Golden Horde

The Golden Horde were a punk-pop band from Dublin. Originally formed in 1982 by Simon Carmody, Des O'Byrne and Caroline Harvey-Kelly, some of the band's early performances had extensive line ups. These early incarnations included Stephen Ryan [The Stars Of Heaven & The Revenants] and Justin Healy [The Glee Club & Bungalow]. By 1983, the lineup had settled down to being a 5-piece. The band wasted no time in releasing their first EP, 'Dig That Crazy Grave' which was produced by Eamonn Carr [Horslips] and released on Hotwire Records. 

Their debut album, 'The Chocolate Biscuit Conspiracy' was released in 1984 with the single 'Young And Happy' following a year later. Throughout this period, and on the back of these releases and live performances, the band were building a loyal cult following. It was around this time that the band underwent some personnel changes. Sam Steiger was brought in as a second guitarist and Donal Murray was replaced by John Connor on Bass Guitar duty. Bernie Furlong also departed soon afterwards.

In 1989, The Golden Horde were selected to represent Ireland at the Eurorock Festival in Holland. After rebuffing major record label interest, the band finally signed with U2's Mother Records label. Throughout 1990 and 1991, the band released a string of singles including '100 Boys', 'I Never Came Down' and 'Endless Weekend'. However, it was their collaboration with Maria McKee on 'Friends In Time' which gave the band the greatest commercial recognition. That year also saw the release of an eponymously-titled album on the Mother Records label. It went on to be recognised as the album of the year by Hot Press Magazine.

The band released on final single, 'Hell' in 1992 before finally disbanding in February 1994. Simon Carmody went on to release a number of solo singles. Sam Steiger joined the Sultans Of Ping. John Connor performed with The Messyheads and Peter O'Kennedy drummed in 9 Wassies From Bainne.