Editing Skid Row (Irish band) (section)

==History==
===Origins===
The band was formed in August 1967, comprising [[Brush Shiels|Brendan 'Brush' Shiels]] on bass guitar, [[Noel Bridgeman|Noel 'Nollaig' Bridgeman]] on drums, Bernard "Ben" Cheevers on guitar,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Intruders |url=http://www.irishshowbands.net/bgintruders.htm |website=Irishshowbands.net |accessdate=23 November 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616035141/http://www.irishshowbands.net/bgintruders.htm |archivedate=16 June 2018}}</ref> and [[Phil Lynott]] on vocals. Shiels and Cheevers had played together in a number of groups in Dublin before forming Skid Row. The band's first gig was in September 1967 in a basement club in Lower Abbey Street in Dublin 1.
Cheevers left the band in September 1968 to continue working full-time in the electrical industry.  Before his departure, the search for a suitably proficient guitarist resulted in Gary Moore joining the band as a fifth member. Moore and Cheevers both played in the band for a short 'hand-over' period. Robbie Brennan temporarily replaced original drummer Bridgeman until June 1969 and Cheevers was replaced by the 16-year-old Gary Moore in mid 1968, and the band recorded a [[single (music)|single]], "New Places, Old Faces" / "Misdemeanour Dream Felicity", for the Irish Song Records label (the only released recording of Lynott with Skid Row).

Later that year Shiels dropped Lynott from the line-up, converting Skid Row to a [[power trio]] by making himself the lead vocalist.<ref>[http://brushshiels.com/ ''A Brief History of Skid Row'' on the Brush Shiels – Skid Row website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517164426/http://www.brushshiels.com/ |date=17 May 2007 }}</ref> By way of compensation, Shiels gave him a bass guitar he had bought from former musician [[Robert Ballagh]] for £49 in 1967 while with the Uptown Band, he taught Lynott to play bass and, after a stint with 'Orphanage', Lynott went on to international fame as founder, bassist and vocalist for [[Thin Lizzy]].<ref>''Hot Press: Special Philip Lynott Issue'' (24 February 2011)</ref><ref name="mrdeluxe">{{Cite web|url=http://mrdeluxe.tripod.com/hisbot.htm|title=HIStory of the Brush|website=Mrdeluxe.tripod.com}}</ref> The band recorded a second single for 'Song', "Saturday Morning Man" / "Mervyn Aldridge".  These two singles, plus three tracks from a [[BBC]] recording, were issued on the 'Hux'  label as ''Live and on Song'' in April 2006. At the end of 2006 a number of Skid Row demo tapes featuring Phil Lynott were discovered. These were his earliest recordings (from 1968) and had been presumed lost for decades.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0105/lynottp.html|title=Fans' joy as Lynott demos unearthed|website=Rte.ie}}</ref>

===''Skid'' and ''34 Hours''===
With the returning Bridgeman, Skid Row played support to some of the great rock groups of the 1960s, including [[Fleetwood Mac]] in January 1970.  Moore was influenced by the Fleetwood Mac guitarist [[Peter Green (musician)|Peter Green]], who was in turn impressed by Moore's guitar playing and introduced him to the [[Columbia Records|Columbia/CBS]] record company. A third single, "Sandie's Gone (Part 1)" / "Sandie's Gone (Part 2)", was released on the band's new label in April 1970, and a number of sessions and concerts were also recorded for the BBC during this period. The band released its first album ''[[Skid (album)|Skid]]'', in October 1970. A second LP, ''[[34 Hours]]'' – so called because it took them a mere 34 hours to record it – was released in early 1971, preceded by the single "Night Of The Warm Witch" / "Mr. De-Luxe". Skid Row performed on the legendary German TV music show ''Beat Club'' on 18 March 1971. There were short tours of Europe (October 1970, with [[Canned Heat]]) and of the USA (October/November 1970 and August and October 1971).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.garymoorefc.com/en/tourdates_1971|title=Skid Row tour dates, 1971|website=Garymoorefc.com}}</ref> A widely bootlegged show billed as "The Whiskey, Los Angeles, August 5, 1970", and featuring [[John Bonham]] as a guest, is more likely from August 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://the-discographer.dk/gary-moore-bible.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830181807/http://the-discographer.dk/gary-moore-bible.pdf|url-status=dead|title=''The Gary Moore Bible''|archivedate=30 August 2011}}</ref> A third album was recorded in the Autumn of 1971 but Moore left the band in December 1971 just before another planned US tour. He was temporarily replaced by [[Eric Bell]] (from Thin Lizzy) for some live appearances before [[Paul Chapman (musician)|Paul Chapman]] became the band's full-time guitarist. Moore later played with Thin Lizzy, replacing Eric Bell. Chapman overdubbed Moore's guitar tracks on the unreleased album but neither version was made public for almost twenty years. As the band faltered, Chapman left in July 1972 (later joining [[UFO (band)|UFO]]). Shiels then teamed with drummer [[John Wilson (drummer)|John Wilson]] (ex-[[Them (band)|Them]], [[Taste (Irish band)|Taste]] and [[Stud (band)|Stud]]) and future [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] guitarist Adrian Fisher to form a band named simply 'Brush'.

