The Val Doonican Show
| Val Doonican | |
|---|---|
Doonican in 1971
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Valentine Doonican |
| Born |
3 February 1927 Waterford, Ireland |
| Died | 1 July 2015 (aged 88) Buckinghamshire, England |
| Genres | Traditional pop music, easy listening, swing, country, novelty songs |
| Years active | 1951–2009 |
| Labels | Decca, Pye, Philips, RCA, Parkfield |
| Website | valdoonican |
Michael Valentine Doonican (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 style. 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 "If the Whole World Stopped Lovin'", "Walk Tall" and "Elusive Butterfly". The Val Doonican Show, which featured his singing and a variety of guests, had a long and successful run on BBC Television from 1965 to 1986 and Doonican won the Variety Club of Great Britain's BBC-TV Personality of the Year award three times. Doonican had a gentle baritone voice and, according to The Guardian, he had "an easygoing, homely charm that enchanted middle England".
Doonican was born on 3 February 1927 in Waterford, Ireland, the youngest of the eight children of Agnes (née Kavanagh) and John Doonican. He was from a musical family and played in his school band from the age of six. In 1941 when he was a teenager his father died, so he had to leave De La Salle College Waterford, to get factory jobs fabricating steel and making orange and grapefruit boxes. 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. Doonican appeared in a summer season at Courtown Harbour, County Wexford. He soon featured on Irish radio, sometimes with Clarke, and appeared in Waterford's first-ever television broadcast. Then he played the drums in a band on a tour through Ireland.
In 1951 Doonican moved to England to join the Four Ramblers, who toured and performed on BBC Radio shows broadcast from factories, and on the Riders of the Range serials. He also began performing at United States Air Force bases. Doonican met dancer Lynnette Rae when both she and the Ramblers supported Anthony Newley on tour; they married in 1962. Recognising his talent and potential as a solo act, Newley persuaded him to leave the singing group and go solo. He was auditioned for radio as a solo act, and appeared on the radio show Variety Bandbox. Soon after his solo career started, he had his own radio show as well as performing in concerts and cabaret.
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