18 August 2017 The most disappointing thing about Dua Lipa's 2024 album Radical Optimism was that it meant her excellent preceding album Future Nostalgia was the exception. Where she had infused the fresh and exciting 'Don't Start Now' and 'Physical' with character and energy, seemingly kicking on to a higher level and upping her game, … Continue reading Dua Lipa – ‘New Rules’ →

13 May 1972 Whenever there's been a number one here from a visiting act about how much they love Ireland—in which they typically take an unsuspecting woman from Dublin or Limerick and tell her she's now a "Galway girl"—I hark back to the original of the species: 'Forty Shades Of Green' by Johnny Cash. In … Continue reading Johnny Cash – ‘A Thing Called Love’ →

6 May 1972 A showband from Cork: already I'm nostalgic for when the British Army topped the Irish charts. This is and isn't the same Dixies that had already had a number one with 'Little Arrows' in 1968. Their two best-known members, singer Brendan O'Brien and drummer Joe Mac, had left to form a new … Continue reading The Dixies With Sandie & Joe – ‘What Do I Do’ →

5 May 2017 The 15 weeks of 'Despacito' were finally overtaken by Kingfishr's 'Killeagh' in January 2026 as second only to 'Riverdance' on the all-time list of songs with the most weeks at number one in Ireland. 'Killeagh' had the power of local Gaelic football and hurling, a folk music resurgence and a prominent Late … Continue reading Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – ‘Despacito’ →

29 April 1972 So the British Army's chart-topping reign in Ireland only lasted a week. Be it buyer's remorse or a new-found sense of awareness and taste, they were dislodged by an Irish folk protest song about the killings on Bloody Sunday. Despite merely recounting the obvious events and not calling for listeners to reprise … Continue reading Paddy Wagon – ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ →

22 April 1972 On 30 January 1972—Bloody Sunday—British soldiers killed 13 unarmed civilians at a protest march in the nationalist Bogside area of Derry. The immediate response in Ireland included the burning of the British Embassy in Dublin. Three months later, the British Army were at number one in the Irish singles charts. There's more. … Continue reading The Pipes and Drums and the Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards – ‘Amazing Grace’ →

8 April 1972 How popular and iconic was Big Tom? Well, he was the first Irish person to have a song named after them go to number one in Ireland, and is one of only four Irish people ever to have had that distinction. His home town of Castleblayney in Co. Monaghan had already been … Continue reading Big Tom and The Mainliners – ‘Broken Marriage Vows’ →

1 April 1972 In this year of 'The Men Behind The Wire' and 'Give Ireland Back To The Irish', surely 'Three Leafed Shamrock' is another politically-charged protest song, right? Or maybe, like 'Ceol An Ghrá' immediately before it at number one, it showcases a new-found national pride in Irish cultural heritage, doesn't it? No and … Continue reading John Kerr – ‘Three Leafed Shamrock’ →

10 March 2017 Steve Earle's Galway Girl was from Dublin. Ed Sheeran's Galway Girl was from Limerick. Alliteration, rhythm and other mysteries of lyric writing were probably the forces prevailing over mundane accuracy in both instances. That said, fans of feminist and post-colonial theories will recognise the trope of a western male tourist or voyager … Continue reading Ed Sheeran – ‘Galway Girl’ →