Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys at the Leeds Festival, 2005
Background information
Origin	Quincy, Massachusetts, USA
Genres	Celtic Punk Hardcore Punk Punk Rock Oi! (early)
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Hellcat, Born & Bred
Associated acts	Street Dogs, The Bruisers, The Ducky Boys, The Exit, Everybody Out!, The Outlets
Website	dropkickmurphys.com
Members
Tim Brennan James Lynch Al Barr Ken Casey Matt Kelly Scruffy Wallace Jeff DaRosa Seth Cohen
Past members
Marc Orrell Mike McColgan Rick Barton Spicy McHaggis (Robbie Mederios) Ryan Foltz Jeff Erna Joe Delaney

Dropkick Murphys are an Irish American Celtic punk/hardcore punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts.^[1] First playing together in the basement of a friend's barbershop, they blended traditional Irish folk rock and punk rock known as Celtic punk. Their influences include Stiff Little Fingers, The Pogues, The Clash, Thin Lizzy, The Dubliners, and the Swingin' Utters.^[2]

The band has made a name for itself and built a following as a result of their non-stop touring all over the world, and their St. Patrick's Day weekend shows, which are held in and around Boston, are legendary. The group is also famous for their patronage of the Boston Red Sox and Bruins.

Name origin

There are differing stories as to the origin of the band's name.

Former band member Marc Orrell has said:

The Dropkick Murphys will come and get you if you don't go to sleep tonight. It's a rehab center, I think it's in Connecticut. I think it was the guy who used to come around late at night for all the drunks, like if you were too drunk to drive home, he would come and get you and put you in this hole that you couldn't get out until you were sober enough, I don't know. There's a bunch a stories, it's also a boxer, a bunch of things, a rehab center in Connecticut, grandparents used to scare kids with it.^[3]

History

Ken Casey in front of the crowd, 2007

Dropkick Murphys was originally formed in 1996 in Quincy, Massachusetts. The band first started playing in the basement of a friend's barbershop and soon found that people loved their music, and as a result began to tour and record.

The band put out a series of EPs and were signed by Hellcat Records. In 1998 they released their first full-length album, Do or Die. Lead singer Mike McColgan left the band later that year with his life-long dream of becoming a Boston firefighter, and was replaced by The Bruisers lead singer Al Barr, who was referred to Ken Casey by Derek TC NYSR producer–founder of the groundbreaking 1990s Oi!–Skampilation series at the Middle East Club in Boston.

In 1999, they released their follow-up album, The Gang's All Here, the first to feature new singer Al Barr and the last album to feature founding guitarist Rick Barton. The album featured more of a hardcore–street punk sound closer to that of Barr's former band, The Brusiers, and less of an Irish influence like on their debut album. The band gained their first mainstream exposure when the video for their single "10 Years Of Service" received airplay on the MTV show 120 Minutes.

Under the name McBusiness, the band along with English Oi!–punk rock band The Business, released a split single titled "Mob Mentality" in 1999. A year later they released a full-length album of the same name featuring the two bands covering each other's songs along with songs from other artists. The Dropkick Murphys even re-recorded their own song "Boys On The Docks" with Al on vocals.

In 2001, they released their third album, Sing Loud, Sing Proud!. The album showcased their developing sound as the band widely progressed from being a four-piece punk rock outfit, and included collaborations with Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan and Cock Sparrer's Colin McFaull. It also marked a significant lineup change for the band. Original guitarist Rick Barton was replaced by former The Ducky Boys guitarist James Lynch and Marc Orrell, and additional instruments were added and played by new members Ryan Foltz and Robbie "Spicy McHaggis" Mederios, whose name was inspired by a McDonald's menu item while the band was on a 1999 tour in Scotland.^[4] Mederios became the full-time piper after original Dropkicks touring piper Joe Delaney could not commit full time to the band. Shortly after in 2001, both Foltz and McHaggis left the band, being replaced by mandolin–guitar player Tim Brennan and bagpiper Scruffy Wallace.

