The Saw Doctors

The Saw Doctors are an Irish folk-rock band from Tuam, County Galway. Formed in 1986, they toured in the late 1980s in support of bands including the Hothouse Flowers, the Stunning, and the Waterboys, earning a reputation for their dynamic live performances. They rose to prominence with their second single, "I Useta Lover". Released in July 1990, it spent nine weeks at number one in the Irish charts and remains the country's all-time biggest-selling single. The Saw Doctors' 1991 debut album, If This Is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back, entered the Irish albums chart at number one. The Saw Doctors have achieved eighteen Top 30 singles in the Irish charts, including three number ones. They have released seven studio albums, in addition to live albums and compilation albums. In 2008, they received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards. Anchored by founding members Davy Carton and Leo Moran, the band continues to tour and release new music. Formed in 1986 by Leo Moran (formerly a member of defunct Tuam reggae band, Too Much for the White Man) and Davy Carton (formerly a songwriter and guitarist with short-lived Tuam punk band Blaze X), the Saw Doctors initially started off playing small gigs in local venues with local vocalist Mary O'Connor. Carton and Moran have been the only constant presences in the Saw Doctors' line-up. Notable former members have included musician and producer John "Turps" Burke; keyboard and accordion player Tony Lambert; keyboard and guitar player Derek Murray; and drummers Padraig Stevens, John Donnelly, Jim Higgins and Fran Breen. As of 2025, the Saw Doctors are Moran (vocals, guitar), Carton (vocals, guitar), Noelie McDonnell (backing vocals, guitar), Tommy Carton (backing vocals), Kieran Duddy (keyboards, accordion), Anthony Thistlethwaite (saxophone), Pearse Doherty (bass guitar, tin whistle), and Rickie O'Neill (drums). The Saw Doctors rose to national attention during 1987 and 1988 as they toured in support of popular Irish bands such as the Hothouse Flowers and The Stunning. In the spring of 1988, when The Saw Doctors were playing a six-week residency at the Quays Bar in Galway, their live show attracted the attention of The Waterboys, who were then recording their Fisherman's Blues album in nearby Spiddal. Pub sessions and budding friendships among the two groups would prove fruitful for the Saw Doctors' future and would see eventual crossovers between the two groups. The band's current saxophonist, Anthony Thistlethwaite, and former drummer, Fran Breen, have both been members of The Waterboys. In the autumn of 1988, The Saw Doctors filmed a rockumentary on a flat-bed truck while driving between Galway and Salthill to parody U2's newly released Rattle and Hum film, in which U2 played Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" from a flat-bed truck in San Francisco. The Saw Doctors' Crackle and Buzz had its "world premiere" at the Claddagh Palace Cinema in Galway. The Saw Doctors played live from the cinema's balcony, caricaturing the short acoustic set U2 played atop the Savoy Cinema on O'Connell Street when Rattle and Hum premiered there on 27 October 1988. Footage from the stunt was featured on RTÉ's main evening news. In late 1988 and early 1989, The Saw Doctors accompanied The Waterboys on tours of Ireland and Great Britain. In August 1989, The Waterboys' frontman Mike Scott produced the band's first single, "N17," a song about an Irish emigrant wishing to be back on the N17 national route that connects Galway with County Mayo and County Sligo, passing through the Saw Doctors' hometown of Tuam. Although "N17" did not chart upon its original release, the band's appearance at the inaugural 1990 Féile music festival in Thurles, County Tipperary, cemented their reputation as a live act. Following their success at Féile, the band released their second single, "I Useta Lover," an off-colour paean to an ex-girlfriend. The single topped the Irish charts in September 1990 and spent nine weeks at number one, becoming Ireland's all-time best-selling single. A re-released "N17" reached number two in the Irish charts at Christmas 1990, and the following year, the band's debut album If This Is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back entered the Irish albums chart at number one. In 1992, the band released their second Album All The Way From Tuam, which included live favourites "Green & Red of Mayo", "Exhilarating Sadness" and "You Got Me on the Run" as well as the singles "Wake Up Sleeping", "Pied Piper", "Never Mind The Strangers", "Me Heart Is Living in the Sixties Still" and their next number one hit, "Hay Wrap". After the release of All The Way From Tuam, the band parted company with Warner Music and formed their own record label, Shamtown Records. The first release under their new Shamtown label was the "Small Bit of Love" EP which gained them their first Top 30 hit in the UK Singles Chart and an appearance on BBC Television's Top of the Pops. The band released their third studio album Same Oul' Town in February 1996. It went on to peak at number six in the UK Albums Chart. It included the hit singles "World of Good", "To Win Just Once" and the double A-side "Clare Island" / "Everyday". The band's subsequent work did not reach the same success of Same Oul' Town, and many line-up changes happened over the next few years. However, they had successful British and US tours, and appeared at the Glastonbury Festival and Oxegen. In October 1998, their fourth album Songs From Sun Street was released, which included tracks that had been part of the live show for the previous few years including "Galway & Mayo", "Tommy K" & "I'll Be on My Way". They also appeared in the 1999 Walter Foote film The Tavern as well as contributing songs to its soundtrack. The fifth studio album Villains? was released in 2001 and contained the minor hit "This Is Me". Entertainment.ie said in its review "to many music fans they're a novelty act that's long since passed its sell-by date. It would be a shame, however, if their dodgy image obscured the music, since Villains? is by some distance the best album they've ever made." Pearse Doherty left the band after the Villains? tour, leaving only Carton and Moran as members from the early days. The line-up changed to include Anthony Thistlethwaite on bass guitar. Thistlethwaite had been playing saxophone on and off with the band since the late 1980s, even playing on their first single "N17". Live in Galway was released on CD and DVD in 2004. Another live album, Live on News Year's Day as well as the sixth studio album The Cure followed. At the 2008 Meteor Irish Music Awards, the Saw Doctors received the Lifetime Achievement Award. The week before the Meteor Awards the band appeared on the Podge & Rodge Show on RTÉ, during which they covered the Sugababes song "About You Now"; they later decided to release the track as a single, and in October 2008, "About You Now" reached number one in the Irish chart, some seventeen years since their last chart-topping feat. They followed this with the release of another live album and DVD, Live at the Melody Tent, recorded in Cape Cod in the summer of 2008. "She Loves Me" charted at number two. In 2009 after six studio albums, Universal Music released To Win Just Once – The Best of The Saw Doctors. The compilation album featured twenty two of their tracks, and went platinum within weeks of release. During 2010, the band played a number of music festival appearances, including playing at the 40th anniversary of the Glastonbury Festival. September 2010 saw the release of their seventh album, The Further Adventures of... The Saw Doctors. In spring 2013, the Saw Doctors announced a break from touring, initially for a year. In 2016, the band made the announcement that they would be back in the studio, and during the spring and summer of that year, they toured for the first time in over four years. The band toured Ireland, the UK and US and made an