In Tua Nua – Record-facts…

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In Tua Nua are an Irish rock band. Their name is a phonetic spelling of the Irish Gaelic An Tuath Nua, meaning “the new tribe.”
The group was formed by Leslie Dowdall, Jack Dublin, Vinnie Kilduff, Ivan O’Shea, Martin Clancy, Paul Byrne and Steve Wickham in the early 1980s.
Although the group’s focus was an early Roxy Music-style rock, it combined this aspiration with modern-styled folk and traditional Irish music in the form of uillean pipes and acoustic guitars, laced together with raw vocals and electronic violin.

In 1984, the band were the first to sign to U2‘s Mother label and released their first single “Coming Thru”. Shortly afterwards Island Records signed the band. A number of singles were released and a debut album recorded. The first Island single was the critically acclaimed “Take My Hand”, co-written by a young Sinéad O’Connor. This was followed by a second single, a cover of Jefferson Airplane‘s hit “Somebody to Love“.

In 1985, Steve Wickham left to join forces with The Waterboys and Island dropped the band. The album recorded for Island remains unreleased. A compilation album of singles and b-sides was released in Italy under the title Somebody to Love.

Vinnie Kilduff also departed from the band around this time. The remaining members recruited replacements – Aingeala de Burca on violin and Brian O’Briain on uilleann pipes.

On 17 May 1986, the new look in Tua Nua played the Self Aid concert. Newly signed to Virgin Records the band released “Seven into the Sea”, one of their most popular recordings. An album Vaudeville was released in early 1987.

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