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1. The Hucklebuck
– Brendan Bowyer & The Royal Showband (Waterford), HMV 1964.
Originally released as the B-side of “I Ran All The Way Home”, this had
been a hit in the USA in November 1960 for Chubby Checker.
Find this track on:
Nostalgic Celebration / Harmac HM CD 53 or
Best Of Brendan Bowyer / Dolphin DOCX 9016
2. Tar And Cement – Joe Dolan & The
Drifters (Mullingar) Pye 1967. An English version of the Francoise Hardy
French hit, “La Maison Où J'ai Grandi”)
Find this track on:
The Singles Plus – Joe Dolan / BR UBS80162
Joe Dolan’s Greatest Hits – Volume 2
Make Me An Island – The Best Of Joe Dolan / Castle-Pulse
3. Turn Out The Light – The Creatures
(Dublin). Brian Harris (lead guitar), Frank Boylan (bass), Liam McKenna
(rhythm guitar), Ray McDonald (drums). Ireland’s most successful ‘60s
beat-group, The Creatures went to the USA to promote this single which
deserved a chart spot. Fran Byrne replaced Ray McDonald in the drum-seat.
Brian Harris subsequently joined The Gentry, Liam McKenna joined The Real
McCoy (later The Memories), Frank Boylan formed Mellow Candle.
Find this track on:
Columbia vinyl 45 rpm
4. Papa Oom Mow Mow – The Freshmen
(Ballymena) Pye 1967. Minor hit in USA for vocal group The Rivingtons.
Probably the one showband who could have been an international success.
Incredibly strong live-act, both musically and vocally.
Find this track on:
When Summer Comes – The Pye Anthology CMRCD 271 or
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 1 or
Nostalgic Celebration / Harmac HM CD 53 or
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 1
5. Make Me An Island – Joe Dolan (Mullingar)
Pye 1969. Reached No.3 in the British charts in June 1969. The Drifters
are not credited on the label.
Find this track on:
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 2 or
The Singles Plus – Joe Dolan / BR UBS80162
Make Me An Island – The Best Of Joe Dolan / Castle-Pulse
6. Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) –
The Strangers (Balbriggan), Pye 1967. A Neil Diamond song, originally on
The Monkees LP, “More Of The Monkees”. Jimmy Fanning on vocals with Len
Guest (lead guitar), Tommy Caffrey (rhythm guitar), Maxie McEvoy (bass)
and Vic McNamara (drums). The Strangers are planning a reunion concert for
later this year.
Find this track on:
Ireland’s Beat Groups 1964-69 / Sequel NEX CD 262
7. Never An Everyday Thing – Granny’s
Intentions (Limerick), Deram 1968. If Carlsberg did beat-groups they would
surely do Granny’s Intentions! The greatest Irish band never to make it
big worldwide. Johnny Duhan on vocals on this track written by Findon/Shelley.
Find this track on:
Deram vinyl 45 rpm - DM214
8. Baby, Please Don’t Go – Them
(Belfast) / Decca 1964. In the ‘60s many R&B bands featured this song and
some recorded it including The Rolling Stones and The Animals. Later, in
1964, Them and Van Morrison injected new life into “Baby Please Don’ t
Go”.
Find this track on:
The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison / London-Polydor
9. If I Didn’t Have A Dime – Tom
Dunphy & The Royal Showband. HMV 1965. Individual interpretation of a song
from the B-side of a Gene Pitney hit, “Only Love Can Break A Heart”. Tom
is credited with the first showband single (Come Down The Mountain Katie
Daly). He died in a car-crash in Donegal in 1975.
Find this track on:
Nostalgic Celebration / Harmac HM CD 53
10. There’s Always Me – Dickie Rock &
The Miami Showband (Dublin) Piccadilly 1963. From Elvis Presley’s 1961 LP,
“Something For Everyone”, this ballad was also on the B-side of Elvis’ hit
single, “Judy”.
Find this track on:
Sham*Rock – Irish Showbands Go Pop / Castle CMDDD 798 or
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 3
11. Walking The Streets In The Rain –
Butch Moore (Dublin) Pye 1965. Ireland’s first Eurovision entry written by
Teresa Conlon finished in 6th place in Naples. The Capitol Showband are
not credited on the label (because they didn’t play on it!).
Find this track on:
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 2 or
Nostalgic Celebration / Harmac HM CD 53 or
Best Of The Irish Showbands / Castle PLS CD 176 or
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 1
12. From The Candy Store On The Corner
– Dickie Rock & The Miami Showband (Dublin) Piccadilly 1964. Minor hit in
USA for Tony Bennett.
Find this track on:
Sham*Rock – Irish Showbands Go Pop / Castle CMDDD 798 or
Best Of The Irish Showbands / Castle PLS CD 176 or
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 2
13. Little Arrows – Brendan O’Brien &
The Dixies (Cork) Pye 1968. Released head to head with Leapy Lee’s version
of the same song. While Leapy had the British hit, Brendan O’Brien had his
first Irish No.1 with “Little Arrows”.
