The Wolfe Tones will be going mainstream, so to speak, on Tuesday night when their version of "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" is explored in the new RTÉ docuseries "Aistear an Amhráin."
"Set your reminder for RTE 1, 7PM on Tuesday 5th September for a rare event, The Wolfe Tones on RTE!," the band said in a tweet on Monday.
In the first episode of "Aistear an Amhráin," reporter Sinéad Ní Churnáin explores the story behind the Irish rebel anthem "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" and asks why the song divides opinion so much.
Tonight 7pm on RTE1 … https://t.co/DhpzI66e5S
— The Wolfe Tones ?? (@wolfetones) September 5, 2023
"Come Out Ye Black and Tans" was originally written in the 1950s by Dominic Behan (brother to Brendan Behan) as a tribute to his father Stephen, an IRA man who had fought in the War of Independence.
The song, concerned with political divisions in working-class Dublin of the 1920s, uses the term "Black and Tans" in the pejorative sense against people living in Dublin, both Catholic and Protestant, who were pro-British.
Though written in the 1950s, The Wolfe Tones recorded arguably the most popular version of the song in 1972.
"It's a song that's never been far from the headlines," RTÉ said of "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" ahead of the new docuseries.
"In March 2019, The Wolfe Tones hit the number one spot in Ireland and the UK with 'Come Out Ye Black and Tan's after Steve Coogan famously launched into a rendition of the republican ballad on the BBC's 'This Time With Alan Partridge' through his Sligo farmer Martin Brennan.
"Months later, in January 2020, plans to commemorate the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) were shelved or 'deferred’ by the Irish government as part of its "Decade of Commemoration" resulting in another popular resurgence.
"Bypassing Stormzy and Dua Lipa, 'Come Out Ye Black And Tans' was once again at the top of the iTunes charts."
The song, RTÉ says, "has become an integral part of rebel music culture."
Coincidentally, the RTÉ series exploring the Irish rebel song will air just three days after The Wolfe Tones played to a record-breaking crowd at Electric Picnic, an annual music festival, in Co Laois, on Saturday, September 2.
An Electric Picnic spokesperson said afterward: “The Wolfe Tones drew the biggest crowd ever in the Electric Arena, with fans enjoying the music inside and outside the tent, singing along to every song.”
Thank you @EPfestival for having us tonight! Thank you to the massive crowds who thronged the Electric Arena tent, we are truly humbled. Our sincerest thanks! pic.twitter.com/MvFSCnTt3T
— The Wolfe Tones ?? (@wolfetones) September 3, 2023
Further, The Wolfe Tones and their rebel song being highlighted on RTÉ comes after the band, which was formed back in the 1960s, claimed they were 'blacklisted' by mainstream Irish media.
In a 2016 blog post entitled "Why the Tones must go on," frontman Brian Warfield wrote: "There is something wrong when the media goes to such great lengths to try to ignore the existence of the mighty Tones or when and if they do acknowledge them, they ridicule slag or devalue their contribution to our musical heritage."
"Aistear an Amhráin" begins on RTÉ ONE and RTÉ Player on Tuesday, September 5 at 7 pm Irish time.
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