Cactus World News is an Irish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

formed in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in April 1984. Founded by Frank Kearns (guitar) and Eoin McEvoy (vocals), the first full stable lineup also included Wayne Sheehy (drums) and Fergal MacAndris (bass). They reformed in 2011 with a new lineup of Kearns, Sheehy and MacAndris, including Eoin Scott and Eoin Watkins. Their early influences were

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

, U2,

the Waterboys The Waterboys are a rock band formed in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott (Scottish musician), Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Britain and Ireland, with Scott re ...

and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

Career

Their first release, and best-known song was "The Bridge", which was produced by U2's

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

, and released on their Mother Records

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

. They toured the UK with

The Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...

in 1985 and signed with

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

.Henderson, Dave (1985) "Cactus World News Bridge that Gap", '' Sounds'', 14 December 1985, pp. 26-7 They performed at the

Self Aid Self Aid was an unemployment benefit concert held in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland on 17 May 1986. The concert performances were primarily by Irish musicians, although Elvis Costello and Chris Rea, both Englishmen of Irish descent, were de ...

concert in Dublin on 17 May 1986. The band released their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''Urban Beaches'', in 1986 and gained notable

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

with its three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

: "Years Later", "Worlds Apart" and a re-recording of "The Bridge". It has a five-star rating on iTunes USA.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave Urban Beaches a rating of 4.5 out of 5. All three singles reached the UK Singles Chart. After their second album, ''No Shelter'', was shelved in 1989, the band were released from their

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

and underwent several personnel changes. MacAindris and Sheehy both quit in 1989. McEvoy and Kearns continued for a few more years, with various other band members coming and going, including Chris McGoldrick (bass), John Doyle (bass) and JJ Collier (drums). In 2010, Kearns played guitar on three songs on the Australian band The Church's album ''Untitled #23'' ("Dead Mans Hand", "On Angel Street", and "Operetta"). Praised for its moody yet strong songwriting, it has yielded some of the Church's best reviews of their career, including a 5 star review from Australia's ''Rolling Stone''. Kearns also contributed guitar to "Love Philtre" on the Church's 2014 album ''

Further/Deeper ''Further/Deeper'' is the 24th album by the Australian alternative rock band The Church, released in October 2014. It was the first Church album in five years, during which time founding guitarist Marty Willson-Piper moved to Sweden and was r ...

''.

Discography

Albums

;Studio albums ;Live album *1986 – ''Live: Spin Magazine Concert Series'' Compilation album * 2015 – ''Found''

Singles

References

External links

Official Facebook
{{Authority control Irish new wave musical groups MCA Records artists Musical groups from Dublin (city) Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 Musical groups reestablished in 2011 1980s in Irish music 1990s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music