His Special Years

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Val continued to play cabaret and occasional theatre gigs but despite being a regular radio personality, no recording contracts were forthcoming for him. He was spotted at a concert by Val Parnell, who at that time arranged the acts for ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’, booked onto the show and performed an eight minute spot that, he says, changed his life. By the Monday, there were recording contracts and TV show offers flooding his manager’s office. Truly, as Val said many times, he was ‘an overnight success after seventeen years.’ Programming" (PDF). Broadcasting. 29 March 1971. p.76 . Retrieved 24 July 2014. [ permanent dead link] ( PDF) The Blue And The Grey – Songs From The American Civil War (with the George Mitchell Singers, World Record Club, 1970)

He started performing in his home town, was featured on Irish radio and appeared in Waterford’s first-ever television broadcast. In 1951 he moved to England to join the Irish quartet The Four Ramblers, who toured and performed on BBC Radio. The group also supported the late Anthony Newley on tour, who persuaded Doonican to launch his solo career. In 1951, still touring Ireland with Bruce Clarke’s band, Val was approached by representatives of the Four Ramblers and invited to join them in England, where they are best remembered for ‘Riders of the Range’ on BBC Radio. They also presented Workers’ Playtime, their salaries augmented by gifts from the factories whence the broadcast was being made. Looking forward to his first free products, he found that his ‘Playtime’ debut was in a corset factory! It is not recorded whether he made use of the proffered samples on this occasion!!Doonican notched up a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s including Walk Tall, The Special Years, Elusive Butterfly and What Would I Be.

Doonican appeared in a summer season at Courtown Harbour, County Wexford. He was soon featured on Irish radio, sometimes with Clarke, and appeared in Waterford's first-ever television broadcast. [4] Career in Britain [ edit ] The likes of Val Doonican is unlikely to be seen again' ". Irishpost.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015 . Retrieved 4 July 2015. In 1963 he was booked to appear on Sunday Night at the Palladium, which led to him being offered his own show on BBC TV which ran for more than 20 years. He went on to have five hits in the top 10: Walk Tall, The Special Years, Elusive Butterfly, What Would I Be and If The Whole World Stopped Loving. When his father died in 1941, the teenage Doonican had to leave De La Salle College Waterford to get factory jobs fabricating steel and making orange and grapefruit boxes. [3] He began to perform in his hometown, often with his friend Bruce Clarke, and they had their first professional engagement as a duo in 1947. [2] His eight-minute slot changed his life and he was soon signed up for a record deal and offered his BBC show, which ran for more than 20 years.Val often talks about the great happiness of his childhood – his ‘Special Years’. However, his family were poor and he shared a room with his three brothers: his four sisters slept on the other side of a partition wall and his parents in the living room. When he was still young, one of his sisters contracted TB, forcing her to move into their parents’ room, and his father to move into a shed at the end of the garden. This eccentric arrangement continued until Val was fourteen, when his father died, but enabled him to spend a great deal of ‘quality time’ with his dad. a b c "Val Doonican Biography". Valdoonican.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013 . Retrieved 5 February 2013. Michael Valentine Doonican [1] (3 February 1927– 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed vocal style.

As his were variety shows, his TV programmes gave a number of other performers, such as Dave Allen, early exposure. [2] Regular guests included Bernard Cribbins, Bob Todd, the Norman Maen Dancers, the Mike Sammes Singers, and the Kenny Woodman Orchestra. At its height The Val Doonican Show, which featured both American and British acts, had 20million viewers. [15] In the United States, The Val Doonican Show aired on ABC on Saturday evenings at 8:30p.m. (7:30p.m. Central) from 5 June to 14 August 1971. [16] A crooner, he found popular success, especially in the United Kingdom where he had five successive Top 10 albums in the 1960s as well as several hits on the UK Singles Chart, including a b c d e f g h i j Dennis Barker, "Val Doonican: obituary", The Guardian, 2 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015 Whilst on that particular tour, Anthony Newley held a birthday party. All the acts had to perform, but not in their usual roles. Thus, singers did impressions and comedy turns, with Lynn regaling the audience as an impressionist. The Four Ramblers did not have another ‘turn’ and Val stepped forward, guitar in hand, and perched on a stool and singing a couple of ballads and ‘Paddy McGinty’s Goat.’ At the end of his performance, Anthony Newley suggested that his solo spot was more commercially marketable than the Ramblers act and urged Val to ‘go solo’. In a statement, his family said: “He leaves behind his wife, Lynn, daughters Sarah and Fiona and grandchildren Bethany and Scott. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather and will be greatly missed by family, friends and his many fans.”He was a very warm person, and number one in his field. He brought a lovely warmth with his personality and was a very popular man."