from=16th May 1997
Interviewer-Gay Byrne
Gay: They all play and sing and write songs. They are all from Dundalk, their debut
album 'Forgiven Not
Forgotten' has grossed two million sales so far. With it they have taken the world by
storm and they have achieved more in one year than most of other people would do in ten.
Would you welcome please, from Dundalk, 'the Corrs'!!
They play 'Love
to Love you'
Gay: the Corrs!! How are you, you're welcome. You're very welcome indeed, hiya,
give us a kiss then. (to audience-the Bridges of Madison County that's your third clue)
Hiya, hello Jim good to see ya' sit down there, the Bridges of Madison County that's your
third clue(-earlier reference) Welcome Corrs, how are you doin'?, now it's Caroline,
Andrea, Sharon and Jim, I can spot the difference with Jim. Well you've done well haven't
you, you lot, move in closer there and get on top of those microphones. How's the year
been for you then?
Caroline: Hectic
Gay: Hectic
Caroline: Yes I mean we've been everywhere basically, y'know travelled everywhere
basically touring all the time, working all the time but it's been fantastic The last tour
we had in Australia for a month in January was great.
Gay: Why was it particularly good in Australia?
Jim: We've been No. 1 four times there so we are very popular, very well known
there so it was such a joy...
Gay: Yes and were you surrounded by Irish people in Australia everywhere you went?
Sharon: Yes, there was always somebody coming up and saying they had an ancestor in
Cork or something like that. Y'know there was people everywhere, we even found Corrs in
Australia
Gay: I'm not surprised they're all over the place
Caroline: We've been getting letters, our fathers been getting letters all the
time, trying to get peoples family history y'know all the time, it's fantastic
Gay: That's the spin off of the whole thing. And then you went to Japan aswell did
you not??
Sharon: Em, yeah
Caroline: You're tryin to remember
Caroline: Yeah, twice we've been to Japan
Gay: It must be a blur the whole thing
Jim: It gets to be pretty much a blur it's just like a different hotel everyday and
that's the way it is
Gay: And how are you coping with that, is there not a danger that you're doing too
much at the moment?
Andrea: I think the danger is at the moment, we haven't done this in a while I'm
nervous
Gay: You're nervous now?
All: Yeah
Gay: Why are you nervous now?
Andrea: Cos it's a long time since we did a TV show
Gay: But you're doin interviews all the time for heavens sake
Jim: We've taken a break y'see we've been writing and recording for our second
album, so that's why we're out of touch
Gay: Is that why you're in Dublin now? You're doing this, toughing up on that are
you?
Caroline: Yes, we spent a month in Los Angeles starting the album and then we've
come back to Ireland for another month and then we'll probably go back there again to
finish off, so it takes a while
Gay: And what are you doing while you're in Ireland? What's the main thing??
Jim: Writing and recording basically, and pre-production
Gay: You're doing the show aren't you, you're doing the homecoming weekend aswell
aren't you, I just read it on the thing. You're down there, with Paul Brady and Gabriel
Byrne and Jean Butler and all of those people, it should be a fantastic weekend that, it's
shaping up to be a fantastic... Anyway, members of one happy family, happy family, most of
the time, who is the boss in the outfit?
Jim: The three girls
Caroline: There is none
Sharon: OK we are...there is no boss
Gay: Well there has to be a boss, there has to be somebody who sort of rings the
bell, there has to be somebody.....
Caroline: This is why we kill each other if there's a boss, this is why we y'know
kill each other
Jim: I suppose you could say our manager, our manager John Hughes would be...
Sharon: ...the mediator
Gay: the mediator but amongst yourselves who's the boss??, who is recognised as the
leader, who do the other three turn to that’s what I want to know, by and large
Andrea: We actually don't do that it's funny I think it's because we're a family
y'know if it was individual people from, y'know different backgrounds and everything like
that, somebody would probably assume that position but we're all pretty strong minded and
everything as it is that if somebody was taking control like that we'd probably get
annoyed so we have to like keep it level and luckily we have the same aim and y'know we
don't really have to fight each other over things like that, we fight each other over
stupid things
Gay: What stupid things?
