As a music promoter I had the pleasure of organising many gigs in Ballina over the decades, but few could surpass the crowd-pulling power of The Saw Doctors when they played The Waterfront (now The Cot and Cobble) on the Sligo Road in the early 1990s.
30 years after it’s original release, The Saw Doctors were back
in the Official Irish Charts at No. 3 last week with their debut 1991 vinyl record, placed ahead of new albums from Therapy and Dermot Kennedy.
If This Is Rock And Roll, I Want My Old Job Back is no stranger to prime chart positions though and achieved huge success for The Saw Doctors in both the Album and Singles categories in the 1990s, with the album eventually going on to sell half a million copies worldwide.
The 2021 re-released If This Is Rock And Roll, I Want My Old Job Back sold more vinyl LP’s in Ireland last week than anybody else so far this year, even surpassing those rookie rockers Inhaler!
Galwayman Ollie Jennings, Manager of the Tuam band from the very beginning, said: “It’s a brilliant surprise after thirty years to be riding high in the charts again.”
“It was exactly 30 years ago since the Saw Doctors rocked the Féile ’91 Festival in Thurles, Co Tipperary, helping drive their debut album to No. 1 the following week,” said Ollie.
The album yielded major successes such as I Useta Lover, That’s What She Said Last Night and, of course N17, of which a beautiful new arrangement from Tolü Makay and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra became the most downloaded single in Ireland in January 2021.
The album cover shows the band members’ fathers dressed as rock stars, with the original Saw Doctors photographed in similar pose on the reverse side.
A souvenir booklet has also been published this year for the album’s
anniversary, recording memories of the band members John Burke,
Davy Carton, Johnny Donnelly, Pearse Doherty and Leo Moran.
The booklet, with archive photos by Frank Miller, also has contributions
by Mike Scott of The Waterboys and the producer Phil Tennant, who
worked with the band on that memorable album in Loco Studios in Wales.
