Top Of The Box

Mike Scott formed the original Waterboys in 1983 taking the name from a line in Lou Reed’s song The KIds.

It was their third album This Is The Sea in 1985 that fused traditional celtic music with rock that broke the band in the UK. The single Whole Of The Moon reached number 26 in the charts but would have fared better if Scott had not refused to promote the track on Top Of The Pops because the band had to mime to the song.

Fishermans Blues was the Waterboys follow up album, and featured a more traditional Irish folk sound. It was released in 1988 but as the clip shows the album was already being worked on in 1986.

Here are clips from both albums, the Fishermans Blues clip isn’t the best quality but it is a very rare moment when The Waterboys turn up at The Galway Lark to play an unscheduled slot in 1986. Also an excellent live version of Whole Of The Moon from 1985.

The Waterboys - Whole Of The Moon & Fishermans Blues