MULTI platinum selling band Bagatelle started way back in 1978, at a time when original bands were not all that successful in Ireland. As a matter of fact, the idea of a band touring nationwide with a totally original music set just didn’t work for most.
 
However, Bagatelle’s music did work and would help to establish
them firmly on the Irish music circuit worldwide. Over those 40-plus years the band have had several number one singles with iconic songs such as Summer In Dublin, Second Violin and Trump Card, as well as hits such as Streets of New York written by their late lead singer Liam Reilly.
 
Now, Bagatelle’s bass player, Ken Doyle is on his way to Belfast for an exclusive ‘In Conversation’ event with U105’s Johnny Hero.
 
Speaking ahead of his visit to Belfast, Ken told the Andersonstown News the line-up that we know and love, wasn’t the original line-up of the band.
 
“When we first got together we had a female singer called Marian Byrne. We hired an American guy to do the door and collect the money. Marian then fell in love with him and left the band.
 
“When Marian left we had a dilemma as we had no lead singer. Liam said that he could sing and he wrote a few songs. He played Summer In Dublin for us on an out of tune upright piano. He looked around when he finished and no one said a word. He asked what we thought and we all asked if he wrote it because it was more than a song.
 
“Little did we know what it would turn into,” he said.

Ken said that the song and their career took off with Summer In Dublin receiving some airplay and then they were invited to perform it on the Late Late Show.
 
As their success grew, the band were initially reluctant to travel to the North due to the ongoing conflict and Ken told us that when their management suggested a gig over the border, they were terrified. 
 
“Because of all the news items we were terrified of travelling up. Eventually he organised a gig in the Knocknamoe Hotel in Omagh and the minute we went up and got into the place, it was amazing and we never looked back.
 
“You have to be careful about the news reports too because sometimes they blacken things so bad, and yes in certain areas it was bad, but we always had a great audience in the North who have now become great friends.”

In 1984, while the band were on their way to a gig in Portrush, they were caught up in a UDA assassination attempt on Gerry Adams.
 
Recalling that day, Ken said: “Liam was driving the car and we saw blue smoke coming out of the tires of another car. We thought they were joyriders or something but the next thing there were soldiers and police. 
 
“I crawled as much as I could into the footwell and I noticed a load of schoolkids about 15. They were lighting cigarettes and so we thought everything was fine and continued on our way to Portrush.
 
“It was when we got to the venue and were having lunch in the bar when the news came on and we knew then what we had witnessed.”
 
Having shared stages with legends such as Bob Marley, John Denver, Duran Duran and George Michael, the band never forgot their roots and often returned to play both north and south of the border. 
 
“We weren’t a political band at all,” Ken said.

“Our music crossed over and if anyone asked us to play a national anthem at a gig they were told that we were a rock band and would play a rock anthem for them.”
 
In January 2021, Liam Reilly passed away aged 65 which Ken described as devastating.
 
“John [O’Brien] died a couple of years before that. He hadn’t been with the band as he had a few health issues and there would never had been a Bagatelle if he hadn’t started the band.
 
“The devastation of Liam is still a shock. As you can imagine, he was one hell of a guy. He had a great voice, he was a great piano player, great song-writer and he is a very hard act to follow.
 
“Promoters have been asking me to find another singer and if I did find the right singer I would do it. The audience are screaming out for it too.
 
“We owe 40-odd years of success to our audience and that is just amazing.”
 
Johnny Hero In Conversation with Ken Doyle will take place in The Black Box on Thursday 29 September. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.