A to Z of N. Ireland Punk Bands

RAM

(Click on Image for More Photos)

Ram started life way back in 1974 as ‘The Meenies’. The four-piece Antrim band being formed by brothers Jim (guitar) and Tommy McMeekin (guitar). They were joined a few months later by schoolfriend Willie Shiels on bass. The name being a mixture of Menin Road (a road in Antrim) and The Beatles Yellow Submarine characters, the Blue Meanies. Their first gig was in August 1975 which was an outdoor event at the Steeple housing estate in Antrim, where they also aired their first original song, ‘Lets Dance’. The drummer on this occasion was Johnny McBride. Drummers would play a big part in the Ram Story as you will see. Another schoolfriend and Menin Road resident Jimmy Rainey joined on drums in September 1975.

They adopted the name Ram in 1976 when drummer Geordie Stevenson took over on drums. However, Geordie got married and moved on to join the Jimmy Bean Band and John Walker took over on the drum stool in June 1977. Ram were never strictly a punk band, playing mainly 50’s, 60’s and 70’s rock n roll at the time, so there was a lot of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Who, The Beach Boys, The Hollies, Status Quo, T Rex etc and always a few originals in the set. Ram dressed in shirts and ties as opposed to T-shirts and jeans. As times changed however, the set list included covers such as Eddie and The Hot Rods, The Jags, The Boomtown Rats, Cheap Trick, Dr Feelgood, The Jam, Buzzcocks and Tonight (Drummer Man) a song which became one of their most requested covers.

Ram mostly played in the Antrim area but were also very popular in Larne, playing almost every venue in both towns. They played support to Marmalade and Love Affair at Antrim’s Deer Park Hotel, a venue they played almost 100 times. In January 1979 John left and Brian (Barney) McCormick took over on Drums. In February they signed with Larne promoter Dave Evans and in September of that year recorded their first single in Ahoghill with legendary local producer Mudd Wallace (R.I.P.). The single subsequently appeared on the Homestead Record label. The tracks were ‘Close To Me’ c/w ‘What Does It Take’. The single was released in May 1980 with 500 copies being made.

Another drummer change followed with John Walker returning to replace Brian in January 1981. A second single, ‘Sunday Dreamer’ followed in August 1982 with ‘Tonight’ on the flip side. This time they pressed up 1000 copies and yet another drummer change ensued with Barney returning to replace John! The final drummer change occurred in November 1982 when Davy Docherty became Ram’s 7th drummer change in 7 years. Ram disbanded very amicably in December 1983.

Davy Docherty went on to drum for various bands. John Walker also went on to drum for various bands including Henry McCullough. Barney McCormick went on to become on of NI’s top joiners. Geordie Stevenson went on to play in various bands and work for the BBC while Jimmy Rainey married and moved to Australia. Jim McMeekin gave up music and has had a successful career in accountancy. Willie Shiels went on to join various progressive rock bands and continues to play bass. Tommy McMeekin went on to form other bands, such as The Roadrunners, Skin and Bones and The Good Times. He now teaches guitar, delivers music workshops and continues to write songs.

On 29th March 2022 Spit Records released Shellshock Rockers Vol. 3, a compilation CD of previously unreleased tracks, all salvaged from old cassette tapes. This included the Ram track Crazy, recorded during a rehearsal at Antrim’s Rollerdrome in 1982. You can listen to the track below.

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