|
Gary Street dies in
England
By: Michael Commins
Gary Street (55), who fronted the Fairways
Showband (Ballina) from 1968 to 1976, has died in Coventry,
writes Michael Commins.
Born in Geesala, Joe Conway adopted the stage
name of Gary Street during the mid-1960s. It stuck so well
that many people outside his native part of Erris were
unaware of any other name for him.
In 1968, his own composition ‘Flippidy
Flop’ reached No. 10 in the Irish Top 20 and stayed
in the charts for five weeks. After leaving the Fairways in
1976, he moved to England where he fronted a resident band
for a number of years.
Later, he moved to Vienna before returning to
England. Tom Kelly from Ballina, bandleader with the
Fairways back in the 1970s, said: “All of us who knew
him in the band business were sorry to hear of his death at
such a relatively young age.”
From: Western People 23 July
2003
|
