Afternoon Tunes – Flogging Molly

Posted By JC Carter on September 20, 2007

My long-time favorite band to get my “Irish” on the Pogues. I was sad when they broke up about 10 years ago and I wondered at the time if there would ever be a band that could replace them for me. Enter Flogging Molly.

I remembered Dave King from my 80s rocker days when he was the lead singer for Fast Eddie’s (from Motorhead) group, Fastway. Evidently, after Fastway broke up, King was given a recording deal with Epic records. Unfortunately, King wanted to return to his Irish roots and play more traditional music (though, rocked-up a-la the Pogues), and Epic wanted him to play music like Fastway (even dropping him into a band called Katmandu for one album). King got out of his contract, but now had no real prospects. So the rocker-boy who had played at the Garden and the Forum was now scrubbing toilets in “ghetto clubs” as he worked out his new sound on his accoustic guitar.

He met Fiddle-player Bridget Regan at the LA pub, Molly Malones, and the two started playing together. Over time they added new members, Dennis Casey on electric guitar, George Schwindt on drums, Nate Maxwell on base, Robert Schmidt on mandolin (and similar instruments), and Matt Hensley on Accordion. They played Molly Malones every Monday night, what King called “Flogging it to death,” and started calling themselves Flogging Molly.

This first selection has a great video and was the song that introduced me to the band: