Philip Coulter is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009.
The Irish Showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s, hitting its peak in the 1960s. The showband was based on the internationally popular seven-piece dance band, sometimes they had 8, 9, 10 members, if there was singer who didn't play an instrument, or if they had extra brass/woodwind players. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and covers of pop music hits. The versatile music ranged from rock and roll and country and western songs to traditional dixieland jazz, big band music and even Irish Céilí dance, Latin ballroom dances, folk music and waltzes, Foxtrots, Quicksteps, Jiving. Key to a showband's popular success was the ability to perform songs currently in the record charts. Some bands also did comedy skits onstage.
Joseph Francis Robert Dolan was an Irish entertainer, recording artist, and pop singer. Chiefly known in Ireland for his association with showbands and for his innovative style and high pitched singing voice, he had a wide appeal with many international fans. His energetic and charismatic stage performances influenced his long standing advertising slogan: "There's no show like the Joe show”.
Linda Martin is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song "Why Me?". She is also known within Ireland as a member of the band Chips.
Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The contest's final is broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One. Ireland shares a joint record total of seven wins with Sweden, and is the only country to have won three times consecutively. Ireland has finished second four times, while Sweden has done that just once. However, all of Ireland's victories were decided by juries only, in the era before public voting became the norm in 1998.
"L'amour est bleu" is a song whose music was composed by André Popp, and whose lyrics were written by Pierre Cour, in 1967. Bryan Blackburn later wrote English-language lyrics for it. First performed in French by Greek singer Vicky Leandros as the Luxembourgish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967, it has since been recorded by many other musicians, most notably French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat, whose familiar instrumental version became the first number-one hit by a French lead artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 in America.
"What's Another Year" is a song recorded by Irish singer Johnny Logan which was his first Eurovision Song Contest winning song, achieving success in the 1980 edition of the contest, as well as Ireland's second Eurovision victory. Composed by Shay Healy, the song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in May.
"Save Your Kisses for Me" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed for the United Kingdom by Brotherhood of Man in The Hague, Netherlands. The lyrics and music were written by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, and Martin Lee, the latter two being members of the band. The song became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in many countries, including the UK, where it became the biggest-selling song of the year. Overall, it remains one of the biggest-selling Eurovision winners ever, and the biggest such seller in the UK.
Brendan Bowyer was an Irish singer best known for fronting the Royal Showband and The Big Eight, and who had five number one hits in Ireland. He was also renowned for having The Beatles open for the Royal Showband at a concert on 2 April 1962 at the Pavilion Theatre, Liverpool, England, some six months before the release of The Beatles first single "Love Me Do", in October 1962. Bowyer was regarded as one of the first headlining Elvis impersonators. Elvis Presley himself was a big fan of Bowyer's performances and would often attend Bowyer's concerts in the Stardust Resort & Casino, Las Vegas during the 1970s.
Richard "Dickie" Rock is an Irish singer. He experienced much success on the Irish charts during the 1960s, but has continued on as a popular live act as well as occasionally hitting the charts ever since.
Maxi, Dick and Twink were an all-girl singing trio in Ireland in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Maxi is Irene McCoubrey, Dick is Barbara Dixon and Twink is Adele King.
"A Song for Europe" is the fifth episode of the second series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the 11th episode overall. It originally aired on 5 April 1996 and has since been recognised as one of the most popular episodes of the show.
Brian "Red" Hurley is an Irish singer. Hurley's career includes singing lead for bands such as The Colours, The Wheels, and The Nevada. He had a series of number one records in the 1970s while performing with The Nevada. Hurley also represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1976 with the song "When".
The Miami Showband were an Irish showband in the 1960s and 1970s led firstly in 1962 by singer Jimmy Harte, followed by Dickie Rock and later by Fran O'Toole. They had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart.
Philomena "Phil" Tully, known by the stage name Tina Reynolds or simply Tina, is an Irish singer.
Luv Bug are a Northern Irish pop band originating from Newry. They are most famous for representing Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986 with the song "You Can Count on Me".
Ireland was represented by The Swarbriggs Plus Two, with the song "It's Nice to Be in Love Again", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 7 May in London. "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 20 February.
Ireland was represented by The Swarbriggs, with the song "That's What Friends Are For", at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 March in Stockholm. "That's What Friends Are For" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 9 February.
The Duskeys was an Irish family pop group, known for their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 with the song "Here Today Gone Tomorrow".
Eileen Reid is an Irish singer of the showband era.
