18 April 1987
The Irish and UK top ten singles in April 1987 featured ‘Let It Be’ by Ferry Aid, a charity fundraising record for the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, and also this comic Irish ballad about a ship that sank. Explain me that.
The Pogues had two Irish number one singles in 1987, both duets, and both tales of misery with a New York connection. For the Dubliners this was their second Irish number one single, their second UK top ten hit, and their second Top of the Pops appearance. (‘Seven Drunken Nights’ twenty years earlier was their first on all those counts.) While it’s great for all concerned, and certainly good for ameliorating our 1980s national inferiority complex, small me didn’t see the appeal of ‘The Irish Rover’ at the time and big me still doesn’t.
Irish Number Ones 