• Albums
• Singles
• Soundtracks
• Collaborations

Albums

Shag Tobacco
Island Records, 1995

Produced and arranged by – Tim Simenon, Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer

1. Shag Tobacco
2. Caruso
3. Angel
4. Little Black Dress
5. The Slider
6. Dolls
7. Mr. Pussy
8. You Me And World War Three
9. Kitchen Sink Drama
10. My Twentieth Century
11. The Last Song I’ll Ever Sing
12. Le Roi D’Amour

Shag Tobacco (CD, Album) Island Masters, Island Records IMCD 227, 524 126-2 UK 1995
Shag Tobacco (CD, Album) Island Records, Island Records CID 8036, 524 126-2 UK 1995
Shag Tobacco (Cass) Island Records, Mercury 524 126-4 Australia 1995
Shag Tobacco (CD, Album) Island Records (US) 314-524 126-2 US 1996

Adam ‘n’ Eve
Island Records, 1992

Producer: David Bascombe, Flood, Hal Willner

1. I Want To Live
2. Falling Of The Edge Of The World
3. King Of Trash
4. Why Say Goodbye
5. Saint Devine
6. Melancholy Baby
7. Fun And Experience
8. The Big No! No! No!
9. Where In The World?
10. Wind And Rain
11. Eden

Adam ‘N’ Eve (CD) Island Records (US) 314-512 090-2 US 1992
Adam ‘N’ Eve (LP) Island Records ILPS 9984 Germany 1992
Adam ‘n’ Eve (CD) Island Records CID 9984 UK 1992
Adam ‘n’ Eve (CD, Album) Island Records 262 674 Germany 1992
Adam ‘n’ Eve (CD, Album) Island Masters IMCD 176 UK 1993

Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves
Island Records
Release date: August 28, 1989

Producer – Hal Willner

1. Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves
2. Tell Tale Hart
3. Apologia
4. Dazzle And Delight
5. Next
6. You Take Away The Sun
7. Death Is Not The End
8. He Got What He Wanted
9. Man Of Misfortune
10. Rags To Riches
11. The Next Thing To Murder
12. Love Is Just The Wind
13. Another Blow On The Bruise / Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (Reprise)

Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (CD, Album) Island Records 259 848 Germany 1989
Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (CD) Island Records (US) 7 91247-2 US 1989
Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (LP, Album) Island Records ILPS 9925 UK & Ireland 1989
Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (LP, Album) Island Records 209 848 Europe 1989
Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves (LP) Island Records (US) 91247-1 US 1989
Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (CD) Island Masters IMCD 175 UK 1993

Singles

You Me and World War Three (1996)

• 12″ Island Records 854 525-1, 12 IS 621 UK

A1 You Me and World War Three (The Grid – Armageddon Mix)
Remix – Grid, The
A2 You Me and World War Three (The Grid – Orbiting Planet Mix)
Remix – Grid, The
B1 You Me and World War Three (Tim Simenon – the ‘Big’ Single Remix)
Remix – Tim Simenon
B2 Billy Boola (Tim Simenon Movie Mix)
Remix – Tim Simenon
Vocals – Bono


• cd maxi

1 You Me And World War Three (The Big Single Remix)
Remix – Tim Simenon
2 You Me And World War Three (Armageddon Mix)
Remix – Grid, The
3 You Me And World War Three (Orbiting Planet Mix)
Remix – Grid, The
4 Billy Boola (Tim Simenon Movie Mix)
Remix – Tim Simenon
Vocals – Bono

Angel (1995)

• 12″ Island Records 12 IS 615 UK

A1 Angel (Space Hop Mix)
Remix – Howie B.
A2 Angel (Space Hop Dub)
Remix – Howie B.
B1 Angel (Album Version)
B2 Angel (Fallen Mix)
Remix – Danny Gee


• cd single Island Records CIDT 615, 854 418-2 France

1 Angel (7″ Edit) 4:09
2 Angel (Space Hop Mix) 8:15

• cd maxi Island Records CID 615, 854 419-2 UK

1 Angel (7″ Edit)
2 Angel (Space Hop Remix)
Remix – Howie B.
3 A Thousand Years
4 Macushla

You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart / In The Name Of The Father (1994)

• CD maxi

A1 Sinéad O’Connor – You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart (Club 12″ Remix – Stained Mix) 6:26
A2 Sinéad O’Connor – You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart (Album Instrumental) 5:48
B1 Bono & Gavin Friday – In The Name Of The Father (12″ Unidere Mix) 5:59
B2 Bono & Gavin Friday – In The Name Of The Father (12″ Beats Mix) 5:36
B3 Bono & Gavin Friday – In The Name Of The Father (12″ Instrumental) 5:57


