DROPKICK MURPHYS

'Dropkick Murphys' are a Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA.^[1] First playing together in the basement of a friend's barbershop, they blended Oi!, Irish music, and hardcore. Their influences include such outfits as Stiff Little Fingers, The Pogues, The Clash, AC/DC, and the Swinging Utters.^[2]
The band has made a name for itself and built a following by their non stop touring all over the world and their famous St. Patrick's Day weekend shows, which are held in Boston. Dropkick Murphys also support unions and some of their songs reflect this.^[3]

Contents

Name

Career

Band Members

Discography

Studio albums

Live and compilation albums

EPs

Singles

Splits

Compilations

DVDs

In the Media

Billboard (U.S.) chart positions

See also

Footnotes

External links

Interviews

Name

There are differing stories as to the origin of the band's name. Band member Marc Orrell has said:

''The Dropkick Murphy will come and get you if you don't go to sleep tonight. It's a rehab center, I think it's in Connecticut. I think it was the guy who used to come around late at night for all the drunks, like if you were too drunk to drive home, he would come and get you and put you in this hole that you couldn't get out until you were sober enough, I don't know. There's a bunch a story, it's also a boxer, a bunch of things, a rehab center in Connecticut, grandparents used to scare kids with it.''^[4]

Original frontman Mike McColgan and co-founder Ken Casey said the following:

''The band’s name was stolen from an old rehab where they used to take skid row bums in Boston... We always heard of old-timers in our neighborhood telling war stories about being locked up at Dropkick Murphy's, so we decided that if we ever started a band, that would be the name. ''^[5]

Career

Dropkick Murphys were originally formed in 1996. The band put out a series of EPs and were signed by Hellcat Records. In 1998, they released their first full length album, ''Do or Die''. Lead singer Mike McColgan left the band later that year and was replaced by The Bruisers lead singer Al Barr. In 1999, they released their follow-up album, ''The Gang's All Here''. In 2000 they released their third album, ''Sing Loud, Sing Proud!''. The album showcased their developing sound, and included collaborations with Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan and Cock Sparrer's Colin McFaull. It also marked a significant lineup change for the band. Original guitarist Rick Barton was replaced by former The Ducky Boys guitarist, James Lynch and Marc Orrell, and additional instruments were added and played by new members Ryan Foltz and Spicy McHaggis.
Their next album, ''Blackout'', was released in 2003. The new album included the radio hit "Walk Away," as well as the song "Fields of Athenry." Notably "The Dirty Glass" with female vocals from Stephanie Dougherty (Deadly Sins) is a song about a bar in Quincy, Massachusetts called Darcy's. Around the same time the band released a re-working of the Boston Red Sox anthem, Tessie, which then became the official song of the Boston Red Sox 2004 winning World Series run. "Tessie" was also used throughout the major motion picture ''Fever Pitch'' which starred Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore and was included on the EA Sports MVP Baseball 2005 soundtrack. The band was even invited to the premiere of the movie which was held at Fenway Park where the video was also shot.
In 2005, the Dropkick Murphys released "Singles Collection Volume 2", featuring covers, b-sides, and other material that didn't make it onto previous albums, and the band contributed a recording of "We Got the Power" to Rock Against Bush, Volume 2.
Their fifth studio album, ''The Warrior's Code'', was released on June 21 2005. It features the singles "Sunshine Highway", "The Walking Dead", "The Warrior's Code" as well as the bonus track, "Tessie". It also includes a song that was inspired by a Woody Guthrie poem the band found in his archives named "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" which is featured in the 2006 film ''The Departed'', Martin Scorsese's adaptation of the Hong Kong crime thriller ''Infernal Affairs'' (Scorsese mentioned the band in an interview after he won his first Oscar).^[6]
The song "Last Letter Home", contains excerpts from personal letters between Sgt. Andrew Farrar, his mother and his wife. The following is taken from the album notes:

''We had already finished this song that was based on general correspondences to & from the soldiers serving in Iraq, when we were contacted by the family of Sgt. Andrew Farrar who had recently died while serving there. The family wanted to tell us he was a big supporter of the Dropkick Murphys. They also passed on a letter that he had written to his mother shortly before his death in which he thanks her for sending him a Dropkick Murphys CD & said that if anything should happen to him while in Iraq, he would like one of our songs played at his funeral. He also left behind a wife, Melissa and two young boys Tyler & Liam. His tour of duty in Iraq was coming to an end & he was due to come home & renew his wedding vows with Melissa to another song of ours, "Forever". Sgt Farrar died on January 28th, on his 31st birthday. We were present at his funeral to grant his wish and played "Fields of Athenry" as his casket entered the church. This song was re-written to include excerpts from that letter.''

