Galway comeback for Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions

ONE of the most popular bands on the dancing and concert scene in Ireland during the 1970s and 80s, Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions, are getting together again for a comeback concert at Galway's Town Hall Theatre on Friday November 12. The Cork-based band took the dancing scene by storm in the late 1970s and early 80s and as Co Galway was one of their favourite stomping grounds the show at the Town Hall Theatre will be a night of nostalgia for many. With 12 chart hit singles and several best-selling albums during a ten-year period from 1974 to 1984 many music critics say that as a young band from those years The Champions extended the showband era by at least ten years. A whole generation of dancers and concert goers will remember Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions for such hits as Do Ya Wanna' Do It, You're the Greatest Lover, Minnie Minnie, Drunken Sailor, Give Me Back My Love and of course their debut hit Dreams are Good Friends. The Champions remained cool with a generation of young music fans at a time when many of the older showbands were facing into an era of fading popularity. Few from that era can forget their memorable performances at a number of Pop Poll concerts organised by The Tuam Herald in the late 1970s and early â€Ëœ80s. It was a time when Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions were breaking crowd attendance records at dancing venues across the West and indeed all over Ireland. Earlier this year the Champions proved that they had lost none of their enthusiasm when they had the fans bopping in their seats at a concert in Ballinasloe. In recent weeks they have also played Castlebar and the Galway gig is the last one in the West in their current comeback tour. While essentially a Pop band Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions could diversify into Country, big ballads as well as doing excellent live versions of instrumentals such as Portsmouth popularised by Mike Oldfield in the mid-1970s. After working on the scene for 19 years they went their separate ways 17 years ago but all the original members say they are excited about getting together again. The catalyst for The Champions coming together again was when RTE's Ronan Collins contacted them regarding their appearance at the launch of a walkway dedicated to music stars from the showband era outside the former Arcadia Ballroom in Cork over two years ago. 'It was an emotional get-together and the chemistry was so right when we all met up again that it did not seem like 17 years since we had worked together,' says Gina. 'We had the best of fun and craic during that meeting and over some cups of tea afterwards we all said that it would be lovely to tour the country together again once again and entertain all the fans we played to and got to know so well in the past,' she added. Dale Haze says their current comeback tour is a trip down memory lane for many. 'The fans are as supportive as ever and even though we all went our own ways in life after leaving the dancing scene it is great that each member of the original band is involved in this comeback tour,' he says. The Co Waterford-based insurance executive says during their time on the music scene they insisted on producing the best possible records and in emulating the studio sounds as closely as possible on stage. 'We did many of our recordings in London at leading studios, including the Red Bus Studio, and when the band's management gave a record to Larry Gogan or any of the other RTE DJs at the time we knew that our best efforts had gone into producing the single or album,' he added. Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions recorded with a number of major record labels including the international WEA (Warner Brothers) and Irish labels Release, Play and Spider. After reaching the pinnacle of their profession the band broke up for a variety of reasons 17 years ago. 'After I got married and had our second child I felt it was time to quit,' says Gina who is married to band member Pat Walsh. In a recent story in The Irish Daily Mail Gina spoke frankly about her battles with post-natal depression after the birth of both of her children. She spoke openly about the less glamorous side of being a Pop star mother who had to get into shape and back on stage and on TV within weeks of the birth of both her children. Eventually she packed it all in, and her husband Pat along with his brother and bandleader Mossie continued to work on the local scene around Cork. 'I would join their group from time to time, mostly for some corporate gigs and a few shows abroad,' says Gina. Guitarist Eddie Fitzgerald went back to working in the electrical trade as well as continuing with his love of boating while drummer Tony Hornibrook is now best known as radio presenter Tony Brook on Tipp FM Radio. 'After a bad road accident near Killarney and seeing the dramatic changes from a dancing scene full of live bands to discos in clubs and pubs I decided it was time to quit the music scene,' says Dale Haze. He has been concentrating on a career in the insurance business for most of the intervening 17 years. But there is no doubt about the enthusiasm and the energy of the whole band during their comeback tour. 'We are delighted to be coming back to Galway for the show in the Town Hall Theatre on Friday night week. There is a great buzz about it all over again,' concluded Gina. â€â€ T.G.