Rosetta Stone were a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

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, ...

from

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

, Northern Ireland, which included the ex-guitarist of the

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity, as a band in the 1970s. One of many 70s acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles", they were called the "tartan teen sensations fro ...

, Ian Mitchell. The group released two albums and one EP before dissolving in 1984. The genesis of Rosetta Stone came in 1973, as childhood friends Mitchell, Terry McKee, Damian McKee, and Colin McKee (not the footballer Colin McKee) formed a band called Young City Stars. They played local clubs and dance halls, often opening concerts for the Bay City Rollers with their sound engineer Brian Herron. In early 1976, Mitchell left the Young City Stars to join the Bay City Rollers. He was replaced by

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

-born guitarist Andy LeGear. Mitchell would return later that year as the group, now managed by Rollers manager

Tam Paton Thomas Dougal "Tam" Paton (5 August 1938 – 8 April 2009) was a pop group manager, most notably of the Scottish boy band the Bay City Rollers, and convicted child sex offender. Biography Born in Prestonpans, Scotland, he was the son of a pota ...

, changed their name to Rosetta Stone. In 1977, Rosetta Stone signed with

Private Stock Records Private Stock Records was a record label that operated from 1974 to 1978. The label was founded by Larry Uttal after he left Bell Records. The label primarily focused on pop music and had numerous hit records, many of them one-hit wonders, incl ...

. They appeared on

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex (band), T. Rex. Bolan strongly i ...

's TV show ''Marc'' performing their single, a cover of

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

's "Sunshine of Your Love". Their

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

debut album (known as ''Rock Pictures'' in some territories) was released in the United States in May 1978. A second album, ''Caught in the Act'', followed in 1979. In early 1979, Mitchell once again departed, to be replaced by Paul "Flash" Lerwill. Lerwill (a former Edinburgh DJ at local hotspot, Clouds). Lerwill left the band in 1982 and was replaced by

Enda Walsh Enda Walsh (born 1967) is an Irish playwright. Biography Enda Walsh was born in Kilbarrack, North Dublin on 7 February 1967. His father ran a furniture shop and his mother had been an actress. He is the second youngest of six children. Walsh ...

. That same year, the EP ''Hiding from Love'' was released, after which the group permanently disbanded. The tracks "Hiding from Love", "Remember" and " Straight from the Heart" were all penned by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

. "Hiding from Love", which had previously been a No. 64 hit in Canada for Adams in 1980, became a bigger hit for Rosetta Stone, where it reached No. 46 in Canada in 1982. Adams would later record his own version of "Straight from the Heart" in 1983, and made it a top 20 hit in Canada and a top 10 hit in the US. Soon after, their roadie Brian left the band due to family commitments and went on to produce his own record label in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida. There have been a number of Rosetta fests (reunions) where the band have performed together again. The final fest was held in Toronto in September 2007. In 2012, they held a sold out reunion show in their hometown at Mullan's Bar,

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Pop music groups from Northern Ireland Rock music groups from Northern Ireland Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Musical groups from County Down Rosetta Stone in popular culture