Cork singer shares highs and lows of career as showband celebrates 50th anniversary

WHEN Cork won the All-Ireland football final in 1973, it was a no-brainer that a newly-formed Cork band would adopt the name, The Champions.

And it came to pass that, 50 years ago, Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions would pack out dance-hall venues all over the country and abroad.

“We were looking for a name for the band,” recalls Gina, originally Mary Hurley from Friars Walk, Cork. “Our manager said, Cork won the All-Ireland final last Sunday - what about The Champions?

The rest is history.

Fifty years on, Gina and her husband Pat Walshe are reminiscing, sitting at their dining room table overlooking Ballycotton Bay.

“I got my first guitar at 12,” says Pat.

“I left school at intercert, in June, 1969, and I wanted nothing more than to play in a band.”

When The Musketeers disbanded, the rest of the guys sought out a new lead singer.

Shy Mary Hurley thought she’d give it a go.

“I used to sing with my cousin after my mother died,” says Gina.

There were 10 of us in the family. Dad loved singing and when he saw an ad in the Evening Echo looking for a female singer to join a band, he replied on my behalf. I was 19.

Like her dad, Gina’s sister, Kathleen, was keen to get the talented singer on stage.

“My sister, Kathleen dragged me to the audition, which was in Whitegate. I loved singing always; I was always part of the choir. So I went along for the cráic.”

What did Gina sing?

“I sang Puppy Love and All My Life’s A Circle.”

She was a big hit with the lads. And Gina, Dale Haze and The Champions were born.

“Mossie called to the house and met my dad and off I went! I remember being on stage for the first time, Dale Haze (Gerdie), was an amazing singer with loads of charisma. He is greatly missed since he passed away. We worked together.”

The Champions took off around the country.

“There was a lot of talent in the band,” says Gina.

The line-up was Gina and Gerdie, vocals, Pat Walshe, guitar, Mossy Walshe, keyboard, Eddie Fitzgerald, Bass, and Tony Hornibrook, drums.

“Our careers took off pretty quickly,” says Gina.

“Soon we were touring ballrooms all over the country, Cork, Waterford, Tipperary, Galway, Derry, Belfast. We played in huge halls; alcohol wasn’t served in the halls back then, often just tea and a mineral bar was available.

“You’d see people coming in very chirpy and then sobering up! I remember looking down from the stage and seeing the ladies and gents on different sides of the hall.”

Gina had butterflies in those early days.

“I was very nervous at the start,” says Gina. “But I got into it and enjoyed things as they were happening. We had a great career. 

You have so much energy at that age, you don’t even think about it.

“My first gig was in Kilmacthomas, Waterford. I was petrified at the time. It was a big deal. The hall was packed out. But once I began singing on stage, I felt at home.”

The punters loved her and her band-mates.

“People would ask for my autograph after the gig,” says Gina.

“I’d say, ‘What, me?’ I asked Pat what to do and he said, ‘Sign ‘sincerely, Gina’. When I went home to Friars Walk all excited, I told my dad, ‘Guess what? Imagine, I was asked for my autograph!’ Dad loved all the stories when I came home.”

Back in the day, the ballroom of romance was the only social outlet for Irish people.

“My ballroom was the Stardust on the Grand Parade, Redbarn, Crosshaven - and all those halls were owned by Jerry Lucey, the same guy who had the Stardust,” says Gina.

“You had these ballrooms all over Ireland. They were amazing places.”

The Champions got the show on the road to these amazing places.

“We were on the road five or six times a week,” says Gina.

The fans were keen.

People would pile in, six or seven to a car, and travel up to 70 miles to come to a dance.

The Champions clocked up the mileage too.

“When we were due to play in Derry, we’d meet in Midleton, and for nine and a half hours driving, we’d stop in every town and village on the way.”

Did Gina mind being the only female in a male-orientated world? The ballroom owners and showband promotors tended to be an all-male line up.

“I was always treated with absolute respect and never had to prove myself,” says Gina.

