Initially formed in 1978 as The Escalators (see picture above). The group wase based and rehearsed in the Waterside area of Derry. The band were Carmel Lovell (Skipper), Vocals, Eddie McDaid Vocals, John Heinz Guitar, Mickey Griffiths on Drums and Peter Doherty Bass. They played their debut gig at the Rialto in Derry supporting the Undertones. They went on to play a number of school functions, better known as “dances”. One of The Escalators “highlights” was playing under the alias of “Magic Roundabout” and proudly coming second place in a Country ‘n’ Western talent contest at Oscars Disco!

By 1979 the band had dropped vocalist Carmel and changed their name to the Idol Threats. They also drafted in a new bass player called Joe Campbell. The band had now amassed an impressive no nonsense set of original punk tunes such as “Ghost Stories”,” You FO”, “Who Is To Blame?” and “No Change”. Guitarist John Heinz explains the band’s philosophy at that point “From the very beginning our intention was not to play chirpy cheap pop songs, no wet songs about girls. We simply just wanted to play Punk Rock songs that you could jump up and down to. The Derry “Power Pop” scene was already well catered for after all. God Bless the Undertones and Moondogs”.

Gigs were hard to come by but The Idol Threats did play regular slots at the Orchard Gallery, Mansions Bar, the Gweedore Bar, The Greyhound and Oscars Disco in Derry. They also played gigs at Kelly’s in Portrush and Spuds in Portstewart. The Threats also played the Silver Dollar in Buncrana and numerous gigs in Belfast including Queens University, the Harp Bar and The Pound. They even notched up 6 different appearances at the Ulster Hall in Belfast, most notably supporting fellow Derry punks The Undertones in 1980. John Heinz recounts the perils of finding gigs back then “Yes, it was very difficult to find venues to play back then, especially as the band looked like Idol Threats and we played our own songs. One way we found of obtaining gigs was to get a sensible looking person to go into a bar or nightclub and book a function room for a birthday party. Similarly buses were hired to remote country towns. Often this took some diplomacy when fifty to sixty preloaded (with carrier bags of cheap beer) punks arrived at an unsuspecting venue. Normally things went ok though.

However, The El Greco Discotheque (off Foyle Street) - Derry’s number one discothèque at the time, had banned all Punks on its opening. When we booked the venue for a “party” the management would not let the Idol Threats or the punters into the building and kept our booking deposit. A minor riot occurred with the disappointed punks being escorted away by the bewildered RUC and Army. To prevent further disturbance, the El Greco management kindly provided a disco DJ to play the latest hits like “Brotherhood of man”. The Idol Threats welcomed audience participation and direct action. Unfortunately, for the DJ some people started throwing 1p & ½p coins at the DJ’s desks, sadly for the disco fans, their night was also ended abruptly”.

The Idols Threats played their final live gig in October 1981 at Mansions Bar. They were also due to appear on the infamous aborted Derry scene compilation album funded by Derry city council on the ill-fated Shoestring record label entitled Postcard From Abroad. They did however appear at the end of a BBC Northern Ireland documentary about children growing up in the troubles entitled Children In Conflict screened in January 1982.  The band are seen performing the track Ghost Stories. The Idol Threat split later in the year.

Sadly songs such as “Little Green Men On The Moon”, “Three Times a Lady”, “I am a Mess” “Switch It Off” and their favorable graffiti on Derry’s walls are now lost to the mists of time.

Honorary mentions to the following who were all bass players in the Idol Threats at various times during their short existence - Ronnie McKnight, Charlie Gabriel Coyle and Bill Vale.

Micky (Michael) Griffiths passed away peacefully at Altnagelvin Hospital on Monday 25th of November 2019.