Origins and Mainstream Success
Noel and Mike Hogan, two brothers from
Limerick formed the band with drummer Fergal Lawler in 1990. The band was originally named The Cranberry Saw Us, a pun on cranberry sauce. The lead singer at that time was a friend of theirs named Niall Quinn, who had an extravagant taste for composing and song names, such as "My Grandma drowned in a fountain in Lourdes", "I was always all ways" and "Throw Me Down A Big Stairs". When he left the band,
Dolores O'Riordan, who was a friend of Niall's girlfriend at the time, and relations with powerful banking family the O' Riordans in Cork, auditioned and won the role of lead singer. She quickly demonstrated her lyrical ability when the band handed her a demo of a melody they had been working on. She took the demo home and returned with a full set of lyrics for it the next day, the song (which later became one of the band's biggest hits) was then given the name "
Linger".
Their homemade demo tape did well locally and the band soon recorded a demo tape which they sold in record stores throughout Ireland. After the original run of 300 copies sold out, the group truncated their name to the Cranberries and sent another demo tape, which featured early versions of both "Linger" and "Dreams," to record companies throughout the UK. The tape was made at Xeric studios, which was run by
Pearse Gilmore, who would later become their manager. At the time the tape was made, all of the members were still in their late teens.
The demo tape earned the attention of both the UK press and record industry and there soon was a bidding war between major British record labels. Eventually, the group signed with
Island Records whose other famous Irish contract is with
U2. The Cranberries headed into the studio with Gilmore as their producer to record their first single, "Uncertain." The title proved to be prophetic, as the band did indeed sound ill at ease on the single, leading to poor reviews in the press, in addition to tensions between the group and Gilmore. Before they were scheduled to record their debut in
1992, the Cranberries discovered that Gilmore had signed a secret deal with Island to improve his studios. The tensions within the band became so great they nearly broke up. Instead, the band severed all relations with Gilmore, hired
Geoff Travis of
Rough Trade Records as their new manager, and hired
Stephen Street, who had previously worked with
The Smiths, as their new producer.
The Cranberries' debut album,
Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, was released in the spring of
1993, followed by a single of "Dreams." Neither the album or the single gained much attention, nor did a second single, "
Linger", until the band embarked on a tour, catching the attention of MTV, which put their videos into heavy rotation. Although singles wise in the UK, Linger was released first (Feb. 1993 peaking at 74, re-issued Feb. 1994 peaking at 14) and was followed by Dreams (May 1994 peaking at 27).
O'Riordan married the band's tour manager,
Don Burton, in a much-publicized ceremony in July,
1994. The marriage, as well as the group's videos, emphasized the singer as the focal point of the band. O'Riordan's position in the group continued to rise with the fall release of the group's second album,
No Need to Argue. Boasting a slightly harder, more streamlined sound, yet still produced by
Stephen Street, the record debuted at number six on the US charts and eventually outsold its predecessor; within a year it went triple platinum, spawning the number one modern rock hit "
Zombie" and the number 11 "Ode to My Family."
In 1995, they continued with a tour, and they released two more singles "I Can't Be With You" and "
Ridiculous Thoughts". To date the album has sold very well. It went diamond in Canada, Switzerland, and went seven times platinum in the United States (seven million copies sold).
In early 1995, they also recorded an "MTV Unplugged" performance (in New York), where they played nine songs. The performance was not released as an album, but can be found in some of the band's bootlegs.
