Virgin Prunes
| Virgin Prunes | |
|---|---|
Jolyon Thomas (tablet), Dik Evans (guitar) and Dave Mooney (bass), performing at Gavin Friday's 29 November 2011 show, at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | Post-punk, gothic rock, art rock |
| Years active | 1977–1986 |
| Labels | Baby Records, Rough Trade Records, L'Invitation Au Suicide, Touch and Go Records, Mute Records |
| Past members |
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Virgin Prunes were an Irish post-punk band formed in 1977. They disbanded in 1986 after the departure of singer Gavin Friday. The other members continued under the name The Prunes until they split up in 1990.
The band consisted of childhood friends of U2's Bono. Lypton Village was a "youthful gang" created by Bono (né Paul Hewson), Friday (né Fionan Hanvey) and Guggi (né Derek Rowen) in the early 1970s, where every member received a new identity and where they could escape from dreary and predictable Dublin life and be anything they wanted to be. Friday and Guggi first gave the teenage Hewson his alter-ego and now-famous moniker (taken from "Bonavox", a hearing-aid shop on Talbot Street in Dublin City Centre), later shortened simply to "Bono". Known for their outrageous and controversial stage performances, led by theatrical singer/songwriter Friday, the band began playing small shows in Dublin, gaining them a cult audience and ridicule from the culturally conservative community.
Friday and fellow vocalist Guggi, along with third vocalist Dave-iD Busaras, guitarist Dik Evans (brother of U2's The Edge), bassist Strongman (Trevor Rowen, brother of Guggi) and drummer Pod (Anthony Murphy), completed the original lineup. Pod left the group and was replaced by Haa-Lacka Binttii (né Daniel Figgis). With Binttii on drums, tape loops and keyboards, the band secured a deal with Rough Trade Records. They released their first single, "Twenty Tens" on their own Baby Records label (distributed by Rough Trade) in late 1980, followed by a second single, "Moments and Mine", in early 1981.
Two other tracks recorded with Binttii were released during 1980 before conflicts with other members forced him out of the band. "Red Nettle" was included on NME compilation C81 and "Third Secret" appeared on Cherry Red compilation Perspectives and Distortion. Work had already started on the project "A New Form of Beauty" while Bintti was with the band, but after he was replaced by Mary D'Nellon (drums), some of his tracks were rerecorded and his name was not included in the credits.
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