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’
Roy Orbison – ‘Blue Bayou’
1 November 1963 Another slightly unsettling image (above) of clear-glasses-era Big O, as if he were a mere mortal and not the Platonic ideal of barely-holding-it-together heartache made song. Also unsettling to me: I understand a bayou to be some sort of marshy, semi-stagnant American lake. Leaving someone behind there sounds more like a mob … Continue reading Roy Orbison – ‘Blue Bayou’
Brian Poole and The Tremeloes – ‘Do You Love Me’
25 October 1963 Brian Poole and The Tremeloes were from London, not Liverpool, but they nonetheless partook of the Merseybeat sound. What's more, they were the group signed by Decca Records instead of The Beatles, both having auditioned the same day. So, that's Brian Poole and The Tremeloes, the band The Beatles could have been. … Continue reading Brian Poole and The Tremeloes – ‘Do You Love Me’
Pink – ‘So What’
2 October 2008 Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, and I wouldn't rank it much higher as a form of pop song either. The snarky "na-na-na-na na-na-na..." that starts off Pink's 'So What', and is repeated several times in the verses, wearies me fast. So does a chorus of "So what / I'm still … Continue reading Pink – ‘So What’
