THE TEARJERKERS

The Tearjerkers were formed in Portadown in December 1978 by experienced musicians Nigel Hamilton - drums (ex-Cobra), Paul Maxwell - vocals (ex-Speed), Paul MacIlwaine - guitar (ex-Detonators), Howard Ingram - bass (ex- Detonators) & Brian Rawson - guitar (found somewhere in the Isle Of Man!). In an interview with Positive Reaction fanzine in July '79, singer Paul Maxwell cited "being fed up playing in bands that were just 'walking jukeboxes' playing Top 20 hits" as the reason for forming the band, and hoped that the Tearjerkers would be a cross between The Hot Rods, Cheap Trick and The Buzzcocks”. As there were no suitable venues in Portadown, they were forced to look for gigs outside of their hometown. This resulted in the band playing their debut gig on 23rd February 1979 at The Rockin' Chair in Derry and this was quickly followed by other gigs across Northern Ireland in Newcastle, Omagh and Castlederg. Although they had only been together for a short time, things moved quickly for the band. They recorded a rough demo tape, which they presented to Terri Hooley, who promptly signed them to his Good Vibrations label. The Tearjerkers went down to Keystone Studios Dublin, in March, to cut some tracks, two of which - Love Affair and Bus Stop appeared on their debut single on Good Vibes. Also in March, the band played their first gig in Belfast, at the legendary Harp Bar punk club. This gig proved to be a bit of a disaster for the band. The Tearjerkers played good fast 'n' poppy 'New Wave" but they never ever claimed to be Punk! The fact that they had long hair, were older than most of those playing in punk bands, and that they were all accomplished musicians (i.e. they could actually play their instruments) saw the band castigated as 'plastic punks' or ‘hippy bastards jumping on the punk bandwagon’. It would be a tough job winning over the partisan Harp crowd! Unfortunately, trouble flared as soon as the band took to the stage and a barrage of bottles and beer glasses met them. (Rumour has it that a Belfast band that was jealous of the Tearjerkers early success instigated the attack!). The band had to make a hasty exit from the club and were physically assaulted as they tried to do so. Some of the bands’ equipment was damaged and two band members needed hospital treatment, MacIlwaine (hand wound) and Maxwell (head wound) both required stitches. Needless to say The Tearjerkers never played there again, which was a bit of a shame as old hippies like The Xdreamysts and The Faders played The Harp on a number of occasions without any hassle. Undeterred by this event, The Tearjerkers joined The Outcasts and Rudi on the 'Good Vibes Spring Irish Tour' in April 79. The tour was organised by Tearjerkers Drummer/manager, Nigel Hamilton, along with his partner, Elizabeth McCann, a tour which took the bands to towns such as Ballymena, Cookstown and Omagh, as well as over the border for a couple of gigs in the Irish Republic. This tour is documented in the Good Vibrations film. On 5 April 1979 The Tearjerkers became the first of the Good Vibes bands to appear on television when they performed Love Affair on Good Evening Ulster, which was then co-hosted by Gloria Hunniford. They continued to play all over the country and built up a solid following in places like Cookstown and Omagh, where their appearance and background were of less importance than the excellent power-pop being churned out by the band. In June '79 The Tearjerkers recorded seven songs at Downtown Radio Studios and four of these were broadcast as a Downtown Radio session. This session was later broadcast on the John Peel Show on 23/11/79. Also in '79 The Tearjerkers supported Thin Lizzy on their Irish tour and their performances at two of these gigs were recorded and appeared years later on a live cassette entitled Everybody Wants To Shag The Tearjerkers. They also headlined quite a few gigs themselves and one gig at the Barrel & Basket in Omagh was recorded and subsequently appeared as a bootleg cassette. At a couple of gigs in the Irish Republic, a young up and coming band called U2 supported them. (Rumour has it that Bono asked Nigel if he would be interested in becoming U2's new drummer, as they were unhappy with their own stickman at the time and were thinking of replacing him. Nigel declined the offer as he thought The Tearjerkers were the better band and had more chance of becoming successful! (lf this rumour is true, then we are sure that it's a decision that Nigel has long lived to regret). Don't Blame