19 February 2009 'Get On Your Boots' is U2's 21st Irish number one single - and their last. (Those 21 U2 Irish number ones fall neatly: seven in the '80s, seven in the '90s, and seven in the '00s.) What's more, 2009 is also the last time U2 had an Irish top ten single, with … Continue reading U2 – ‘Get On Your Boots’
Author: Aidan Curran
The Dave Clark Five – ‘Glad All Over’
31 January 1964 Football watchers will know the stompy, shouty chorus of 'Glad All Over' from being played pre-match and post-goal by Crystal Palace, the song's early adopter, and several other club sides since, including Shamrock Rovers. To be honest, that second career in football cheerleading is probably the only reason anyone still thinks of … Continue reading The Dave Clark Five – ‘Glad All Over’
Lady Gaga ft. Colby O’Donis – ‘Just Dance’
15 January 2009 As the launchpad for a sensational new chart superstar, 'Just Dance' really didn't do much for Colby O'Donis. He'll have another feature credit later in 2009 on a top 20 single by another Irish number one act and serial featurer himself - Akon, the unlikely co-writer of 'Just Dance'. After that we … Continue reading Lady Gaga ft. Colby O’Donis – ‘Just Dance’
Dickie Rock and The Miami Showband – ‘There’s Always Me’
3 January 1964 I don't know who I expected to find as Ireland's biggest pop star of the '60s, but I was still surprised to see that it was Dickie Rock. The guy singing cabaret schmaltz on Live At 3 in the '80s? Well, yes: over the next two years he has six Irish number … Continue reading Dickie Rock and The Miami Showband – ‘There’s Always Me’
Alexandra Burke – ‘Hallelujah’
18 December 2008 Has any song seen its stock rise so high and fall so hard as Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah'? (Sorry, Leonard Cohen fans, but that's how the world thinks of it now.) Buckley's 1994 debut album Grace was fresh, thrilling, and the hit of '90s student-bedsit Dublin - I was there; I can even … Continue reading Alexandra Burke – ‘Hallelujah’
Cliff Richard and The Shadows – ‘Don’t Talk To Him’
20 December 1963 Uh-oh. Here's Cliff with his first Irish Christmas number one. Thankfully, 'Don't Talk To Him' isn't his latter-day Jesus-based creepery like 'Mistletoe And Wine' but instead the unlikely tale of a male hater fibbing to Cliff's girl that he's playing the field by "walking round with Sue and Jean". Listen up, haters: … Continue reading Cliff Richard and The Shadows – ‘Don’t Talk To Him’
Leona Lewis – ‘Run’
20 November 2008 As happened in 2007, the last three Irish number one singles of 2008 are all associated with The X Factor, at that time a UK show not broadcast by any of the Irish TV channels. Reminder: there have only ever been five Irish number ones from Irish TV talent show winners ever, … Continue reading Leona Lewis – ‘Run’
The X Factor Finalists – ‘Hero’
30 October 2008 I was still living abroad in 2008. In my absence the people of Ireland put to the top of the Irish charts a British single from a British TV show celebrating the British military for the British poppy-wearing remembrance day. Somebody talk me through the collective national thought process behind that, if … Continue reading The X Factor Finalists – ‘Hero’
Gerry and The Pacemakers – ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’
8 November 1963 Are Gerry and The Pacemakers a Liverpool Aslan to The Beatles' U2? I ask because here in Dublin, Aslan are seen as the people's band and U2 the band for tourists. Football being the people's game and a crucial Merseyside identifier, Liverpool's terrace anthem is this Gerry track, and there's no one … Continue reading Gerry and The Pacemakers – ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’
The Saw Doctors – ‘About You Now’
16 October 2008 While swooning over Leona Lewis's marvellous 'Bleeding Love' I mentioned the '00s trend for rock bands to leech attention and relevancy through ironic or condescending covers of contemporary chart pop hits. Here's one that became a chart hit itself. (We'll also soon see reprisals, where X Factor alumni cover indie favourites to … Continue reading The Saw Doctors – ‘About You Now’
