Dave Fanning interviewed Paul Cleary on the RTE TV show Visual Eyes in 1987. Paul discusses the break-up of The Blades and his new band, The Partisans. The Partisans would feature future Blade, Conor Brady on guitar.
Fanning: ……the song were written from a working-class socialist perspective if you like.
Cleary: When we began, there were not that many working-class bands. Rock n’ Roll was a middle-class sport in Dublin. People got their Mammy’s and Daddy’s to buy them guitars, and so on,, so we were different. In a way, we were patronized by the journalists. Here is a little working-class band; let’s throw sugar at them, now it’s different.
Fanning: I remember those classic U2 support slots at The Baggot. I remember a lot of people when you finished your set would leave. They were there to see The Blades.
Cleary: Funny, at the time us and U2 were the bands vying for position. We were the two most popular bands, the bands most likely to make it. So there was some competition between ourselves and U2 to see who would be most popular. I think they won out in that regard
Cleary: I made a lot of mistakes. I signed things that I should not of signed. Most bands go through that. Bands like U2, I admire their commitment. They were lucky that they had everything going for them. Their manager was on the case, and so on. They had the right record company that put money behind them. Our record companies were, they seemed to sign us and say, “We’ll see what happens.” They were never willing to put in the work that we were. We were not quite ready then anyway.
