The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1980 contest with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 4 April 1981, and was hosted by Irish television journalist Doireann Ní Bhriain.
Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, and Liam O'Flynn. They transformed and popularized Irish folk music, touring and recording to great acclaim.
Riverdance is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler, Michael Flatley and the vocal ensemble Anúna. Shortly afterwards, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded it into a stage show, which opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995. As of 2023, the show continues to tour the world.
Liam O'Flynn, Óg Flynn was an Irish uilleann piper and Irish traditional musician. In addition to a solo career and as a member of Planxty, O'Flynn recorded with: Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Andy Irvine, Kate Bush, Mark Knopfler, The Everly Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Mike Oldfield, Mary Black, Enya and Sinéad O'Connor.
Andrew Kennedy Irvine is an Irish folk musician, singer-songwriter, and a founding member of Sweeney's Men, Planxty, Patrick Street, Mozaik, LAPD and Usher's Island. He also featured in duos, with Dónal Lunny, Paul Brady, Mick Hanly, Dick Gaughan, Rens van der Zalm, and Luke Plumb. Irvine plays the mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, harmonica, and hurdy-gurdy.
Davy Spillane is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle.
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozaik, LAPD, and Usher's Island, he has been at the forefront of the renaissance of Irish traditional music for over five decades.
Anthony "Anto" Drennan is an Irish guitarist noted for his involvement with the Corrs, Genesis and Mike + the Mechanics.
Antonio Breschi, also known as Antóni O’Breskey is a composer, pianist and trumpet player, singer, writer, poet and music educator. Oliver Sweeney, in the Irish music magazine Hot Press, wrote of him: “He is a genius whose music is without frontiers, and whose originality makes him one of the most innovative artists in the varied musical genres of today.” As composer and pianist he is very original and eclectic, and he composed enormous varieties of music, creating a very personal style: “one of the most exciting sounds we have heard in years" . His compositions for cello and piano and for oboe and piano as well as his world music became soundtracks for films, television programs, theatre and ballets.
Tara Music has been regarded for many years as one of the leading traditional Irish music recording companies. The label was set up by Jack Fitzgerald and John Cook in the early 1970s.
The Woman I Loved So Well is the fifth studio album by Planxty. Like their previous album, After The Break, the album was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios and released by Tara Records. Co-produced by band member Dónal Lunny and engineer Brian Masterson, the album was recorded in April and May of 1980 and released on LP in July of that year. It remains in print on CD and in digital form from Tara to date.
EastWind is an album by Andy Irvine and Davy Spillane, showcasing a fusion of Irish folk music with traditional Bulgarian and Macedonian music. Produced by Irvine and Bill Whelan, who also contributed keyboards and piano, it was widely regarded as revolutionary at recording.
Words & Music is the sixth album by the Irish folk band Planxty, produced by Dónal Lunny and recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in late October and early November of 1982; it would be their only release on the WEA label. In 1989, the album was reprinted by the Shanachie label, who have kept it in print ever since.
Live from the Powerhouse is an album rehearsed in six days, starting on 1 March 2002 in the seaside town of Rye, Victoria in Australia, by multicultural group Mozaik featuring Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm.
Rude Awakening is Andy Irvine's second solo album, recorded in December 1990 and January 1991 at Westland and Ringsend Studios, Dublin and Frank MacNamara's Park Studio, County Meath, and released in 1991 on Green Linnet Records.
Declan Masterson is an Irish uilleann piper, traditional musician, composer and arranger. In addition to pursuing a solo career and playing with Moving Hearts and Patrick Street, Masterson was one of the Riverdance musicians.
Between the Jigs and the Reels: A Retrospective is a two-disc anthology by the Irish folk band Planxty. It includes a 17-track CD and a 36-track DVD with over two hours of previously unreleased footage (1972–1982) from RTÉ archives.
Mick Hanly is an Irish singer and composer from Limerick. In the 1970s, he formed several folk music duos, first with Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, then with Andy Irvine and, more recently, with Dónal Lunny. From 1982 until 1985, he was a member of Moving Hearts. Hanly is known for composing "Past the Point of Rescue", which was first covered by Mary Black (1988) and also by American artist Hal Ketchum (1991).
"Riverdance" is a song by Irish musician Bill Whelan, originally recorded in March 1993 and first performed as the interval act for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. "Riverdance" is a mostly instrumental composition performed by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, with an introduction sung by choral ensemble Anúna. The act received such a positive response that Son Records and Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) decided to release "Riverdance" as a single.
James W. Flannery is a producer, stage director, singer, scholar, critic and Professor Emeritus at Emory College of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta. He is a specialist in the dramatic work of W.B. Yeats and is one of the leading interpreters of the art songs of Thomas Moore.
