The Fuze

County: Galway

Decades Active: 1970s, 1980s

About The Fuze

Releasing a debut album a quarter of a century after a band's heyday may seem like a peculiar thing to do, but Galway group The Fuze have decided to do just that.

John Fitzpatrick, Michael Staunton, Pat Coyne, Paul Gaughan and Mike Arrigan aka The Fuze.

The ex-members of The Fuze have compiled a collection of 20 of their original recordings from the early eighties and are releasing their 'A Blast From The Past' album on Friday, 12 October.

Renmore native and guitarist Paul Gaughan says that the band have always regretted not capitalizing on their success and releasing an album.

"It has always been a regret of The Fuze that we never cut an album, despite having two successful singles and no shortage of original material. We did spend quite a bit of time in different studios and a lot of effort taping gigs but, due mainly to the lack of a record deal, an LP never materialized," he says.

Fuze did, however, succeed in building a reputation as an excellent live act, playing their very distinctive brand of power pop in clubs and ballrooms up and down the country during the early eighties.

The five-piece began life in the surrounds of what was then known as UCG but quickly gained a national profile after winning a prestigious band competition in Tramore in the summer of 1980. Two successful singles soon followed, 'Stone Age Man' and 'It's A Sunday Morning', both of which featured in the charts, but just as it looked as if an international breakthrough was possible, the band split in 1982.

Although the band briefly reformed a few years later, they soon dissolved again and the opportunity to make an album seemed lost forever. The legacy of their many enjoyable studio sessions, a disparate collection of cassettes of varying quality, was left to gather dust.

Now 25 years later, the revolution in sound technology has allowed the band to format antique tapes and vinyls into modern digital files. Songs were dusted off and with a little tweaking and re-mastering, had new life breathed into them.

"While it can never claim to be the highly polished studio LP we once dreamed of making, it none the less captures the essence of The Fuze," says Paul.

However, he quickly adds that the The Fuze won't be planning a comeback tour.

"Regardless of how happy we are with the album, it isn't a prelude to a Take That-like comeback tour. We know where to draw the line!"

Featuring 20 original songs, five of which are live tracks, and accompanied by an extensive booklet on the band's history, the release of 'A Blast From The Past' is an ambition fulfilled for the band and will trigger pleasant memories for Fuze fans.

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