Sharon: Lipstick
Gay: Jim fights you over lipstick?
Sharon: All the time
Andrea: He just can't leave it alone
Jim: That's it, the secrets out!
Caroline: He keeps trying on my dresses
Gay: He keeps trying on...I don't blame him. Is it easier because you are all one
family or do you think if you were strangers thrown together as an act....
Sharon: I'd say there's no hard and fast rules about it I'd say it could be
dreadful if you're a family, it could be dreadful if you're not, I think though you have
to make an effort to get on, it's a serious business and I suppose we try to keep it more
business like than personal. We have a great time together, we do fight but we really have
a lot of fun, its a thrill to do what we're doing so how could you not enjoy that?
Gay: It all engulfed you very quickly though, much quicker than most groups in one
year as I said in introducing you, in one year you've done more than most in ten
Andrea: True, the amount of stuff that we have done within one year but before that
we were together for six years workin’ on it but it was as soon as we got signed and
as soon as y'know we made the album that's when it really started to fly I mean we worked
seriously hard
Gay: And when it comes to musical decisions about doin a song in whatever key or
chord sequence or whatever who's the boss who has the say in that?
Andrea: Oh, well y'know its funny but we all have our different parts to do kind
of, but Jim does most of the basic programming stuff if that has to be done on songs but
em, I mean the writing process could be anybody, it could be two at a time, it could be
one of us or altogether, it's very kind of diplomatic.....
Jim: .....democratic....
Caroline: democratic, diplomatic, oh!
Gay: It's democratic and diplomatic I would imagine. So you don't all four write
all songs?
Andrea: Sometimes the four of us but often it's two and sometimes it's one y'know
but em...
Sharon: We come together a lot of the time and sometimes we'll gel on one track
like 'Forgiven Not
Forgotten' is written y'know all together and other tracks are written separately and
then we'll bring it in and work on it altogether.
Gay: How are you coping with the stress? You say you're having a wonderful time
together but in most of these place that you go to, whether it's Australia or Japan or
whatever, you're doing gigs and you're on the next plane, a different hotel room onto the
next plane, gone. Do you see any of these places, do get any time off in these places?
Sharon: Well we saw Australia
Jim: Yeah we got a bit of time off there. Em, yeah, one of the stressful aspects I
suppose about it is being in the same company of people for about 18 hours a day so you
have to make space for yourself and we do that, y'know through various different things
whether it's goin off on a walk on your own
Sharon: Or bungee jumping!
Gay: They're your darling beloved sisters you're talkin about Jim. You shouldn't
talk about your sisters like that, em, what do you reckon is the success, why do you think
you have made it so big in the one year, why?
Andrea: I think it was because we did the Late Late show a few years ago and we did
'Forgiven Not
Forgotten' on it
Audience Applauds
Gay: Well done Andrea!! Well spoken. Right there's an extra tenner (£10) on the
fee for that straight away I can tell you. We're not mean around here but come on
seriously speak to me about why do you think? First of has it anything to do....do you
bridle at the suggestion that you're three gorgeous girls and a fella?
Sharon: Em, I would say that contributes you can't ignore something like that, it
is an advantage em I would say, y'know there's four of us here in front of you but there's
five of us in this band including our manager, we present a united front and we work very
hard at what we do and I think we get on very well with the people around us, with our
record company, with everybody that works with us and I think people enjoy working with us
so that makes it more successful and I think the nicer you are with people and the more
you get on with people, the more you can achieve easily. Y'know so, I really think maybe
it's our attitude to it.
Gay: Well I have no doubt you've already found in this business there's a lot of
"pre-Madonna" and a lot of "shapers and shakers" and soothes and so
on, so you're quite right and that's a very valuable lesson you learned that from mother
and Father did you not? And during the six years you were doing the gigs and so on it's a
very good lesson too. Did you enjoy Andrea working with Madonna in "Evita"?
