The Bachelors
Encyclopedia
The Bachelors are a popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

, originating from Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Career

The founding members of the group were Conleth (Con) Cluskey (born 18 November 1941), Declan (Dec) Cluskey (born 23 December 1942), and John Stokes (Sean James Stokes) (born 13 August 1940). In 1957 they formed their first band together: "The Harmonichords" (also seen as "The Harmony Chords"), a classically styled instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

-act.

As The Harmonichords, they appeared on Hughie Green
Hughie Green
Hughie Green was the host of numerous British television shows.-Early life:Hugh H. Green was born in London; his Scottish father was a former British Army Major who made his fortune supplying tinned fish to the Allied forces in World War I, while his mother Violet was the Surrey-born daughter of...

's 'Opportunity Knocks' on Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....

 and on the 'Ed Sullivan' TV Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....

 St. Patrick's Day Special (filmed in Dublin, broadcast 15 March 1959), where they played "Danny Boy
Danny Boy
-Background:The words to "Danny Boy" were written by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly modified them to fit the "Londonderry Air" in 1913, after his sister-in-law in the U.S. sent him a copy. Ernestine...

." They also played background music plus featured pieces in a 25 week radio comedy series called 'Odd Noises' on Radio Éireann
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...

 featuring Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, CBE , was an Irish television presenter based in the United Kingdom.-Life and career:...

. They changed their name to "The Bachelors" in 1962 at the suggestion of Dick Rowe
Dick Rowe
Richard Paul Rowe was an A&R man at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1960s.He was one of the most important producers and record executives in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and early 1960s and is the man who signed The Rolling Stones, Them , The Moody Blues, The Animals, The Zombies, John...

, A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 at Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

, who reportedly recommended the name "because that’s the kind of boy a girl likes."

During the 1960s, they had many successful songs in music charts in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 Australia, South Africa, South America, parts of the USSR, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Some of the most successful were "Charmaine" (1963); "Diane", "I Believe", "Ramona" and "I Wouldn't Trade You For The World" (1964); "Marie" (written by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...

) and "In the Chapel in the Moonlight" (1965). In 1965 they had the 'most played juke box track' with "The Stars Will Remember" from a film they made with then-current DJ Sam Costa
Sam Costa
Samuel Gabriel 'Sam' Costa was a singer and a voice actor on the show Much Binding In The Marsh. He was also a Radio Luxembourg and BBC disc jockey.-Life:...

. Their last big hit in the UK was a cover of the Paul Simon song "The Sound of Silence
The Sound of Silence
"The Sound of Silence" is the song that propelled the 1960s folk music duo Simon & Garfunkel to popularity. It was written in February 1964 by Paul Simon in the aftermath of the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. An initial version preferred by the band was remixed and sweetened, and has become...

" which reached No. 3 in April 1966.

Live work carried them into the 1970s with record breaking theater season shows, but after a successful start to the decade with the album World of the Bachelors hitting the top 5, the band became less and less dominant in the changing music industry. They remained successful recording artists and moved to the Pye
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...

 label, which contracted easy listening stars like Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...

 and Max Bygraves
Max Bygraves
Max Bygraves OBE is an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs...

. Despite their last chart single being in 1967, they continued to play the cabaret circuit, still maintaining the original line-up until 1984, when there was "a messy split" between the Cluskey brothers and Stokes.

Following the split, the Cluskey brothers appeared as "The New Bachelors" and Stokes as "Stokes & Coe", Stokes allegedly also then appeared as "The New Bachelors"
and the Cluskeys now perform as "Con & Dec, The Bachelors".

In 2008 a compilation CD, "I Believe - The Very Best of The Bachelors", featuring the 1960s hits together with two new songs recorded by Con and Dec Cluskey, was released through Universal
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...

 who had acquired the Decca catalogue(available in the US as an import from Uni Classics Jazz UK), reached #7 in the UK Radio One album chart 27 July - 2 Aug 2008. Con and Dec Cluskey appeared on TV and radio to promote the album.

