The Afterword

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Horslips slip away into myth…

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Three months shy of their 50th anniversary as a recording act Horslips have slipped away.

Here’s the announcement from 20 minutes ago:

‘Horslips regret to announce that due to health issues the upcoming gigs, already rescheduled due to Covid restrictions, have now had to be cancelled. This applies to Derry, Dublin and Waterford. We’re really sorry about this but it’s due to circumstances beyond our control. They won’t be rescheduled. Arrangements are being made for ticket refunds where this hasn’t already happened. We’d like to thank all our fans who’ve waited so patiently and been so loyal to the band. We’ve absolutely loved playing for you and hope you enjoyed it half as much as we did.’

Here’s something from their last TV performance, on Ireland’s TG4 in 2019.

Amazing… something Donovan *did* invent…

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I was lunching with two of Horslips – originators of Celtic rock – yesterday and much badinage was exchanged, with the conversation turning to things ‘that Donovan invented’ (i.e. things he didn’t). ‘Obviously, he invented Celtic rock,’ I said, to chortles all round. And then I vaguely remembered something. ‘Hang on… y’know, I think he *did’ record a track called ‘Celtic Rock’… Jim locked it up on his gadget – sure enough, in 1970, a year before Horslips began, Donovan recorded ‘Celtic Rock’. Gobsmackery all round. Situations in which one realises that, yes, the Don *really did* invent something must be rare indeed! 😀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8sylRHOg40

Ali MacKenzie: the best-kept secret in Irish rock, unveiled

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There have been at least three Ali MacKenzies in the pantheon of rock, and I come here to celebrate and introduce the most obscure of this trio…

First, there was Ali MacKenzie of London cult 60s freakbeat act The Birds, then there was lanky pianist Ali MacKenzie, stalwart of the hits-era Suzu Quatro band in the 70s. Coincidentally, the latter was – like the Ali MacKenzie I’m about to introduce – from Northern Ireland, and at a point in the early 2000s both of these Ali MacKenzies (‘MacKenzi’?) could be found in the infamously scuzzy, spit and sawdust pub-rockers the Flange Band, a version of which can still be found beneath the spilt beer and gutters of Bangor, County Down.

The Ali MacKenzie I come to praise is a world-class bass player I’ve known since the mid-90s, a man who has seemed strait-jacketed or at least implausibly confined within blues bands and cover bands when, in my view, he should be a member of the post-Entwistle Who or Jeff Beck’s band, or the like, bestriding the stadiums of the world like a colossus. Partly, living in NI is an impediment to any musician having wider opportunities, partly, Ali’s very humble, » Continue Reading.