Their next album, Blackout, was released in 2003. The album included the radio hit "Walk Away", as well as the fan favorite song "Fields of Athenry". "The Dirty Glass" with female vocals from Stephanie Dougherty (Deadly Sins) is a song about a bar in Quincy, Massachusetts called Darcy's. Dougherty became an unofficial member of the band and would also join them on tour working their merchandise table. The song "Time To Go" was written about the Boston Bruins, and the band performed the song live at the Fleet Center during at a Bruins game during intermission at a November 2003 game.

For the 2004 baseball season the band released a re-working of an old Boston Red Sox song, "Tessie". "Tessie" would be used in the major motion picture Fever Pitch and was included on the EA Sports MVP Baseball 2005 soundtrack. The band was invited to the Fever Pitch premiere of the movie which was held at Fenway Park where the video was also shot. The song continues to be played at Red Sox games along with Dirty Water after games the team wins.

In 2005, the Dropkick Murphys released Singles Collection Volume 2, featuring covers, B-sides, and other material that didn't make it onto previous albums, and the band contributed a recording of "We Got the Power" to Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2.

Their fifth studio album, The Warrior's Code on Hellcat Records, was released on June 21, 2005 and made its debut at number 49 on the album charts, which at the time was the highest debut for a Dropkick Murphys album. The album features the singles "Sunshine Highway" and "The Warrior's Code" as well as the bonus track "Tessie".

The song, "Last Letter Home", contains excerpts from personal letters between Sgt. Andrew Farrar, his mother and his wife. The following is taken from the album notes:

We had already finished this song that was based on general correspondences to & from the soldiers serving in Iraq, when we were contacted by the family of Sgt. Andrew Farrar who had recently died while serving there. The family wanted to tell us he was a big supporter of the Dropkick Murphys. They also passed on a letter that he had written to his mother shortly before his death in which he thanks her for sending him a Dropkick Murphys CD & said that if anything should happen to him while in Iraq, he would like one of our songs played at his funeral. He also left behind a wife, Melissa and two young boys Tyler & Liam. His tour of duty in Iraq was coming to an end & he was due to come home & renew his wedding vows with Melissa to another song of ours, "Forever". Sgt Farrar died on January 28th, on his 31st birthday. We were present at his funeral to grant his wish and played "Fields of Athenry" as his casket entered the church. This song was re-written to include excerpts from that letter.

The band released a single, with the family's permission, including the Andrew Farrar-dedicated "Fields Of Athenry" and "The Last Letter Home". All proceeds went to the Farrar family.

During the band's 2010 tour, a special pirate-themed backdrop was unfurled during the encore performance of "I'm Shipping Up To Boston".

In 2006, "I'm Shipping Up To Boston", a song from The Warrior's Code, with lyrics from a Woody Guthrie poem the band found in his archives was featured in the 2006 Academy Award winning film The Departed, Martin Scorsese's adaptation of the Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs. Two videos, one with and one without footage from The Departed, were made due to overwhelming response to the song, which became one of the band's biggest hits to date and helped introduce Dropkick Murphys to an even bigger mainstream audience thanks to the film and soundtrack. The song was also featured in The Simpsons episode "The Debarted".^[5] "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" became the walk-out song of Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who danced an Irish jig to the song several times throughout the 2007 Boston Red Sox Championship season. During the team's victory parade, Papelbon did the jig while the Murphys played the song on the same float.

In 2007, the band issued their sixth album and major label debut The Meanest of Times. The album was their first since leaving Hellcat Records and was released by Warner Bros. Records under the Dropkick Murphys own vanity label, Born & Bred Records. The Meanest Of Times made its debut on the album charts at number 20 in the U.S. giving the band their highest chart debut to date. The first single released from the album, "The State of Massachusetts", became an instant hit. The song is featured as the opening theme to the MTV show Nitro Circus and ranked #83 on the Rolling Stone top 100 songs of 2007 list. By January 2008, the single became one of the 60-most played alternative rock songs in the United States for the previous year.

