Celtus (band)

Celtus is a Celtic new age band founded by Pat McManus and John McManus of Mama's Boys.[1][2][3] The sound of the band was described by their manager to Billboard as "Pink Floyd meets Clannad meets Enigma."[4] The band worked with Nick Beggs, Rupert Hine, Gary Barnacle, Stephen W Tayler, Neil Bennett and been among list of Ayreon guest musicians. Celtus have been hosted by the Classic Rock Society. After recording two studio albums for Sony S2 the band were surprisingly dropped by their record label. They went on however, recording two further studio albums and a live album on the Shamrock label before disbanding. John McManus effectively retired from the spotlight but brother Pat McManus went back to hard rock and started a new band, "The Pat McManus Band" which play regular live shows containing original material, Mama's Boys songs and the occasional classic cover version. John McManus has occasionally joined the band on stage, notably as guest vocalist and bass player for the classic Mamas Boys standard "Needle In The Groove".

## Discography

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Albums:

* Moonchild, 1997
* Portrait, 1999
* Rooted, 2000
* Live 2000, 2000
* What Goes Around..., 2001

## References

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1. ^ Geoff Wallis, Sue Wilson -The Rough Guide to Irish Music 2001 1858286425 p. 160 "Celtus Pat and John McManus were teenage prodJohngies, winning the All- Ireland championships on fiddle and tin whistle respectively before jettisoning their roots to form Mama's Boys (with their brother Tommy on drums), the hardest-rocking ..."
2. ^ Billboard - 20 June 1998 p.46 "Celtus was formed out of the Mama's Boys, which in the great tradition of Irish family bands featured the three McManus brothers: the ethereally voiced John, guitarist Pat and Tommy, who died from leukemia two years ago. The two surviving ..."
3. ^ The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002 1857431618 p.327 "... Mama's Boys with brothers Pat and Tommy and toured the world twice; Numerous TV appearances: Mama's Boys disbanded owing to Tom McManus' leukaemia. 1993; Tom died 1994; Changed musical direction and formed new act Celtus ..."
4. ^ Billboard 25 Oct 1997 p.93 "Mama's Boys was a rock act from Northern Ireland, composed of three brothers, with a Jive Records deal. When drummer Tommy McManus fell victim to leukemia, Benson maintained the group's spirit and purpose and ... brothers gained a new record deal with Sony Music's U.K. imprint, S2, as the more traditionally inclined Celtus, which Benson describes as "Pink Floyd meets Clannad meets Enigma."

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