HOTHOUSE FLOWERS

I mentioned the Irish band Hothouse Flowers once before, in the post about fellow Irishmen The Frames. Back in the late eighties and early nineties, the Flowers were among my favorite bands. Strange because at the time I was big into angry and depressing stuff, which is the opposite of Hothouse Flowers.

By the mid-nineties, the original line up had split (alright, it wasn’t the original line up, but the line up from the first album), and I haven’t really taken the time to listen to their newer stuff.

That said, their early stuff was fantastic. Of course the songs on the albums were great, but many of my favorites were only issued as b-sides. Here’s a few from their first two albums to wet your appetite (I'll post some of the many many b-sides from their third album later):

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Hothouse Flowers - “Love Don’t Work This Way” (original version) This song later appeared on the first album, People, but in a very different form. This version is a duet between Liam O’Maonlai and Maria Doyle, who left the band shortly after recording this.
Hothouse Flowers - “Big Fat Heart” A radio session from 1988, released on the promo-only EP Just A Note.
Hothouse Flowers - “Carrickfergus” This is my favorite traditional Irish song, and this version is among the best I’ve heard (even better than Van Morrison and the Chieftains). Taken from the soundtrack to the movie Joyriders.
Hothouse Flowers - “Mountains” B-side of “I’m Sorry”.
Hothouse Flowers - “Wild White Horse” Taken from the soundtrack to The Courier.
Hothouse Flowers - “Bean Phaidin” Another traditional song. This one sung in Irish (or is that Gaelic?) B-side of the “Movies” single.


Hothouse Flowers discography:

People (1988) (buy)
Home (1990) (buy)
Songs From the Rain (1993) (buy)
Born (1998) (buy)
Into Your Heart (2004) (buy)

Hothouse Flowers are going to be touring the mid-west a little later this year. The dates are listed at their official site.