Keith Cullen (Setanta Records) on The Frank and Walters
Keith Cullen of Setanta Records
My latest documentary, We’ll Always Be Shouting For You - the story of The Frank and Walters, gets its first broadcast on RTÉ Gold on St. Patrick’s Day at 8pm.
As is often the case with my audio projects, due to time constraints I end up with lots of great material that doesn’t necessarily fit my main narrative structure but is still worth documenting. So it is with this new interview with Keith Cullen of Setanta Records.
Beethoven’s 1989 EP Him Goolie Goolie Man, Dem was the first release on Setanta Records. That 12” was followed up with releases by Power of Dreams, Into Paradise, Rare, The Divine Comedy and A House. Later the label released records by Brian, Catchers, The Glee Club, The Harvest Ministers and a host of others. The label also signed Edwyn Collins, who enjoyed a worldwide hit single with ‘A Girl Like You’.
In 1992 Keith told Melody Maker that Setanta has, “the monopoly on quality Irish bands.”
He continued, “I started because there were loads of talented bands in Ireland who had nowhere to go. The Irish labels wouldn’t know a talented band if it kicked them in the teeth, and the major labels over here tend to pick up on anything that gets a buzz, which, of course, is created by people in the Irish music industry.”
In the Melody Maker article, a few months before The Frank and Walters debut album was released, Keith was at pains to point out the band’s song-writing prowess: “All the acts on the label are very strong songwriters, The Frank And Walters, for example. A lot of people don’t see that because of the humour, but lyrically they’re very powerful.”
“They disguise the meaning of their lyrics because they don’t want to look too pious or clever clever. But there is meaning behind all their songs. If a kid wants to get it, it’s there.”
Reflecting decades later, Keith puts the The Frank and Walters’ early success in the UK down to the individual attributes of the band:
“They were just such big Cork characters,” he says. “At the end of the day, the export and import of nationalities wasn’t as big then as it is now. So in London The Franks stood apart, not just by the outfits, but also by their characters. They were very outgoing and very friendly. They were very funny and then they made friends.”
Keith recalls hearing an early demo by The Franks around the same time that he heard another demo: “I remember talking to the Cranberries, I went to Limerick to meet them but whatever I did with The Frank and Walters was purely based on what I heard. It wasn’t based on a reaction to whatever anybody else was doing, I just did what I did. So, Setanta not getting The Cranberries had nothing to do with me signing The Franks. Off the back of working with A House I then suggested that Dave Couse should work with The Franks.”
The first two EPs by The Franks were awarded “Single of the Week” in both the NME and Melody Maker: “It was exciting, absolutely, but it was just that the train was moving and you just had to keep reacting to what was going on in a way. If I was a nostalgic man, I would probably look back and go, “Oh, my god,” but you don’t think about those things when you’re in the moment.”
Setanta didn’t have any money so in order to keep the train moving forward Keith needed to licence The Franks to a bigger label: “There wasn’t any money being made out of releasing singles so to speak and the funding of it all was very different to how it would be now. So it was inevitable that The Franks would go to a major to make the album, in the same way that A House went back to a major after I Am the Greatest and signed to EMI. Actually, the thing is that EMI were interested in The Franks and they didn’t get The Franks and I think that kind of made them go after A House.”
“There were a few offers from other labels for The Franks but the Go! Discs offer was the best offer for sure. I can’t remember if there was a fear about losing one of the offers, maybe there was because it was a lot of money at the time.”
“At the time it was one step after another, so to speak. We weren’t cocksure about success, but we weren’t surprised when things fell into place like a frontpage of the NME or Top of the Pops or whatever. That would have been the outlook I guess, but it was spinning plates really. There was stuff happening every day and you had to just react to what was happening in front of you.
Looking back now, Keith thinks The Franks spent too much time promoting their debut album, Trains, Boats and Planes: “I think that in a lot of ways there was too much exposure at the beginning and it did hurt them in the short-term.”
“Grand Parade, the second album was much better than the first. But by that time music had moved on and Britpop was happening and all of that stuff, so they went away for a little bit too long to make that album and they were probably over-exposed too much early on. We probably should have stepped away from the limelight on the first album quicker and got on with making a second record.”
Keith understands the band’s continued appeal: “Nostalgia is being processed in different ways nowadays, isn’t it? Like with TikTok and all of that. So, the band have longevity and it means that the people who were there at that time do have the desire to go and see the band and relive those times because whatever you listen to during your teenage years forms so much of you. So, I can see why the band is still resonating with people.”
By his own admission Keith isn’t a nostalgic person, he doesn’t look back and is always moving forward with new projects. He does recall when he last saw The Franks: “I saw them play about 10 years ago with Carter USM at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.”
“That was very heart warming and it brought back good memories but in general I don’t think back about it at all.”
We’ll Always Be Shouting for You
the story of The Frank and Walters
RTÉ Gold, St. Patrick’s Day, 8pm
The Franks and Walters tour Ireland from October in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their second album, Grand Parade.
Grand Parade gets its first vinyl release in June via Last Night From Glasgow.
Many bands from Setanta’s roster have been featured on my podcast To Here Knows When - Great Irish Albums Revisited:
EP05: Into Paradise
EP12: Power of Dreams
EP17: A House
EP18: The Frank and Walters
EP33: The Harvest Ministers
EP34: Catchers
EP40: Nun Attax / Five Go Down to the Sea? / Beethoven