Hear No Evil Recordings, The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal of the late 1970s and early 80s gave us many influential and enduring rockers; Derrylin, Co. Fermangh in Northern Ireland gave us Mama’s Boys, featuring the McManus brothers; Pat on guitar, John on bass & vocals and Tommy on drums. The young trio had come from a musical family steeped in traditional Irish music, but the McManus brothers developed a more rock-orientated direction when their band Pulse discovered Irish rockers, Horslips. When a DJ jokingly referred to the young group as a bunch of “Mama’s Boys”, the name stuck. An independent band in the truest sense of the word, they released a number of now very collectable 45s, plus the self-financed ‘Official Bootleg’ (CD1) in 1980 – it was essentially their demo, pressed up on vinyl to sell at gigs. Gaining attention across the water, they were invited to play a number of important support slots, including Hawkwind in 1982, Thin Lizzy’s 1983 farewell tour, opening for Wishbone Ash, and eventually a prestigious appearance at the 1983 Reading Rock festival. In 1982 the band released their second self-financed recording, ‘Plug It In’ (CD2), featuring the single ‘Needle in The Groove’. The album and single gained them support from important and influential UK magazines, such as Sounds, and Kerrang!. Their third album, 1983’s ‘Turn It Up’, was released to further acclaim, with Kerrang! hailing it as, “Yet another quantum leap!” Mama’s Boys were then snapped up by Jive Records, recording a number of commercially successful albums during the 1980s, and gaining all important exposure in the United States through rotation on MTV, before releasing ‘Relativity’ (CD4) in 1992. Sadly, it was Mama’s Boys last album. However, this collection is completed with ‘B-Sides & Rarities (1980-1992)’ (CD5), a compilation of early singles and non-album tracks, including ‘Rollin’ On’, ‘High Energy Weekend’, ‘Belfast City Blues’, and finishes of with a 1992 live version of the Slade classic, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’. The set includes liner notes based on new interviews with the band’s Pat McManus.
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