hey paulette

Hey Paulette were formed in Dublin in 1987 by Eamonn Davis (singer/rhythm guitars). Colm Fitzpatrick (bass)and Derrick Dalton (lead guitars) joined forces with Eamonn to write pop tunes. Some people labelled us a C86 band, as we were into writing melodic jingly jangly tunes but we didn't really know what we were playing and still don't! Paul Lester of The Melody Maker gave us 'Tingle of The Week'

Eamonn wanted to be in Josef K and modelled himself on Edwyn Collins, while the others wanted to be in The Smiths. Every rehearsal they would start playing The Smiths mid song to annoy the hell out of Eamonn. It was great fun!!

A compilation of all of our records titled 'Long Ball Into Nowhere' has just been jointly released by Fire Station Records in Germany and Clarendon Records which is very exciting.

It is very strange writing about a band sixteen years later but we didn't do much so it's not so hard to remember. Obviously the best part was going to London as teenagers to record our John Peel Session . Peter Hahndorf, Tweenet had always been a fan. We think it is due to the fact that he was in the BBC with John Peel on the night that he broadcast our session. Article here about it. It's a pity we never got to record an album, but back in the 80's no one had any money. Ireland was a bleak place and the celtic tiger had not kicked in.

Hey Paulette recorded our first single 'Commonplace' in our late teens with a drum machine for the label Mickey Rourke's fridge run by enigmatic Sean A Mc Dermott. We topped the alternative top ten on Capital Radio with this single in 1988. We eventually got an amazing drummer called Darren Nolan and started playing at break neck speed which hurt our fingers. He said he would only stay for a short while but he stayed with us to the bitter end in 1991.

We sent a copy of 'Commonplace' to John Peel, BBC Radio One in 1988 with a handwritten note. We then recorded an ep titled 'Mickey Rourkes Fridge Presents'. John Peel then got in touch and asked would we like to record a session, needless to say we didn't turn him down. We got the producer Dale Griffin who had also worked on The Smiths and The Fall sessions, so we were all happy with that. We didn't pass any remark to him about Mott The Hoople. The production on The Peel session was amazing and it was the best thing that we ever recorded. We played as fast as possible as we only had five hours to record the session as the studio had been double booked with The Frank Chickens. John Peel said 'it was a peachy session and would make a nice EP and that there would be a big yes to us'.(it took 16 years)

After this we recorded an ep "I Really Do Love Penelope on 12". This was produced by Stan Erraught of the amazing Stars of Heaven . (All of their records have just been re-released on cd by Independent Records, go buy them you won't be disappointed).

Stan liked working with us so much that he refused to leave and joined us as an extra guitarist. He played on the final recording of our last two songs Inconsequential and Pebbledash. These songs were released by Tweenet, the great indie label after we split up. Inconsequential appeared on The Sound of Leamington Spa and Pebbledash on Seven Summers. We also appeared on one cassette compilation called 'Dostoevesky lose it's flavour overnight'

In 2005 we reformed for one night to play homage to the late great John Peel. It was our way of trying to thank him for all that he did for us as a band and also for filling our listening ears with amazing music. We can honestly say if it weren't for him there is no way people would still be interested in hearing our music, let alone release a compilation by us. Long may his memory live on.

It was strange playing all together in the same room but it was alot of fun. Some people seemed to really like it and we even got a favourable gig review. It compared Darren's drumming skills to Keith Moon and the band to The Smiths, so we were quite chuffed. Eamonn wasn't impressed!

You can buy the debut album 'Long Ball into Nowhere' and the 12 inch vinyl copies of 'I Really Do Love Penelope' directly from us.

*All from Hey Paulette's Myspace