Limerick DJ to mark long career

NICKY Woulfe from Farranshone has been a music fan all his life and is gearing up to mark over 45 years working in the entertainment business, this weekend.

He will celebrate his 45th year in the music industry with a celebration this Saturday, November 16, in the White House Bar on O' Connell Street, where he has been the DJ on a Saturday night for the last 18 years.

Nicky said the hostelry has organised a reception to acknowledge the patrons who have been going to The White House for many years, along with commemorating his decades working in music.
Nicky's partner, RTE’s Mid–West Correspondent, Cathy Halloran and children, Lloyd, Zoe, and John Michael will all attend the event.

He began his career on the west coast of Clare, in Kilkee, playing support for the late Brendan Murray at the Olympia Ballroom. “It progressed from there, basically. I kind of moved on to Old Moore's which was another venue in Kilkee and then I kind of got a regular slot on my own steam in the West Cliff, also in Kilkee, so I have a fondness for Kilkee,” he smiles.

One of the highlights of Nicky's career to date was when he played a DJ set the night before Bruce Springsteen performed in Thomond Park in 2013. “I had a gig inside The White House on a Monday night, and it was absolutely out the door with people from all over the world at it.

“It was a really, really incredible experience because I played all Springsteen music for the entire night and the reaction to it was phenomenal but many of the nights in The White House are fantastic.”

Over the years, he had the opportunity to tour with Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher as a roadie as well as several other international acts throughout the '70s and '80s. “That was a phenomenal experience because Thin Lizzy were also one of my favourite bands and to get to tour with Philip and Scott and Brian was amazing.

“They did an Irish tour. They played Mullingar, Kilkenny, Cork City Hall, Dromkeen here in County Limerick.” Nicky also toured with Thin Lizzy for a number of European dates.

He added that he went on the Top Priority tour with Rory Gallagher. “I'd seen him as a young man in the Savoy … They were phenomenal. Rory Gallagher was a phenomenal guitar player. That was a pleasure to tour with him as a roadie. It was incredible.”

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Nicky was lucky enough to promote many of the top acts in Ireland from the mid-80s into the early-90s, which included Mary Coughlan, and Mary Black, and international acts such as Albert Lee and John Martyn.

He also promoted The Cranberries early in their career. “I got to promote an awful lot of Irish bands in the '80s because Brendan Murray was a promoter in town and, sadly, he passed, and I kind of took over the mantle of promoting bands in Limerick.

“It was a great time. Ireland was full of great bands at the time, as it is now but it was probably even more so then between sort of '85 or '83, even up to about 1992.”

Some current local acts that stand out to Nicky are Hermitage Green and Emma Langford. “There'd be plenty of Limerick acts that I love.” He also admires Irish acts Ham Sandwich, The Coronas, The Stunning, Paul Brady and Christy Moore. Nicky has run many venues in the city which have included The Shannon Arms, The Speakeasy and Arthur’s Warehouse.

“As an island, we have produced some of the best musical acts in the world,” he remarks.

He will be forever known within the realms of the nightclub business in the Treaty City.

Nicky is a huge Beatles fan and also loves the musical stylings of David Bowie, The Clash, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. He has managed to build up one of the largest record collections in the country.

“You had to keep up with the charts if you wanted to get on being a disc jockey in town - you had to have the charts to get employed so that was one of the ways I did it and then I kind of formed my own taste and I started to buy albums in large quantities,” he explains.
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In 2014, with the help of the National City of Culture, Nicky achieved one of his lifelong ambitions - to showcase to the public his vast collection in an exhibition entitled ‘Music Memories and Memorabilia’.

The exhibition attracted over 7,000 visitors over its six-week run and Nicky is still determined to make it a full-time visitor and tourist attraction. “I would like to see Limerick's tourism offering improve and I think I have a project that can help that. I think it's got to be a more modern museum now, though... maybe a wine bar, a live venue.”

Nicky bought his first record in 1969 which was Elton John’s 'Empty Sky' and has continued to invest in collecting music memorabilia.

Recalling this memory, Nicky says: “I bought it in Savins in Limerick, there on O'Connell Street.”
The record Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton will always hold a special place for him and he's always loved Teenage Kicks by The Undertones.