Limelight Belfast presents British pop-soul group The Blow Monkeys at Limelight 2, Belfast, tonight, Saturday 3 October. Tickets are on sale now from Ticketmaster.ie.
The band released their 13th studio album, ‘Birdsong’, on 15 August 2025. It was their first release since signing to Creation Youth, the British independent label launched by Alan McGee, the Creation Records founder who famously signed Oasis, Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine, and producer and Killing Joke bassist Martin ‘Youth’ Glover.
Recorded at Paul Weller’s Black Barn Studios in Surrey and produced by Dr Robert, the album features lead singer Robert Howard (aka Dr Robert) backed throughout its ten tracks by fellow founding members Neville Henry (sax) and Mick Anker (bass), with Crispin Taylor on drums and additional musicians including Mick Talbot, Gina Foster and Steve Sidelnyk.
Dr Robert said: “Youth is one of our closest neighbours up in the mountains near Granada, close to where I live, and I often pop in for a cup of tea. One time I was up there and I bumped into Alan McGee. I was sitting strumming an acoustic guitar and he asked if I could play Buick McKane, the old T Rex number. I did, which I think sealed the deal! He asked me to write and record a ‘brilliant Blow Monkey record’. I knew what he meant. The songs just poured out, almost without effort, which is always a good sign. It’s a very ‘up’ album, and deliberately so.”
McGee added: “The album they recorded for Creation Youth at Paul Weller’s studio is as good as anything Dr Robert did back in the day. It’s the original line-up bar the drummer, so it has that unique sound that’s unmistakably The Blow Monkeys. I love this band!”
The album was preceded by the release of its title track as a single on 2 May.
After making their debut more than 40 years ago, The Blow Monkeys became household names when the classic singles ‘Digging Your Scene’ and ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way’ became worldwide hits, and their cover of Lesley Gore’s 1963 song ‘You Don’t Own Me’ featured on the biggest-selling soundtrack of all time, ‘Dirty Dancing’.
But there was always much more going on with these soulful troubadours, who have a relentless desire to move forward, to collaborate, to be socially engaged and to have something to contribute.
Back in the ’80s they worked with artists as varied as Curtis Mayfield, Paul Weller, Cheb Khaled and even Jamaican toaster Eek-A-Mouse. Dr Robert also took time out to release one of the UK’s first home-grown house records, ‘Wait’, his top 5 duet with Chicago soul diva Kym Mazelle.
Birdsong Track Listing
- The Penny Drops
- Birdsong
- Walk On, Nothing Is Lost
- Long Lost Child
- Giving Up The Ghost
- Shadowplay
- Rivers To The Soul
- All At Sea
- Running From Love
- This Fleeting House
Find out more at www.theblowmonkeys.com.
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