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Bio:
Early 1970s rock trio from Mayo who released two singles by two completely different lineups.
The first single is outstanding. The A-side is a Status Quo cover and is a great rock track but the B-side,
a cover of Don Nix's "Going Down Down Down" is fantastic, a raw recording with
heavy effect guitar and a superb solo.
All in all this is single is an essential post-psych, pre-metal heavy rock artefact.
Gerard McLoughlin left in late 1972 or early 1973 and the band decided to fold. Their manager at this point was future boyband impressario Louis Walsh. With a string of dates to fulfill, and unhindered by any sense of a band's identity or integrity, he persuaded up and coming band Freeway to change their name to Time Machine in exchange for his services as manager and a semi-established name. Pat Egan reported this change in his regular column in New Sportlight in January 1973:
Freeway was Austin Smith (ex Fire Brigade, Clouds, vocals), Pat Savage (lead guitar), Kevin Jennings (ex Bernard Tormey Band, bass) and Derek Teeling (drums). Their first big gig was supporting Status Quo at the national stadium in Dublin on April 10th, when they were well received. Kevin Jennings had to be replaced by Sean Creighton following an accident, while Austin Smith left over musical differences and was not replaced. The resultant trio recorded the second Time Machine single, released in October 1973.
Inspired no doubt by the success of Horslips, Thin Lizzy's "Whiskey in the Jar", Mushroom and possibly even the self-released Keltic Wine single from August, Louis Walsh decided that for his charges to make an impact they would need to record a similar Celtic Rock effort. It's a rocked up version of a traditional track "As I Roved Out", made popular at the time by the Woods Band. It's is not bad and is recommended to celtic rock fans, but it's nothing special either. Time Machine remained active until late in 1974 when gigs began to dry up. Many small bands in Ireland were forced by the economic realities of the times to choose between becoming a cabaret/covers/showband, emigrating to the UK in search of more receptive ears, or splitting up. Time Machine chose to split.
Derek Teeling revived the Time Machine name when he assembled a completely new band in the mid-70s.
Initially a cabaret style outfit, they would eventually 'go punk' (cough) in 1978 and release a
single on Rip Off. They are listed separately here.
Meanwhile two members of the original Time Machine lineup re-emerged in late 1973 as Bratt
with new frontman Tom Mylett. Bratt never recorded.
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