Dolores O’Riordan

Upon hearing the news of her passing...

When I went to London to attend Advanced Haircutting Course at Toni&Guy Academy (Why not Sassoon? It's another story) in 1994, I first lived and shared a house with a bunch of Irish guys in Crouch End, north London. Lovely people, so much fun. Crazy days.

My best friend Mark, (Where are you Mark? Does anyone know Mark Allen from Belfast?) played a song again and again from his cassette tape recorder (??). I was instantly mesmerised by the voice of the singer. Well, that was a song 'Linger'.
There's some very uniquely Irish sensitivity in her music and voice, I thought. And found them very attractive.

Blonde, textured French crop hairstyle. I was actually creating these funky hairstyles during a day at the Academy. Very exciting. I just couldn't believe that I could do those haircuts on real humans, young girls, not mannequins. They all looked fabulous no matter what. And they were all willing to do that, and happy. I had never done it before in Japan. Obviously it won't work with Asian hair, in general.

I had never been a big fan of Brit-Pop phenomena at that time, somehow their music didn't catch me. Let alone, Alanis Morissette (I saw her in a small night club in Notting Hill before she became big).

There were only two musicians/bands that really interested me. That was Dolores, and of course Thom Yorke.

Later in the year, I went to Hair Expo in Wembley Park. First time. "Is it real? Am I actually in London?" It was a long way from home in those days. Going overseas was very expensive and unimaginable for me and my family

. 

Suddenly I was sitting in a big theatre. I think it was Toni&Guy. Maybe it was Sassoon, I can't remember. It was a great hair show. Probably the best one I've ever seen. 

The opening of the show... The lights were gone. Pitch dark. Silence with massive excitement among audience. You could feel it. 

A fuzzy black&white film clip started to roll, models wandering around in forest. And this song. I didn’t know what it was, but, I immediately recognised the voice, that stratospheric pitch, thinking “It must be her.” It was just brilliant.

Probably my favourite of hers.