Before he turned twenty, he had been in several bands, beginning with one called the Black Eagles. In that area, he disappointed some, he was no Smokey Robinson, but he developed his own distinctive style over time.Īs he grew into his teenage years, Phil’s interest in music and girls grew simultaneously. It did not hurt him at all that he was attractive and cultivated a different, arty look. What he did was take his difference and make it an asset. He did run into some prejudice and name calling, but not as much as he may have encountered in other places. He later said that the students in his school were very naïve about black people and were more curious about him and his hair than anything else. The black people that were in Ireland at the time were primarily students studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Phil was a mediocre student but always had an interest in poetry and music. The Lynott’s lived in one of the tougher neighborhoods of Dublin, Crumlin. So, Phil was sent to live with what became his mother in practice, his grandmother, Sarah. Philomena tried to raise her first born son but could not manage it alone. His father was more of an artistic dandy and was not long on the scene. Philomena was a Bohemian spirit well ahead of her time. In that society, those factors were two strikes against them all. Being born to a single Irish mother and a black Caribbean father in Manchester in 1949 was no small thing. Phil was born to Philomena Lynott October 22, 1949. That was part of the point the lead singer, Phil Lynott, was used to being the odd man out.
For Ireland’s first big rock group to have a black lead singer was another surprise, flying in the face of all the silly Irish stereotypes. This was pre-U2, and Ireland was all about traditional music and showbands, especially outside Dublin. It was a surprise to me that they were Irish. The only thing that could be cooler than the song is the band that brought that song into being, Thin Lizzy, led by Phil Lynott.
It’s one of those songs that envelopes everything in cool, at least for three minutes and twenty-two seconds. “The Boys are Back in Town “is a bona fide classic to the extent that it is a mandatory tune for boys making an entrance, even if those boys weren’t even a bad thought when the song was released in 1976. The guitar riffs and lyrics combined in pure rock and roll swagger that it still has today. The first time that I heard a Thin Lizzy song, it stopped me in my teenage tracks.
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