Joe Dolan

 ( 1939 Births ) 

The Irish musical landscape in the 1960s was dominated by the Irish showband. The first single "The Answer to Everything", (previously released as a B side by Del Shannon) was released in September 1964, reaching number 4 in the Irish charts. Dolan and his band were managed by Seamus Casey. In the summer of 1968, however, some of the band left, with Dolan and Casey citing "musical differences" as the reason, although in the official biography by Ronan Casey (Seamus Casey's son) further elaboration includes references to unhappiness about financial issues.Casey, 2008, p. 119

A second US tour in 1967 led an offer to appear in Las Vegas, but he turned it down.Casey, 2008, p 107 Eventually in 1980 he accepted $10,000 a week plus board and lodgings to perform for six weeks over September and October at the Continental Lounge of the Silverbird Casino on the Strip in Las Vegas.Casey, 2008, pp. 235-36 Eventually playing 64 shows and selling out most of them, he and his band returned to Ireland to be immediately rebooked for Vegas in January 1981.Casey, 2008, p. 244 Although he turned down subsequent offers to return to Vegas, other venues approached him with increased offers, thinking he was merely hunting around for the best deal, but Dolan refused them all. Several other attempts were made through the years to entice him back but he never returned – except on holiday.Casey, 2008, pp. 2, 49

In 1978, he became the first Irish artist and one of the first Western acts to tour the USSR. He played 23 concerts in 23 nights in Moscow, Leningrad and the Moldovan capital, Kishinev.

Dolan toured the segregation era in South Africa and was on a UN blacklist for defying the artists' ban.

In Ireland, the song peaked at number 2 in August 1969, the same week it was Number 3 in the UK. After the recording of Make Me An Island Dolan was approached and signed by MAM Records whose major star was Tom Jones.Casey, 2008, p. 133

Follow-up singles "Teresa" and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" also made an impact. Other single releases such as "It Makes No Difference" and "You and the Looking Glass" were not big hits at home in Ireland or in the UK, but they were international successes. A collaboration with writers Roberto Danova and Peter Yellowstone in the mid-1970s produced more singles which made little impact on the British domestic market but did well internationally. "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller" (1974) was the first of a number of reasonable successes for this team but wasn't a major hit in the UK until later recorded by Showaddywaddy, who had a Top 20 hit with the song in 1979.

His next single, "Lady in Blue" was his biggest ever hit, winning five gold records and selling one million copies. It charted in parts of continental Europe, Africa and South America but not in Ireland or the UK. Further hits including "Crazy Woman", "Sister Mary", "Midnight Lover", "Hush Hush Maria" and "I Need You" followed. Reflective songs such as "If I Could Put My Life on Paper" were a collaborative attempt to show a more maturing artist, whilst definitive versions of songs such as "Danny Boy" maintained a touch of Irish on disc and in concert. In any given month Dolan could be touring the Middle East one week, Australia the next, then South Africa and then back to Europe and Ireland. Further international successes and tours followed, with hits such as "More and More" and "It's You, It's You, It's You".

With his own record label, studio and material Dolan became one of the biggest selling independent artists of the 1990s with albums such as 'Endless Magic' keeping him near the top of the charts. At the end of the decade he refined his voice for the 21st century when he hooked up with EMI for a series of albums (such as Joe's 90s, 21st Century Joe and Home Grown) which saw him tackle more contemporary music from acts as diverse as Oasis, Pulp, Blur, U2, Bruce Springsteen, The Coral, R.E.M., Mundy and his old pal Robbie Williams. At the Oxegen Festival 2009, Blur's Damon Albarn dedicated the song "The Universal" to Dolan.

In September 1970, Dolan and his band were performing at the Wookie Hollow Club in Liverpool. Dolan and a member of his road crew stayed in the venue for drinks and to chat to their fans. Some people at a nearby table were attempting to bully the (by now closed) bar into providing them with champagne. Dolan joked that they should come back in a few hours for a "champagne breakfast". The men took exception to this and became abusive. Dolan and his companion tried to leave but were prevented from doing so. During the following fracas Dolan was headbutted (breaking his nose), kicked, punched, and slammed into lavatory fittings and a wall in a sustained attack that was halted only when the sound of police sirens could be heard. It took six weeks for the singer to recover well enough to return to work. The club was sued but went into liquidation. The police attempted to identify the perpetrators and held identity parades that Dolan attended, but no-one was ever prosecuted.Casey, 2008, pp166-7

In October 1976, Dolan and a group of friends were flying with Aer Lingus to Corfu for a golfing trip.Casey, 2008, p 202 On several occasions during the flight, Dolan was moving around talking to other passengers who knew him. One of the party remembers they were "quite merry".Casey, 2008, p. 203 The singer was asked several times by cabin staff to return to his seat and, finally, after being threatened with being restrained, he did so. Upon landing, he attempted to leave the airport without his luggage and passport but was prevented from doing so by security staff, one of whom drew his pistol and pointed it at Dolan.

