Acme Music formed in late 1978 in east Belfast and disbanded early in 1982. They were a happy but derivative combo heavily influenced by The Clash and local band Protex. Towards the end of their existence they introduced a 2 Tone, roots rocking influence and shortened their name to Acme. The original line-up consisted of Stuart Bailie on vocals and bass, Ian Hanna on drums, with Alan Giddings and Colin Callaghan on guitars. After a year or so, Colin Callaghan left and was replaced by Barry Young, a former member of the Idiots and brother of Rudi star Brian Young. The lovely Davy Sims from Downtown Radio played the band’s demos on his radio show and they supported local acts such as Rudi and The Outcasts.

Stuart remembers “Our drummer was a pet food merchandiser, so we often rolled into a venue smelling of Biffo Dog Food. But hey, we had the use of a free van. We had a residency at Clonduff Community Centre, for which we were paid in cider bottles. On one such night we gave an act called The Defects their first ever gig.”

Acme cut a four track demo tape at the Mudd Wallace’s Ahoghill studio on 5th April 1981. Sadly this is all that remains to document the band’s sound. The tracks committed to tape were Beer Hall In Munich / Johnny Can’t Play / Jealousy / Bad News. The original master tape of these recordings was recently discovered in Stuart’s attic and these tracks feature on the Spit Records compilation CD Shellshock Rockers which was released in 2012 but is now SOLD OUT.

After Acme split, Ian Hanna formed a band with Dee Wilson (another former Idiot) called Family Of Noise. Stuart Bailie later joined the band too and gradually the band mutated into The Troubleshooters. Full band bios for both these bands are listed elsewhere on this web site.

In 1985, Stuart went to London, where he found work as a music journalist. He was on the staff of NME from 1988 to 1996. At the time of his return to Belfast in 1996 he was Assistant Editor of the paper. Stuart was Co-founder and original CEO of the Oh Yeah Music Centre, Belfast’s dedicated music hub from 2006 to 2016. He is author of – Trouble Songs: Music and Conflict in Northern Ireland (2018) and 75 Van Songs (2020). Also author of the 2017 exhibition book for the British Music Experience – We Hope You Will Enjoy The Show: British Music Since 1945. He has been Music columnist for the Belfast Telegraph since April 2021. Stuart is also Editor of Dig With It magazine. A quarterly guide to music, arts and counterculture in the north of Ireland.