Film and television

Throughout the 1960s the Bachelors racked up hit singles and albums and made guest appearances on all the then current TV shows, and appeared in two Royal Variety TV shows. In 1963 they starred in It's All Over Town with Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...

 and The Springfields
The Springfields
The Springfields were a British pop-folk vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland and included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, record producer Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, later a noted Sufi writer, who was latterly replaced by Mike Hurst, who...

. In 1964 they starred alongside Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

 in the TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium
Sunday Night at the London Palladium
Sunday Night at the London Palladium is a British television variety show produced by ATV for the ITV network, originally running from 1955 to 1967, with a brief revival in 1973 and 1974...

, then hosted by Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...

: this episode, according to Paul Gambaccini, achieved the largest viewing audience ever for this very popular show.

The Bachelors appeared in a film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 in 1964 called 'Just for You', with Billy Fury
Billy Fury
Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...

. In 1965 they made I've Gotta Horse
I've Gotta Horse
- Summary :Based on the star's famous love of animals, this musical comedy portrays Billy setting out to add a sheepdog to his vast entourage of animals and coming back with an irresistible horse named Armitage instead. To his manager's horror, Billy smuggles the horse backstage during rehearsals...

and in 1971 they starred in a TV situation comedy series called Under and Over playing three Irish navvies working on the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

. Six episodes were broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

.

The group began 1970 by appearing on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's highly-rated review of the sixties' music scene Pop Go The Sixties
Pop Go The Sixties
Pop Go The Sixties! was a one-off, seventy five-minute TV special originally broadcast in colour on 31 December 1969, to celebrate the major pop hits of the 1960s. The show was a co-production between the United Kingdom's BBC and Germany's ZDF broadcasters...

 performing "Charmaine" and "Diane" live on the show, which was broadcast on BBC1 on 1 January 1970.

The songs

The Bachelors' version of "Charmaine", with its descending melody that had already made it an evergreen
Standard (music)
In music, a standard is a tune or song of established popularity.-See also:* Blues standard* Jazz standard* Pop standard* Great American Songbook-Further reading:* Greatest Rock Standards, published by Hal Leonard ISBN 0793588391...

, jogs along to a country guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 strum and a sprinkling of piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 licks. Dick Rowe chose American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy is an American record producer, songwriter, arranger best known for his work in London with The Who and The Kinks in the 1960s, with a role in many other English bands including Cat Stevens and Pentangle...

 as record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

, who went on to produce some of The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...

' classic rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 hits. Another 1927 movie theme song, "Diane", penned by the same songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

s as "Charmaine", Erno Rapee
Erno Rapee
Ernö Rapée was one of the most prolific American symphonic conductors in the first half of the 20th Century...

 and Lew Pollack
Lew Pollack
Lew Pollack was a song composer active during the 1920s and the 1930s.Pollack was born in New York. Among his best known songs are "Charmaine" and "Diane" with Ernö Rapée, "Miss Annabelle Lee", "Two Cigarettes in the Dark", "At the Codfish Ball" , and Go In and Out The Window, now a...

, and arranged in the same Nashville-like manner, but produced by Michael Barclay, was released in 1964 and gave the group their first Number one in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, as well as an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 breakthrough at number ten.

It is curious to note that four of their hit songs were taken from 1920s movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

. Before The Bachelors, Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...

 had also covered the same four songs, "Charmaine", "Diane", "Ramona" and "Marie," in the 1950s.

Single releases

Note: This information from Reg Stevens' website on classic 45 RPMs.
Label Year of release Titles UK
chart position
US
chart position
Decca 1962 Charmaine
Charmaine (song)
"Charmaine" is a popular song written by Erno Rapee, with lyrics by Lew Pollack. The song was written in 1926 and published in 1927. However, Desmond Carrington on his BBC Radio 2 programme marked the song's writing as being in 1913....

5
1963 Faraway Places
Far Away Places
"Far Away Places" is an American popular song. It was written by Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer and published in 1948.The recording by Bing Crosby was released by Decca Records as catalog number 24532. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on December 31, 1948 and lasted 18 weeks...

36
Whispering 18
Long Time Ago
1964 Diane
Diane (song)
Diane is a song by Erno Rapee and Lew Pollack originally written as a theme song for the 1927 classic silent movie Seventh Heaven. In 1928, The Nat Shilkret Orchestra had a hit with the song....