• 12″ Island Records PR12 6824-1 US

A1 Sinéad O’Connor – You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart (Club 12″ Remix – Stained Mix) 6:26
A2 Sinéad O’Connor – You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart (Album Instrumental) 5:48
B1 Bono & Gavin Friday – In The Name Of The Father (12″ Unidere Mix) 5:59
B2 Bono & Gavin Friday – In The Name Of The Father (12″ Beats Mix) 5:36
B3 Bono & Gavin Friday – In The Name Of The Father (12″ Instrumental) 5:57

In the Name of the Father (1993)

• 7″

A Bono & Gavin Friday – In The Name Of The Father (7″ Edit)
Engineer [Programming] – Kerry Hopwood
Engineer [Recording], Percussion – Paul Barrett
Keyboards [Additional] – Dave Clayton
Producer, Mixed By – Tim Simenon
Vocals, Written-By – Bono
B Gavin Friday – Eden
Bass Guitar – Erik Sanko
Clarinet – Sarah Homer
Drums – Mikey Wilson
Guitar [Swamp] – Alley McErlaine
Producer – Dave Bascombe* , Flood , Hal Willner


• 12″

A1 In The Name Of The Father (LP Mix)
A2 In The Name Of The Father (Unidare Mix)
Remix: Tim Simenon
B1 In The Name Of The Father (Beats Mix)
Remix: Tim Simenon
B2 In The Name Of The Father (Instrumental)
Remix: Tim Simenon


• CD maxi

1 In The Name Of The Father (7″ Edit) 4:48
2 In The Name Of The Father (I.N.O.T.F. Unidare Mix) 5:59
3 In The Name Of The Father (I.N.O.T.F. Beats Mix) 5:38
4 In The Name Of The Father (I.N.O.T.F. Instrumental) 5:55

King of Trash (1992)

• 7″ Island Records IS 522/866 642-7

A King Of Trash
B Rex Mortuus Est


• 12″ Island Records 12 IS 522/866 643-1 Germany

A1 King Of Trash
B1 Rex Mortuus Est
B2 Geek Love

• CD single Island Records CID 522 / 866 843-2 UK

1 King Of Trash 2:47
2 Rex Mortuus Est 3:31
3 Geek Love 4:21

• CD maxi Island Records 665376 Germany

1 King Of Trash 2:47
2 Rex Mortuus Est 3:31
3 Geek Love 4:21

Falling off the Edge of the World (1992)

• 7″

A Falling Off The Edge Of The World
B Sibyl Vane’s Suicide


• 12″ Island Records 12 IS 533/864 085-1 UK

1 Falling Off The Edge Of The World 4:20
Producer – David Bascombe , Flood , Hal Willner
2 Sybil’s Vane Suicide 3:58
Producer – Gavin Friday , Man Seezer, The*
3 Wake Up Screaming 3:30


• CD maxi

1 Falling Off The Edge Of The World 4:20
Producer – David Bascombe , Flood , Hal Willner
2 Sybil’s Vane Suicide 3:58
Producer – Gavin Friday , Man Seezer, The*
3 Wake Up Screaming 3:30

I Want to Live (1991)

• cd maxi

A I Want To Live 3:46
Co-producer – Flood
Mixed By – David Bascombe
B1 He Got What He Wanted 5:53
Mixed By – Joe Ferla
Producer – Hal Willner
B2 Laugh, Clown, Laugh 2:25
Mixed By – Ian Bryan
Producer – Hal Willner

• 12″

A I Want To Live
Mixed By – Dave Bascombe
Producer – Dave Bascombe , Flood , Friday , Seezer
B1 He Got What He Wanted
Mixed By – Joe Ferla
Producer – Hal Willner
B2 Laugh, Clown, Laugh
Mixed By – Ian Bryan
Producer – Hal Willner


• cassette single

I Want To Live
Mixed By – Dave Bascombe*
Producer – Dave Bascombe , Flood , Friday , Seezer
Laugh, Clown, Laugh
Mixed By – Ian Bryan
Producer – Hal Willner

You Take Away the Sun (1989)

• 7″

A You Take Away The Sun
B The Next Thing To Murder

• 12″
• cd maxi

You Take Away The Sun (7″ Version) 3:43
The Next Thing To Murder 3:35
Love Is Just A Word 2:04
You Take Away The Sun (12″ Version) 4:09

Man of Misfortune (1989)

• 7″ Island Records IS 455, 875 220-7 UK

A Man Of Misfortune 4:40
B Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves 3:44