On March 17th, 2007, the band headlined their first ever Arena show at Agganis Arena in Boston .^[7]
The Dropkick Murphys will release their sixth studio album, ''The Meanest of Times'', on September 18, 2007. This will be their first album not released through HellCat Records.^[8]

Band Members

★ Al Barr – vocals

★ Ken Casey – bass, vocals

★ Matt Kelly – drums, bodhran, vocals

★ James Lynch – guitar, vocals

★ Marc Orrell – guitar, accordion, bouzouki, keyboards, vocals

★ James "Scruffy" Wallace – bagpipes, tin whistle

★ Tim Brennan – mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar, tin whistle, accordion, bouzouki

Discography

Studio albums

★ ''Do or Die'' (1998)

★ ''The Gang's All Here'' (1999)

★ ''Sing Loud Sing Proud'' (2001)

★ ''Blackout'' (2003)

★ ''The Warrior's Code'' (2005)

★ ''The Meanest of Times'' (2007)

Live and compilation albums

★ ''The Early Years'' (1998)

★ ''The Singles Collection, Volume 1'' (2000)

★ ''Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA'' (2002)

★ ''Singles Collection, Volume 2'' (2005)

EPs

★ ''Boys on the Docks'' (1997)

★ ''Tessie'' (2004)

Singles

★ "Fire and Brimstone" (1997)

★ "Tattoos and Scally Caps" (1997)

★ "Curse of Fallen Soul" (1998)

★ "Good Rats" (2000)

★ "Live on a Five" (2000)

★ "The Dirty Glass" (2003)

★ "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight" (2003)

★ "Walk Away" (2003)

★ "" (2003)

★ "Fields of Athenry" (2003)

★ "Back to the Hub" (2003)

★ "Tessie (2004) (Radio Only, #89 US Modern Rock, #90 US Pop 100)

★ "" (2005) Memorial single

★ "Sunshine Highway" (2005)

★ "The Walking Dead" (2005)

★ "Last Letter Home" (2006)

★ "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" (2006)

★ "The State Of Massachusetts" (2007)

Splits

★ ''DKM/Ducky Boys Spilt 7 inch'' (1996)

★ ''DKM/Bruisers Split 7 inch'' (1997)

★ ''Anti-Heroes vs Dropkick Murphys'' (1997)

★ ''DKM/Oxymoron Split'' (1998)

★ ''Mob Mentality'' 7" (Split with The Business) (1999)

★ ''Unity'' (Split with Agnostic Front) (1999)

★ ''This Is the East Coast (...Not L.A.)'' (Split with H2O) (2000)

★ ''Mob Mentality'' CD (Split with The Business) (2000)

★ ''Face to Face vs. Dropkick Murphys'' (2002)

★ ''One For The Ages'' (2004)

Compilations

★ ''Runt of the Litter, Vol. 2'' (1996)

★ ''Oi! Skampilation Vol. 3'' (1997) - Includes "Road of the Righteous" and "Third Man In"

★ ''Give 'Em the Boot'' (1997) - Includes "Barroom Hero (original version)"

★ ''Give 'Em the Boot Vol. 2'' (1999) - Includes "The Gang's All Here"

★ ''Vans Off the Wall Sampler'' (1999) - Includes "Boston Asphalt"

★ ''Punk Rock Jukebox Vol. 3'' (1999) - Includes "Vengeance"

★ ''Built for Speed - A Motorhead Tribute'' (1999) - Includes "Rock and Roll"

★ ''Punch Drunk'' (1999) - Includes "You're a Rebel"

★ '' (1999) - Includes "I've Had Enough"

★ ''Punch Drunk Vol. 2'' (2000) - Includes "Soundtrack to a Killing Spree"

★ ''A Worldwide Tribute to Oi'' (2000) - Includes "Hey Little Rich Boy" and "Never Again"

★ ''Back on the Streets - Japanese/American Punk Unity '' (2000) - Includes "Halloween" and "Soundtrack to a Killing Spree"

★ ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 5'' (2000) - Includes "Good Rats (Original Version)"

★ ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 6'' (2001) - Includes "The Gauntlet"

★ ''A Tribute to Cock Sparrer'' (2001) - Includes "Working"

