Blink (band)

For the American band originally known as Blink, see Blink-182.
Blink
OriginDublin, Ireland
GenresAlternative rock, dream pop, pop rock
Years active
  • 1991–2004
  • 2014–present
LabelsEMI, Parlophone, Paradigm, Serenes
MembersDermot Lambert
Robbie Sexton
Brian McLoughlin
Barry Campbell

Blink are a pop rock band from Ireland. Noted for their melancholy humour, they have released four albums since their inception in the early 1990s.

Their 1994 debut album, A Map of the Universe by Blink, was a Top Ten in the Irish album charts and their second album, 1998's The End is High, was a Billboard album of the week upon release.

Their 2004 album Deep Inside the Sound of Sadness, was nominated for Irish Album of the Year[1] at the 2005 Meteor Music Awards, losing out to Snow Patrol for their album Final Straw.

The band are also notable for being the first band pictured on a telephone card.[2][3] A run of 202,000 were produced in 1993.[4] This included a smaller limited run of 2000 cards, which were used as membership cards for the band's fan club.[5] All the cards read 'Limited Edition' despite being produced in great quantities.[6]

The band's name comes from the song "Iceblink Luck" by the Cocteau Twins, a favourite song of drummer Barry Campbell.[7]

San Diego–based pop punk band Blink-182 originally also performed under the name Blink, even releasing several demos and their debut studio album, Cheshire Cat, under this name, but the threat of a legal dispute with the Irish band resulted in their name change to Blink-182.[8] After the name change, Blink-182 re-released Cheshire Cat under their current moniker.

  1. ^ "RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Meteor Music Awards nominations announced". RTÉ.ie. 3 March 2009. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Blink - the Irish Callcards Site".
  3. ^ O'Connor, Amy (31 August 2014). "Where are they now? 10 once-successful Irish bands and what became of them". The Daily Edge. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Blink Music Callcard (1043)". Callcards.ie. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. ^ Rankin, Nick. "Blink". The Irish Callcards Site. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  6. ^ Rankin, Nick (24 November 2012). "So after all those years, are my Callcards valuable?... | The Irish Callcards Site". The Irish Callcards Site. Retrieved 16 October 2017. Last updated – Saturday, 26 August 2017
  7. ^ "Blink – Biography". Irish Music Central. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  8. ^ Shooman, Joe (2010). "4". Blink 182: The Bands, the Breakdown and the Return (1st ed.). Church Stretton: Independent Music Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-1906191108. Retrieved 16 October 2017. .