Dickie Rock – ‘Come Back To Stay’

28 February 1966

Engagement and gamification are not new concepts; the unlikely vanguard of these multimedia strategies was Ireland’s 1966 Eurovision entry. Dickie sings “come back to stay” and you can immediately jump in to finish the rhyme-cliche, “stray”, which he delivers about half an hour later in this tired, bland, watery ballad. Likewise, “true” and… “blue”, “your place” and… “your face”, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

You’ll recall that Dickie’s son Richard was one of the original Boyzone line-up from their iconic first TV appearance on The Late Late Show. With ‘Come Back To Stay’, a song with no interest in being original, Dickie Rock may also be the metaphorical local milkman who sired the Irish boyband ballad, climactic key change and all.