Me/ Chit-Chat (both recorded at the same time as the Love Affair single) was to be the next Good Vibes release, but the band had just signed to Phonogram Records which meant that the new Good Vibes single was never released. The Tearjerkers opted to release their records through Phonograms new subsidiary label Back Door Records. They believed that this would give them more control of their future and as they were the first band on Back Door, that the label would pull out all the stops for them. In November '79 they went back to Downtown Radio Studios and re-recorded Murder Mystery and Heart On The Line for their debut Back Door single, which was released in early 1980. The two songs also appeared on Thru The Back Door a compilation album released only in the USA and featuring other Back Door artists like The Donkeys and The High Numbers. (The Tearjerkers only found out about this album several years after it's release!) Early 1980 saw the band in England for some live dates and on 15/3/80 they recorded their 2nd John Peel session at the BBC Studio, Maida Vale. In the same month, they recorded Comic Book Heroes/ Can’t You See and Fingers at Parkgate Studios, Sussex. These tracks were co-produced by Chris Hughes (better known as Merrick from Adam & The Ants). Comic Book Heroes c/w Can't You See was supposed to be issued as a single on the Mercury label, but for some unknown reason this was never released. However, both Comic Book Heroes and Fingers also turned up on the Thru The Back Door compilation album. All three songs were listed for inclusion on Grey The Tearjerker’s proposed debut album. June 1980 saw the band back in Downtown Studios to record Where’s Julie and Lip Gloss Factor. Unfortunately, Nigel had left the band by this time due to 'musical differences' and Gregg Lindsay temporarily took his place on the drum stool. The two songs were eventually released as a single on the Blue Rhythm label in 1982 but were credited to Paul West & His Mood/Rhythm Squadron. The following month I'm Sorry / True Love Stories and Jenny were recorded at the Radio Luxembourg Studio, for a maxi-single on Mercury, but again this was never released. By now, John Lee (ex-Blue Steam) had been drafted in as a permanent replacement for Nigel on drums. Laurence Juber (then Wings guitarist) produced the songs and was to produce the Grey album but instead, he left to work with Paul McCartney on Ringo Starr's new album. Also in July the band’s gig at Dingwalls in Camden was recorded live, but remains unreleased. By the autumn of 1980 the band had returned home. Maxwell and MacIlwaine had left to form their own band ETC.ETC and Dave Huntley (ex-P45) had taken over on lead vocals. This new line-up recorded three songs for a Downtown Radio session. The Tearjerkers had reached the end of the road. They were no longer with Phonogram due to the lack of progress on the album, the label not releasing their singles and generally keeping the band in the dark. Shortly after recording the Downtown session the band split up. Ingram and Maxwell set up their own label Blue Rhythm Audio in 1981. Maxwell, MacIlwaine and Ingram played and recorded with various bands i.e. ETC ETC, Paul MacIlwaine Quintet and The Blue Terrapins, as well as working on solo projects. Nigel Hamilton and Brian Rawson reclaimed the name The Tearjerkers when they put together a new band and released Fool c/w Comic Book Heroes as a single on Vixen Records in 1982. Also in 1982, Hamilton’s band Radio City contributed New City Blues to a compilation album on Irish label Scoff Records. In 1987 Hamilton, Maxwell and Ingram teamed up with David Ewing to form the Dingo Babies. They worked together for about a year and released a couple of cassettes in that time.  Howard Ingram on his time in The Tearjerkers, “I don't recall the band with much fondness, actually. Yes, there were laughs, but they were largely suppressed by the ongoing sense of internal politics. In a sense, that survives now. I don't have any ill will towards any of the other guys, but I do have a sense of ill will towards sitting in a room, reminiscing. No, sorry, it just sounds too dull for words. The records are there, and easily located, for anyone who wants to hear them. The back story is online somewhere, if ‘bunch of guys in their teens and early 20s make a few records, gig solidly, get pissed off with it and split' can be quantified as a story, interesting or otherwise”.  Sadly, Nigel Hamilton passed away on 5th October 2020.

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