The tour operator subsequently received a fax from Aer Lingus refusing to fly the star back to Dublin. Newspaper headlines in Ireland proclaimed the star's airline ban for life although, as it transpired, the ban lasted for less than two years. It was eventually lifted after the airline negotiated with the star following his continued references to it on stage and in the media.Casey, 2008, pp. 203-05

On 16 December 2007, the front page of the Sunday Independent reported that Dolan was suffering from a "bad virus" and had been forced to cancel his entire Christmas tour. Dolan's website received messages from well wishers in the wake of the article, which was reproduced in several newspapers the following day. Despite the blood transfusions and other medical interventions, Dolan became weaker and he was finally discharged from the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin on 23 December 2007 in a wheelchair.

Dolan spent Christmas Day 2007 at his home in Foxrock in southeast Dublin with some friends. Later that evening, his illness suddenly worsened, and he was rushed by ambulance to the Mater Hospital. En route to the hospital, Dolan suffered a massive intracerebral haemorrhage, at which he became unconscious, and was connected to life support equipment upon his arrival. At approximately 14:30 hours on Boxing Day, surrounded by family and friends, the machines were switched off and Dolan died within 20 minutes, on December 26, 2007, never regaining consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 15:03 hours.Casey, 2008, pp. 330-31 He was 68 years old.

His funeral mass was held at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar on 29 December 2007. Attendees of Dolan's funeral included singer Ronnie Drew from The Dubliners, comedian Frank Carson, snooker player Dennis Taylor, and former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

Dolan is interred in Walshestown Cemetery, Walshestown North, County Westmeath. "Stars bid their final farewell to Joe Dolan", The Observer, 30 December 2007.

Dolan's hip bone is the only body part to ever be sold on eBay. The singer had initially sold his bone at a charity auction before his death and it was later sold on eBay.

• The Answer to Everything (1968) (credited to Joe Dolan and the Drifters Showband)
• Make Me an Island (1969)
• You're Such a Good Lookin' Woman (1970)
• Lady in Blue (1975)
• Sister Mary (1976)
• Midnight Lover (1978)
• Turn Out the Light (1979)
• More and More (1982)
• Here and Now (1983)
• Always on My Mind (1985)
• This Is My Life (1987)
• Always Loved You (1990)
• Can't Give Enough (1994)
• Endless Magic (1997)
• Joe's 90's (1998)
• 21st Century Joe (1999)
• Home Grown (2003)
• Double 'O' Joe (2004)
• Let There Be Love (2007)

• Joe Dolan's Greatest Hits (1968)
• Golden Hour of Joe Dolan - Vol. 1 (1974)
• Golden Hour of Joe Dolan - Vol. 2 (1975)
• I Need You (And Other Great Hits) (1979)
• Joe Dolan at His Best (1980)
• The Story of Joe Dolan (1993)
• The Singles+ (1998)
• No Better Man - His Greatest Hits (2001)
• Yours Faithfully (2003)
• Make Me an Island - The Pye Anthology (2004)
• Legends of Irish Music (2007)
• The Platinum Collection (2008)
• Joe Dolan, Orchestrated (2016)
• Joe Dolan, Orchestrated Volume 2 (2017)

Others

• 1966: "I'll Sit on Your Doorstep"
• 1970: "The Boola Boola"
• 1971: "Sometimes a Man Just Has to Cry"
• 1971: "You and the Looking Glass"
• 1972: "Here We Go Again"
• 1974: "16 Brothers"
• 1975: "Crazy Woman"
• 1978: "Unchained Melody"
• 1978: "Don't Ever Change Your Mind"
• 1994: "Somebody to Call My Girl"
• 1996: "I'll Give All My Love to You"
• 1997: "Endless Magic"
• 1998: "Disco 2000"
• 1998: "Place Your Hands"
• 1999: "Everybody Hurts"
• 1999: "Brilliant Disguise"
• 2001: "Better Man"
• 2002: "Dreaming of You"
• 2003: "Yours Faithfully"
• 2004: "Little Green Bag"
• 2007: Joe Dolan Tribute EP (4 tracks)
• 2008: "Oh Holy Night"

• Official website