Andrea: Yeah it was great, em, I mean I was apprehensive about it y'know naturally,
or whatever and we had just done a tour that had taken in four continents in three weeks
so they got to go home and I had to go on and do this to Budapest and I was nervous about
it but I just really did it and tried not to think of her as anything but focus on what I
was doing myself but it was fantastic experience I mean, wow!
Gay: Mind you, you were being flung out of a bed weren't you?
Andrea: Yeah
Gay: You were being told to get your clothes, get out, now!
Andrea: Yeah
Gay: Did you have much contact with Madonna?
Andrea: Yeah, well I mean she was throwing me out of bed that was basically it
y'know so she was grabbing me. But I mean really it was like a days shoot y'know for what
I did and y'know basically y'know the scene was where I'm lying on the bed and she comes
into the room and its all song and everything which is really funny and which was really
interesting about it all but em that was basically the contact, no we didn't hang out as
buddies y'know
Gay: You didn't spend three months together or anything like that?
Andrea: No
Gay: Did you get the bug doing it...
Andrea: ...the bug for?
Gay: ..the bug for acting the bug for filming, is that the way you want to go?
Andrea: I mean, I think its all together there's that aspect, I mean that's a great
little adventure along the way, I mean the focus is definitely the music and the band and
what we do but I mean I've a bug for the whole lot y'know for this music and performing
and everything like that
Gay: Just take me through the various stages, it happened so quickly for you as we
keep on saying, what was the start of that was it Jean Kennedy Smith or was it before
that?
Jim: Oh God, I'll try and cut it short but we had eh, we had been writing and
recording in a little bedroom studio in Dundalk and em, we played....
Gay: Can you all hear Jim? (to the audience)
Jim: Sorry I'll come closer. We played a gig in Whelans in Dublin and Jean Kennedy
was invited and she came along and she absolutely loved us and she invited us out to play
for the Kennedy's out in Boston in Kennedy Library which we did and we also took the
opportunity to meet with a lot of record companies, we flew to Los Angeles and New York
and it was in New York that we met a guy called Jason Flom an A & R man with Atlantic
records and he was very very interested in us. He tried to get us set up with a meeting
with a guy called David Foster who was producing Michael Jackson at the time and because
of the tight security surrounding Michael Jackson at the time, there was a lot of stuff in
the tabloids about him
Gay: You had to "way lay" Foster didn't you. Was it Foster you "way
layed" coming out of the office?
Jim: Well we couldn't actually get a meeting set up with him so what we did, it was
our manager John who took us along, we just stuck out our necks and gate-crashed in on the
session
Gay: "Here we are Mr. the names' 'Corr'from Dundalk"
Jim: And the next day, we played for him, we played the demo and the next day we
got a phone call to say we'd been signed, y'know so it was just, that was great
Gay: Fantastic, and then it all started happening, quite extraordinary. There's
nobody in the audience wants to join in this, I don't see anybody, Oh there is. OK sorry,
I'll just take this call first, hello line 2, line 2, hello line 2
Phone Caller: Hello
Gay: Hello that's you
Phone Caller: Hello sorry, I just wanted to ask the family how did they get on to
Beverly Hills 90210?
Gay: How did you get on to Beverly Hills?
Andrea: Em, our manager John Hughes was in a restaurant in Los Angeles with em,
with David Foster and at the table next to him was Aaron Spelling, Aaron Spelling which
was Dallas, Dynasty Beverly Hills 90210 and he started talking to David because he knew
him and introduced John to him and John had worked on the film the Commitments so, that
was Aaron’s favourite film so they started talking and John goes "well I have
this great band.." and so that’s really how it started and we got an audition
with him, just sang for him and he said right let's put you in a slot and you'll sing one
of your songs 'Forgiven
Not Forgotten', so we did and it was written into the script as the Corrs which was
really good, it was really funny, like the Corrs are playing in the Peach Pit after dark
kind o incongruous, we don't fit in!
Gay: Do you reckon you've been lucky?
