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Thomas Paul Burgess facts for kids

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Thomas Paul Burgess
Thomas Paul Burgess (19274918945).jpg
Burgess in 2015
Background information
Birth name Thomas Paul Burgess
Born November 1959
Shankill road
Origin West Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Songwriter
  • musician
  • academic
  • novelist
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • drums and percussion
  • piano
  • guitar
Associated acts Ruefrex
  • Jackie Forgie
  • Allan Clarke
  • Gary Ferris
  • Gordy Blair
  • Sacred Heart of Bontempi

Thomas Paul Burgess is an academic, novelist and musician from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Biography

Burgess attended Oxford University, studying Ethics & Moral Education, He obtained his PhD from University College Cork. He lives in Cork, Ireland, where he is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Youth & Community Work at The School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork.

Music

As a songwriter with his band Ruefrex his work met with acclaim, the group being described as "...the most important band in Britain".

He appeared on the cover of Melody Maker after they had recorded the controversial "The Wild Colonial Boy" denouncing Irish-Americans for sending guns and money to the IRA. The record entered the UK top 30. Their music was featured in the motion picture Good Vibrations.

His later projects include forming the musical collective Sacred Heart of Bontempi, and releasing a tribute to Pogues’ frontman, Shane MacGowan entitled, "Shane MacGowan’s Smile" (Burgess had previously toured with the band).

In 2021 Burgess wrote, performed and produced ‘Vanished into Air; a song for the disappeared’. The project was intended to highlight the plight of those families who lost members believed to have been abducted, murdered and secretly buried in Northern Ireland, the large majority of which occurred during the Troubles. The victim support group Wave and family members supported the initiative.

Discography

Albums

  • Flowers for all Occasions (8 versions), Kasper Records, 1985

Singles & EPs

  • One by One (5 versions), Good Vibrations Records
  • Capital Letters (7"), Kabuki Records
  • Paid in Kind (2 versions), One by One
  • The Wild Colonial Boy (4 versions), Kasper Records
  • In the Traps (2 versions), Kasper Records
  • Political Wings (12"), Flicknife Records
  • Shane MacGowan’s Smile, Espresso Records

Compilations

  • Capital Letters... The Best of..., (CD, Comp), Cherry Red
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