JJ72

JJ72
JJ72
	[[]]
Background information
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Years active	1999–present
Members	Mark Greaney; Fergal Matthews; Sarah Fox
Past members	Hilary Woods

JJ72 are an indie rock band from Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

History

The band was formed in the late 1990s by lead singer Mark Greaney and drummer Fergal Matthews. The two recruited the Hilary Woods as bassist to complete the trio, playing gigs in Ireland while still studying for their Leaving Cert exams.

The band released their first album, the self titled JJ72 in Autumn 2000. A great critical and commercial success alike, the album has sold in excess of 500,000 copies in their native Ireland and in the United Kingdom. The album spawned the singles "Snow", "October Swimmer", "Long Way South", "Oxygen" and "Algeria", and saw the band perform promotional tours in Europe, the US and Japan.

The band's second album I To Sky followed in October 2002. Although this release was panned by critics, it reached the top 5 of the Irish album charts and the top 20 of the British charts, and contained the singles "Formulae" and "Always and Forever".

In March 2003 bassist Hilary Woods left the band "to pursue other interests". Greaney and Matthews recruited Canadian-born bassist Sarah Fox as her replacement. After a two year silence, the band embarked on their first tour with Sarah Fox in May 2005 and released the download and 7" only single "She's Gone". A second single, "Coming Home" followed in August 2005, peaking at number 52 in the UK charts. Another small venue tour followed in September 2005, with Greaney expressing from the stage his frustrations regarding the release of the third album. The band's third album is said to be complete, with the title rumoured to be On or Heaven City Falls, but no release date has been set, pending an ongoing dispute with current record labels Lakota Records and Columbia Records/Sony. Songs rumoured to be included on the new album include "Take From Me", "Rainfalls", "Underground", "Maria", "Everything", "Radio" and "Some Day".

Name

The origin of the band's name has been subject to much fan discussion. Speculative guesses have included:

Janis Joplin's weight at the height of her demise.
A reference to Greaney and Matthews' old school Belvedere College. James Joyce is a past pupil, and at the time they had last won the Leinster Senior Cup in 1972.
A reference to the number of Jam Jars (72) that had lined Greaney's classroom.
JJ - the name of an uncle of Fergal's who had died at the time of forming the band, 72 - a year important to both Mark and Fergal's parents.
James Joyce 1972. Greaney has often expressed admiration and respect for Joyce in interviews.

Discography

Albums

JJ72 (August 2000) #16 UK
I To Sky (2002) #20 UK

Singles

Pillows (Later renamed Oxygen) (Spring 1999)
October Swimmer (November 1999)
Snow (February 2000)
Long Way South (May 2000)
Oxygen (August 2000) #23 UK
October Swimmer (October 2000) #29 UK
Snow (January 2001) #21 UK
Formulae (September 2002) #28 UK
Always And Forever (February 2003) 42
She's Gone (June 2005)
Coming Home (August 2005) #52 UK

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