Andrea: Yeah we've been lucky
Gay: It's all very well having the talent and the thing and the six years
experience and the six years learning
Jim: The harder we work the luckier we get
Gay: That's right yes, I know the expression in showbusiness 'the harder we work
the luckier we get' nevertheless you need a break here and there
Caroline: That's true
Gay: You need the rub of the green. Who's that was about to...hello there how are
you doin?
Audience member: I was just asking are you working with David Foster for the next
album?
Sharon: Yes
Audience member: Is that good fun is it?
Sharon: Well we actually haven't started working with David yet, we start working
with him next month we've just been writing and I suppose pre-production on the album for
the last while Yeah and also Glen Ballard who did Alanis Morisettes album
Audience member: Oh really?
Sharon: Yes
Gay: You were accused of selling your soul to America
Sharon: No!
Gay: I dunno where I read that, some jerk wrote that in some newspaper, defend
yourselves
Sharon: We didn't
Gay: What do you mean by that, you didn't
Andrea: What do you mean by selling your soul to America anyway??
Gay: I don't know either, "they sold their souls to America" it says here
Caroline: I think that our album because it was done in America it might have been
perceived as having quite an American sound because of the big harmonies and that kind of
aspect to it but to us the Irish aspect is the most integral part of our music and I think
that people realised that. And before we went, y'know all of our music was done before we
went out there so to us it was completely done here and produced over there but it's
completely Irish to us and wasn't selling our souls
Andrea: But that's understandable, I mean it does like it has an American touch to
it all but I mean what's wrong with that y'know I mean we didn't sell our souls. Mine's
sacred!
Sharon: It's still in there, somewhere
Gay: Do you get annoyed with quotations like that, that people write about you?
Sharon: You do (to Jim)
Jim: Well there was one quotation which, the headline was "Why I Hate
Groupies" and I never said that...
Andrea: And he was wearing this Santa Claus hat, which was really like, this
friendly guy saying why I hate my fans!!
Jim: I was getting these letters from people who I suppose hated me from then on
but I certainly never said that. Occasionally, well actually the media have been really
good to us
Gay: They have
Jim: As a whole they've been really good to us, we've been very lucky
Gay: Here will you play us another tune...Oh sorry there's another phone call.
Hello line 3
Mairead: Hello, Hi this is Mairead McCarthy and Naimh McCarthy from Cork and you're
just the best group in the world!
Audience Applauds
All: Thankyou
Mairead: We met you in the City Hall in Cork and we were u at the front screaming
and we kissed Jim and we met the girls and we thought it was brilliant and I have a poem
here about the Corrs that I wrote, that me and my sister wrote, can I read it out?
Gay: Yeah, where are you speaking from?
Mairead: Cork
Gay: I know that but where, we'd never have guessed, where about in Cork?
Mairead: Mayfield
Gay: Mayfield, you have a poem
Mairead: Yeah
Gay: For the Corrs?
Mairead: Yeah
Gay: And you wrote it yourself with your sister?
Mairead: My sister and I
Gay: How old are you?
Mairead: 16
Gay: And how old’s your sister?
Mairead: 16, we're twins
Gay: OK, let's hear the poem
Mairead: If ones left out it won't work out,
Together you stand divided you fall,
The core of your success is hard work and determination,
Your music is unique and won't delete,
Jim, when we saw you on the box,
We knew you were such a fox,
Andrea, Caroline and Sharon were blessed with such good talent and use them so well,
Altogether you're the spice of life,
With clothes that make a statement and funky hairstyles,
It gives you a special glow,
So don't let it go,
Keep writing those words and singing such good songs,
Remember that when you're feeling down that your fans are behind you all the way,
And one more thing,
Keep God in your life and you won't go wrong, from your biggest fans,
Mairead and Naimh McCarthy
Audience Applauds
Gay: Wonderful, 16, isn't that sweet, you can't buy adulation like that. Thankyou
very much indeed darling
Mairead: OK Thanks
Gay: Well done on the poem that's great, good luck to you. Will you do something'
for us, I see a bodhran lurking just at your heel there and there’s a fiddle and a
guitar and a little tin whistle. Isn't it wonderful to be talented all the same, you Mammy
& Daddy must be so proud of you, are they...say yes
Sharon: They are, sorry I was tuning up
Andrea: We rang Daddy before we came out y'know and he said "Oh I feel a bit
tired I dunno if I'll watch the Late Late show" They video absolutely everything
Sharon: and watch it a million times
Gay: They're watching all right don't you worry OK then...
