Another Blast From The Past

When you mention Irish bands, U2 is the one that most people think of almost instantly. Yet, well before they were churning out hits and packing stadiums all over the world, there was another Irish band that had their own unique brand of rock and roll music. They had an impeccably crisp sound, with some rough edges thrown in along the way. And although they never made it into the top tier of stadium-packing groups that regularly sold out wherever they played, they still left an indelible mark on 70s music.

A few of their songs still get significant playing time on classic rock stations everywhere. The band is Thin Lizzy. Their first hit was in 1973, the song was Whiskey In The Jar. Their first big selling album was entitled Jailbreak and produced two big commercial successes. Here is one of those hits from that album, the title track recorded live:



The other hit from the Jailbreak LP was called The Boys Are Back In Town:



One of their last studio albums with the late Phil Lynott singing was Thunder And Lightning. One of the songs on that album was an uncharacteristically mellow tune called The Sun Goes Down:



And finally, my favorite Thin Lizzy song of all-time was a catchy little tune off of the Jailbreak release. It got some airplay, but never matched the success of the other two hits from the same LP. Here is The Cowboy Song, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House:



Enjoy.