I just love the serendipity of the connections that you make on the web that can take you back to things you forgotten. Like the band Carmel.
It was Chrissy over at Mancunian Wave that reminded me, but only after we’d connected via her YouTube channel where I spotted a music video from the mid-1980s.
The Carmel in question is Carmel McCourt who gave her name to the band she formed with Jim Parris and Gerry Darby when she was a student in Manchester.
Somewhere I have the vinyl Storm that might once have been called an EP. Except it was LP sized and contained four tracks if I remember correctly.
Carmel had/has the most amazing voice and though the band had some success in the UK, they were more successful in Europe, well enough for them to split their time between Barcelona, Paris and Manchester in the 1990s.
According to Wikipedia, McCourt and Parris are working on new material and McCourt is also a singing coach at Manchester-based performance group, Aqueous Humour. (Carmel’s today page)
Anyway, thanks Chrissy – I’ve ordered a couple of Carmel compilation CDs from Amazon.
Carmel here are: Carmel McCourt, Jim Parris on bass, Gerry Darby on drums and backing singers Helen Watson and Shirley Laidley.
they’re GREAT. Don’t know them.
Like Professor R.Green, I had never heard of them but I enjoyed the clip and yes she did have a great, old-fashioned and soulful voice. They could use this number for a retro bankers’ bonuses ad.. “Give me more, more, more, more!”
I’d rather give the bankers another of her songs – Bad Day!
Oooh, fun… A new voice for me, too. And yet Carmel McCourt looks familiar to me… hmmm….
Glad to be of assistance SP! Happy memories…
Great to see people remembering Carmel from way back – but even better to hear that people are discovering her/the band for the first time. All 6 of the band’s albums have been lovingly repackaged on CD in 2012 with bonus tracks (singles and b-sides) and are available from amazon (or better for everyone except amazon) directly from the Drumfire website. Carmel, Gerry and Jim have contributed notes and private photos for these releases too. Forget ‘compilations’, these are so much better!
Great news also – Carmel is back out performing live in October! Check out her official website for where and when.
Thanks for the tip-off Phil. I’ve tracked down tickets on the Band on the Wall website.