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the Irish Rovers
The members of the Irish Rovers were all EmigrEs from Northern
Ireland who formed in Calgary in 1964. They started performing regularly at The
Depression Coffee House but it took them 4 more years before signing their first
record deal with Decca.
After the success of their first hit, Shel Silverstein's 8 million copy "The
Unicorn", the band were given their own CBC-TV show. It ran for 6 years and won
a Canadian ACTRA award for 'Best Variety Performance'.
After the cancellation of their variety show, they produced 16 one-hour TV
specials in the mid-70's.
In 1977 they were signed to Attic Records who went whole hog and released three
albums of Irish Rovers material that year. Their output was frenetic throughout
the 1980's including several chart topping and award winning back-to-back albums
including 'The Rovers' (1980), 'No More Bread And Butter' (1981) and 'It Was A
Night Like This' (1982) which were all produced by Jack Richardson. The Rovers
called in musical favours from the likes of David Sinclair (Body Electric),
Daryl Burgess, Peter Clarke, Kim Mitchell, Ian Thomas, Doug Riley, Steve
Kennedy, Brian Leonard, Terry Frewer, Michael Creber, Craig Zurba (Agent), Doug
Edwards, Bernie LaBarge, and Gary Koliger among others.
Their 25th Anniversary collection featured the backing of The Chieftains and
songs written by Randy Bachman, Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. In recognition for
a quarter century of contributions to the International music world, they won
the Performing Rights Organization's (PROCAN) prestigious 'Harold Moon Award'.
As of 1989 they had recorded 25 albums and had represented Canada at no less
than five world Expos - Montreal (1967), Osaka, Japan (1970), Okinawa, Japan
(1976), Vancouver (1986), and Brisbane, Australia (1988).
The Rovers line up since the end of 1994 has featured original members George
Millar, Joe Millar and Wilcil McDowell, joined by percussionist Kevin McKeown,
singer/guitarist/bass player John Reynolds and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist
Wallace Hood. On some tours, they are joined by banjo player Sean O'Driscoll.
In recent years Jimmy Ferguson passed away and Will Millar retired from the
group.
With notes from C. Williams, Wallace Hood, Kathleen & Karen Robertson
[updated:Tuesday, 04-Jul-00 10:57:39]
Singles
as THE IRISH ROVERS
1967 Orange & Green/Whiskey On A Sunday (Decca)
1968 The Unicorn/Black Velvet Band (Decca)
1968 The Puppet Song (Decca)
1968 The Biplane Evermore/Liverpool Lou (Decca) 32371
1969 Lily The Pink (Decca)
1969 Peter Knight (Decca)
1969 Did She Mention My Name (Decca)
1970 Rhymes And Reason (MCA)
1970 Years May Come, Years May Go (MCA)
1972 Morning Town Ride (Potato/MCA)
1972 The Unicorn/Whiskey On Sunday (MCA) 65010
as THE ROVERS
1980 Wasn't That A Party/Here's To The Horses (Potato/Attic/Cleveland
Int'l) AT 231
1980 Wasnt' That A Party/Matchstick Men (Epic - US) 51007
1981 Mexican Girl/Movie Cowboys (Potato/Attic)
1981 Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy/