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The Sands

From: Dublin

Active: September 1967 - 1978

Style:

Lineup:

Bio:

The Sands formed when Murty Quinn, Martin Phelan, Tommy O'Rourke and Denis Murray all deserted Dickie Rock and his Miami Showband to form a new band in September 1967. The rest of the band came from various Dublin beat groups: Tony Kenny (vocals) from The Vampires, Bobby Kelly (lead guitar) from The Greenbeats (and before that Chosen Few and The Hootenannys), and Fran Byrne (drums) from The Creatures.

The Sands were a Bubblegum Showband, basically a fresher, poppier and more energetic take on The Miami. While never on a par with the Real McCoy, the best of their recordings up to about 1970 on Tribune Records, which consist almost exclusively of cover versions, are enjoyable pop/bubblegum records. They scored several Irish chart hits on various labels (Tribune, Release and Hit Records) between 1967-1971.

They signed to RCA in November 1971 and worked with Phil Coulter and Bill Martin. In August 1972, Fran Byrne, Bobby Kelly and Tony Kenny all left the band. Both the band and the bubblegum genre was well played out by then, and they really should have split up at this point. Rather than read the writing on the wall, the rest of the band struggled on with different vocalists and various lineup changes until 1978. Tommy O'Rourke became manager; Tony Adams-Rosa (guitar), Noel Ryan (keyboards), Jimmy Compton (drums), Guitarist Dominic Green was in one of the post-1972 lineups, later joining Flint, The Memories (in 1978), Nightcap and The Message.

Tony Kenny sang on a couple of glam-lite pop hits produced by Mickie Most in the UK in 1973 under the name Kenny, but he bailed after that and later singles (up to 1975) credited to Kenny do not feature him at all. He launched a cabaret/crooner career (not forgetting his starring role in the Irish version of the Lloyd Webber musical horror "Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Sickbucket") and is still going strong.

Discography:

• Help Me Rhonda / Some Enchanted Evening
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 114 - IRL 2/1968
7" - Major Minor Records - MM 555 - UK 1968
Reached #9 in the Irish charts.


• Yummy Yummy Yummy / Peanuts
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 120 - IRL 7/1968
7" - Major Minor Records - MM 573 - UK 1968
Reached #6 in the Irish charts.



• Dance Dance Dance / The Cheater
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 122 - IRL 11/1968
Reached #4 in the Irish charts.


• Bubblegum Music / Sherry
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 129 - IRL 6/1969
Reached #6 in the Irish charts.


• Sand Doin's
LP - Tribune Records - LP 1009 - 1969



• Venus / Cara Mia
7" - Major Minor Records - MM 681 - UK 1970

Decent cover of "Venus" with a female lead singer (who?), too familiar to be called a re-arrangement but different enough to be interesting. The main riff is played with a slight surf-twang to it a la Duane Eddy.



• Walking In The Sunshine (Un Rayo de Sol) / Marlena
7" - Release Records - RL.540 - IRL 8/1970


• Candida / Love Me Tender
7" - Release Records - RL.553 - IRL 12/1970
Entered the Irish charts on 30 January 1971 for an 8 week run, peaking at #6.


• Knock Three Times / See You In September
7" - Hit Records - HIT 1 - 13 March 1971
Entered the Irish charts on 27 March 1971 for a 13 week run, peaking #5.


• Julietta / Silvery Moon
7" - Hit Records - HIT 12 - 1971
Vocal both sides by Murty Quinn.


• Time Out With The Sands
LP - Plough Records - PLX 501 - IRL - 1971 - withdrawn
LP - Major Minor Records - ??? - 1969 - unreleased
6 tracks from the debut LP plus 6 from recent singles
The Plough Records edition was withdrawn shortly after release when the band took legal action against the label.
The Major Minor edition was never released.


• Lend A Helpin' Hand / The Sound Is Music
7" - RCA Records - RCA 2136 - UK - 22 October 1971 - A label demos exist
7" - RCA Records - 74-16128 - Germany - 1971
Entered the Irish charts on 18 November 1971 for a 6 week run, peaking #7.
Both sides by Bill Martin & Phil Coulter; A-side vocal by Murty Quinn.



• Salvation Sally / She Is Me
7" - RCA Records - RCA 2210 - May 1972
A-side vocal by Murty Quinn.
A-side by Steve Foley, B-side by Martin & Coulter;
Produced by Bill Martin & Phil Coulter


• Lonely Lady / Sweet Dreams
7" - Solo Records - SOLO 119 - September 1973
Entered the Irish charts on 18 October 1973 for a 4 week run, peaking #15.
Vocal both sides by Murty Quinn.


• Annabelle / Julie, Where Have You Gone
7" - Solo Records - SOLO 123 - 11/1973
Vocal both sides by Eric Murray.


• Hasta Maņana / One More Tear
7" - EMI Records - IEMI45004 - 8/1974
Reached #13 in the Irish Charts
Vocal both sides by Fran Troy.


• Is There Any Chance / Teenage Heart
7" - Release Records - RL.758 - 9/1975
Vocal both sides by Jackie Kelly.



• Pat Tynan & The Sands - One More Tear / Mary Go Lightly
7" - Ruby Records - RUB 204 - 1977 - PS


Compilation appearances:

• v/a - The Showband Special
LP - Tribune Records - TRLP 1007 - IRL - 1969
LP - Capitol Records - SQ80.007 - Canada - 1969
See Compilations section for full track listing.


 

tracks:
Help Me Rhonda
Dance Dance Dance

• v/a - 20 Stars Of Ireland Vol.1
LP - Release Records - DRL 2005 - IRL - 1973
LP - Capitol Records - SQ80.007 - Canada - 1969
See Compilations section for full track listing.
tracks:
Knock Three Times



See also:

Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic. If you can help, then please get in touch.



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