Terri Hooley is a legend among the Belfast music community and beyond. During Northern Ireland’s dark and troubled past, Terri’s Good Vibrations shop and label survived in at least eleven different locations across the city, selling and releasing groundbreaking music.

Terri was born 23rd December 1948 to a political live-wire in the shape of his father and a puritanical protestant mother; it was, according to numerous accounts, a musical house. That description essentially sums up the man himself, filled with a political rage, a fervent passion and more music than any of us could ever explore.

One of Terri’s hallmarks is his glass eye which is frequently used as a party piece; he lost his eye in an unfortunate incident with a toy bow and arrow when he was six years old. Terri opened Good Vibrations Records shop in Great Victoria Street towards the end of 1977. The label issued a slew of great 7-inch singles in 1978 and 1979 with hallmark wraparound sleeves. The label helped put Northern Ireland back on the musical map with 45s by RUDI, Victim, The Outcasts, The Undertones and Protex. John Peel at BBC Radio 1 became a great champion of the label and even made a memorable visit to the shop. See elsewhere on this website for a full story of the record label.

Terri released his first own musical recordings in 1979 on Fresh Records of London, a 7-inch single featuring a cover of Sonny Bono’s ‘Laugh At Me’. The single was recorded in Ahoghill and memorably topped the Alternative charts in Sounds magazine. Backing band on the track is RUDI. A 12-inch single backed by the Legendary Humdigers entitled ‘Dracula’s Daughter’ followed in 1982 on Bad Vibrations Records. 1999 saw Terri’s final release, to date. A CD single on Time To Be Proud Records. This included Terri’s reworking of RUDI’s Big Time plus two other cover versions. Some live promotional appearances followed, including an in store gig at Tower Records in Dublin and an open air support slot to Ian Dury at Clarendon Dock, Belfast. Terri’s band were Brian Young RUDI & Sabrejets - Guitar, Paul Rowan ex Lunatic Fringe, Stop Stop Start Again etc on drums and George Beavis on bass.

Terri would continue to play sporadic gigs into the 2000’s, usually with guitarist friend Jimmy Symington. Most notably Kafee Berger in Berlin and at the book launch party of It Makes You Want To Spit! at the Empire Music Hall in Belfast, November 2003. Terri is quoted in 2014 as saying ‘I think my singing career is over, the world has suffered enough’.

Terri Hooley has subsequently been the subject of a book ‘Hooleygan: Music, Mayhem, Good Vibrations’ 2010 and the critically acclaimed biopic movie of his life ‘Good Vibrations’ which premiered in 2013. Terri has survived several health scares in recent years such as a heart attack and underwent triple bypass surgery. He has also suffered a stroke and a bout of pneumonia. He even developed agoraphobia for a short while. Today Terri lives the quiet life with his partner Claire in Bangor, County Down and has a weekly Saturday night radio show on Belfast 247.