They intended to self-release the album but then they met two like-minded brothers, Shane O’Neill (from the epic Blue in Heaven) and his brother Brian who were setting up a new independent record label called Dirt Records and were lining up releases with some great acts the band were big fans of, including Sack, The Idiots, Tension, The Blue Angels, Jimmy Eadie’s Amusement & Supernaut featuring Shane O’Neill & Dave Long. The O’Neill’s father Seamus O’Neill also had a long history in the record business in Ireland with Mulligan Records & Gael Linn.
Revelino‘s eponymous debut was the first release on the label on Oct 6th 1994 with the immortal catalogue number Dirty 1! The band celebrated with a sold-out debut show in The Baggot Inn and the album received rave reviews. The lead single Happiness is Mine had an immediate impact on radio and became a regular feature on the wonderful No Disco music TV show on RTE. Hot Press critics voted it 3rd best single of the year, it featured in Dave Fanning’s Fab 50 and years later in 2004 the album was voted no 47 in the 100 Greatest Irish albums list.
In January 1995 they received 9 top five places in the Hot Press Readers Poll including No 1 best New Act. Then in April they released Don’t Lead Me Down which went on to feature in two film soundtracks – British gangster movie Hardmen and Irish cult comedy crime classic, I Went Down written by Conor McPherson, directed by Paddy Breathnach and featuring a great Irish cast including Brendan Gleeson and Peter McDonald. I Went Down also featured the song Hello from the debut album. Touring highlights of that year included a sold-out Tivoli show, festival spots including Feile and a support slot with Neil Young on his Mirrorball tour.
1996 kicked off with the band working on a new album, the release of a new in-between-albums single I Know What You Want and an epic Heineken Rollercoaster Tour of Ireland co-headlining with the incendiary Whipping Boy. While working on the follow-up album, the band signed an international licensing deal with French / UK label Musidisc and the debut album was released internationally in March 1996 to great reviews. They toured the UK and France and appeared live on French cultural TV chat show Nulle Part Ailleurs, introduced by football legend Michel Platini! They secured two spots at The Phoenix Festival that summer and, more impressively, the band also reached the final of the celebrity 5-a-side football tournament at the festival, hammering Massive Attack (and Banksy?) 4-1 and Dodgy 3-0 along the way. They were pipped for the trophy by the Guardian newspaper team featuring Mick Talbot from Style Council and a bunch of professional ringers including players from Chelsea and two of the Stein brothers!
The second album Broadcaster was recorded at The Music Warehouse studio built by Dirt Records and produced by Ciaran Byrne and Ronan McHugh. It was mixed by Pat Collier who had worked with The Jesus & Mary Chain, Primal Scream and The Wonder Stuff. The album release was preceded by the first single Step On High in August 1996 which the late great John Peel highlighted as one of favourite singles of the year. It also featured on the soundtrack for the film Blowdry (directed by Paddy Breathnach and starring Alan Rickman and Natasha Richardson). Years later in 2005 on the first anniversary of Peel’s death, NME wrote a feature about Peel’s box of favourite 120 singles in which Revelino’s Step On High was the only Irish single included other than The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks! The following month Channel 4 broadcasted the documentary Peel’s Record Box, which is really worth checking out online. Broadcaster was released in Oct 1996 with the New York Times describing it as “Beautiful, harmony-laden confections with buzzing guitars.” The band celebrated the release with a sold-out show at Whelan’s and then closed out the year with another Irish tour and their biggest headline show to date at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre.
1997 began with the release of the second single from the album, Radio Speaks, which was described as “The Byrd’s with Balls!” The video for the song was shot by Robbie Ryan who has gone on to an incredible career including working with Ken Loach and shooting the award-winning film The Favourite. Following a show together in The Savoy in Limerick, the brilliant A House invited the band to be their special guests for their emotional final show in The Olympia in Feb 1997. UK and European dates followed and in May 1997 the band recorded a GLR radio session with Gary Crowley.
Following a series of shows in the US that summer, the band returned to Ireland disillusioned and cracks started to set in. Drummer Shane Rafferty sadly decided to leave the band and a bunch of other great drummers sat in over the remaining years including Ian Melady, Norman Hunt, Steve Hogan, Andy Brocklebank and Tim McGrath who played drums and percussion for Revelino’s final album, To The End.
The band started work during what proved to be a long drawn out process during which Monty also decided to call it a day. The three remaining members – Brendan Tallon, Ciaran Tallon & Bren Berry – decided to sign off with one more album and the final press release written by Leagues O’Toole captured the mood as they intended… “To The End is written and performed in sadness and tenderness. The orchestration, lovingly painted, spins a yearning subtext… The pace, down-beat but driven, facilitates the mood… but there is another dimension to To The End, a delirious affinity for analogue mavericks, space-age soundtrackers and vintage oddities. An album rich in memories and pictures.”
