Aslan

Early forecasts cast the Irish rock band Aslan as likely heirs to U2’s American conquest. Their sudden 1988 breakup on the precise date their debut single was slated for U.S. release derailed that trajectory, yet a reunion five years afterward allowed them to build an enduring catalog that ranks them among Ireland’s most beloved and longest-lasting acts. Drawing from David Bowie, the Smiths, and the Rolling Stones, they burst onto the Irish scene in 1986 via the independently financed single “This Is,” which secured an EMI Ireland contract and earned the longest continuous rotation of any track in national radio history. After the mid-’90s reunion their sound grew gentler and more harmonically developed, echoing the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and contemporaries Oasis, while relentless touring through the decade cemented their status as one of the country’s most successful live attractions.

Vocalist Christy Dignam, a classically trained tenor, guitarist Joe Jewell, and bassist Tony McGuinness first united in 1980 as Meelah XVIII. That incarnation’s chief milestone was a short session for influential 2FM DJ Dave Fanning before the group dissolved. The three musicians reconvened in 1983 with guitarist Billy McGuinness (unrelated to Tony) and drummer Alan Downey, taking the name Aslan from the lion in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia chronicles. After cultivating a loyal following in economically challenged Dublin, they funded the release of “This Is” in 1986 and swiftly issued the Smiths-inflected follow-ups “Please Don’t Go” and “Loving Me Lately.” A brief British tour that summer prompted BBC Radio 1 to add “This Is,” positioning the band for a major-label breakthrough by year’s end. In 1987 they signed with EMI Records and cut their debut album, Feel No Shame, which re-recorded those early singles and debuted at number one the following spring.

Strong Irish sales prompted EMI to green-light a second album and target the American market. On the eve of “This Is” reaching U.S. stores, however, Christy Dignam was dismissed amid a heroin addiction that resurfaced periodically into the twenty-first century. The remaining members briefly continued with vocalist Eamonn Doyle before splitting; they later reassembled as a four-piece called Precious Stones. In 1990 Dignam formed Dignam & Goff with ex-Fast Boys guitarist Conor Goff, issuing two 7-inch singles before the project faded. Five years to the day after the original rupture, Aslan reunited for a one-off show in their hometown of Finglas. That performance sparked a full revival, and 1994’s Goodbye Charlie Moonhead on BMG yielded the hit single “Crazy World.” Commercial success followed, yet label upheaval resulted in their being dropped.

Self-financed sessions produced 1997’s Here Comes Lucy Jones; the next year EMI issued the compilation A Shame About Lucy Moonhead, drawn from the band’s first three albums, which entered the chart at number one. Their first live album, 1999’s Made in Dublin on Rubyworks, also topped the chart and received widespread praise. Retaining independence, Aslan permitted EMI to release the 2001 studio set Waiting for the Madness to End, which spawned the hits “She’s So Beautiful” and the Beatles-parodying “Love Is All You Need.” The three-disc, 48-track retrospective The Platinum Collection appeared in October 2005 and reached platinum certification within three weeks. Two years later, in October 2007, the fifth album For Some Strange Reason arrived, featuring the Damien Dempsey collaboration “Blood or Diamonds” and the Top Five single “Here Comes the Sun.” After nearly a decade of treatment for amyloidosis, Christy Dignam succumbed to the illness on June 13, 2023, at age 63.