SPOON FED SOFA

Formed in 1982, the original line up of Spoon Fed Sofa was : Cye Bannon (Drums); Nick Hanley (Vocals); John Donaghy (Bass); Conor McBrierty (Guitar); and Brian White (Guitar) [RIP]. Conor left after the first few gigs and at one point they had a violinist – Helen Twomey. Big AJ (Adrian Campbell) was the band’s erstwhile manager. The band played gigs with, Inter Alia, One Fat Antelope, House Party, Glass Silhouette, Doomed Youth, Five Go Down To The Sea [Cork], Ghost Of An American Airman, Otis & The Elevators, Beyond The Pale, St Vitus Dance, Without The [Cork], Kitsch Is Rich, Meanwhile In Czechoslovakia, Bam Bam & The Calling, Carpenter Joe, and The Decembrists at venues such as Connor Hall/Art College, Queens SU/Speakeasy, The Orpheus, Satellite Club, The Underground in Cork and Henry Africa’s (also in Cork). They were, in theory at least, to back up Cactus World News for a couple of gigs on a mini Irish tour but nothing came of it. Their set included covers of Pay Your Rates, Psycho Killer, Public Image and Hangin’ Around. Some of their original song titles included, Lamp Posts, Guano, Man With The Longest Head, Faded Lies and Ten Park Drive. The band also played one gig as the Mutant Cyclists (not sure why!) and Olav’s Glasses was another nom-de-guerre. Brian White died in a house fire in 1990; John Donaghy is now in Minnesota; Conor is in Galway; Cye, Nick and AJ are all still in Belfast/East Antrim; Helen Twomey is in England. It’s difficult to pinpoint when the band ground to a halt, but Brian’s death had a huge impact. Cye and Nick also surfaced as the Arthur Negus Experience and Grunt – Brian’s wee brother Colin and Chris ‘CJ’ James [RIP] were involved. They used to practice in the basement at the Merville Garden Village centre. CJ had played in the Baby Vultures with Paul Tohill (One Fat Antelope) and Tommy Spence (Doomed Youth) . AJ, John, Cy and Nick were also involved with running the Satellite Club (upstairs at the Crescent Bar) along with Adrian Maddox (music journalist and ex member of Bangor band 5th Column), Rob O’Neill (Beyond The Pale) and Greg Fenton (DJ). The name Spoon Fed Sofa went on for years even after the original line-up had long since split. If anyone has any further information or photographs of this band, then please DO get in contact via spit77to82@aol.com

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