14 June 1963 Never mind the Beatles, here's Ireland's favourite music star of the time. Sixty years ago this month, in June 1963, American country crooner Jim Reeves was on an extensive tour of Ireland. Of the contemporary reports that are available online today, we can read how his dissatisfaction with the venue's piano meant … Continue reading Jim Reeves – ‘Welcome To My World’ →

7 June 1963 To illustrate how deadening Cliff Richard is to any song in his vicinity, here we have the benefit of comparison. Lieber & Stoller's 'Lucky Lips' was originally a 1957 hit for the '50s queen of US R&B, Ruth Brown. Her rich, swaggering voice and the track's purring bass sax make great hay … Continue reading Cliff Richard and The Shadows – ‘Lucky Lips’ →

24 May 1963 If you had the UK version of the TCM Movies channel on your tellybox, you may remember their weekday-western trailer which included that unlikely gun-slingin' leading man Roy Orbison toting a guitar that also fires rifle-shot. And even so, the weirdest thing about that clip from 1967 musical comedy western The Fastest … Continue reading Roy Orbison – ‘In Dreams’ →

17 May 1963 When you see the words The Beatles, what's the first song that comes to mind? Probably not 'From Me To You'—their first official number one in both the UK and Ireland—or their prior single 'Please Please Me', which topped every published UK singles chart except the actual official one. (The next two … Continue reading The Beatles – ‘From Me To You’ →

10 May 1963 Proving my point made about 'From A Jack To A King' and the world-crushing dominance of simpering ballads, 'Rhythm Of The Rain' was the 9th most-played song on American TV and radio in the 20th century. Its estimated eight million plays were more than every Beatles song bar 'Yesterday', every Motown song … Continue reading The Cascades – ‘Rhythm Of The Rain’ →

8 March 1963 Nine weeks at number one in 1963 makes Ned Miller's 'From A Jack To A King' Ireland's first real mega chart-topper. That length of reign—the most weeks of any Irish number one of the '60s—won't be matched until 1970 nor beaten until 1977. If you've ever crossed paths with the country & … Continue reading Ned Miller – ‘From A Jack To A King’ →

1 March 1963 As with Frank Ifield in 1962, our new-fangled official Irish singles chart comes a bit too late for Del Shannon's signature track, his wonderful 1961 hit 'Runaway'. I presume 'Runaway' sold plenty in Ireland anyway, but so far as Irish chart history is concerned it wasted its sweetness on the desert air. … Continue reading Del Shannon – ‘Little Town Flirt’ →

22 February 1963 Pop pickers of 1963 surely knew Jet Harris and Tony Meehan as previously the bass player and drummer with The Shadows. Pop pickers of more recent origin won't recognise those names but instead will no doubt remark on how the acoustic guitar and bass on their hit single 'Diamonds' were played respectively … Continue reading Jet Harris & Tony Meehan – ‘Diamonds’ →

11 January 1963 The first full year of the official Irish singles chart brings us three number ones from Cliff Richard. What's more, one of those three will be Cliff's first Christmas Irish number one. I'm amazed they didn't give up on the new charts after that, just re-think the clearly ill-starred enterprise. For those … Continue reading Cliff Richard – ‘The Next Time’ / ‘Bachelor Boy’ →