Find this track on:
Sham*Rock – Irish Showbands Go Pop / Castle CMDDD 798 or
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 1 or
Nostalgic Celebration / Harmac HM CD 53 or
Best Of The Irish Showbands / Castle PLS CD 176 or
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 1
14. She Wears My Ring – Seán Fagan &
The Pacific (Dublin) Pye 1964. Previously recorded by Elvis Presley, Roy
Orbison and Ray Price, the Dublin band had the Irish hit with this
Boudleaux & Bryant romantic ballad.
Find this track on:
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 1 or
Best Of The Irish Showbands / Castle PLS CD 176 or
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 2
15. Holiday Girl – The Newmen
(Ballymena). Tribune 1968. The influence of their close friends The
Freshmen is obvious on this original number written and produced by The
Freshmens’ lead guitarist Damien McIlroy whose brother was a member of the
band. Vocalist/keyboards Ivan Laybourne subsequently replaced Billy Brown
in The Freshmen.
Find this track on:
vinyl 45 / Tribune TRS104 or
vinyl LP – The Showband Special / Tribune
16. Foolin’ Time – Butch Moore & The
Capitol Showband. Piccadilly 1964. This was the very first recorded
composition by a young Derry songwriter named Phil Coulter. He played it
on the hotel piano for The Capitol Showband in a Donegal hotel. Who says
the Showbands only recorded covers?!
Find this track on:
Irish Showbands – Get Down With It / Sequel NEX CD 261 or
Sham*Rock – Irish Showbands Go Pop / Castle CMDDD 798 or
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 2
17. Story Of David – Granny’s
Intentions (Limerick) / Deram 1968. Original line-up: Johnny Duhan
(vocals), Johnny Hockedy (guitar), Jack Costelloe (bass), John Ryan
(keyboards), Guido Devito (drums). Changes in line-up saw Greg Donaghey,
Pat Nash, Gary Moore, Ed Deane, Noel Bridgeman, Pete Cummins become
members.
Find this track on:
Deram vinyl 45
18. The Answer To Everything – Joe
Dolan & The Drifters (Mullingar) Pye 1964. Joe Dolan’s first recording,
taken from the B-side of a Del Shannon hit, “So Long Baby”
Find this track on:
Make Me An Island – The Best Of Joe Dolan / Castle-Pulse
Best Of The Irish Showbands / Castle PLS CD 176
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 3
19. Three Jolly Little Dwarfs – The
Orange Machine (Dublin) Pye 1968. This was one of the best-ever
"psychedelic" singles and reached No.14 in the Irish charts. The B-side,
“Real Life Permanent Dream” has made this single much sought-after by
record-collectors worldwide. A copy (with rare picture-sleeve) sold for
GB£65.00 (approximately Euro 95.00) on eBay recently. Ernie Durkan later
joined The Gentry, then Buckshot, Tommy Kinsella joined the Cotton Mill
Boys and drummer Jimmy Greally became a successful radio broadcaster. Lead
guitarist was Robin Crowley.
Find this track on:
Ireland’s Beat Groups 1964-69 / Sequel NEX CD 262
20. I Get So Excited – The Real McCoy
Target 1968. Upbeat number which was a hit in Britain for The Equals
features Mike O’Brien on vocals. The Real McCoy were formed when The
Greenbeats disbanded after a crash which resulted in the death of their
lead-guitarist, Paul Williams.
Find this track on:
Sham*Rock – Irish Showbands Go Pop / Castle CMDDD 798
Irish Showbands Collection – Pulse PBXCD 323/ Disc 3
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21. I Ran All The Way Home - Brendan Bowyer & The Royal Showband
(Waterford) HMV. Originally the A-side of the record which featured The
Hucklebuck on the B-side. No.2 hit in USA in 1959 for The Impalas as
“Sorry, I Ran All The Way Home”.
Find this track on:
Best Of Brendan Bowyer / Dolphin DOCX 9016
The Brendan Bowyer Collection / Dolphin TOLCD 23
22. Five Little Fingers – Frankie McBride (Omagh) / Emerald 1967. A
tear-jerker by American Country star, Bill Anderson, this recording took
the Polka Dots vocalist into the British charts at No. 19 in 1967.
Find this track on:
Nostalgic Celebration / Harmac HM CD 53
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 2
Celtic Hearts – Box-Set
23. Lovely Leitrim – Larry Cunningham & The Mighty Avons
(Cavan/Longford). Old-time waltz written by Phil Fitzpatrick, who was born
in Aughavas in 1892. Phil emigrated to America in the early 30's, became a
policeman and was tragically killed during a robbery in 1947.
Find this track on:
Hucklebuck Shoes & Wedding Dress Blues - Dolphin TOLTV14CD / Disc 2
24. Gloria – Them / Decca 1964. “Gloria” is one of Van Morrison's
greatest tracks and a classic of 1960s R 'n' B. The song was initially
released as the B-side of the single “Baby Please Don't Go”
Find this track on:
The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison / London-Polydor
Them / Deram
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