10 January 1974
You fans of Big Tom and Brendan Shine may be galled to learn that for number one singles in Ireland in 1974 your guys trailed in behind Joe Cuddy. Some others of you may be learning about the existence of an Irish singer called Joe Cuddy. I only knew his name because of the footnotes to a ’90s chart-topping version that had already provided Joe with his second number one of 1974. Here’s his first.
Joe sprang forth from the Dublin cabaret scene and had already sung in Ireland’s national selection contest for Eurovision, the Champions League of cabaret. ‘I’m Gonna Make It’, with its brassy tale of an ambitious singer heading from Detroit to Broadway, is pure US cabaret. And the jaunty arrangement, replete with air-kickalong boom-boom in the pre-chorus, makes the whole thing redolent of schlager-fied UK light-entertainment cabaret like ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo’. So, if you like ’70s cabaret, Joe’s your man and ‘I’m Gonna Make It’ is your bag. He’s here all year; try the fish.
The only version of Joe Cuddy’s ‘I’m Gonna Make It’ that seems to exist online is from this 1974 Austrian TV appearance. It’s colourful, to say the least – and don’t go away, because there’s comedy.
Discover more from Irish Number Ones
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
