Virgin Prunes were an Irish post-punk/gothic rock band formed in 1977 in Dublin. They disbanded in 1986 after the departure of singer Gavin Friday. The other members continued under the name The Prunes until they split up in 1991.

History

The Virgin Prunes were founded in 1977 by vocalists Guggi (né Derek Rowen), Gavin Friday (né Fionan Hanvey) and Dave-iD Busaras, guitarist Dik Evans (brother of U2's The Edge), bassist Strongman (Trevor Rowen, brother of Guggi) and drummer Pod (Anthony Murphy).

Two of the band members, Guggi and Friday, had been part of Lypton Village, a "youthful gang" in early 1970s Dublin, which had also included U2's Bono.

Known for their outrageous and controversial stage performances, led by theatrical singer/songwriter Friday, the band began playing small shows in Dublin, gaining them a cult audience. on their own Baby Records label (distributed by Rough Trade) on 8 January 1981, followed by a second single, "Moments and Mine (Despite Straight Lines)", on 27 June 1981.

Two other tracks recorded with Binttii were released during 1981 before conflicts with other members forced him out of the band.

"A New Form of Beauty" was a project that originally contained four chapters and was released in various formats: a 7" single, 10" single and 12" EP released in 1981, and a cassette issued in 1982. The project also included two additional pieces, the unpublished book A New Form of Beauty 6 and the unreleased film A New Form of Beauty 7.

Band members

Timeline

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id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals

id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar

id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards

id:bass value:blue legend:Bass

id:drums value:orange legend:Drums

id:release value:black legend:Album

BarData =

bar:Gavin text:"Gavin Friday"

bar:Guggi text:"Guggi"

bar:Dik text:"Dik Evans"

bar:Strongman text:"Strongman"

bar:Pod text:"Pod"

bar:Binttii text:"Haa-Lacka Binttii"

bar:Mary text:"Mary D’Nellon"

bar:Dave-id text:"Dave-id Busaras"

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width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

bar:Gavin from:01/01/1977 till:15/06/1986 color:vocals

bar:Guggi from:01/01/1977 till:15/06/1984 color:vocals

bar:Dik from:01/01/1977 till:15/06/1984 color:guitar

bar:Strongman from:01/01/1977 till:15/06/1991 color:bass

bar:Dave-id from:01/01/1977 till:15/06/1991 color:vocals width:3

bar:Pod from:01/01/1977 till:15/06/1980 color:drums

bar:Pod from:15/06/1984 till:15/06/1986 color:drums

bar:Binttii from:15/06/1980 till:15/06/1981 color:drums

bar:Binttii from:15/06/1980 till:15/06/1981 color:keys width:3

bar:Mary from:15/06/1981 till:15/06/1984 color:drums

bar:Mary from:15/06/1984 till:15/06/1986 color:guitar

bar:Mary from:15/06/1986 till:15/06/1991 color:guitar

bar:Mary from:15/06/1986 till:15/06/1991 color:vocals width:3

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at:15/11/1982

at:01/06/1986

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Discography

Albums

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Title

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Album details

!Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | UK<br/>Indie<br/>

|-

! scope="row" | ...If I Die, I Die

|

  • Released: November 1982
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: LP

|8

|-

! scope="row" | The Moon Looked Down and Laughed

|

  • Released: July 1986
  • Label: Baby, Touch and Go
  • Formats: CD, LP, MC

|5

|}

Live albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Title

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Album details

|-

! scope="row" | The Hidden Lie (Live in Paris 6/6/86)

|

  • Released: May 1987
  • Label: Baby
  • Formats: CD, LP, MC
  • France-only release

|-

! scope="row" | Sons Find Devils

|

  • Released: 13 January 1998
  • Label: Cleopatra
  • Formats: CD
  • US-only release

|}

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Title

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Album details

!Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | UK<br/>Indie<br/>