On October 21, 2007, the band played on a small stage in Fenway Park prior to Game 7 of the 2007 American League Championship Series. On October 30, 2007, the band performed on a flatbed truck during the Boston Red Sox rolling rally to celebrate their 2007 World Series Championship, playing "I'm Shipping Up to Boston", "Dirty Water", "Tessie", "The State of Massachusetts", "For Boston", and "Sunshine Highway", to celebrate. Red Sox relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon performed his trademark dance on the flatbed with them. Fellow Red Sox relief pitchers Hideki Okajima and Mike Timlin also rode on the band's flatbed.^[6]

In 2008 Marc Orrell announced he was leaving the band and that Tim Brennan would replace him as a full-time guitarist.^[7] Brennan's duties will be taken over by Jeff DaRosa.^[8]

To tie in with St. Patrick's Day, a free Dropkick Murphys track pack for Guitar Hero III on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Network was released on March 15, 2008 containing: "Famous For Nothing"; "(F)Lannigan's Ball" and "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya" from their latest album, The Meanest of Times. Also, the song "The State Of Massachusetts" is available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. In July 2009, the song "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" was released as a downloadable track for Guitar Hero World Tour, and was also released in the video game Rock Band the following month.

James Lynch playing guitar in 2007

In 2008 frontman Ken Casey re-opened McGreevys Pub. The bar has drawn good reviews for both its food and atmosphere. The Murphys have also continued touring, including a number of dates in July set to feature The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. At their July 10, 2008 concert date at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts, they announced that the show was being recorded and would be released as their next live album. They made similar announcements during shows in Portland, Maine and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The band also stated at the Pawtucket show that the sellout crowd of 10,060 was the largest in the band's history.

"I'm Shipping Up To Boston" has also become an anthem in the Australian Football League in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, featuring in the official 2009 leauge add for the AFL, as well as the 2010 add for the Brisbane Lions, one of the clubs in the league.

On April 22, 2009, the Dropkick Murphys joined Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band on stage in Boston for his Working on a Dream Tour, playing "Glory Days" and "American Land", and the band's guitarist proposed to his girlfriend Diana onstage and was following by the Springsteen song "So Young And In Love".^[9]

On June 16, 2009, the band opened up for Aerosmith at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts, in a "Hometown Heroes" concert; they later joined Aerosmith onstage to perform "Dirty Water".^[10]

On January 1, 2010, the band performed "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" before the Boston Bruins–Philadelphia Flyers 2010 NHL Winter Classic held in Boston's Fenway Park baseball stadium.

On March 16, 2010, the band released their second live album, Live on Lansdowne, Boston MA. The album also featured the band's first full-length live DVD. The album made its debut at number 25 in the U.S. charts making it their second highest charting album to date.

In a March 2010 interview with alt porn website Burning Angel, Ken Casey announced that the band would be hitting the studio in the summer or early Fall of 2010 to record their next album.^[11]

Political causes

Dropkick Murphys have been known for supporting working class and union causes, and have a strong relationship with the AFL-CIO. The band has said that they are all Democrats^[12], and during the 2004 United States presidential election were part of Punkvoter^[13], a political activist group dedicated to defeating George W. Bush. That year they also appeared on the Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 compilation contributing the song "We Got the Power".

Band members

• Al Barr – lead vocals (1998–Present)
• Ken Casey – bass guitar, lead vocals (1996–Present)
• Matt Kelly – drums, bodhran, vocals (1997–Present)
• James Lynch – guitar, vocals (2000–Present)
• Scruffy Wallace – bagpipes, tin whistle (2001–Present)
• Tim Brennan – guitar, accordion, vocals (2001–Present)
• Jeff DaRosa – acoustic guitar, banjo, bouzouki, keyboard, mandolin, whistle, organ, vocals. (2008–Present)

Discography

Studio albums

• Do or Die (1998)
• The Gang's All Here (1999)
• Sing Loud, Sing Proud! (2001)
• Blackout (2003) (Number 83 US)
• The Warrior's Code (2005) (Number 48 US)
• The Meanest of Times (2007) (Number 20 US)

Live and compilation albums

• Oi!/Skampilation, Vol 3 (1997)
• The Early Years (1998)
• The Singles Collection, Volume 1 (2000)
• Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA (2002)
• Singles Collection, Volume 2 (2005)
• Live on Lansdowne, Boston MA (2010)

EPs

• Boys on the Docks (1997)
• Tessie (2004)

