My Childhood Mates "Thinking of You" & I Need Your Help

Aloha,

Right then, how's the craic?

Yez'll all have to bear with me if me Dublin accent kicks back in, loike, because I am absolutely chuffed to bits for two old mates of mine - and current songwriters - who need *your* help!



Dave Spiro (L) and Mark Keogh (Courtesy: The Hit)

We're talking about forty years ago since I first met Mark Keogh and Dave Spiro.

In our "gang" of seven lads, we had Dave, one Liam, a Paul and FOUR Marks, so *he* became Keoghie and I was "Koopo." The other two Marks became Fareller and Wildey. (We kids were deep thinkers :)

Growing up in the South Side of Dublin in the 1970s was tough in many ways. Much of the city was in general decline and joyriding was a national pastime to where our asphalt playgrounds were often warmed in winters (and summers!!) by stolen and burnt-out cars. But, we lived there and knew no different. We went with the flow - for the most part.
Indeed, the Rialto version of public transportation to and from school meant "scutting" on the back of Guinness lorries, because the famous Guinness Brewery, and our old secondary school, share at least one wall. (To this day, the smell of burnt toast still reminds me of the hops and yeast cooking - or whatever it was doing :)

However, from the ashes of a Vauxhall Astra came the 21st century and 2007, which is when Dave and the Mark formerly known as Keoghie met again in Rialto after years travelling their own paths. Their foundation of friendship grew and was soon forged into today's current partnership as singer/songwriters.

Republic of Loose (Courtesy: Republic of Loose)

This past Friday, Mark and Dave made it to the live show edition of The Hit, a new show on Irish television station, RTE 1.



The lads then won a spot in the upcoming finals when Irish group, Republic of Loose, choose Mark and Dave's song, Thinking of You to be the band's newest single.








Mark and Dave are up against the songwriter of Samantha Mumba's song, Somebody Like Me.
Whomever gets the higher chart position *this* Friday wins through to the upcoming finals.

So, IF you can, here are some ways to help me mates in their efforts:

In Ireland, you can buy the new Republic of Loose single Thinking of You by texting Song1 to 57082 to buy the song on your phone.

Internationally, you can show the lads some support by:

Downloading the song via iTunes here

Liking the song on FB here

Tweeting it using the link here

As mentioned, Mark and Dave's song, as performed by Republic of Loose, is available anywhere, including iTunes here, although the show does only takes into account the Irish chart position.

I'll leave you with a positive quote from Mark, on a recent Facebook post Sunday, "Its gona be tough! Thanks for the support."

Here's the YouTube link to Thinking of You


PS: Cheers and ta very much :)

PPS: GOOD LUCK, Mark and Dave. You're a gas bunch, but we're rooting for yez here in Hawaii :)