7 November 1966
They’ve had number ones sung by their frontman Brendan Bowyer (‘The Hucklebuck’ et al.) and their bass player Tom Dunphy (‘If I Didn’t Have A Dime (To Play The Jukebox)’), and now here’s a Royal Showband chart-topper with vocals by their drummer. Was this a marketing move, similar to how most Beatles album had one track sung by Ringo, to throw something to Royal fans whose favourite was Charlie? I don’t know; run in and ask your nan.
As for the song, ‘Somewhere My Love’ is a lyric version of ‘Lara’s Theme’ from Doctor Zhivago, that epic ’60s movie about fixing up a record shop in Galway. It had already been a US top ten hit for the Ray Conniff Singers, all 25 of them, and then every country seemed to have its own local version, of which Ireland’s was this by The Royal. Their arrangement here—strumming acoustic guitar, balalaika-like electric guitar or piano, multiple harmony vocals à la Conniff and crew—has the novelty of relative freshness and texture compared to other Irish singles of the era. Charlie does a solid job at the mic. Otherwise, this is still a typical ’60s Irish showband record: a bloodless and risk-free cover version, effectively a loss-leader promotional product aimed at luring as many punters as possible into the upcoming Royal Showband concert at a provincial ballroom near you.