===Changing lineups===
Skid Row reformed in Ireland in 1973, initially with Shiels, Wilson, singer Eamonn Gibney (ex-Alyce) and guitarist [[Ed Deane]], later adding keyboard player [[Kevin McAlea]]. Gibney would later join [[Colm Wilkinson]] and Helen Jordan to sing as The Dajacs at the 1980 Irish final for the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] placing 7th. Shiels/Deane/Wilson line-up released the single "Dublin City Angels" / "Slow Down".  John Wilson was replaced by Paddy Freeney before the band split again in early 1974. For the next few months Shiels played in the 'Bell-Brush Band' with Eric Bell and Timmy Creedon (drums, ex-Orphanage), sometimes joined by Eamonn Gibney. At the end of the year Shiels, Moore and Bridgeman briefly reunited for a series of gigs, and a 1975 line-up of Shiels (guitar/vocals), Bridgeman, Jimi Slevin (lead guitar/vocals, ex-Alyce, ex-Peggy's Leg) (born June 1950, Dublin), Timmy Creedon (second drummer/vocals) and Johann Brady (bass) recorded the Skid Row single "The Spanish Lady" / "Elvira".<ref name="slevin">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jimi-slevin.net/AudioSamples.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220125531/http://www.jimi-slevin.net/AudioSamples.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 February 2012|title=Jimi Slevin: Audio Samples|date=20 February 2012}}</ref> In 1976 Jody Pollard (guitar, ex-Elmer Fudd) replaced Pat O'Farrell in a line-up with Shiels (vocals/mandolin), Bridgeman (drums), John Brady (bass) and Dave Gaynor (drums), recording the Phil Lynott-produced double A-sided single "Coming Home Again" / "Fight Your Heart Out" and unreleased track "Skid Row Flashback".<ref name="pollard">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jodypollard.com/|title=Jody Pollard – Singer Songwriter|website=Jodypollard.com}}</ref> The 1976 double-disc live album of Rock n' Roll standards ''Alive And Kickin'' featured Shiels, Bridgeman, Brady, Pollard, Gaynor and Ian Anderson. In 1978 Pollard rejoined, this time replacing Eric Bell alongside Shiels, Bridgeman, Brady and Joe Staunton (guitar, ex-Orphanage).<ref name="pollard" />

===Legacy===

Skid Row had little commercial success outside Ireland and the UK, although ''Skid'' reached No.30 on the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| page= 505}}</ref> More of their recorded material was released between 1990 and 2006.

Phil Lynott died of [[septicaemia]] in January 1986, John Brady was killed in a car accident on 15 February 1993, and Gary Moore died from a heart attack in February 2011. Noel Bridgeman went on to perform studio work with [[Clannad (musical group)|Clannad]], [[The Waterboys]] and [[Altan (band)|Altan]] and was part of Irish folk singer [[Mary Black]]'s band in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He died in March 2021.  

Shiels still occasionally performs as 'Brush Shiels' Skid Row', as recently as February 2005.

Brush Shiels returned to his Skid Row legacy once more releasing ''Mad Dog Woman'' (originally titled ''Skid Row Revisited'') – an album of new material and re-recordings of Skid Row songs – through his website in June 2009. He also thanked the other Skid Row "for the generosity of spirit in acknowledging the contribution of the original Skid Row" by using the name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.myspace.com/brushshielsmusic|title=Brush Shiels on MySpace Music|website=Myspace.com}}</ref> In January 2012 Shiels issued a public request to Jon Bon Jovi via [[YouTube]] to contact him about the use of the name 'Skid Row'. This was connected to Shiels having recently recovered the rights to his own songs recorded with the original Skid Row.<ref name="jovi" />

It was reported that in 1987, [[Jon Bon Jovi]] asked Gary Moore to sell the name 'Skid Row' to [[Skid Row (American band)|the American heavy metal band]] for $35,000 (Bon Jovi part-owns the music publishing rights of this band). Lead singer [[Sebastian Bach]] recalled,
{{quote|When (Skid Row) got signed to Atlantic, Gary Moore heard about it and said we could have the name for $35,000 U.S. dollars. "We have to pay Gary Moore 35 grand to use the name," and so we, as a band, did buy the name from Gary Moore. We were all glad to do it because it is a great name for a band. I remember saying, "Wow, that's a lot of $, but we gotta do it!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BlabberMouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=54571|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213121538/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BlabberMouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=54571|url-status=dead|title=Sebastian Bach on the BlabberMouth.Net website|archivedate=13 February 2011}}</ref>}}
However, Shiels maintains that Moore simply referred the band to Shiels to discuss the rights to the name, but that it was never followed up.<ref name="jovi">Did Bon Jovi give Skid Row a 'Bad Name'? – ''Examiner'' (17 January 2012)</ref>

They were managed in the 1970s by [[Oliver Byrne (football chairman)|Oliver Byrne]].