on Bachelor's Walk in Dublin in June with Dermot Brady (bass/spoken word).
The gig was recorded by the band but the tape is lost.
The second was at the Judge & Jury, opening for Jump Iceland with a neurotic version of
The Normal's "Warm Leatherette".
Nikki Moss was a radio DJ with Capitol, Big D and ARD.
Eoin McEvoy was later in Cactus World News.
More info appreciated.
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.