29 July 2016 'Cold Water' gives Justin Bieber his fourth Irish number one single and a total of 22 weeks at the top of the Irish charts, all within twelve months. It's also the second chart-topper in Ireland for the partnership of Major Lazer and MØ in just over a year. All these tracks sound … Continue reading Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber and MØ – ‘Cold Water’
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Larry Cunningham – ‘Slaney Valley’
1 January 1972 The most astonishing year in Irish chart history begins innocuously enough, with an old-fashioned waltz-time accordion ballad on the céilí wing of the country & Irish showband scene. Suffice it to say, Larry Cunningham won't be doing any of the astonishing that lies ahead. 'Slaney Valley' ploughs such a similar furrow to … Continue reading Larry Cunningham – ‘Slaney Valley’
Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – ‘This Is What You Came For’
13 May 2016 Nils Sjöberg here joins Bernard Webb, Christopher, Ann Orson, and Ron Dunbar & Edythe Wayne in the rank of hit songwriters who were pseudonyms of already-famous acts. While the Harris-Sjöberg writing team may have never, ever got back together for further hits, 'This Is What You Came For' at least reunites the … Continue reading Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – ‘This Is What You Came For’
Tommy Drennan and The Monarchs – ‘O Holy Night’
23 December 1971 Duetting with yourself as a child: must be some modern-day AI jiggery-pokery, right? No, it's Ireland's Christmas number one of 1971! How it's done: '70s showband singer Tommy Drennan had in his youth been '50s boy soprano Tommy Drennan, of whom there was a 1953 recording of him singing 'O Holy Night'. … Continue reading Tommy Drennan and The Monarchs – ‘O Holy Night’
Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla – ‘One Dance’
6 May 2016 Entertaining as the Kendrick - Drake beef has been, I have one teensy reservation: it's only Drake. Surely there a worthier foe for the lacerating rhymes of Pulitzer Prize laureate Kendrick Lamar than Toronto's most prominent rapper since Snow. Drake is hardly the Napoleon of rap, not least because the Napoleon of … Continue reading Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla – ‘One Dance’
Tina and The Real McCoy – ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’
9 December 1971 This seems to be the first number one single anywhere for Andrew Lloyd Webber, although Jesus Christ Superstar had topped the US album charts the previous year. (Earlier in 1971, Helen Reddy's version of the song had cracked the top twenty Stateside but neither it nor a rival cover by Petula Clark … Continue reading Tina and The Real McCoy – ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’
Slade – ‘Coz I Luv You’
25 November 1971 Bolan was the first. Bowie was the hippest. Roxy were the artiest. The Sweet were the campiest. Sparks were the edgiest. Slade, though, could claim to be the glam act that were the most popular. After all, they had six UK number ones—the same amount as in Ireland—and were the biggest-selling British … Continue reading Slade – ‘Coz I Luv You’
Sia ft. Sean Paul – ‘Cheap Thrills’
1 April 2016 Sia's public standing doesn't seem to have recovered from the controversial depiction of autism in Music, the 2021 movie she co-wrote, co-produced and directed. Matters weren't helped by Sia's initial response to such criticism: effing and jeffing at disgruntled autistic people on her socials. Her 2017 Christmas single 'Snowman' returns to the … Continue reading Sia ft. Sean Paul – ‘Cheap Thrills’
Mike Posner – ‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’
25 March 2016 Back in 1992 The Shamen had to invent a spurious Dickensian oddball called Ebeneezer Goode to get their ode to ecstasy onto the radio, TV and top of the charts. No subterfuge required in free-thinking 2016 - at least not in the lyrics. I felt a bit hoodwinked, though, to discover that … Continue reading Mike Posner – ‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’
Red Hurley and The Nevada – ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’
18 November 1971 Taking an early lead over Brendan Shine in the race to be Ireland's most prolific Irish chart-topper of the '70s, here's An Camán Dearg with his second number one of 1971. 'Kiss Me Goodbye' had previously been recorded by Petula Clark, for whom it was a US top twenty hit in 1968, … Continue reading Red Hurley and The Nevada – ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’