The album was released in May 2001 and was marked by the band’s final headline show in The Shelter. Good friend Karl McDermott from The Receipts had contributed backing vocals on the album and stood in on bass & BVs for live shows. Around that time Donovan was playing Vicar St and the band gave him a copy of the record and he responded with a wonderful note… “the sounds are mysterious and so mid euro atmosphere through the landscape you create – like Cohen the words are theatrical mini movies of the mind.” They played a few final gigs supporting Bob Dylan in Kilkenny that summer and then with Television and Echo & The Bunnymen at Vicar Street later that year. Both bands were big influences and the Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain was a big reference point for the European sound of To The End that Donavan had referred to – it was a great moment for the band when Ian McCullough praised them after the show saying “Great gig lads, very European sound!” And that was it. Revelino – To The End.
Happiness Is Mine
Revelino Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll show you what its like, sometime
Bright star of my life, I'll give you something nice, sometime
It feels like all the days of my life
It feels like a moment darker than night
Nothin' moves inside this picture out of time, one time
You took my photograph
Now always see me laugh, one time
It feels like all the days of my life
It feels like a moment darker than night
I feel it rise and fall again and give a word to my lament
It feels like all the days of my life
It feels like a moment darker than night
Happiness is mine
I'll show what it's like, sometime
In Revelino's song "Happiness Is Mine," the artist expresses joy and contentment with their life. The opening line "Happiness is mine" is a clear indication that the artist has found something that brings them great joy, and they are eager to share it with others. The lines "I'll show you what it's like, sometime/Bright star of my life, I'll give you something nice, sometime" suggest that the artist is not only content with their own life, but they also want to spread joy and happiness to those around them.
The chorus of the song repeats the line "It feels like all the days of my life/It feels like a moment darker than night," which seems to suggest that the artist has had some difficult moments in the past, but they have now found a sense of peace and happiness. The line "Nothin' moves inside this picture out of time, one time" adds to the idea that the artist is living in the moment and enjoying the present.
The artist's sense of joy is also expressed through the image of a photograph. The line "You took my photograph/Now always see me laugh, one time" suggests that the artist's joy is captured in this moment, making it a lasting source of happiness.
Overall, "Happiness Is Mine" is a joyful and optimistic song that celebrates finding happiness in life and sharing it with others.
Line by Line Meaning
Happiness is mine
I am content and joyful in my life
I'll show you what its like, sometime
I will share my happiness with you at a later time
Bright star of my life, I'll give you something nice, sometime
You are important to me, and I will do something kind for you eventually
It feels like all the days of my life
My happiness has lasted for a long time
It feels like a moment darker than night
No sadness or negativity can bring me down
Nothin' moves inside this picture out of time, one time
Everything is still and frozen in this moment
You took my photograph
You captured a moment of happiness that I cherish
Now always see me laugh, one time
Whenever you see that photograph, you will see me smiling and happy
I feel it rise and fall again and give a word to my lament
Even when my happiness fluctuates, it still brings meaning to my sadness or sorrow
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Brendan Tallon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Romanus
When this song came out, I saw a live version on French TV (the show was "Nulle Part Ailleurs"), then bought the album, then later the next album. I listened to these two albums more than any other from that era. The songs were consistently good. There must have been a lot of hope with this band at the time, as this song is a killer and had a lot of potential in terms of commercial success. But it wasn't to be...
Ben H
I can’t put into words how happy I am to have all this material finally be coming back. I first got into the band about 5 years ago when my dad gave me all his old cds with the self titled included. Been one of my favourite bands ever since.
Revelino
Thanks Ben!
ab und zu
I recorded this song in 1997 on tape while listing to John Peel on BFBS. It's still on my beloved mixtape "Radiosommer 97". Thank you for this passionate piece of music!
SkyWatcherVR
Sounding fantastic lads!
ALEJANDRA SCENOGRAFA
I love this song, it reminds me when I lived in Dublin 💚 such a good time
Mathieu S
Oh my god! I used to tape late night music videos on french channel M6 so that I could watch them the next day, they always had a great selection on Wednesday nights! Watching this makes me so happy, although it takes me back to those awkward teenage years... thank you so much!
Street Nomadism
those kind of beautiful songs cristallized in the past with our old teenage memories
Colm Wade
Great band saw them supporting Gene in the Tivoli i think.Blew them off the stage.Good times.
Mahoona Cahoona
sounds great