72A are an aspiring Irish boyband, following in the traditions of successful Irish boybands and are created in the same mould as predecessors Westlife and Boyzone. The band are likewise managed by pop guru Louis Walsh. The band are signed to the Sony Europe label. The band are composed of John McGillycuddy, Garrett Verling and Alan O'Neill. All three have an extensive music background in Ireland, despite their relatively tender age (Verling and McGillycuddy are both twenty, O'Neill nineteen).

The band's first single; "Come on Tyrone" (coincidently their only piece so far that was written by the band), was a relative chart flop in the Irish market. Their second single; a cover of an Irish folk masterpiece The Green Fields of France similarly failed to capture the public's imagination and was a chart failure likewise, barely scraping into the Irish Top 40.

Despite this, owing to a recent image rejuvenation and major marketing launch by the band's label Sony, (following murmurs in the press from bandmember Verling that perhaps the band weren't receiving great backing from management or their record company), the band have maintained a high profile in the Irish pop market.

TRIVIA

-All three members didn't know each other at all up until about a year and a half ago, when they met in university, all are from different parts of Ireland.

-Band-member Garrett Verling was educated privately for second level in the prestigious Cistercian College, Roscrea, and was also a member of the elite Dublin stable for talented performers, the Billy Barry Kids; whose former members include former Westlife member Brian McFadden, Irish singer and actress Samantha Mumba and current Westlife star Nicky Byrne.

-Verling has also infamously battled alcohol abuse in some form or another in the past, and famously appeared on the RTÉ show Popstars in 2003 when quite obviously intoxicated. He has recently said in the press that he is now clean and free of all addictions. He also recently married his childhood sweetheart, Pakistani born but Irish reared Sonja Gandhi, despite the relative youth of both. The ceremony was highly publicised in the tabloids in Ireland, despite the fact that little is known about his bride.

-John McGillycuddy is well-known in some sporting circles in Ireland as a former child prodigy on the sporting field, having performed for his native county of Kerry in gaelic football to some success; having won an All-Ireland Senior medal in 2000, aged just fifteen. He gave up football following a battle with a recurring back injury and turned his attentions to music. In fact, the pain of his back injury was so intense, it is rumoured he once became addicted to pain-killing drugs (Nurofen), after he appeared in an incoherent state on the Late Late Show, a primetime TV show in Ireland, where he was involved in a debate with Nell McCafferty on the future of the European Economy (McGillycuddy studied Commerce during his brief stint in college). He has been linked in the media with both Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle in the past, and presently with RTÉ presenter Laura Woods, the host of RTÉ's The Cafe.

-Alan O'Neill is the youngest of the trio, but along with McGillycuddy is often the band's main vocalist. He is the only one of the trio who has said publicly that he hopes to finish his education someday, and has appeared in an advert on Irish television in which he encourages children to stay in school. O'Neill has also been linked through the media with some famous ladies, including a string of TG4 television presenters and newsreaders, amongst them Paisean Faisean presenter Aoife Ni Thuarisc, and former Miss Ireland Natasha Ni Gairbheith.

-The Irish media have made much of the band's highly publicised love of the nightlife, for which they are nearly as well known as their singing. They were involved in a highly-publicised recent public spat with Irish Independent journalist and well-respected social commentator Eamon Dunphy after he branded the trio and their behaviour "a disgrace". They recently had a famous reconciliation and most recently the well-known eccentric Dunphy said of the trio; they're gentlemen, rebels and they stand up to bullies!

Amongst the famous celebrity admirers of the band are Bob Dylan, who lauds Verling's occasional use of the harmonica in certain live performances, and Christy Moore.

-Bandmember John McGillycuddy was recently involved in an incident in famous Belfast nightspot Boo Radleys in which he was attacked. As a result of this, the band have had a bodyguard appointed, who has become a well-known figure in the Irish media due to his extraordinary size. At 6ft 8ins bodyguard Cathal "The Brawler" Lawler, sometimes known as "The Bear" in the Irish media, is certainly an intimadating sight who rarely leaves the band's side of late.

THE FUTURE

Despite their relatively high profile in the admittedly small, and over-saturated Irish boyband market, it is widely regarded that much of the future of the band will depend on the success of their upcoming single, a cover of the well-known Simon & Garfunkel track The Boxer, which goes on general release on January 9th 2005.

Also expected in the near future from the band are the much-anticipated first album, simply titled "Affluence", and the band's upcoming "Pro Evolution Tour" of Britain and Ireland, kicking off early next May.