Searching for a star

On the Town: It was like a Frankie Goes To Hollywood concert, or a Duran Duran video.

Dancers in fishnet tights and leather writhing on a podium; a camp biker in thong, chains and boots; bodypainted babes wrapped around real boa constrictors: it felt like we'd been thrown back into the 1980s, to Club Tropicana, where drinks are free (they weren't). All we needed now was Lionel Richie dancing on the ceiling.

But this is 2004, and Richie was probably back at his hotel, talking to his divorce lawyers. We were in Spirit nightclub for the Meteor Ireland Music Awards after-show party, and celebrities from any decade were thin on the dance floor.

Earlier, we had watched enviously while the cream (and chaff) of the Irish music industry slapped each other heartily on the back in front of a few thousand fans. Kings of pop, Westlife; queens (and one prince) of Celtic pop, The Corrs, lords of the ballad, The Dubliners, queen of the jungle, Kerry McFadden, and beauty queen of the world, Rosanna Davison. A parade of rock 'n' roll royalty: Larry Mullen from U2, Joe Elliott from Def Leppard, Keith Duffy from Boyzone, and of course, ol' Lionel himself.

Richie hasn't had any hits this past decade - though he's sold 100 million records - and his fame has recently been eclipsed by his daughter, party girl Nicole Richie.

"I'm now being introduced as Nicole Richie's dad - can you imagine how that feels?" he told us. "But I don't mind - I think every parent wants to be upstaged by their children."

The awards felt like a time warp too. We learned that U2 and Def Leppard are working on their 11th albums. Westlife sang a song made famous by Barry Manilow, and even the Hothouse Flowers were back from the dead, bringing with them a choir from heaven. Dave Fanning has been on the radio for 25 years, and Paul McGuinness can recall an era before even Hot Press magazine.

Where does the time go?