"The Permanent Cure" began life as a band in the year of our lord 1976 on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland. The band comprised George Kaye, Dermot O'Connor, Leo Gillespie and Pat Gibbs. They attracted huge crowds throughout that long hot summer and after just a few short months they had moved into the mainstream music venues.
They appeared on prime time Irish Television and played theatres in Dublin, Cork and Galway. With their singular mix of virtuoso Bluegrass, BeBop, Blues and surrealistic comedy routines they became firm favourites in experimental theatres and clubs such as The Project Arts Centre in Dublin. They were never afraid to experiment and incorporated whatever objects they could find in various places into the performance – something for which they received glowing critiques in the high-brow arts publications of the day.
They even recorded an LP The Permanent Cure "WORKS" and had attracted the attention of a top English management company. Their heroic acts became legend but eventually management problems and contractual hold-ups led to disaffection amongst the band and when George received a very lucrative offer from the USA he had very little option but to accept. Whilst they remained friends, this inevitably lead to the break-up of the band. But little did they know, there were to be other days…….
The Permanent Cure 1976
George Kaye - Singer/songwriter, fiddle, Guitar.
Dermot O'Connor – singer/songwriter, mandolin, guitar.
Leo Gillespie – singer/songwriter, guitar, blues harp.
Patrick Gibbs – singer, clarinet, saxophone, piano, chromatic harmonica.
While George was in the USA playing with Casterbridge Union, Pat and Leo became a duo "Half Cured" and toured hotels, clubs and theatres both in the North and South of Ireland until they finally split up and returned to their respective careers – Pat returned to London whilst Leo resumed his travelling and becoming an globe trotting troubador playing in such diverse places as Iceland and Cambodia and many places in between.
Dermot played with various groups in Dublin until he formed "Hobo Junction" with celebrity twin-fiddlers John Caulfield and Eimer Burns and guitarist/bazouki player Brendan 'Hairy' Hearty. They toured pubs and folk clubs to great acclaim and when Eimer tragically died suddenly, fiddle player Clive Collins was recruited to fill in. However, the magic and spirit had gone and the band soon fell apart.
Dermot then moved to London and joined Irish group "Shenanigan". In 1980 he joined The Wes McGhee Band with whom he stayed until teaming up again with George in 1992. During this time he also worked with singer/guitarist Guy Prichard and eventually George joined them and they toured as The City Gents.
When Guy left to return to university, Dermot and George continued as the duo O'Connor and Kaye and continued touring the pubs and clubs in London.
Then one night in the Spring of '93, Dermot got a phone call from Leo. He was in Storslett in the far north of Norway and had organised a tour for him George and Dermot in the land of the Midnight Sun. Naturally Dermot and George discussed it over a pint of stout in The Prince of Wales pub, Willesden Avenue London but despite that they said they'd go to Norway. On the very first night of the tour who should walk in but someone the likes of whom they'd never seen before - Squeezebox Teddy. He turned out to be a busking friend of Leo's.
Little did they know but The Permanent Cure was about to begin again!!
Dermot's phone rang again in early August and it was Leo again but this time he had Squeezebox Teddy with him and a bass player from Scotland – Tommy Gallagher who up till then had been touring Europe with various busking bands.
Leo and Squeezebox had booked a recording studio in Braunschweig, Germany and Dermot and George had to go over there and they were all going to record 4 CD's in a couple of days.
Well, anyway they decided to go to Braunschweig and in the allotted time they recorded their first CD, the classic album, Bottled.
In the subsequent 7 years the went on to record 3 more CD's - Country Archives, The Permanent Cure Live and Four to the Bar. After George left once more to form the band Touch and Go with brothers Andy and Micky Plate and Lars Möller, Dermot, Tommy and Squeezebox Teddy continued playing as Lock Stock and Barrel.
They recorded a CD Dynamite but the band finally broke up for good in 2000 when Squeezebox Teddy embarked on a highly and enduring successful solo career.
Dermot and new bass player Heiner Creutzfeldt formed Murphy's Lawyers with fiddler Pete Sage and Tommy joined folk rock band Loose Chippings. Heiner left after about 6 months and Tommy then re-joined Dermot in Murphy's Lawyers. They made many recordings but nothing ever got released. The band lasted till June 2007 when Pete moved back to Flensburg to be near his beloved Baltic Sea.
During all this time the Permanent Cure re-united temporarily couple of times with new guitarist Ande Plate to play selected gigs whilst Dermot and Tommy continued as the duo Part n Parcel and played pubs and festivals right up to December.
Then on the occasion of Dermot's 60th Birthday he pulled the band back together for a special birthday show in the Wild Geese Irish Pub Braunschweig. They played to a standing ovation and the reaction was so fantastic that they they just had to officially put the band back on the road.
So now The Permanent Cure lives again permanently with George, Dermot, Tommy and Andy playing their first official concerts in The Wild Geese, Braunschweig on
23rd and 24th February 2008!!
The Permanent Cure 2008
George Kaye
Dermot O'Connor
Tommy Gallagher
Andy Plate
