The Golden Horde (1982 - 1994) were a rock, punk, psychedelic band based in Dublin, Ireland. The most renowned line-up of the band was: Peter O'Kennedy, John Connor, Sam Steiger, Des O' Byrne, and Simon Carmody, although at the very first live performance, there were 13 band members on stage.
Their first recording, the EP: Dig That Crazy Grave, was released in 1983 on the Hotwire record label. Their first album, The Chocolate Biscuit Conspiracy!, followed in 1984, and included spoken-word contributions from futurist and satirist Robert Anton Wilson. Des O' Byrne scored the music for the premiere performance of Wilson's "Wilhelm Reich in Hell" play, which debuted in at the Edmund Burke Hall in Trinity College, Dublin. Wilson later went on to write the Golden Horde into one of his later 'Illuminatus' series books. The second album '...in Reality' followed this in 1986 and was released on MediaBurn Records as well as the Hotwire label.
Numerous BBC and RTE Radio Sessions were completed from 1985–1993, and featured Golden Horde originals as well as their own often eclectic choice of cover songs.
An unreleased album 'The Recording Company' co-produced with Paul Thomas[1] (U2, Clannad), as well as unreleased recordings with legendary producer Denny Cordell (The Cranberries, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Procol Harum), and other demo recordings are appearing increasingly across the internet (on SoundCloud, Facebook, YouTube etc.).
Recordings by 'The Last Bandits' (ie. The Golden Horde and friends) 'Til The Next Goodbye' and 'Christmas Morning' , as well as other rarities such as The Golden Horde b-side 'I'd Much Rather Be With The Boys' can be sought on YouTube. Yet another external Golden Horde project of note was their contribution to the Aidan Walsh: Master of the Universe,[2] recordings.
In 1990, now signed to U2's Mother/Island Records label, the recordings for '100 Boys' and 'I Never Came Down' singles were initiated with producer Daniel Rey (Ramones, Misfits, Ronnie Spector), and completed with co-producer Andy Shernoff (The Dictators, The Figgs, The Barracudas, Guided by Voices) for the album that would be self-titled 'The Golden Horde'.
Music videos for '100 Boys' and 'Friends in Time' were directed by Ritchie Smith, who as a result was later employed to work on the videos 'The Fly', 'Even Better Than the Real Thing', 'Mysterious Ways', 'Until the End of the World' and 'Last Night on Earth' for U2, he also later created work for 'The Verve' amongst others.
Released in 1991, the self-titled album 'The Golden Horde' was voted joint #1 record with U2's 'Achtung Baby' in the 'Hot Press Music Awards'[3] of that year. Singer and Golden Horde cohort Maria McKee, contributed vocals to the song "Friends in Time" amongst others on the album.
From 1992 to 1993, the singles 'Endless Weekend' , 'Hell (live)' and 'I Never Came Down' video were released. Official video releases as well as many 'fan-made' videos are available for viewing on YouTube etc.
The Golden Horde disbanded in 1994. Ex-member Sam Steiger is now with The Sultans of Ping FC, John Connor, now based in NYC, conducts some of his solo musical work under the moniker 'messyheads' 'messyheads' [2],[4], Peter O'Kennedy has moved into sculpture and design [5], Des O'Byrne is a busy DJ in NYC and Simon Carmody now pursues a career in screenwriting.