Orange Machine

• Ernie Durkin - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Robin Crowley - lead guitar
• Tommy Kinsella - bass
• Jimmy Greeley - drums

Bio:

Group formed in Dublin in September 1967 (or possibly earlier in late 1966) who released two excellent psychedelic singles on Pye.

The first, released in June 1968, offered covers of two Tomorrow songs. The A-side was a decent version of "Three Jolly Little Dwarfs" while the B-side was far more exciting, a cover of "Real Life Permanent Dream" with fantastic lead guitar. The single charted in Ireland but failed to take off in the UK. Even so the band began to make plans to move to London in late 1968.

The chart success of the debut meant the band got to record a second single for Pye. The A-side was a cover of Traffic's "You Can All Join In", written by Dave Mason. Despite some distorted guitar and studio effects, this is clearly an attempt at chart success. The original on the B-side was their most psychedelic outing by far, "Dr.Crippen's Waiting Room", written by Robin Crowley and Jimmy Greeley. The single failed to sell and the band's releases came to an end.

The Orange Machine did appear on one more single backing Danny Hughes. Danny Hughes was a club DJ who became a pop music presenter on RTE TV shows such as Like Now among others. Pye figured he was a good bet for a single. Hughes sings the A-side "Hi Ho Silver Lining" but does not appear on the B-side at all. Instead Jimmy Greeley provides the vocals for "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water", making it a bona fide Orange Machine track.

Durkin and Kinsella left in early 1969 to join the would be pop supergroup being assembled by manager Brian Tuite named Blue, including drummer Greg Donaghy from another of Tuite's charges Granny's Intentions. Replacements were found in the form of northern singer Karen Burke (ex Soul Foundation) and Joe O'Donnell, late of Sweet Street (1967-69) and the embryonic Granny's Intentions, but at that time a student at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin) on violin. The new members took the band in a Jefferson Airplane direction and were very promising by all accounts but Karen Burke left after 3 months and the band had split by the middle of 1969.

Durkin and Kinsella left to form Blue and then joined the Cotton Mill Boys; Durkin next joined The Gentry and then rejoined Kinsella in Buckshot. Robin Crowley was with The Trees for a spell but doesn't appear on either of their two LPs. Jimmy Greeley became a DJ, appearing on RTE TV's Like Now in November 1969. Joe O'Donnell was in many bands through the 1970s, most notably East of Eden.

Thomas Kinsella now manager of God Is An Astronaut and Revive Records. Ernie Durkin lives in Seattle where he works for Boeing.

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