Caroline: This is called 'Haste to the wedding"
They play "Haste to the wedding acoustically
Gay: Be God, it's not bad, all the same now I must say Two last questions for you,
did Mammy & Daddy, Gerry & Jean did they teach you all you know?
Andrea: ...Yes
Gay: There was a desperate silence there for a moment
Caroline: We have to apologise to our parents for the dreadful hesitation, yes of
course
Jim: They did, and are they playing it all now?
Andrea: Musically like our Father taught us all the piano, yeah, they were a band
themselves so really we really followed what they did.
Gay: I see, secondly, on all your touring is there any opportunity for a bit of
em...you know what I mean...a bit of em...
Andrea: Prayer??
Everyone laughs
Gay: No a bit of em.. y'know what I mean girls. Come on! you're three gorgeous
girls, I'll come to you in a moment (to Jim)
Sharon: Oh, that
Gay: Yes, that. You're twigging, well done! Caroline, , is there a relationship of
any kind may we enquire?
Caroline: No, no, no
Gay: No chance, all these glamorous places, all these wonderful people that you
meet, nothing
Caroline: No
Gay: Andrea?
Andrea: No...(laughs)it's terribly sad!!
Gay: Are you kidding me now, or is this the truth?
Andrea: I'm not kidding you no, not at all no. But we've good friends (laughs)
Gay: Sharon?
Sharon: Yes
Gay: Oh!! Well done OH! Who is he? What is he? How old is he? and describe him
Sharon: Oh God! em, he's lovely
Gay: What is he?
Sharon: What is he?
Gay: Yeah what does he do for a living?
Sharon: He's a barrister
Gay: A barrister? Is he Irish or foreign or otherwise?
Sharon: He's Irish
Gay: Does he live here in Ireland?
Sharon: He does
Gay: Is he tall?
Sharon: Yes
Gay: Is he dark or fair?
Sharon: No, fair
Gay: Fair and em...
Sharon: I don't like this!! (laughs)
Gay: Don't let me pry too much.....how old would he be, roughly?
Sharon: He'd roughly be 30
Gay: 30, fanciable is he?
Sharon: Well I think so
Gay: You think so, what do the other two think?
Sharon: They think so aswell!
Gay: Oh yeah
Sharon: So I'm gonna hold on to him you see!
Gay: I would watch that if I were you. Poor Jim!
Jim: Poor Jim
Gay: Anything at all, no?
Jim: Eh, no
Sharon: Here and there!
Jim: You're dead!
Sharon: I'm dead!
Gay: When you say here do you mean Ireland and when you say there do you mean
Australia? What do you mean when you say here and there?
Jim: Eh..... (stifled)
Gay: They know but there're not saying
Jim: No I mean it's very, this is the thing about this business..
Gay: Very difficult
Andrea: He just loves his sisters that's the problem, he just loves his sisters and
that's it
Gay: He's in love with his sisters, isn't that sweet
Jim: We're just, we're moving from one place to the other y'know all the time and
if you do meet somebody, you're just outta there y'know
Gay: The question is, does she move with you?
Jim: What?
Gay: Does she move with you, that's the question.. Ah! he's come over all shy, all
right we won't do anything about it. I tell you what, thankyou very very much indeed for
joining us, it's really terrific to see ya'. You're a lovely group, really a lovely group
and plenty of talent and don't overdo it, just don't overdo it this is the mammy and daddy
talking now just give yourselves time to draw your breath and rest and so on but continued
success to you.
All: Thankyou
Applause