Ah, so many happy student memories of The Divine Comedy. Promenade is a solid gold classic record from 1994 which you should all hang your heads in shame for not knowing. Alright, I’ll take it easy on you tonight, no more lessons from my dusty old memory, well, maybe just a little one.
It’s a classic bedroom rock n’ roll story. Neil Hannon returned home dejected. After taking his band from the Irish countryside to London, having made a name for themselves with their critically acclaimed debut album Fanfare for the comic muse(1990), having played shows with the likes of My Bloody Valentine and building it all up the music industry kicked em in the rattlers like only the music business can.
Defiant, Hannon locked himself in his parents attic and wrote Liberation(1993) and Promenade(1994) which were released on Setanta Records to minor critical acclaim and little commercial success. Only us poor students and a load of people in France oddly enough were aware of the greatness of him and his records . We saw him play small shows, then we saw him get famous and get all the girls and we stayed in our bedrooms and comforted ourselves with cider while “Something for the weekend” from Casanova(1996) became a song your aunt was humming while doing the cleaning at home so successful they became.
So kids, let The Divine Comedy be a beacon of hope to you. Neil Hannon returned with his 10th album Bang Goes The Knighthood earlier this year and it’s a true return to form for him as the single At the indie disco shows.
So here’s the video for that one too, well, what did you expect? If you’re going to lay out this much cash for a show the least I can do is inform. Don’t mention it. Aah, at the indie disco…memories…
The Divine Comedy “Tonight we fly” from Promenade(1994).
