Latest news with #Thomas'Kidso'Reilly
Irish Examiner
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
TV Review: Aistear an Amhráin sifts through Spandau Ballet's syrupy ballad Through the Barricades
Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly was murdered by a British soldier in West Belfast in 1983 as he ran away from an army foot patrol. Aistear an Amhráin (RTE One and RTE Player) tells the story, explaining how it inspired Spandau Ballet's power ballad Through the Barricades. This is a shame. Reilly's story is interesting. His brother Jim was the drummer in Belfast band Stiff Little Fingers; Thomas escaped the Troubles and ended up on the London pop scene ( the three members of Bananarama carried wreaths at his funeral ); you get a glimpse of the culture shock that would be familiar to anyone who left 1980s Ireland for a taste of Thatcher's London. The shame is that we have to listen to a lot of Spandau Ballet songs. Reilly worked with them for a while – when the song-writer Gary Kemp visited his grave in Belfast he saw the so-called Peace Wall dividing the two communities, giving him a title and theme for a Romeo and Juliet style ballad set in Belfast called Through The Barricades. Kemp tells the story himself. He's obviously a decent bloke with a good eye for a pop tune, clearly upset by both Reilly's death and a big wall in Belfast. He also tried to elevate the song, borrowing phrases from W.B. Yeats and T.S. Eliot. Y ou can decide for yourself if it works. I think Through the Barricades is a syrupy and formulaic ballad that could be set anywhere, but then I never heard a Spandau Ballet song I didn't hate. The song feels wedged in to the story here. Thomas Reilly's death wasn't syrupy, he was shot dead at 4pm after a minor altercation. The 18 year-old soldier who pulled the trigger served 26 months in jail before quietly returning to his regiment. Meanwhile Reilly's family were left to grapple with the grief and injustice. We see his parents being interviewed in archive footage, heartbroken that ( as they put it ) they have to visit the graveyard to see their son while his killer is re-integrated into regular life and effectively exonerated. The real star is the brother Jim Reilly, talking about his time in Stiff Little Fingers and recounting how his brother Thomas was a brilliant dancer. His band, Stiff Little Fingers, were famously non-sectarian. When asked how he feels towards Ian Thain, the man who shot his brother, Jim Reilly says he forgives him, without missing a beat. H e had been taught it's better to forgive than to let bitterness consume the rest of your life. There's a very good song to be written about the life and death of Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly. It isn't Through the Barricades. Read More
Sunday World
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Spandau Ballet star reveals hit song was written after harrowing Troubles murder
'I'd never seen so many people come together for one person's funeral. It was very special. The queue stretched for miles along the road in west Belfast' Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly worked on the road for Bananarama, The Jam and Spandau Ballet Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly worked on the road for Bananarama, The Jam and Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet star Gary Kemp has confirmed their hit song Through The Barricades was not only written about The Troubles in the North but inspired by the murder of one of their roadies in Belfast. Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly was aged just 22 when he was shot dead by a British soldier on August 9, 1983, while walking home. Kidso was younger brother of Stiff Little Fingers drummer Jim Reilly and worked as a roadie in Britain for bands including Spandau Ballet, The Jam and Bananarama. 'We were born and grew up very close to one another, and Kidso's house was like a party house when we were young,' recalls his first cousin Tony Devlin on RTÉ documentary Aistear an Amhráin: Through the Barricades. Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly worked on the road for Bananarama, The Jam and Spandau Ballet 'Every weekend my mother would bring my youngest brother and I to their house. We'd make our way across the walls to their house 'When we were young he gave me a record, by the Celtic Fans in Glasgow. You'll Never Walk Alone was on one side, and Over and Over on the other side. I still have it. The sleeve is a little damaged at this stage. But it has pride of place in my home.' Jim moved to London with his band and sent a ticket over to his younger brother to join him. 'He was a great soccer player, great Gaelic player, he was a great dancer, northern soul, God almighty, unbelievable. Always smiling, always laughing, cared for everyone,' he explains to reporter Garry Mac Donncha. Tony maintains that Kidso would have been in his element immersed in the music industry. Spandau Ballet's main songwriter Gary Kemp 'You couldn't find a bigger contrast from Turf Lodge in west Belfast to the very heart of London during one of the most significant eras in music ever. And he was right in the middle of it, with groups like Bananarama, Spandau Ballet and The Jam,' he beams. But one summer night in 1983 their world was torn apart when, after a confrontation with 18-year-old British soldier Ian Thain, Kidso was shot in the back while walking away. His murder drew huge protests in Belfast and his funeral was enormous, with the three members of Bananarama touchingly holding a wreath each in his funeral procession and making international headlines. John Keeble, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, Tony Hadley and Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet News in 90 Seconds - June 17 'I was at home,' recalls Tony on hearing the news of the shooting. 'My parents were both out, up the road somewhere. 'And the phone rang. I picked it up, a woman was at the other end and she was hysterical. She was screaming 'they shot Thomas'. Where is your mother? Tell her they shot Thomas.' That's the first time I ever saw my mother cry. She was beside herself. 'I'd never seen so many people come together for one person's funeral. It was very special. The queue stretched for miles along the road in west Belfast. I remember holding my father's hand and I did not let go. I didn't want to get lost in such a huge crowd.' Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly worked on the road for Bananarama, The Jam and Spandau Ballet Jim was naturally devastated by his brother's killing. 'I was just dead inside, and hurt and angry, very very angry. It was like the Second World War on the street,' he says. Worse was to come during the trial. 