THE Commitments head bangin’ drummer Dave Finnegan has revealed his nerves ahead of meeting up with fellow stars from the film for the first time in a decade, and said: I’d love to get the band back together.
Dave, who played Mickah Wallace in the 1991 movie, is jetting in from his home in Glasgow today to be reunited in Dublin with co-stars Glen Hansard, who played Outspan Foster, and Angeline Ball, who starred as Imelda Quirke, and creator Roddy Doyle for a BBC Radio 4 show special on the iconic Irish flick.
The Irish Sun can reveal that actor Robert Arkins — who played the band’s manager Jimmy Rabbitte — was also approached to take part in the BBC show but declined.
Hosted by Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark, ‘The Reunion’ reunites a group of people involved in a moment of modern history — with previous editions covering topics including The Brighton Bomb, The Iranian Revolution and BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
Dave told The Irish Sun: “I’m a bit scared meeting everybody but I think we’re all a bit nervous.
“I might give Angeline a call before we meet up because she has always been a great friend to me.”
The Commitments last reunited in 2011 for a huge 20th anniversary tour but any further dates were ruled out due to in-fighting among members — similar to how Jimmy Rabbitte’s beloved band fell part in the much loved movie.
Dave added: “We played in Ireland and England but parts of it ended up like the end of the film. I never got involved in it.”
The demise of The Commitments part 2, however, meant the musician missed out on some ‘big money’.
Dave continued: “After doing the anniversary tour we were offered more concerts in Australia and on the East Coast of America.
“It was big money but certainly people refused to do it. That p****d me off as that was my money going.”
The 57-year-old, who has struggled to make a living, said it would have compensated him for losing out on royalties from the million-selling soundtrack of The Commitments.
Dave said: “I was the one who never really made anything out of The Commitments. All the other members played on the soundtrack. I didn’t.
“Robert Arkins sang a few tracks, all the girls sang backing vocals, Felim Gormley played sax, Andrew Strong sang all over it.
“They all made a lot of money out of it, major money but I didn’t.
“I wasn’t asked to play on the soundtrack. But I didn’t moan about it at the time, I was just glad to be in the movie.
“I had a great time doing the film.”
On a tour bus with the same people. Eventually it gets to you. It burned me out and I went off the rails.”
Dave Finnegan
A rockabilly busker from Captain’s Road in Crumlin, Dave still recalls the night his life changed forever.
He said: “We spent three months filming The Commitments. Then it wrapped. We didn’t hear anything for a year. Absolutely nothing. There were no mobile phones in those days. No one could contact you.
“So one night after this wedding in Dublin, it was 3am, I was half jarred and this bloke showed up on a motorbike. He asked, ‘Are you Dave Finnegan?’ I said, ‘Yeah’, and he said, ‘You have to be in Dublin Airport at 7am — you’re getting on a flight to Hollywood.”
Boarding that flight to the US the next morning, the working class musician realised things were going to be different from now on as his world became movie premieres and massive arenas. No more busking.
Dave added: “I knew life was going to change — one minute you are nothing, the next everybody wants to know you!
“It was incredible. Looking back now, the thing I’m happiest about is how proud it made my family and my neighbours in Crumlin.”
QUIT WORLD TOUR
Along with scooping a BAFTA win and Golden Globe nomination — both for Best Picture — and a Grammy nomination for Andrew Strong, the movie, regularly voted Best Irish Movie of All Time, launched the acting and music careers of Dave’s co-stars Glen Hansard, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Bronagh Gallagher.
Other cast members toured the world under the name The Stars of The Commitments — bringing their soul music to far flung places.
However, Dave later quit after struggling with booze and life on the road.
He explained: “The biggest issue for me was they wanted me to be the singer in the band, and it never felt right, trying to step into the shoes of Andrew Strong.
“I just didn’t feel it anymore. I toured with them for years. On a tour bus with the same people. Eventually it gets to you. It burned me out and I went off the rails.”
‘STUCK WITH ME’
And going home to Dublin, home of The Commitments, didn’t help matters, as Dave eventually moved to the UK.
He said: “I tried for many years to shake The Commitments tag but it stuck with me.”
In a previous interview he recalled the capital could be a dangerous place for him after playing mad cap character Mikah Wallace in the film.
He said: “I wasn’t a fighter and there were always guys who had a go at me after that film, and it only ever happened in Dublin.”
While original member Ken McCluskey still tours with his Stars Of The Commitments, Dave — who now lives in Glasgow — has his own soul band called Dave Finnegan’s Commitments.
He said: “We do about 15 gigs a year, which is perfect for me. They’re well paid and all over the place — I just came back from one in Italy.”
HUGE REUNION
BBC Radio 4‘s ‘The Reunion’ will also see Dave meeting up with Ros Hubbard who, with husband John, were the casting agents who picked him for The Commitments.
Dave said: “Back in 1990, every band and every actor in Ireland was auditioning to be in The Commitments. But I knew nothing about it.
“I was only interested in rockabilly music — as a kid I wanted to be Elvis.
“When the Hubbards turned up at our gig in Judge Roy Beans, I thought they were American tourists.
“They asked us to audition down at The Waterfront with all the other bands. There were so many bands to see — Alan Parker (director of The Commitments) got quite bored.
“But I got his attention because at the time I used to do the splits while singing and bash the mic off my head.
“It was just what he wanted for my character.
“Even better when I auditioned as an actor — we had a row because I felt he was talking down to me. He wasn’t — he was getting the character out of me. He got on great with all of us.”
Happy with life now, Dave still thinks it’s possible The Commitments could return to the stage.
He told The Irish Sun: “It would be great to meet up in Dublin and have a laugh. That’s rock ’n’ roll for you.”
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