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The Sands

From: Dublin

Active: September 1967 - 1978

Style:

Lineup:

Bio:

The Sands formed when Murty Quinn, Martin Phelan, Tommy O'Rourke and Denis Murray all deserted Dickie Rock and his Miami Showband to form a new band in September 1967. The rest of the band came from Dublin beat groups: Tony Kenny (vocals) from The Vampires, Bobby Kelly (lead guitar) from The Greenbeats (and before that Chosen Few and The Hootenannys), and Fran Byrne (drums) from The Creatures.

The Sands were a Bubblegum Showband, basically a fresher, poppier and more energetic take on the Miami. While never on a par with the Real McCoy, the best of their recordings on Tribune, up to about 1970 and consisting almost exclusively of cover versions, are enjoyable pop/bubblegum.

The bubblegum genre (and the band) was certainly played out by 1971 and they should have split up at that point. Fran Byrne, Bobby Kelly and Tony Kenny all left in 1972 but rather than read the writing on the wall the rest of the band struggled on with different vocalists and various lineup changes until 1978. Tommy O'Rourke became manager; Tony Adams-Rosa (guitar), Noel Ryan (keyboards), Jimmy Compton (drums), Guitarist Dominic Green was in one of the post-1972 lineups, later joining Flint, The Memories (in 1978), Nightcap and The Message.

Tony Kenny sang on a couple of glam-lite pop hits produced by Mickie Most in the UK in 1973 under the name Kenny, but he bailed after that and later singles (up to 1975) credited to Kenny do not feature him at all. He launched a cabaret/crooner career and is still going strong.

Discography:

• Help Me Rhonda / Some Enchanted Evening
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 114 - IRL 2/1968
7" - Major Minor Records - MM 555 - UK 1968
Reached #9 in the Irish charts.


• Yummy Yummy Yummy / Peanuts
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 120 - IRL 7/1968
7" - Major Minor Records - MM 573 - UK 1968
Reached #6 in the Irish charts.



• Dance Dance Dance / The Cheater
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 122 - IRL 11/1968
Reached #4 in the Irish charts.


• Bubblegum Music / Sherry
7" - Tribune Records - TRS 129 - IRL 6/1969
Reached #6 in the Irish charts.


• Sand Doin's
LP - Tribune Records - LP 1009 - 1969



• Venus / Cara Mia
7" - Major Minor Records - MM 681 - UK 1970


• Walking In The Sunshine (Un Rayo de Sol) / Marlena
7" - Release Records - RL.540 - IRL 8/1970


• Candida / Love Me Tender
7" - Release Records - RL.553 - IRL 12/1970
Reached #6 in the Irish charts.


• Knock Three Times / See You In September
7" - Release Records - RL.576 - 13 March 1971
Reached #5 in the Irish Charts.


• Time Out With The Sands
LP - Plough Records - PLX 501 - IRL - 1971 - withdrawn
LP - Major Minor Records - ??? - 1969 - unreleased
6 tracks from the debut LP plus 6 from recent singles
The Plough Records edition was withdrawn shortly after release when the band took legal action against the label.
The Major Minor edition was never released.


• Lend A Helpin' Hand / The Sound Is Music
7" - RCA Records - RCA 2136 - UK - 22 October 1971
7" - RCA Records - 74-16128 - Germany - 1971
Reached #7 in the Irish Charts.
Both sides by Bill Martin & Phil Coulter; A-side vocal by Murty Quinn.



• She Is Me / Salvation Sally
7" - RCA Records - RCA 2210 - May 1972
B-side vocal by Murty Quinn.
Written & produced by Bill Martin & Phil Coulter


• As Usual / Top of the World
7" - Play Records - PLAY 37 - 1972
B-side vocal by Tara.


• Julietta / Silvery Moon
7" - Hit Records - HIT 12 - 1973
Vocal both sides by Murty Quinn.


• Lonely Lady / Sweet Dreams
7" - Solo Records - SOLO 119 - 9/1973
Reached #15 in the Irish Charts
Vocal both sides by Murty Quinn.


• Annabelle / Julie, Where Have You Gone
Solo Records - SOLO 123 - 11/1973
Vocal both sides by Eric Murray.


• Hasta Maņana / One More Tear
EMI Records - IEMI45004 - 8/1974
Reached #13 in the Irish Charts
Vocal both sides by Fran Troy.


• Is There Any Chance / Teenage Heart
7" - Release Records - RL.758 - 9/1975
Vocal both sides by Jackie Kelly.



• Pat Tynan & The Sands - One More Tear / Mary Go Lightly
7" - Ruby Records - RUB 204 - 1977


Compilation appearances:

• The Showband Special
LP - Tribune Records - TRLP 1007 - IRL - 1969
LP - Capitol Records - SQ80.007 - Canada - 1969


 

tracks:
Help Me Rhonda
Dance Dance Dance



See also:

Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic.



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