The Frank and Walters: ‘Linda McCartney said that After All reminded her of a Beatles song’

Hanging out with Paul McCartney, touring with Radiohead - and why they fell out with Noel Gallagher. The Frank and Walters share three decades of memories with Ed Power

IE WEEKEND VICKIE 17/04/2023 stock generic image music singing.

On their way to becoming one of the most successful Cork bands of all time, The Frank and Walters have rubbed more than a few famous shoulders. Backstage at Top of the Pops in 1993, the Franks hung out with Paul McCartney. They shared a tour van with a baby-faced Radiohead. And they struck up a friendship with Noel Gallagher in his pre-Oasis days — though the relationship took a wobble after Noel, who briefly worked as their roadie, invited the Franks back to his flat.

“We got on very well with him,” recalls Paul Linehan, the group’s singer and songwriter. “When we played in Oldham supporting Inspiral Carpets [for whom Gallagher also roadied] he brought us back to his apartment. He had an aquarium with really nice fish in it. Some of the fish might have died after we visited.”

“One of our friends might have poisoned the fish,” adds Franks’ drummer Ashley Keating. “Maybe that’s why he doesn’t talk to us any more. The guy who used to sell our T-shirts poured some vodka into the aquarium to see what would happen. One of the fish died.” 

This was in the early 1990s when Franks were about to release their debut album, Trains, Boats and Planes. The record marked its 30th-anniversary last year and, in honour of the occasion, the band spent the spring playing commemorative gigs around Europe. They’re just back from trips to Greece and France and will perform the LP in its entirety later this year at Cyprus Avenue in Cork. Before that, fans can see them giving (non-anniversary) shows at Connolly’s of Leap on May 20 at Sea Church Ballycotton in June.

“We’ve been touring up and down Europe for years,” says Linehan. “France, Spain, Germany and Greece would be the main places — the ones we seem to keep going back to. And obviously, we’ve been playing England for years. That’s almost like playing Ireland in a sense. We play there quite a lot.”

“We don’t kill ourselves any more. It’s nice to get out,” says Keating. As with the rest of the band, the drummer now has a day job. He’s programme manager at Cork Opera House while Linehan teaches music.

“With us, we play weekends mainly. That suits us perfectly. We’ve been through long gruelling tours back in the 1990s,” says Linehan. “We’d just be exhausted from playing night after night. You use up a lot of adrenaline every time you play a gig. And then you have to do it again. It’s hard on your voice too. You have to sing night after night.”

The Frank & Walters (from left) Ashley Keating, Paul Linehan and Rory Murphy at the English Market, Cork. Picture Denis Minihane.

BRIMMING WITH TUNES

Trains, Boats and Planes.was a snapshot of the Franks as naive newcomers who conquered the early 1990s alternative scene almost by accident. It also brims with some of the greatest indie tunes of the era: ‘This Is Not A Song’, ‘Fashion Crisis Hits New York’ and ‘Walters Trip’ with its fantastically surreal chorus of “Aha aha aha jay ri re re rumble/Ahe he’s got dish he likes apple crumble” (the song was Noel Gallagher’s favourite). With the single ‘After All’, the Franks also created history when, in January 1993, they became the first Cork musicians to grace the BBC’s Top of the Pops.

“We would have been overwhelmed by it,” says Linehan. “It was an ambition of ours to be on Top of the Pops when we were teenagers. And then meeting Paul McCartney, who was in the dressing room across from us. Himself and Linda. Being Beatles fans and Top of the Pops fans… And to see them on the same night…”

They have vivid memories of their appearance. Their performance was recorded in the early evening and they were permitted two takes. As per Top of the Pops rules, Linehan sang live while the music was mimed.

“I had to sing live. The music was backing tracks,” Linehan recollects. “I wanted another go but they never gave it to me. Because of the occasion, I was a bit overwhelmed and nervous. The vocals weren’t as good as I wanted for them. I did my best. Looking back, they weren’t so bad.”

The Franks were allowed 20 fans; the rest of the audience was youngsters who had applied for tickets through the BBC. “They were from the Frank and Walters fans club,” remembers Linehan. “Some of them had Franks T-shirts.”

“I’ve been trying to describe the importance of Top of the Pops to my own kids,” continues Keating. “If you were into music it was the most important programme of the week without a doubt. It was huge. It’s hard to think you would have discovered such good music on a mainstream music programme. But that was my first exposure to Echo and the Bunnymen, The Specials, The Jam. All these bands I love. It’s hard to describe it to people who haven’t grown up with it, how huge it was — and how much of a big deal. It was the proudest thing we’ve done. It was mind-blowing.”

The Frank & Walters (from left) Paul Linehan, Ashley Keating and Rory Murphy at the English Market, Cork. Picture Denis Minihane.

MEETING THE MCCARTNEYS

It was at Top of the Pops that they met Paul and Linda. “Linda said that ‘After All’ reminded her of a Beatles song,” says Linehan. “She said that, there is a bit of a Beatle-ness to it. The rhythm that we chose is a 1960s shuffle. It makes it slightly Beatles-esque with the harmonies.”

With ‘After All’ peaking at 11 in the UK – it was their fourth top 50 single – and Trains, Boats and Planes picking up stellar reviews, it seemed that the Franks were going places. However, constant touring began to take a toll and they moved home to Cork from London. That shift may not have helped their careers. It did, though, ensure the longevity of the band. After time away they returned in 1997 with their best album, Grand Parade. 

Linehan feels they may have fizzled out had they stayed in the UK and tried to crank out further hits in the mould of ‘After All’. 

“We had moved to London in 1991. In 1992 and 1993 we toured up and down England, Scotland and Wales. We were in Europe as well. We did so much touring we burned ourselves out,” says Linehan. 

“When we came back, our record company was asking us to go to America. Career-wise it would have been the perfect move. The songs had got to America. It would have been perfect. We were burned out. We said, ‘no…we’re going to go home and take a bit of time off and start writing the Grand Parade album’. And that was it.” 

The Frank and Walters closing out Summer Sounds at Coughlans. Photo: Shane J Horan

'YOU START TO WRITE A SONG, AND IT HELPS'

Trains, Boats and Planes was the first of seven studio records. But the last of those, Songs for the Walking Wounded, was seven years ago. The Franks continue to tour regularly. Can fans look forward to new music?

“For me personally, I have to write music. It keeps me sane,” says Linehan. “It’s therapy. It’s like meditation. When you write a song you go into a trance-like state. If you have a problem, you start to write a song and it helps. It lets you solve your problem. It’s the equivalent of talking to a therapist. A problem shared is a problem halved — you write a song and that’s what happens.”

The songs still mean a lot to him. The trickier question is whether they would mean anything to the rest of the world. “I’ve written a lot during the lockdown. I’ve started recording them — just getting them up and running. I have my own home studio. One of the new songs is called ‘I’m Making A Worthless Commodity’. The song is about how I’m wasting my time because music has become a worthless commodity because of the likes of Spotify. But, you never know. It would be funny if it did well.”

The Frank & Walters (from left) Rory Murphy, Paul Linehan and Ashley Keating in Cork. Picture Denis Minihane.

The Frank and Walters play: 

• Connolly’s of Leap, May 20 
• Sea Church, Ballycotton, June 3
• Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, July 28
• They celebrate 30 years of Trains, Boats and Planes by playing the album in its entirety at Cyprus Avenue, Cork December 22