“Oh! Darling” – Let’s hear it for Mickey Rafferty…

Mickey Rafferty is a minor legend in Northern Ireland – voice and songwriter of the Minnows (formerly Tiberius Minnows) from Coalisland/Dungannon, c.1988 to the present. They’ve become elusive in recent years in public, though there’s an album in the can that they’ve been leaking (fabulous) songs from on to YouTube for a year or so. Maybe next year for the actual release. Fingers crossed…

But… every Saturday in recent months, three of the four Minnows convene in Mainzy’s garden shed and record/film live performances of covers selected by their fans, using the name ‘the Handsome Princes’. The songs are eclectic – from Johnny Cash to China Crisis, Neil Young to Lloyd Cole. And in general, they’re brilliant. Yes, dammit, even the 80s ones (obviously, not all of them…) So popular has the alter ego brand/band become that the trio has started doing live shows lately – Mickey on guitar/vocals, Kevin on bass, Mainzy on lead guitar, keys and a lunar module of gadgetry and the odd backing track bit of instrumentation. But without doubt the act’s secret weapon is Raff’s vocal.

I had the pleasure of working with the Raffmeister recently on my song ‘Don’t Go to Nashville’, released digitally under the ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ banner, and my expectations were not only met but exceeded. I was obviously aware of his qualities as a vocalist but I was unaware of his skills as an arranger, harmony vocalist, all-round musical ideas man. The vocal session for ‘Nashville’ with Mickey, two backing vocalists (Ellen and Rowena) and Late-Night Tony Furnell engineering – every one of them coming up with ideas amid the bonhomie – was a revelation.

So was going to pub with Raff and Ellen on the way home – even before we’d reached the door of the Errigle Inn Mickey was mobbed by a fan. Two steps inside the door, the same thing happened. And yes, it was a different fan. Amazing. Mind you, once we’d got drinks and sat down, Ellen was mobbed by a fan of her own… who had never heard of Mickey 😀 Obviously, nobody in the place knew me from Adam…

Anyway, I was prompted to doff the cap at Raff (a famous wearer of such items) and bring him to the Afterword’s attention by this latest ‘Handsome Princes’ upload – Mickey solo this time, nailing ‘Oh! Darling’ in one take. Enjoy! There’s plenty more on YouTube to find.

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