Rosetta Stone were a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

from

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

, Northern Ireland, which included the ex-guitarist of the Bay City Rollers, Ian Mitchell. The group released two albums and one EP before dissolving in 1984. The genesis of Rosetta Stone came in 1973, as childhood friends Mitchell, Terry McKee, Damian McKee, and Colin McKee (not the footballer Colin McKee) formed a band called Young City Stars. They played local clubs and dance halls, often opening concerts for the Bay City Rollers with their sound engineer Brian Herron. In early 1976, Mitchell left the Young City Stars to join the Bay City Rollers. He was replaced by

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

-born guitarist Andy LeGear. Mitchell would return later that year as the group, now managed by Rollers manager

Tam Paton Thomas Dougal "Tam" Paton (5 August 1938 – 8 April 2009) was a pop group manager, most notably of the Scottish boy band the Bay City Rollers. Biography Born in Prestonpans, Scotland, he was the son of a potato merchant. Paton initially drove a ...

, changed their name to Rosetta Stone. In 1977, Rosetta Stone signed with

Private Stock Records Private Stock Records was a record label that operated from 1974 to 1978. The label was founded by Larry Uttal after he was ousted from Bell Records. The label primarily focused on pop music and had numerous hit records, many of them one-hit wo ...

. They appeared on

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted in ...

's TV show ''Marc'' performing their single, a cover of

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

's "Sunshine of Your Love". Their

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut album (known as ''Rock Pictures'' in some territories) was released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in May 1978. A second album, ''Caught in the Act'', followed in 1979. In early 1979 Ian Mitchell once again departed, to be replaced by Paul "Flash" Lerwill. Lerwill (a former Edinburgh DJ at local hotspot "Clouds"). Lerwill left the band in 1982 and was replaced by

Enda Walsh Enda Walsh (born 1967) is an Irish playwright. Biography Enda Walsh was born in Kilbarrack, North Dublin on February 7, 1967. His father ran a furniture shop and his mother had been an actress. He is the second youngest of six children. Wal ...

. That same year the EP ''Hiding From Love'' was released, after which the group permanently disbanded. The tracks "Hiding from Love", "Remember" and "Straight from the Heart", were all penned by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

. "Hiding From Love", which had previously been a #64 hit in Canada for Adams in 1980, became a bigger hit for Rosetta Stone, where it reached #46 in Canada in 1982. Adams would later record his own version of "Straight From the Heart" in 1983, and made it a Top 20 hit in Canada and a Top 10 hit in the US. Soon after their Roadie Brian left the band due to family commitments went on to produce his own record label in Miami, Florida, US. There have been a number of Rosetta Fests (reunions) where the band have performed together again. The final fest, was held in Toronto in September 2007 In 2012 they held a sold out reunion show in their hometown at Mullan's Bar,

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Pop music groups from Northern Ireland Rock music groups from Northern Ireland Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Musical groups from County Down Downpatrick