Bam Bam & The Calling fell apart and reformed a number of times over the years. Raymond Gorman replaced John McCloskey before leaving to be replaced by John McCloskey. Other members include George Quigley on percussion and Jeff on bass.
The definitive lineup of the band and the one which released two 12" singles comprised Paul McCartney on vocals and guitar, John McCloskey on guitar, Joe Brown on bass and Thomas Doherty on drums
To contact the band please post a comment. For corrections, additions please send me a message. Will gladly accept any photos, recordings or clippings.
Influences
Television, early Echo & The Bunnymen, The Byrds, Lou Reed / The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, The Doors, The Undertones, Dick Tracey & The Green Disaster, Kitsch Is Rich
That Petrol Emotion Steve
Mack started a vicious rumour that they would actually play gigs in 2008. Dundalk here we come ;-)
Mickeys
Monkey Mickey Bradley has been known to throw shapes with that other Derry combo The Undertones. His true calling however is on the radio and his shows are always a mine of information sandwiched between some great tunes.
Wavewalkers
Raymond Gorman's current band well at least until TPE rose from the ashes..
Influential Derry indie band formed in the 80's who haven't yet
achieved the success they deserve.
Bam Bam & The Calling had a considerable live following in
Derry and received rave live reviews in NME and Hot Press before
moving to London. Despite recording sessions, TV appearances and
releasing 2 singles they eventually called it a day.
Formed in April 1983 by Paul PJ McCartney ex of punk band Grafitti and Tom Doherty as a drum orientated combo. The band went through many lineup changes over the years and counted John McCloskey, Raymond Gorman, George Quigley and Joe Brown as members .
Raymond Gorman was in mark 2 of the band but he moved to London with Sean O'Neill where they achieved critical success with their band That Petrol Emotion who took their name from a Bam Bam And The Calling song.
Following the demise of Bam Bam, Paul McCartney briefly appeared with Rare (Locky Morris, Mary Gallagher and Sean O'Neill) and was credited on their 1990 single 'Set Me On Fire' b/w 'Skin'.
In 1992 McCartney resurfaced with a new band The Deadly Engines and released an album "Entrance" on Setanta Records. This release is an undiscovered gem and is well worth the few bob it will set yuu back on eBay or Amazon.
In September 2000 Bam Bam reformed for a charity gig with The Moondogs and The Undertones in The Vibe in Derry. In August 2001 they played The Gasyard Festival.
In 2007 PJ hit the road with a new band
The Rural Felini. For this venture he assembled his brothers Gavin and Rio and David Doherty. They later formed their own band
Here Comes The Landed Gentry who are currently kicking up a storm on the Northern circuit.
John McCloskey was involved in the establishment of The Nerve Centre in Derry and in his guise as writer, director and animator was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2008.
In 1986 Bam Bam And The Calling appeared on the BBC NI
programme Channel One in a show recorded in The Venue in Derry. They performed two songs, 'New Surroundings' and' Talking Aloud'.
Hahaha ! At Picnic fes, TPE had an interview @Hotpress booth where I found Eamon, yep, he was there. So I said Eamon how his words on NME or other misic papers helped me knowing what had happened in up north after my leaving 1985 including live gigs of TPE.
He was a bit surprised hearing this, ofcourse ! Scary ! No way though cause there was no information in Japan except his at that time ....
there is a chance of a couple of one of gigs. The rest of The Rural Felini(Gavin, Rion & myself)are now here comes the landed gentry so we are busy at the minute. I spoke to Paul today. He's not to Au Fait with Myspace so I offered to set him up a page & get him up & running. He has just recorded some stuff & he wants to post it as soon as its ready, so what this space & then his space. In the meantime if you want to message me your details I can pass them onto Paul. He'd be happy to ring or mail u.
I dont actually have any. Paul started to record some of the new stuff with John o'neill but i'm not sure if it was actually finished. I will be meeting up with Paul this week so I'll see what demo's or rough cuts he has. The Rural Fellini was really a live project but it should have been recorded because the songs were great. I'll do my best for you. Dave
Hi again! I personally didn't see them (I'm John, btw). However I've listened to their music; and Rio & Gavin McCartney are Paul's brothers. Cheers! HCTLG
Hey guys, great to see you back and on myspace. We'd love to do some kind of feature on the band and what you're all up to these days. Give us a shout sometime. All the best. L
