THE BANKROBBERS

The Bankrobbers, form west Belfast formed in 1979, with the original line up of Ian ‘the pain’ on drums, bass player Joby Foxx, guitarist John McDonald, and Liam Carville on keyboards and vocals; Ian was soon replaced at the drum still by Seamus O’Neill. John had previously played in a rock band called Uncle Waldo and Seamus had also played in a rock band called Wild Acid! The ‘classic’ Banrobbers line up, with Seamus on drums, made their debut at McGonagles in Dublin in 1979, with an entire set of original material. They played mainly clubs and youth clubs in the Belfast area. Seamus O’Neill “Our philosophy was, if you hadn’t got a gig, then start a gig yourself”. The group also played the usual haunts around the city centre such as the Pounding Townsend Street. It wasn’t long however before they cut their first demo, which contained ‘Ain’t Gonna Take It Anymore’ with Joby on vocals, which was played relentlessly by Davy Sims on Downtown Radio. During their formative years the band had taken to wearing camouflage outfits on stage. They duly organised a photo shoot at Scrabo Tower, Newtownards in their combats (see above - Photograph © Sean Hennessy). Seamus takes up the story “We were all from west Belfast right, and this old man was out walking his dog. He sees us and then contacts the police and says, look, there are four terrorists out here in army gear having a photo session done. So we finish the shoot and we all get back into the van and on our way home two helicopters follow us. In Belfast, we stopped outside Robinson’s Bar for a pint. However, once we opened the back doors we were surrounded by cops and arrested” This, however, wasn’t to be the band’s last brush with the law. The Bankrobbers also played on the bill at the Ulster Hall in 1980 when the UK Subs and Anti Pasti came to town. Seamus O’Neill recalls that particular night “What a gig. We died on our arse. That was the night Joby dropped his kicks and flashed his arse at the crowd. We played support at the Ulster Hall six times in all, but that gig was a bad move. One guy threw a Kung Fu star and it just missed Joby by a fraction. It was a mad night”. They also supported Stiff Little Fingers, The Undertones and The Kinks at the same venue. Their debut single, ‘On My Mind’ was self-financed, and released through Good Vibrations because of the label’s good name and for marketing and distribution. Their big break however came while supporting Ruts DC at the Fulham Greyhound in London where A&R men from EMI were watching the band: there was a buzz surrounding the group at that time and the band was subsequently signed to the `EMI label. The Bankrobbers went on to tour with Stiff Little Fingers and The Undertones. They recorded two radio sessions for local radio station Downtown as well as two for the Kid Jensen show at BBC Radio One and one session for Dave Fanning at RTE (2FM). They also made several TV appearances, one of which was filmed at The Pound in Belfast by Channel 4’s The Tube. In 1982, while on tour, the whole band and their roadie Paddy Magin were arrested in Birmingham at five o’clock in the morning under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. They were held for around 18 hours but were released without charge, just in time to play a sell-out gig the next night at Aston University. This still wasn’t to be the band’s final run in with the law - they found themselves the subject of a police investigation following a publicity stunt involving fake £50 notes embossed with the band’s logo. Seamus O’Neill takes up the story again “Jenny had just been released. We came up with idea of a big signing-on party for The Bankrobbers with EMO. We had these £50 notes printed up and they looked brilliant. We went around London handing them out at tube stations and caused a big furore. Joby, Liam and John were arrested for this heinous crime back in Belfast and flown back to Paddington police station for questioning”. The band had been unhappy with their treatment by the EMI label. And felt they weren’t offered the assistance they needed. Seamus O’Neill explains “WMI didn’t want to know us, there was no support. They wouldn’t even buy us a guitar, they just wouldn’t back us at all”, and this lack of support was instrumental in Seamus leaving the band in 1983. He adds “WE signed a crap deal, we were given this dump of a house in Kensal Green where even the mice had rent books. I just thought, the label is either behind us or they’re not. So I left”. The band discoed in 1984 when their contract with EMI expired. After the band split Joby formed Energy Orchard with ex-members of another Good Vibrations band, 10 Past 7, who had among their ranks a young Brian Kennedy. Seamus stayed in London and started touring production with Level 42. Today John McDonald is studying for a degree, Liam Carville is a househusband, Joby Fox has his own studio and plays in his own band The Blue Dolphins, while Seamus O’Neill has his own promotions company and gigs with The Paul Dean Band. The Bankrobbers reformed on 28th November 2002 for a one-off charity gig at the Empire in Belfast. The band consisted of original members minus Joby Fox, who was replaced by Richard Collett (ex Silent Running). They played four numbers that included ‘Jenny’ and ‘All Night Long’ and got an incredible reception. The original line-up of The Bankrobbers (plus two brass musicians) played another charity gig at the King’s Head, Belfast on Friday 13 May 2016. If anyone has any further photographs of this band, then please DO get in contact via spit77to82@aol.com

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