• 12″
• cds

Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves (1989)

• 7″ Island Records IS 408 UK 1989

A Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves 3:47
B An Extract From “The Ballad Of Reading Gaol” 5:27

• 12″
• cd maxi Island Records CID 408 UK 1989

Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves 3:47
An Extract From “The Ballad Of Reading Gaol” 5:26
Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves (Instrumental) 3:45

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (1987)

• 7″ (green vinyl) Baby Records BABY 009 UK 1987

A You Can’t Always Get What You Want
B Blessings

• 12″ Baby Records BABY 010 France 1987

A You Can’t Always Get What You Want
B1 Blessings
B2 Wild Mountain Thyme

Soundtracks

In America
Release Date: November 25, 2003

1. Time Enough For Tears (Original Theme Song) (5:05)
   Vocals – Andrea Corr, written by – Bono , Gavin Friday , Maurice Seezer
2. Some Things You Should Wish For (Main Theme) (1:46)
3. All Our Troubles Have Flown Away (Children’s Theme) (1:35)
4. Mr. American Dream I (Father’s Theme) (1:58)
5. Fe Fi Fo Fum (Love Theme) (2:35)
6. Painting An Angel (2:37)
7. Mr. American Dream II (1:24)
8. The Hell’s Kitchen Suite (3:00)
9. Happy Holiday (2:03)
10. I Am An Alien (2:13)
11. Bad Blood (Love Theme) (2:16)
12. The Whole World Has Had A Bad Day (1:28)
13. Mateo Goes Home (Main Theme) (2:25)
14. The Third Wish (Main Theme/Finale) (5:50)
15. All Our Troubles Have Flown Away (Children’s Theme Finale) (3:45)

The Boxer
Release Date: February 24, 1998

1. In the Shadow of a Gun
2. Holy Family I
3. To the Peace Line
4. Boxer
5. Twelve Noon
6. You Broke My Heart
7. Semtex
8. Night Band
9. Peace
10. Fight’s Over
11. Agnus Dei
12. Funeral
13. Holy Family II
14. End of Story, Peacemaker
15. Boxer (Finale)
16. Everything’s Gonna Be Alright

In The Name Of The Father (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Island Records
Release date: January 25, 1994

Producer – Gavin Friday (tracks: 1, 3, 10)

1. In the Name of the Father – Bono, Gavin Friday
   Written by Bono, Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer
2. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Billy Boola – Bono, Gavin Friday
4. Dedicated Follower of Fashion – The Kinks, The Kinks
5. Interrogation
6. Is This Love – Bob Marley
7. Walking the Circle
8. Whiskey in the Jar
9. Passage of Time
10. You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart – Sinéad O’Connor
    Written by Bono, Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer

Angel Baby Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Milan Records, Real World Records
Release date: January 28, 1997

Blue & Green (Can Never Be Seen) (4:31)
Composed By – Gavin Friday , Maurice Seezer

Until I’m In You (4:54)
Composed By – Gavin Friday , Maurice Seezer
Sung by Anneli M. Drecker & The Big No No

Collaborations

Various – Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys (2006)

Gavin sings ‘Baltimore Whores’, and ‘Bully in the Alley’ (With Dave-id and Guggi)

Peter and the Wolf (2003)

A CD and book in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation. Gavin, Maurice and the Friday/Seezer Ensemble interpret Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. The accompanying book is illustrated by Bono.

Howie B. – Folk (2001)

Gavin sings ‘Duet’ (a cover of David Essex’s Rock On) with newcomer Karmen Wijnberg. Maurice Seezer plays piano, accordion, organ and drums.

Various – Closed on Account of Rabies (1997)

Gavin reads the poem ‘For Annie’ on this Edgar Allan Poe tribute.

The Heads – No Talking Just Head (1996)

Gavin sings on ‘Blue Blue Moon’.

Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart – Take Me to God (1994)

Gavin’s sings on ‘Yoga of the Nightclub’ and ‘The Bonds of Love’.

U2 – One, single (1992)

Gavin provides – minimal – backing vocals on an extra track on U2’s ‘One’ single, the Lou Reed classic ‘Satellite of Love.’

Dave Ball – Strict Tempo (1984)

Gavin provides vocals on the title song of this Dave Ball album: ‘In Strict Tempo’.

Coil – Scatology (1984)

Gavin sings the song ‘Tenderness of Wolves’.

The Fall – The Wonderful and Frightening World of (1984)

Gavin appears on three tracks: Clear Off, Stephen Song and Copped It.

