Phillip Chevron at McGonagle’s. Photo – Patrick Brocklebank. (From ‘u2theearlydayz.com’) January 1979.
In the run up to Philip Chevron’s testimonial tomorrow night, a number of pieces have been published in the Sunday Independent, The Herald and Examiner. (It’s a pity the Irish Times didn’t do any feature).
Declan Lynch – ‘ Truly, there’s nobody like Philip Chevron‘ in the Sunday Independent on 3 August 2013.
It also brought into play Phil’s pursuit of great music in every form imaginable, his gifts as a collector and an archivist. I’ve always felt that he could be a brilliant journalist too, ideally writing about the theatre on which I believe he may well be one of the greatest living authorities.
Barry Egan - ’Diamond in the Crown‘ in the Sunday Independent on 11 August 2013.
Time spent with Philip is a leap into the exhilarated air of a life living through rock ‘n’ roll, punk, balladry and poetry and into graciousness with which the wisdom, knowledge and humour gathered up along the way is imparted. Philip does all that to the max. – Fiachna Ó Braonáin (Hot House Flowers)
Eamon Carrr – ‘It’s about time we all saluted the living genius of Philip Chevron‘ in the The Herald on 21 August 2013
The fact that Philip … has never been nominated as a member of official Ireland’s cultural elite is a savage and humiliating indictment of that body … Philip gallantly says the song gave him the impetus to finish Ghostown, arguably the finest Irish rock album… ever.
Ed Power – ‘Philip Chevron — a Radiator and a Pogue‘ in the Irish Examiner on 20 August 2013.
The Radiators from Space are regarded as one of the great lost bands of punk, but they had a reasonable profile during the heyday of the scene. Several of their singles were playlisted by the BBC and they were supported, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, by the UK rock press (whose approval was essential). Punk arguably had a greater impact in Ireland than anywhere else. “If you look at what happened in the country between ’76 and ’81, the change was immense. It had a massive resonance. Hot Press magazine was founded. 2FM started up, in response to the pirate stations. And you had all these bands coming along. Punk changed a lot.”
Finally, Pete Holidai and Steve Rapid (The Radiators from Space) and Cait O’Riordan (The Pogues) spoke on RTE Radio 1 , along with contributions from Shane MacGowan, on 21 August. You can listen back here.
Philip Chevron, late 2000s.
