THE OUTFIT
The Outfit were one of the few, and probably the first, punk bands to emerge from Fermanagh in the late seventies. The popular four piece dance combo (of sorts) was made up of Colin McFaul (Fergal) - vocals, Brian McGriskin - guitar, Alan Cathcart - bass and Norman Elliot (Tommy) on drums. Willy Foster had the unenviable task of managing the band.The name was chosen as one of the few put forward which would not have had the band members arrested had they been included on posters or in the press. After a few false starts the band played their first gig in a hall outside Enniskillen in early 1979. Supported by local band Rank Xerox, and despite limited press, the gig attracted a very large crowd of punks and interested broad minded people from the local area and beyond ensuring a packed hall and a boisterous Fermanagh night out. Over the following months the band toyed with a fifth member, but it didn't suit the snappy punk/new wave songs or the sharp and sexy image of the group. For a couple of years the band played regular gigs in halls, bars, clubs and other eclectic establishments across the greater Fermanagh/Tyrone area. As with many artists who played this type of music, both in the province and across Ireland and the UK, gigs were difficult to get at times as many places were suspicious(scared) of punk bands and their followers. Willy and the band members worked very hard, and successfully improvised to ensure that the music got the exposure it deserved. As again, with many punk bands the gigs regularly attracted substantial amounts of people with less liberal attitudes. As such it was not uncommon to have nights when the band and their supporters had to look after their own safety. On one such night after a gig in Lisbellaw the band had to lock themselves in the dressing room, eventually literally fleeing the town with many of the travelling punks in tow. Another infamous gig resulted in the band being thrown out of Fivemiletown High School after playing our set before their very popular monthly disco. Amongst other things they thought that because Tommy used an old oil tin instead of a drum stool we were going to burn the school down. The presence of a large number of punks with the associated hair, clothes and attitude (not a familiar sight in a rural Tyrone town) also went down badly with the school establishment. I still take this to mean we were doing something right, or wrong as the case may be. It would have been decent if they had paid us mind you. As time went by the band's repertoire expanded to about twenty original songs with a few covers such as 'Teenage Kicks' also included in the set. Songs such as 'Stripes With Pride', 'Move On', Mammy's Girl' and our first original tune 'Please Don't Cry For Me' were all very popular with our growing fanbase. A high point for the band came with selection for the prestigious Tramore band competition, Waterford, in August 1980 after entering on the back of the Dave Fanning show. This was a great achievement as the only other bands from the North were Katmandu and Lenny and The Lawbreakers both of whom were very successful gigging bands with large following. Katmandu were particularly big in Dublin regularly selling out the Baggot Inn and other high profile venues. As well as the aforementioned, many of the bigger unsigned bands from the South were among the fourteen acts. They included New Versions (who seemed to consist of Johnny Finger's whole family), Nun Attix ( Cork) and the Fuze from Galway. Phil Chevron (The Radiators and The Pogues) who has now sadly passed was one of the high profile judges. We did pretty well considering our sound changed dramatically between sound check and the actual gig. Nothing strange there then. None of the Northern bands made the final though. The competition was deservedly won by The Fuse who got a single release (as did New Versions) as part of the prize. The resulting album to be released after the competition, with a track from each band, never materialised due to what was reported as some kind of shady dealings. That was certainly a blow to the band who never got that elusive record out to The public. The Outfit continued to play until 1981 playing their last gig fittingly in a hall in Colin's home town of Brookeborough early that year, meaning all of the members had played a gig in their own town. As is often the case musical differences became so severe some members had to move to other parts of the world for their own safety - or indeed to get a job. As a legacy it is fair to say The Outfit successfully flew the punk flag for Fermanagh, and managed to grow a petty decent following in what could only be described in those days as a fairly non radical rural area. That in itself was an achievement. Colin McFaul January 2022.
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