1 10
I Believe
I Believe (1953 song)
"I Believe" is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953.I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV...

2 33
Ramona
Ramona (song)
"Ramona" is a 1928 song, with lyrics written by L. Wolfe Gilbert and music by Mabel Wayne.-History:It was created as the title song for the 1928 adventure film-romance Ramona . The song was used again in the 1936 remake of the movie...

4
I Wouldn't Trade You for the World 4 69
No Arms Can Ever Hold You 7 27
1965 True Love For Ever More 34
Marie 9 15
Chapel in the Moonlight
In the Chapel in the Moonlight
"In the Chapel in the Moonlight" is a 1936 popular song written by Billy Hill. The song was revived by Kitty Kallen in 1954. Her recording, which was released by Decca Records as catalog number 29130, reached number four on the Billboard charts and number five on the Cash Box Best Selling Record...

27 32
1966 Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (song)
"Hello, Dolly!" is the title song of the popular 1964 musical of the same name. Louis Armstrong's version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001....

38
The Sound of Silence 3
Love Me With All of Your Heart 38
Can I Trust You? 26 49
Walk With Faith In Your Heart 22 83
1967 Oh How I Miss You 30
Marta 20
3 O'Clock Flamingo Street
1968 If Ever I Would Leave You
The Unicorn
I'll Walk with God
I'll Walk with God
"I'll Walk with God" is a popular song with music by Nicholas Brodzsky and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, published in 1954. This song is best known from the movie The Student Prince, in which the title character, played by Edmund Purdom, but sung by tenor Mario Lanza, performs this song at the...

Turn Around, Look at Me
Turn Around, Look at Me
"Turn Around, Look at Me" is the name of a song written by Jerry Capehart.In 1961, Glen Campbell released his version as a single. This was his first song to chart in the United States, hitting #62 on the Billboard Hot 100.-The Lettermen's version:...

1969 Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)
Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)
"Where the Blue of the Night " was the theme Bing Crosby selected for his radio show. It was recorded in November 1931, backed by Bennie Krueger's band. The song was featured in a Mack Sennett movie short starring Bing Crosby....

Punky's Dilemma
Everybody's Talkin'
My First Love

Extended play (EP) releases

Label Year of release Title Track listing UK Chart position
Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

1963 Bachelors Charmaine
Bashanova
I'll See You In My Dreams
By The Light Of The Silvery Moon
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (song)
"By The Light of the Silvery Moon" is a popular song. The music was written by Gus Edwards, and the lyrics by Edward Madden. The song was published in 1909 and first performed on stage by Lillian Lorraine. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era.The song has been used...

.
5
1964 Bachelors Vol. 2 Diane
Put Your Arms Around Me Honey
Moments To Remember
You'll Never Walk Alone
You'll Never Walk Alone (song)
"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.In the musical, in the second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the female protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the...

7
The Bachelors' Hits I Wouldn't Trade You For The World
Whispering
Ramona
I Believe
1
1966 The Bachelors' Hits Vol.2 No Arms Can Ever Hold You
True Love For Evermore
Marie
In The Chapel In The Moonlight
9


For a definition of an EP see Extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...


Charting albums

  • The Bachelors and 16 Great Songs
    The Bachelors and 16 Great Songs
    The Bachelors and 16 Great Songs is an album by The Bachelors. It was released in 1964 and reached number two on the UK Albums Chart. It was the Christmas number two album that year.-Track listing:#I Believe #Charmaine #You'll Never Walk Alone...

    (1964) - UK #2
  • More Great Hits From The Bachelors (1965) - UK #15
  • Hits of the 60's (1966) - UK #12
  • Bachelors' Girls (1966) - UK#24
  • Golden All Time Hits (1967) - UK #19
  • The World of The Bachelors (1968) - UK#8
  • The World of The Bachelors Vol.2 (1969) - #UK11
  • 25 Golden Greats (1979) - UK #38
  • I Believe - The Very Best of The Bachelors (2008) - UK #7 Irish Republic #2

This discography only includes UK releases. Over 70 albums have been released in the UK.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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