Singles

• "Fire and Brimstone" (1997)
• "Tattoos and Scally Caps" (1997)
• "Curse of Fallen Soul" (1998)
• "Good Rats" (2000)
• "Live on a Five" (2000)
• "The Dirty Glass" (2003)
• "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight" (2003)
• "Walk Away" (2003)
• "Time to Go: Promotional Single" (2003)
• "Fields of Athenry" (2003)
• "Back to the Hub" (2003)
• "Tessie" (2004) (Radio Only, #89 US Modern Rock, #90 US Pop 100)
• "Fields of Athenry: Andrew Farrar Memorial" (2005) Memorial single
• "Sunshine Highway" (2005)
• "The Walking Dead" (2005)
• "Last Letter Home" (2006)
• "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" (2006) (#101 Billboard Hot 100, #15 Hot Single Recurrents, #42 Hot Digital Tracks)
• "The State of Massachusetts" (2007)
• "(F)lannigan's Ball" (2007)
• "The Chosen Few"(2008)

Splits

• DKM/Ducky Boys Split 7 inch (1996)
• DKM/Bruisers Split 7 inch (1997)
• Anti-Heroes vs Dropkick Murphys (1997)
• DKM/Oxymoron Split (1998)
• Mob Mentality 7" (Split with The Business) (1999)
• Unity (Split with Agnostic Front) (1999)
• This Is the East Coast (...Not L.A.) (Split with H2O) (2000)
• Mob Mentality CD (Split with The Business) (2000)
• Face to Face vs. Dropkick Murphys (2002)
• One For The Ages (2004)

Compilations

• I've Got My Friends-Boston/San Francisco Split CD (1996) – Includes "Get Up" and the original version of "Skinhead On The MBTA".
• Runt of the Litter, Vol. 2 (1996) – Includes "In The Streets of Boston (live June 29, 1996 @ TT the Bears)"
• Oi! Skampilation Vol. 3 (1997) – Includes "Road of the Righteous" and "Third Man In" (both live)
• Give 'Em the Boot (1997) – Includes "Barroom Hero (original version)"
• Vans Off the Wall Sampler (1998) – Includes "Road of the Righteous"
• Give 'Em the Boot II (1999) – Includes "The Gang's All Here"
• Vans Off the Wall Sampler (1999) – Includes "Boston Asphalt"
• Punk Rock Jukebox Vol. 3 (1999) – Includes "Vengeance"
• Built for Speed - A Motorhead Tribute (1999) – Includes "Rock and Roll"
• Punch Drunk (1999) – Includes "You're a Rebel"
• Boston Drops The Gloves: A Tribute to Slapshot (1999) – Includes "I've Had Enough"
• Punch Drunk Vol. 2 (2000) – Includes "Soundtrack to a Killing Spree"
• A Worldwide Tribute to Oi (2000) – Includes "Hey Little Rich Boy" and "Never Again"
• Back on the Streets - Japanese/American Punk Unity (2000) – Includes "Halloween" and "Soundtrack to a Killing Spree"
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 5 (2000) – Includes "Good Rats (Original Version)"
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 6 (2001) – Includes "The Gauntlet"
• A Tribute to Cock Sparrer (2001) – Includes "Working"
• Give 'Em the Boot III (2002) – Includes "The Legend of Finn McCummhail"
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 7 (2002) – Includes "Heroes from Our Past"
• Atticus: Dragging the Lake, Vol. 2 (2003) – Includes "Fields of Athenry"
• 2003 Warped Tour Compilation (2003) – Includes "Walk Away"
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 8 (2003) – Includes "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight"
• Give 'Em the Boot IV (2004) – Includes "I'm Shipping Up to Boston (original version)"
• Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 (2004) – Includes "We Got the Power"
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 9 (2004) – Includes "The Dirty Glass (Darcy's Revenge)"
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 10 (2005) – Includes "The Warrior's Code"
• MVP Baseball 2005 soundtrack (2005) – Includes "Tessie"
• Fever Pitch soundtrack (2005) – Includes "Tessie"
• Tony Hawk's Underground soundtrack (2003) – Includes "Time To Go"
• Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack (2005) – Includes "Who is Who"
• 2005 Warped Tour Compilation (2005) – Includes "Sunshine Highway"
• Give 'Em the Boot V (2006) – Includes "Warriors Code"
• Whiskey in the Jar: Essential Irish Drinking Songs and Sing Alongs (2006) – Includes "The Fields of Athenry", "The Wild Rover", and "The Dirty Glass"
• The Departed soundtrack (2006) – Includes "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"
• Give 'Em the Boot VI (2007)
• Lobster Wars theme (2007) – "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"

