Majic.iE

One of four people who put pen to paper on the huge hit, I used to love her- Paul Cunniffe, Dave Carton and Leo Moran being the other three- the Drumcliffe native recalls the mixed emotions he greeted the songs success: ‘‘The song had a very strange affect on me because I had just left the band when it became successful so I was outside of this achievement to some degree.’’

So was there any regrets from a man whose music is his passion? ‘‘I did have some,’’ he recalls before pausing briefly ‘‘but not in real terms. In fact one of the funny things occurred just after The Saw Doctors found success. I went off and joined the band where we toured around England and played support to The Waterboys, we spent a few months doing that. When we returned I was unemployed, which was a lifestyle for a lot of people in the 1980s. I went back signing on the dole. However within three months, the lads shot off into the charts.’’

As his friends were flying high in the charts, Padraig Stevens was content in savouring the success which he had made such a big contribution to. However one evening he got two unexpected visitors to his home in Tuam. He recalls: ‘‘They (Social Welfare Office) sent two inspectors to my house and asked ‘what was this about, are you part of The Saw Doctors?’ But I said I used to be but not anymore.’’ A wry smile gathers on Steven’s face as he adds, ‘‘then she (female inspector) looked at me with pity almost. She showed me her human face rather than her business one.’’

It wasn’t just the welfare officers who believed Padraig Stevens was still very much a Saw Doctor: ‘‘Anytime I went into a pub people would ask me how was I getting on with the Saw Doctors. So in a way, it kind of turned me into a recluse. I went off and wrote songs.’’

Growing up in a farm, the Stevens were a close knit family. Being the oldest son of a family of eight, Padraig always strove for a career in music. Influenced by his father who was a drummer in a Ceili band, Stevens remembers an innocuous encounter which ultimately decided that music was most definitely his destiny: ‘‘One Saturday afternoon after dinner and before he went out to weed the beet or whatever was on the agenda that day, my father sat down with two knives and on an upturned plate, drummed to the music on the radio. I was only about eight or nine but I copied him and as I banged along to the beat of the music I knew I understood the rhythms and repetition of the music. So that was my start in music.’’

The next big step into music for Stevens came in late 1960 when, now living in Corofin having moved from Drumcliffe, Stevens entered Tuam CBS where he ‘‘looked on in jealousy at his classmates who performed in the school’s vibrant brass band.’’ His gra for music intensified in a moment when temptation proved too much. He remembers: ‘‘One of the lads, Padraig Gaffney, took me to the Phoenix ball room in Vicar Street, where there was a live showband practicing during the day. We sneaked in to have a listen to them playing and that was my first exposure to live exciting music. From then on I knew music was for me.’’

With his ambition for a career in music fast gaining momentum, it could so easily have all ended had he listened to the wise words of his father. ‘‘My father wasn’t happy with me being so into music that I wanted a career out of it. He wanted me to have a real job but I think eventually he understood how fascinated with music I was.’’ Steven’s fathers concerns were so strong that he admits ‘‘it wasn’t until when he died years later that I felt a burden off my shoulder.’’

Some years on, Steven’s now finds himself in the boots of his father. His brother’s grandson, Eibhin Craddock, is now a member of The Saw Doctors. Steven’s says Eibhin’s parents would have had the same worries as his father did. However he believes if someone has both potential and desire then he would have no problem in encouraging them to fulfil their ambitions.

After almost half a century immersed in music, Padraig Stevens has no regrets about following his ears and voice. He describes getting on the stage as giving him ‘‘a great sense of identity.’’ The writing process he says is one powerful and enjoyable cycle: ‘‘It’s a great achievement to get an idea to write a song, to complete a song and play it to someone and then get acknowledged by someone in the music industry.’’

Stevens returned to The Saw Doctors between 2000 and 2003, touring Britain and America where his decision to share his gift of music with others was once more vindicated. Still finding time to write songs and doing the odd gigs, the modest Padraig Stevens is content in conducting chords in the background: ‘‘I still get a great thrill out of writing song and performing is a balancing act between entertaining and working. Music is just something that lives with you forever.’’