“The lads in the band were like my brothers.

“We became a family quickly. We ate together and worked together.”

They were confidantes too.

“And what goes on tour stays on tour!”

Romance blossomed and Gina went on to marry band member, Pat Walshe. They have two children, Cian and Grace.

“Auntie Marie looked after them when we were travelling,” says Gina.

She had admired Pat.

“I always thought Pat was a real gentleman,” says Gina.

“He’d always help me down from the high stage after a gig and walk me through the crowds.

“And one evening he asked me to go to the cinema with him and things progressed from there.”

Things weren’t always rosy in the garden for The Champions.

I remember we were travelling to Longford for an awards concert and when we left the hotel, we discovered our van was gone!

“An announcement was made on the radio and the guards were looking for the van.

“A call came in that the van had been unloaded and our equipment was on the side of the road. We rushed to the place.”

There was a happy ending.

“At least our instruments weren’t stolen!”

Birmingham, during the Troubles, was not the best place to be.

“We were doing a gig at the Shamrock Club and an IRA bomb had gone off,” says Gina.

“Driving back to London, we were stopped by police, probably because of our Irish van registration, and taken into the police station.

“We had chord sheets on the dash of the van and the police suspected they were some kind of code. We were held at the station for a few hours.

“I remember they marched Mossie in by the scruff of the neck. It was a daunting experience.”

Gina recalls another daunting experience.

“We were up the road 10 minutes before the Miami Showband were massacred,” she says. “That was a terrible time.”

The ballrooms of romance were of their time.

“We never drank,” says Gina.

“We often had a cuppa after the gig and often local ladies would make apple tarts which was lovely.

It was of its time. The showbands were amazing, but everything would shut down for Lent and Easter.

Others indulged in a tipple.

“I remember Albert, who was also the undertaker as well as the owner of The Classic Ballroom in Gort, Co. Galway, left us a crate of beer to have after we finished up. Another band playing in Ennis ran out of beer and they got wind there was some beer for the taking in The Classic! They swung by, nabbed the beer, and scooted back up North!”

Back in the day, nearly everyone smoked.

Style was also important.

“I had lovely dresses for performing,” says Gina.

“One of my favourites was the one I wore to perform on The Late Late Show. After a gig, the smell of smoke off our clothes was something else. We sweated a lot too! You couldn’t get rid of the smell of stale smoke.

“I remember going to the dentist who asked me if I was a heavy smoker. I told him I had never smoked!

“I binned a lot of my dresses, some I could salvage and give to the national school for their concerts.”

Apart from performances in the ballrooms of romance, The Champions played concerts and cabaret gigs as well as playing abroad and entertaining the Irish troops in Lebanon. In their heyday their chart hits included Minnie, Give Me Back My Love, and Playing With Fire.

“When Minnie Minnie made number one in the charts, we opened a bottle of Champagne in our offices at Harcourt Street; we sipped the champagne out of paper cups, and it felt like we were p****d!”

The Champions had arrived.

“We played to crowds of 1,500 a night,7,500 a week for 50 weeks, which amounted to half a million people!”

Gina took a break after the birth of her second child in the early 1990s, but was later re-united with the band, her ‘family’. In 2009, the group got back together and had such a happy response that Gina decided to return more or less full-time.

Why did The Champions remain so popular, even when the lights had gone out after the magical era of live music and dancing?

“We always had a great connection with our audience,” says Gina.

“It takes two to tango. We had a very loyal following. 

People enjoy nostalgia and while we like to add bits and pieces, you have to remember that the audiences who came to see us many years ago are often disappointed if you don’t do hits.

“We like to mix and match. Over the years you get to know the audience and what they like.”

The Champions are bringing out a new album, 50 songs for 50 years, to mark the golden anniversary. Will they be drinking champagne out of paper cups this time to celebrate?

“We never drank alcohol on tour, but we do drink now,” says Gina.

No doubt The Champions who found fame and fortune 50 years ago, will enjoy a toast or two?

“I’m sure we will.”