27 February 1967 Fans of UK pop chart lore will know that The Beatles' double-A-side single of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane' was kept off the UK number one spot by a cabaret crooner ballad which we'll see next here. As for Ireland, there isn't an official Irish chart place for 'Strawberry Fields Forever', … Continue reading Petula Clark – ‘This Is My Song’
Tag: 60s
Joe Dolan and The Drifters – ‘The House With The Whitewashed Gable’
20 February 1967 Challenge: listen to 'The House With The Whitewashed Gable' until the very end without cringing. It can't be done! If the twee "dum-dee-dum-dee-dum" or the shameless gable-Mabel rhyme don't get you, Joe's jaunty spoken-word "Hi!" will. (As explained before, The Drifters here aren't the US vocal group, just Joe's backing band, eventually … Continue reading Joe Dolan and The Drifters – ‘The House With The Whitewashed Gable’
The Monkees – ‘I’m A Believer’
23 January 1967 It feels almost refreshing to listen to 'I'm A Believer' today, free of context and baggage. Is The Monkees' show still being repeated on TV? Perhaps by some retro oldies channel, but hardly on Saturday morning kids' TV the way my malleable small-child brain experienced it and '60s Batman in the '80s. … Continue reading The Monkees – ‘I’m A Believer’
Tom Jones – ‘Green, Green Grass Of Home’
5 December 1966 'Green, Green Grass Of Home' starts something of an Irish Christmas tradition: our Christmas number one record sung by—spoiler alert—someone in a police or prison cell ('Whiskey In The Jar', 'Fairytale Of New York') and, since he's about to be executed, presumably a killer too ('Whiskey In The Jar' also, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' … Continue reading Tom Jones – ‘Green, Green Grass Of Home’
Johnny McEvoy – ‘Muirsheen Durkin’
14 November 1966 I was intrigued to see that Johnny McEvoy, the avuncular folk balladeer who popped up on every Irish light entertainment show of the '80s, originally released his version of 'Muirsheen Durkin' under the nom de folk of The Rambler (a nod to his previous double act The Ramblers Two) with its sleeve … Continue reading Johnny McEvoy – ‘Muirsheen Durkin’
Charlie Matthews and The Royal Showband – ‘Somewhere My Love’
7 November 1966 They've had number ones sung by their frontman Brendan Bowyer ('The Hucklebuck' et al.) and their bass player Tom Dunphy ('If I Didn't Have A Dime (To Play The Jukebox)'), and now here's a Royal Showband chart-topper with vocals by their drummer. Was this a marketing move, similar to how most Beatles … Continue reading Charlie Matthews and The Royal Showband – ‘Somewhere My Love’
Dermot O’Brien and His Clubmen – ‘The Merry Ploughboy (Off To Dublin In The Green)’
26 September 1966 Here's a factoid to squirrel away for your next table quiz: Dermot O'Brien won an All-Ireland senior football title as captain of Louth in 1957 and had an Irish number one single with 'The Merry Ploughboy' in 1966. We're used to GAA stars topping the polls as politicians, but Dermot O'Brien is … Continue reading Dermot O’Brien and His Clubmen – ‘The Merry Ploughboy (Off To Dublin In The Green)’
Joe Dolan and The Drifters – ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’
5 September 1966 In more recent times Joe Dolan was synonymous with much-loved hip-swinging cabaret oldies like 'You're Such A Good-Looking Woman' and 'Make Me An Island' - neither of which got to number one in Ireland. What actually topped the '60s Irish charts for Joe were, and you'll be unastonished to hear this, showband … Continue reading Joe Dolan and The Drifters – ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’
The Beatles – ‘Yellow Submarine’
22 August 1966 The song 'Happy Birthday To You' dates from the end of the 19th century. Before that, what did people sing at birthday parties? I ask because with 'Yellow Submarine' we're moving into the realm of Beatles songs that transcend mere pop records and have become as woven into our shared human experience … Continue reading The Beatles – ‘Yellow Submarine’
The Johnstons – ‘The Travelling People’
15 August 1966 They never had an Irish number one single, but any mention of the Irish folk boom of the '60s should include The Clancy Brothers. I get the sense they were more loved in the US than by traditionalists back home, but they still sold albums here by the truckload. Their influence on … Continue reading The Johnstons – ‘The Travelling People’
