Meeting up with Greg Cowan is a treat. We’ve been friends since he appeared on an Ask Anne programmes where he was a hit with the viewers - but that’s nothing new to him as he’s been wowing audiences since 1977.
That was the year he and his two brothers, Colin and Martin, and friends formed a punk band that has gone down in history and today The Outcasts are still playing the world.
“Colin was the spirit of the band but he wasn’t much of a drummer so we got a proper drummer and the two sat alongside each other so Colin would still be a draw for the crowd,” recalls Greg.
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Sadly Colin died in a car accident when he was only 22. Greg also had a car crash and even to this day suffers extreme pain in his leg. “I keep fit and that helps,” he told me.
“I made a home gym in the attic and far from using it to store equipment I work out every day, I also look after my diet because if I didn’t I’d pile on the weight,” so said this slim bundle of energy.
Read more: The Outcasts’ Greg Cowan: “I suppose we’re now up there with May McFettridge”
Greg’s family came from Donegall Pass - they all lived in one street, aunts and uncles, cousins and his mum and dad with their 13 children.
His father was a boxer and, when his painting and decorating business took off, he had to make the decision to become a professional boxer or develop the business. He chose the business and when he wasn’t gigging round the world, his young son helped out.
Parisian Attraction
When he was 17 The Outcasts played Paris. “I was a real star,” laughs Greg. “I imagined I was the next David Bowie. Apart from my wife Yvonne, I met the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, I bought a wonderful red tartan suit to impress her but it didn’t work.
“However, I soon came down to earth, the day after Paris I was painting the railings in Ormeau Park.”
I met Greg in the Crown Bar in Belfast, which he has just finished refurbishing with the company he now runs: “At one time Dad employed about 60 men, today it’s half a dozen but we work hard.”
Ripping It Up
Greg admits he and his colleagues were the bad boys of punk and their followers were the hard men of Belfast: “We weren’t popular with the paramilitaries in the 1970s because we were cross-community and brought together people from all backgrounds.”
The groupies weren’t put off, especially one young lady who was a regular in the Harp Bar and who ended up as Mrs Greg Cowan; they are still dancing together 39 years on. The Harp was a bit of a rough venue but, as Yvonne says, a safe place where religion went out of the window and people came together through music.
It was Terri Hooley who championed the band, introduced them to John Peel and persuaded them to tour Northern Ireland. “Many of the bands left because of the Troubles so we were welcomed wherever we went, mostly church halls up and down the country. It was pretty exhausting but you know, the more you play the better you get.”
Some of the boys like to relax in the dressing room but I’m buzzing, I have half a pint of whiskey before going into the audience to meet people, I like to be told how brilliant I am!
— Greg Cowan
Although Greg has been front man since the band was formed 47 years ago he says he’s loving it more than ever: “We’re a small outfit - brother Martin, Ian Buck Murdoch, Jean Phillipe Morer, roadie Billy Hunt, Sharon Dolly Murdoch, merch.” And in case you don’t know, ‘merch’ is short for ‘merchandise’!
“We tour the world - Germany, playing in the Hamburg venues the Beatles made famous, Japan, Canada, when we played in Brooklyn we were treated right royally, flown over two days beforehand, a beautiful hotel, great hospitality and a day to recover after the show.” Recently it was Poland, Vienna, the Czech Republic, Britain, Ireland and a date every August playing Blackpool’s Winter Gardens where 26,000 punks arrive from all round the world. “And an opening night invitation to the premiere of the stage play of Good Vibrations was something else,” Greg adds, “Especially the glamorous after-party in the Irish Arts Centre in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.”
Whiskey Galore
Despite their image as tearaway rockers, the band is very disciplined: a couple of beers before the show, a strenuous hour-long set, one encore and then it’s time to party. “Some of the boys like to relax in the dressing room but I’m buzzing, I have half a pint of whiskey before going into the audience to meet people, I like to be told how brilliant I am!”
One last question. How does the lead singer of The Outcasts make his platinum hair stand up so straight and proud? “Rod Stewart and I do the same thing. A good pasting of Imperial Leather soap, spike it, allow to dry and there you have it.”
