Memories of the Voice of Youghal interview 22nd Nov 2010.It was arranged that I would interview Jimmy Flanagan and Mark Ansboro during the week, the two men responsible for bringing out this new CD “the Memories of the Voice of Youghal”. At the appointed time Jimmy arrived but Mark was delayed, he had to drive to Cork to buy a special lead to connect a computer to a camera for Sunday nights CD Launch, this was typical of the work that has gone into this project for the last two months with every spare minute devoted to bringing this new CD to a whole new audience.
After the short delay Mark arrived so I started by asking them, Where did they come across the music for this album. Jimmy explained that whats on the CD is just a flavour of what was on offer, if you take it that there were about 84 singers in any given year and that it ran for well over 10 years starting in 1981 you have about 1,000 plus singers so we only picked out 16 singers from that to represent what the Voice of Youghal was about. The Tracks n this CD are all the original singers singing the same songs but all recorded in the last 2 mnths. Mark himself played the backing and set up a recording studio in his home and each of the singers when contacted were only to happy to go to Marks house and record the song again.
When Mark had 16 tracks recorded took the finished cd out to Warren Tivy at Claycastle studios where they were all mastered to a very high quality. There is a surprise track on this CD which is the self pened song from Mark himself called The Night My Father won the Voice of Youghal, It is a great well written tune that Mark wrote at home while he was putting the album together, There were some thoughts tha came to mind so I took some notes added some cords and came up with a finished song. But it doesnt stop there, there is more throughout the album, you have mini interviews from the different people who took part and even from Nooche kenifick who was Master of Cerimonies a lot of the time.
The voice of Youghal was a great event in the calander it attracted people from East Cork and West Waterford, it was not about singing it was a social occasion it was about people who wanted to enjoy the crack, yes you had some singers who were better then others but it was the craic that people went for, to top it off The Voice of Youghal raised large amounts of money for local charities throughout that time. The voice of Youghal was listened to by many people , many of these people were never at a live event but listened to the recordings of that weeks show on Commuity Radio Youghal during the week. It was always a great talking point with discussions going on all day about who got through last night and who didnt.
It has generated a lot of talk among people of the town and has evoked memories from 1981 to the present day. What has surprised most people is the fact that its a new recording of the songs and that its about the memories hence the name of the CD Memories of the Voice of Youghal.There was a great launch night held in Club Aras with many of the singers from the album preforming these songs almost 30 years after they first sang them in this competition.
There was no cover charge for the nights launch with a cast of many taking part, it proved to be a great night out and a fantastic success. Celtic Invasion started off the evening with some great tunes getting everyone warmed up they were followed Jimmy and Mark giving a talk on why and how this CD came about. They then invited Nooche Kenifick onto the stage where they spoke briefly about the voice of Youghal and then Youghal Mayor Mary Linihan Foley spoke about listening to CRy and the voice of Youghal down through the years and how much it ment to the people of the town to have someone like Nooche involved Nooche by giving him a presentation which was followed up with another presentation from CRY for all Nooche has done for the voice of Youghal down through the years. This was followed up with many of the original artists singing songs from the CD.
The singers Donny Leahy, Paddy O Leary, Redmond Ansboro, Liz Coleman, Dave Cooley, Trish Flanagan, Don Mulcahy, Geraldine Harty, Paul Dempsey, Liam Dalton and Alice Terry along with Kathleen Twomey and there was a video presentation on the night of the preformers who coldnt be there on the night. The night ended with Mark Ansboro singing his own song folowed by Noocheand all the singers on stage singing Sweet Youghal Bay. The CD is on sale around the town for the sum of only €10 and all funds from the sale of the CD go to local community groups. Once again The Voice of Youghal is raising funds for local charities.
After the short delay Mark arrived so I started by asking them, Where did they come across the music for this album. Jimmy explained that whats on the CD is just a flavour of what was on offer, if you take it that there were about 84 singers in any given year and that it ran for well over 10 years starting in 1981 you have about 1,000 plus singers so we only picked out 16 singers from that to represent what the Voice of Youghal was about. The Tracks n this CD are all the original singers singing the same songs but all recorded in the last 2 mnths. Mark himself played the backing and set up a recording studio in his home and each of the singers when contacted were only to happy to go to Marks house and record the song again.
When Mark had 16 tracks recorded took the finished cd out to Warren Tivy at Claycastle studios where they were all mastered to a very high quality. There is a surprise track on this CD which is the self pened song from Mark himself called The Night My Father won the Voice of Youghal, It is a great well written tune that Mark wrote at home while he was putting the album together, There were some thoughts tha came to mind so I took some notes added some cords and came up with a finished song. But it doesnt stop there, there is more throughout the album, you have mini interviews from the different people who took part and even from Nooche kenifick who was Master of Cerimonies a lot of the time.
The voice of Youghal was a great event in the calander it attracted people from East Cork and West Waterford, it was not about singing it was a social occasion it was about people who wanted to enjoy the crack, yes you had some singers who were better then others but it was the craic that people went for, to top it off The Voice of Youghal raised large amounts of money for local charities throughout that time. The voice of Youghal was listened to by many people , many of these people were never at a live event but listened to the recordings of that weeks show on Commuity Radio Youghal during the week. It was always a great talking point with discussions going on all day about who got through last night and who didnt.
It has generated a lot of talk among people of the town and has evoked memories from 1981 to the present day. What has surprised most people is the fact that its a new recording of the songs and that its about the memories hence the name of the CD Memories of the Voice of Youghal.There was a great launch night held in Club Aras with many of the singers from the album preforming these songs almost 30 years after they first sang them in this competition.
There was no cover charge for the nights launch with a cast of many taking part, it proved to be a great night out and a fantastic success. Celtic Invasion started off the evening with some great tunes getting everyone warmed up they were followed Jimmy and Mark giving a talk on why and how this CD came about. They then invited Nooche Kenifick onto the stage where they spoke briefly about the voice of Youghal and then Youghal Mayor Mary Linihan Foley spoke about listening to CRy and the voice of Youghal down through the years and how much it ment to the people of the town to have someone like Nooche involved Nooche by giving him a presentation which was followed up with another presentation from CRY for all Nooche has done for the voice of Youghal down through the years. This was followed up with many of the original artists singing songs from the CD.
The singers Donny Leahy, Paddy O Leary, Redmond Ansboro, Liz Coleman, Dave Cooley, Trish Flanagan, Don Mulcahy, Geraldine Harty, Paul Dempsey, Liam Dalton and Alice Terry along with Kathleen Twomey and there was a video presentation on the night of the preformers who coldnt be there on the night. The night ended with Mark Ansboro singing his own song folowed by Noocheand all the singers on stage singing Sweet Youghal Bay. The CD is on sale around the town for the sum of only €10 and all funds from the sale of the CD go to local community groups. Once again The Voice of Youghal is raising funds for local charities.
What a Fantastic Achievement by Mark Ansbro from Youghal County Cork. Well Done Mark.What a Performer.And then you had the composition of of the song "The Night My Father Won The Voice Of Youghal. What A Brilliant Performer Mark Is.Well Done Again Mark ON A Wonderful CD.Don Mulcahy. God Bless
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