★ ''Give 'Em the Boot Vol. 3'' (2002) - Includes "The Legend of Finn McCummhail"

★ ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 7'' (2002) - Includes "Heroes from Our Past"

★ '' (2003) - Includes "Fields of Athenry"

★ ''2003 Warped Tour Compilation'' (2003) - Includes "Walk Away"

★ ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 8'' (2003) - Includes "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight"

★ ''Give 'Em the Boot Vol. 4'' (2004) - Includes "I'm Shipping Up to Boston (original version)"

★ ''Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2'' (2004) - Includes "We Got the Power"

★ ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 9'' (2004) - Includes "The Dirty Glass (Darcy's Revenge)"

★ ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 10'' (2005) - Includes "The Warrior's Code"

★ ''Fever Pitch (2005 film)'' soundtrack (2005) - Includes "Tessie"

★ ''Tony Hawk's Underground'' (2003) - Includes "Time To Go"

★ ''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack'' (2005) - Includes "Who is Who"

★ ''2005 Warped Tour Compilation'' (2005) - Includes "Sunshine Highway"

★ '' (2006) - Includes "The Fields of Athenry", "The Wild Rover" and "The Dirty Glass"

★ ''The Departed'' soundtrack (2006) - Includes "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"

DVDs

★ ''Vans Warped Tour 2003'' (2003) - Includes "Black Velvet Band (Live)"

★ ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 1'' (2003) - Includes the videos for "Barroom Hero" and "The Gauntlet"

★ ''On the Road with the Dropkick Murphys'' (2004)

★ ''Punk Rock Holocaust'' (2004)

★ ''Give 'Em the Boot'' (2005) - Includes "Good Rats (Live)"

In the Media

★ The song "Time to Go" was featured in the video game, Tony Hawk's Underground and NHL 2005.

★ The song "Tessie" was featured in the video game, MVP Baseball 2005.

★ The song "Never Alone" was featured in the video game, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX.

★ The song "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" was featured in the Academy Award-winning movie ''The Departed'', at the HSBC Arena on Buffalo Sabres Hockey games, and is currently used by Boston Red Sox Pitcher Jonathan Papelbon while throwing warm up pitches during home games at Fenway Park.

★ There is a mural in South Boston dedicated to the Dropkick Murphys. There is a picture of this mural on the cover of "Sing Loud, Sing Proud."

★ Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo provided backup vocals for the song "Tessie".

★ Outfielder Matt Carson (#26), of the Trenton Thunder (an American minor league baseball team and are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees) uses the song "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" when up at bat.

★ The name Spicy McHaggis was inspired from advertisements of McDonald's Spicy McChicken sandwich while the band was on tour in Scotland. The name was later reserved for the band's next full-time piper, Robbie Mederios.^[9]

Billboard (U.S.) chart positions

Full albums

Year	Title	Chart position
1997	''Do or Die''	—
1999	''The Gang's All Here''	# 184 U.S.
2001	''Sing Loud Sing Proud''	# 144 U.S.
2002	''Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA''	# 156 U.S.
2003	''Blackout''	#   83 U.S.
2005	''The Warrior's Code''	#   48 U.S.
2007	''The Meanest of Times''	—

See also

★ List of musicians in the second wave of punk music

★ Street Dogs (featuring original lead singer Mike McColgan)

Footnotes

1. Hellcat Records Dropkick Murphys Biography Page. ''hell-cat.com''. Accessed February 8 2007.
2. Hellcat Records
3. http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/dropkickmurphys/workerssong.html
4. http://www.dabelly.com/features/feature119.htm
5. http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/whatsup/whatsup.cgi?s=namelyspeaking&a=0301_dropkick&type=
6. http://www.thereeler.com/premieres_events/circling_the_city.php
7. http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid=189183
8. http://dropkickmurphys.com/index1.php
9. http://www.ink19.com/issues/august2003/interviews/dropkickMurphys.html

External links

★ Dropkick Murphys official web site

★ Dropkick Murphys official Myspace page

★ Hellcat Records

★ "Dropkick Murphys: Sing Loud, Sing Proud!", from PopMatters magazine

★ "Dropkick Murphys: Kickin' It At Warped Tour", from The Trades

★ "An Early Review of The Meanest of Times"

Interviews

★ Interview With Marc And Tim (2006)

★ Interview With Marc (2003)

★ Dropkick Murphys Interview on Truepunk.com