The Cranberries - "Linger"

The Cranberries came together early in 1990. The three boys had already been playing together for a long time, but were looking for new lead singer. They had heard of Dolores O’Riordan (vocals) through mutual friends, and, during the audition, Noel Hogan (guitars) played her a few chords he had been messing around with.

O’Riordan took home the piece of music, changed the arrangement a little, wrote some words to it, and brought it back shortly after. The result was an early version of "Linger", and the boys liked it. Brother Mike Hogan (bass) : "“It was actually really good, that that was the song that actually made us". And it would prove to be the hit that would launch their career internationally.

A five-song demo tape, which included a version of "Linger" commenced a bidding war among London record labels. Eventually they signed with Island Records.

Available on the prophetically titled album "Everyone Else Is Doing It, Why Can’t We ?"