A to Z of N. Ireland Punk Bands

FLEA CIRCUS

Flea Circus (seen above live at Queens University Belfast in 1986) were a Belfast band with a song writing partnership of Henry McDonald (lyricist) and Joe Rooney (tune-meister).The pair had previously been in bands together since 1982. They had played in a group called Ted Baxter.
The complete line-up was Henry McDonald (Vocals) Joe Rooney (guitar) Mark Campbell (bass) drummer (Michael Douglas). The band cite their Influences as Joy Division, PIL and The Clash. Henry McDonald “We wanted to fuse the funky genius of Chic with the political edge of The Gang of Four”.
They gigged around Belfast at venues such as The Orpheus, The Abercorn and The Crescent Bar. Henry again “Ghoulish fact - the night we played in The Abercorn, June 1987, we backed up Manchester band Fallover 24. I think we got a very good review from one of the UK music mags. But that night was disrupted because towards the end of night as my sister came in to tell me that my uncle had been shot dead!”.
The band’s set consisted entirely of original material. Henry “Our songs were at times political , eg “In the Garden” which was about old friends of mine who were being killed or killing others in the INLA feud of 1987. The Garden was Milltown Cemetery, the Eden references ironic. Other tunes were about love and drugs such as “Safe On Her Side” which was about taking refuge in the arms of a woman after dropping an acid tab! And being grateful for the sanctuary. “Cry Mother” was written after Thatcher won a 3rd term in 87 and reflected the general despair over that outcome”. A session was recorded for BBC Radio Ulster which received favourable reviews before the band split in the summer of 1987 as Henry moved to Berlin and Joe bought an around the world travel ticket.
Today, Mark Campbell is a Lawyer, Joe Rooney moved on to play with Bristol based band, The Experimental Pop Band in the 1990’s. Michael Douglas was a BBC audio-radio engineer at the time of the band who went on to become a Sports Presenter on B Sky B and later on Sky Sports. Henry McDonald is a writer and Irish correspondent for The Guardian. He has only recently published a new novel, 'Two Souls’, set in 70’s & 80’s - Football, Sex & Drugs & Rock 'N' Roll with a Belfast backdrop. The book is available via Amazon, if you're intrested in purchasing a copy.
Henry McDonald sadly passed away on 19th February 2023.

If anyone has any further photographs of this band, then please DO get in contact via spit77to82@aol.com