Albums

• Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves
• Adam ‘n’ Eve
• Shag Tobacco

Soundtracks

• In The Name of the Father – OST
• The Boxer – OST
• In America -OST

Virgin Prunes

• Virgin Prunes lyrics are available on www.virginprunes.com

1959 – 1985
Gavin Friday was born in Dublin on October 8, 1959. He survived a Christian Brothers education to become a singer, composer and painter. Ireland’s most avant-garde chanteur founded the legendary Virgin Prunes in 1977. The band’s uncompromising body of work ensured a dedicated fan base in Ireland, the U.K. and mainland Europe in particular.

1986 – 1991
In 1986 Gavin briefly abandoned music to paint, which culminated in the 1988 exhibition entitled ‘I didn’t come up the Liffey in a bubble’ at Dublin’s Hendriks Gallery. The previous year, itchy to perform again, he had returned to the stage, acting as master of ceremonies in his own weekly cabaret, ‘Blue Jaysus’. Friday’s own unique interpretations of classic burlesque songs featured alongside comedy and drag acts, as well as appearances by special guests from Dublin’s always fertile music scene.

From 1987 to 2005 he composed and performed with pianist Maurice Roycroft (The Man Seezer). Fresh from The Blue Jaysus, they played their first gig together in October 1987 at an AIDS benefit in Dublin. A demo tape of original material attracted attention of Island Records and they signed to the label in 1988.

‘Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves’ (1989), their compelling moody debut produced by Hal Willner, explored the world of Brel (whose song ‘Next’ is covered on the album), Piaf, Brecht and Weill with a healthy punk ethos. Recorded in New York, Friday claimed it articulates everything he wasn’t able to say in the Virgin Prunes. Themes of love, death and sex permeate the subject matter of the album, which has a strong musical cast including Michael Blair, Marc Ribot, Fernando Saunders and Bill Frisell.

1992 – 1994
The follow up, 1992’s ‘Adam ‘N’ Eve’ is an eclectic work by an artist who refused to be pigeonholed. Influenced by Gavin’s adolescent pop past, the album contains shades of T-Rex, Roxy Music, Satie and Bacharach and is lighter and more humorous than its predecessor. The first single, ‘I Want to Live’, was a chart hit in Holland and Belgium where Friday’s debut album had been especially well received.

1995 – 1998
In 1995 Gavin Friday released ‘Shag Tobacco’. Produced by Bomb the Bass’ Tim Simenon, the sultry, cinematic album uniquely blends 90’s dance rhythms with more traditional European pop set in a world not quite in the future, or in the past. ‘It’s a very sexual album,’ said Friday, ‘if there is a location for this album, it is a place where love is most definitely the drug and everyone is a junkie.’ The Shag Tobacco tours lasted well into 1996, ending triumphantly with a show at the Olympia Theatre in Friday’s home town, Dublin.

1999 – 2003
In Summer 1999, Gavin travelled to Kosovo on behalf of the charity Concern, to film a documentary highlighting to plight of Kosovan refugees. ‘Artists for Kosovo’, a slide-show of work by renowned Irish artists set to Friday/Seezer music opened in Dublin’s Temple Bar. Later that year the video documentary ‘Three Wishes For Kosovo’ was completed and Gavin’s children’s charity project for Kosovo, ‘Muc the flying piggy bank’ was launched. The project encouraged kids in schools around Ireland to set up their own collections for the charity.

Gavin Friday is a prolific vocalist, artist and composer, whose film work includes the songs written with Bono for the popular 1993 film ‘In the Name of the Father’. They recorded the title track as well as the Sinead O’Connor sung hit ‘You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart’. In 1996 Friday and Seezer contributed the song ‘Angel’ to the ‘Romeo + Juliet’ soundtrack and wrote their first piece of score for the Australian film ‘Angel Baby’. His subsequent film scores have included ‘The Boxer’ (1998), ‘Disco Pigs’ (2001) and ‘In America’ (2002). In late 2005, Friday and Seezer teamed up with legendary producer Quincy Jones to score the Jim Sheridan directed 50 Cent biopic ‘Get Rich or Die Trying.’

A consummate live performer, Friday mesmerises his audiences, slipping into the many different characters that inhabit his songs. In 2001 he created ‘Ich Liebe Dich’, a twisted and seductive musical theatre tribute to the German composer Kurt Weill. Performed with the Friday-Seezer Ensemble at the Dublin Theatre Festival, the sold out six-show run brought the best of 1920s/30s Berlin and 40s Broadway into the 21st century.

In 2002 Friday and Seezer tackled Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’, recording their own arrangement of the children’s classic with their ensemble. A luxury box set, with artwork by U2’s Bono, raised money and awareness for the Irish Hospice Foundation.