DVDs

• Vans Warped Tour 2003 (2003) – Includes "Black Velvet Band (Live)"
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 1 (2003) – Includes the videos for "Barroom Hero" and "The Gauntlet"
• On the Road with the Dropkick Murphys (2004)
• Punk Rock Holocaust (2004)
• Give 'Em the Boot (2005) – Includes "Good Rats (Live)"

Note: The song "Four Dead Cheerleaders" is often credited to the Dropkick Murphys on the internet. The song was actually recorded by the Texas punk band Dropkick, from their album No Time To Be Young.

Billboard (U.S.) chart positions

See also

• List of musicians in the second wave of punk music

Footnotes

External links

• Dropkick Murphys official web site
• "Dropkick Murphys: Sing Loud, Sing Proud!", from PopMatters magazine
• "Dropkick Murphys: Kickin' It At Warped Tour", from The Trades
• "An Early Review of The Meanest of Times" on Life in a Bungalo
• Dropkick Murphys: Friends to the Working Class article in Dollars & Sense magazine
• Dropkick Murphys – the long ass interview cover feature Distorted magazine October 2007
• Clip of Jonathan Papelbon dancing with Dropkick Murphys during 2007 World Series victory rally in Boston
• YeboTV.com (Dropkick Murphys Interview)
• Boston Phoenix review of The Meanest of Times with band interview (Mike Miliard, The Best of Times, September 2007)

Interviews

• Interview With Marc And Tim (2006)
• Interview With Marc (2003)
• Dropkick Murphys Interview on Truepunk.com
• Interview with Tim and Marc, 2006
• Interview with Al Barr, from Australian mag Time Off
• Interview with Ken Casey on OnMilwaukee.com (2007)
• Video Interview of Scruffy Wallace by Serene Dominic (2008)
• Interview with Scruffy Wallace on SGM UK Music Webzine 2010

Dropkick Murphys Tim Brennan · Jeff DaRosa · James Lynch · Al Barr · Ken Casey · Matt Kelly · Scruffy Wallace Marc Orrell · Mike McColgan · Rick Barton · Robbie "Spicy McHaggis" Mederios · Ryan Foltz · Jeff Erna Studio albums Do or Die · The Gang's All Here · Sing Loud, Sing Proud! · Blackout · The Warrior's Code · The Meanest of Times EPs Boys on the Docks · Tessie Compilation albums The Early Years · The Singles Collection, Volume 1 · Singles Collection, Volume 2 Live albums Live on St. Patrick's Day from Boston, MA · Live on Lansdowne, Boston MA Split albums Split with Ducky Boys · Split with the Bruisers · Split with Anti-Heros · Split with Oxymoron · Mob Mentality · Unity · This Is the East Coast (...Not L.A.) · Face to Face vs. Dropkick Murphys · One for the Ages Singles "Fire and Brimstone" · "Tattoos and Scally Caps" · "Curse of Fallen Soul" · "Good Rats" · "Live on a Five" · "Walk Away" · "Time to Go" · "The Fields of Athenry" · "For Boston" · "Back to the Hub" · "Fields of Athenry: Andrew Farrar Memorial" · "The State of Massachusetts" Other songs "Buried Alive" · "Cadence to Arms" · "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" · "Last Letter Home" · "M.T.A." · "Skinhead on the MBTA" · "Tessie" DVD/Film appearances Vans Warped Tour 2003 · Punk-O-Rama Vol. 1 · On the Road with the Dropkick Murphys · Punk Rock Holocaust · Give 'Em the Boot Related bands The Outlets · The Bruisers · The Ducky Boys · Everybody Out! · Street Dogs Book:Dropkick Murphys · Category:Dropkick Murphys · Portal:Punk rock