12 February 1972 You can still send a telegram today. Isn't that cute? Less cute is how anyone nicknamed Telegram Sam today is more likely to be an avid user of a certain social media site frequented by right-wing knuckle-draggers with lEgiTiMaTe qUeStIoNs. There are a few competing footnotes as to who the real-life Telegram … Continue reading T. Rex – ‘Telegram Sam’ →

22 January 1972 This chart-topping original of 'The Men Behind The Wire' has a spoken-word introduction: On Monday the ninth of August 1971 at 4:30 a.m., Irish men from all over the six counties were taken from their homes. Hundreds of these men are now imprisoned without trial. This song is borne of the civil … Continue reading Barleycorn – ‘The Men Behind The Wire’ →

8 January 1972 Shannon Airport's role as the site of the real-life inspiration for Coca Cola's "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" jingle will turn out to be one of Ireland's more benign contributions to our chart-topping singles of 1972. Irish coffee was invented in the '40s at the nearby Foynes transatlantic seaplane … Continue reading The New Seekers – ‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)’ →

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’ →