2004 – 2008
The next year Gavin performed the surreal and personal one man show ‘I Didn’t Come up the Liffey in a Bubble’ at the Dublin Fringe Festival. The acclaimed director Neil Jordan cast Gavin as the sexually ambiguous rocker Billy Hatchet in the 2005 movie “Breakfast on Pluto”. Starring alongside Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson and Brendan Gleeson, Friday held his own and received much praise for his debut screen appearance.

Summer 2006 saw him return to the stage with his tribute to German culture, ‘Tomorrow Belongs To Me’, and again collaborating with producer Hal Willner on the boisterous collection of pirate ballads, sea songs and chanteys, entitled ‘Rogue’s Gallery’. Later that year, Gavin narrates The Fortune Teller, a marionette play by Erik Sanko. It premieres in New York to great acclaim.

Taking time out from work on his fourth solo album with new writing partner Herb Macken, Gavin participated in the Shakespeare Sonnet Project, jointly commissioned by Opera North Projects and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The project, curated by the English composer Gavin Bryars, premiered in Stratford-Upon-Avon in February and around the U.K. through March 2007. Gavin performed his take on ‘Sonnet 40′ live and narrated the eight sonnets that make up Bryars’ 40-minute composition ‘Nothing Like the Sun’.

In Summer 2007 Gavin Friday and Herb Macken composed the music and main theme ‘Dreamland’ for Patrick McCabe’s play ‘The Revenant’, which opened at the Galway Arts Festival in July. Gavin also takes part in Hal Willner’s Disney tribute ‘Stay Awake’ at the Royal Festival Hall in London and records the classic ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ for Lemon magazine. He teams up with members of Ireland’s Crash Ensemble to narrate composer Ian Wilson’s ‘Handsomest Drowned Man in the World’ in Dublin and Brighton. While in New York in for a Spring 2008 repeat performance of the Disney tribute, Hal Willner and Gavin find time to record music for Abel Ferrera’s movie ‘Chelsea on the Rocks’.

When Hal Willner takes the ‘Rogue’s Gallery’ album to the stage for a UK/Ireland tour, Gavin joins him again, performing the pirate songs alongside an eclectic troupe of musicians including Shane McGowan, Martha Wainwright, Rachel Unthank, Lou Reed and actor Tim Robbins.

Gavin Friday is currently working on his fourth solo album with writing partner Herb Macken,

Gavin Friday was interviewed outside Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona on June 20th where he is working on the production of U2’s 360 tour, which starts on June 30th. The brief interview was broadcast in U2Valencia’s podcast. Gavin discussed his role in U2’s production, calling himself an ‘aesthetic midwife’ and in a message to the listeners he sent his greetings and the news: “Next year I’ll be sending you my own music, as I will be releasing my record, which I haven’t done in 10, 12 years.”
Download the full podcast (mp3) which also features interviews with Catherine Owens and Bono. (Fan commentary is in Spanish.) or continue for a transcript of Gavin’s complete interview.
Pictures taken during the interview.

[Read more →]

Gavin Friday will be joining the Gavin Bryars Ensemble this summer for two more performances of the Sonnet Project in Leeds and in London.
Gavin Bryars’ through-composed score, ‘Nothing Like the Sun’, weaves together eight of Shakespeare’s sonnets on the subjects of time, memory and music.
The project also features five sonnet settings by guest composers including Antony Heggarty (Antony and the Johnsons) and Mira Calix. Gavin will be performing his own setting of Sonnet 40 as well as narrating Bryars’ 40-minute composition.
Nothing Like The Sun was commissioned by Opera North and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Leeds: The Howard Assembly Room at Opera North
7.30pm June 14th. Box office: 0844 848 2727
www.howardassemblyroom.co.uk
London: Purcell Room at South Bank
7.45pm July 4th
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

“It’s like a painting, isn’t it? I might not understand everything literally, but I have the gist of it.”

Gavin Friday, Neil Hannon and Beirut’s Zach Condon talk to Graeme Thomson on the legendary Belgian singer Jacques Brel:

“Brel is sweaty, you can imagine him spitting on you if you’re in the front row. It would be good to bring the blood and guts, the smelly Brel, back into play.”

Read the full article on the Guardian website

[Read more →]

Gavin will be joining Republic of Loose on stage in Dublin on the 23rd of December (today). The band are set to play The Academy two times, with an all ages show at 2pm and an evening show at 8pm. At this point we are unsure whether Gavin will appear at both. Tickets are only available for the afternoon performance.