It's already been called "the baby-making anthem of this trash year" and now self-styled middle-aged boy band Men2B have released their loved-up lockdown Valentine song, Be in My Bubble.
The brainchild (if that’s the right word) of comedians Joe Rooney, Ian Coppinger, Graeme Singleton, and Danny Kehoe, the new song is the satirical band’s comfort zone slow jam for those of us who are missing a loved one during lockdown as we approach the most romantic day of the year.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, actor and comedian Rooney, who will always be remembered for playing rebel priest Father Damo in Father Ted, said, "We wrote the song for people who are stuck at home without their girlfriend of boyfriend. As the song says, come and be in my bubble and I’ll throw out my family."
Joe, who started his showbiz career in Dublin band Guernica and went on to star in RTÉ comedy Killnaskully and TV3 drama Red Rock, is working from home in Drogheda, where he lives with his 22-year-old son, Daniel, who co-wrote Be in My Bubble.
Daniel is in a band called Modern Love, but was writing a tune with his son a bit like Ted and Dougal penning their deathless Eurovision entry in Father Ted?
"Not for me but maybe for him. Because he’s a proper musician," says Joe. "I wing it. I was in a band years ago, but he’s hard core. But I’m his dad, I’m not the guy who was in a band. I’m an idiot."
The song was recorded over Zoom on their phones and in true boy band tradition, Joe ended up having to sing parts of the other members’ lines. "On our first song, I sang all the vocals so it’s a bit like Milli Vanilli."
The video is classic boy band over-emoting with the various members casting doe-eyed glances into the camera. "I was looking at a bit of Boyz2Men and a bit of Marky Mark for inspiration. Obviously, if we had the budget, we would have used a helicopter."
Rooney has a pretty view of Ireland’s history of boybands. "I hate to say this, but I think the Irish boybands weren’t as exciting as the other boybands," he says.
"They were very much sit on the stool boybands and then get off for the chorus and then get back on the stool. Just do a bit of dancing! It’s just showbiz. There’s always been pop bands put together by old men."
Be in My Bubble is the result of improv sessions for DiCtv, also known as Dublin Comedy TV, a comedy brand founded last year by Antoinette Scherer with Rooney and Coppinger after they met while filming a mini-series titled Exiled in Ireland.
They plan to produce sketches, songs, and radio shows with the members of the Dublin Comedy Improv, which includes Sharon Mannion, Paul Tylak, Danny Kehoe, and Michelle Read, with the aim of resurrecting the lost art of the sketch show.
They’ve already had some success after their sketch Captain Tiny Hands won Best Irish Sketch and Best Composing at the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival; and their sketch Elbows, which received a nomination at the Venice Shorts Film Awards, is currently streaming on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Their nostalgic variety radio show, DiCtv Radio, can be found on Spotify and iTunes.
"We want to go back to sketch comedy," Joe says. "Comedy has gone a bit comedy drama. It’s all a laugh here and there with loads of meaningful stuff. I don’t like it.
"I hate to hark back, but there was a time when there was more nutty comedy like Reeves and Mortimer and Peep Show, which I love, and that’s what I would like to do myself. The Fast Show and Brass Eye, that’s kind of stuff."
As with everyone else in showbiz, lockdown has meant big changes for Rooney. "It’s a bit of worrying time. You wonder if the live scene will ever come back to what it was as acts become famous for doing online stuff.
"However, I have enjoyed not having to drive all over Ireland and flying back and forth to the UK. I’ve been more creative, bringing out sketches and cooking dinner every night and not coming back at four in the morning after driving home from god knows where."
And to paraphrase Father Damo, does Joe like Westlife or Boyzone? "I’ll stick with Boyzone. I’m old school. There were a couple of lads in Boyzone with attitude."
Alan Corr @CorrAlan2