'My father had to sit through the whole trial and listen to the details, and listen to that British soldier, Ian Thain, blacken his son's name and make his son — who he had murdered in cold blood — out to be the perpetrator and him the victim,' he storms. Thain made legal history by becoming the first British soldier to be tried and convicted of murder. But despite getting a life sentence, he was freed after 22 months and even allowed rejoin his regiment. Gary Kemp, who was Spandau's main songwriter, grew up in London but has Irish connections. 'My grandfather was from Ireland, although I never knew him. My mother never even knew him, because he died before she was born. He came over to work the roads, like a lot of Irish people did in the early 20th century,' he notes. 'For Kidso, coming over to see us it was that mixture of Irish and west Indian and the whole melting pot that we had in London, embracing all these different cultures 'So, Kidso worked with the band, came on tour with us. 'I just remember him being a really nice guy, hardworking, enjoying the job of being on the road with an up-and-coming band. The Spandau Ballet single Through The Barricades 'Kidso was with us on the True tour, so we were at that time selling records around the world. News came through to us that he had been killed and it made the Troubles so real.' While playing two concerts in Belfast, Gary decided to visit Kidso's grave and the surrounding area. 'I was shocked by the barricades stopping you from crossing into these main roads into another road, from one area into the next,' he recollects. 'I had never seen anything like that and, of course, the resonance seeing that as we walked towards the cemetery to look at Kidso's grave, with his little photograph stuck on the cross was a very powerful, poignant, and stayed with me as an experience stronger than anything.' Spandau took advantage of Irish tax scheme for musicians and moved to Dublin for a period in the mid-1980s, renting a house in Dublin 4. 'We all fell in love with it as a city and we decided to write and make an album in Dublin,' he adds. 'I just remember lying in my bed and the chorus line started to come into my head. That was actually the first thing I put to music, 'now I know what they're saying and the music of the parade, as we made our love on wasteland through the barricades'.' He remembers playing the song for the first time in Belfast in 1987, with its theme being about a young Catholic and Protestant having a love across the divide. 'We went to King's Hall in Belfast to play as part of our world tour, and I was really nervous about that,' he elaborates. 'I remember getting up on stage and doing that song. I saw a guy on top of another guys shoulders and he was crying his eyes out. And their arms were all up in the air. 'I remember all of us holding back the tears that night.'
Irish Independent
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
What to watch on TV and streaming today: Love Rat, Nicholas Nickleby and Mayor of Mayhem
Aistear an Amhráin RTÉ One, 7pm It's almost 40 years since Spandau Ballet released their hit single Through the Barricades. Some have dismissed it as a cheesy love song, but as this programme reveals, it's actually much deeper than that and was inspired by the murder of the band's Belfast-born roadie, Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly, by a British soldier in 1983. Love Rat RTÉ2, 9.30pm Four-part psychological thriller starring Sally Lindsay as a divorcee who tries to escape her personal problems by holidaying in Tenerife. She soon falls in love with a local hotelier and, to the horror of her friends, decides to give everything up to live with him — are her nearest and dearest right to be worried? In the Footsteps of Killers Channel 4, 10pm Emilia Fox and Professor David Wilson present the third run of the true-crime series. They begin by examining the case of Bulic Forsythe, a London council worker who was killed at home in 1993. Nicholas Nickleby Film4, 11am Classic take on Charles Dickens's novel, with Derek Bond in the title role. He's a teacher who, horrified by the brutal regime at the school where he works, quits his job and joins a band of travelling actors. However, he can't seem to shake off his past. Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem Netflix, streaming now Initially dismissed as a joke by politicians and the media alike, Rob Ford's unexpected 2010 Toronto mayoral election bid defied expectations with a stunning landslide victory. However, his administration soon spiralled into chaos, marred by scandals and allegations of hard drug use, igniting an international media frenzy. Rob was 15 years too early; no one would bat an eyelid nowadays. ADVERTISEMENT Sally Disney+, streaming now Sally Ride made history as the first American woman in space, but behind her serene exterior lay a deeply personal story. For 27 years, she shared her life with writer and professional tennis player Tam O'Shaughnessy, who now unveils the untold journey of their relationship in this Cristina Costantini-directed film. American Thunder Prime Video, streaming now Celebrating its 100th anniversary in June 2023, the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans — one of motorsports' most prestigious endurance races — introduced an unexpected competitor: stock car aficionados Nascar. As for what they brought to proceedings? A Chevrolet Camaro to compete against cutting-edge Ferrari and Porsche prototypes in this almost fabled, gruelling test of long-distance racing. Competing at Le Mans was the lifelong dream of Nascar chairman and CEO Jim France. As such, he brought in Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful team in Nascar history, to build and race the car (which, again, was a Camaro). On the plus side, he also enlisted the help of elite drivers Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller. Over the course of 18 months, this team transformed a car built for (at most) three-hour oval track races in the US into one capable of surviving the relentless 24-hour challenge. Deep Cover Prime Video, streaming now Not to be mistaken for the 1990s movie starring Fishburne and Goldblum, this film is about an improv teacher and her two students posing as criminals to slip into London's underworld. Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, Nick Mohammed and Sean Bean have their work cut out for them to make this fly. Return to the Wild Disney+, streaming now Famed as 'the greatest living explorer', Sir Ranulph 'Ran' Fiennes joins his cousin, actor Joseph Fiennes (no sign of brother Ralph, unfortunately), on a breathtaking journey through British Columbia. As they navigate its rugged terrain, they reflect on Ran's legendary expeditions, his battle with Parkinson's, and the deepening bond forged through their shared adventure. Echo Valley AppleTV+, streaming now Julianne Moore and Domhnall Gleeson are getting all the work of late. Both co-star in this thriller about a mother who will do anything to keep her drug-addled daughter 'safe' (including body disposal). Written by Brad Ingelsby (Mare of Easttown), this moody (if a tad predictable) number stars Sydney Sweeney alongside 'dad' Kyle MacLachlan and Fiona Shaw.
