The Derek Joy Showband

 The Derek Joy Showband was very big in the early Sixties and, musically, the band was different from
 most others. Okay, they performed the hits of the day but the Joys had soul in huge dollops and had a big   following of discerning fans, especially in the major cities. In Earl Jordan, they recruited the first black singer from London to join an Irish showband (A black singer was thought to be the most effective draw   in some areas, especially west of the Shannon, where it was believed many of the inhabitants had never seen a Negro before.  Jordan, proved to be an instant crowd-puller Earl Jordan left The Derek Joys to front The Caroline Showband which was formed around five members of Jim Farley's band. and D.J. Curtin, who later found fame  with his own band, the Kerry Blues, before joining Brendan Bowyer and Tom Dunphy in the Big Eight in Las Vegas, first came to Waterford to join the Derek Joys as saxaphone player.

  Derek had a marvellous voice and could handle any kind of song but he was happiest
when belting out rhythm and blues

The late great Derek Joy   31 October, 1997
    It was one of those cruel ironies that, just as Waterford was preparing to celebrate a Bank Holiday
 Weekend of showband nostalgia in the Olympia Ballroom, the news broke that Derek Joy was dead. It
 really was difficult to believe that Derek was gone and his death caused genuine widespread sadness.
He  had gone through some rough patches in his time
but nobody expected that he would be called from this life so soon.
 
 

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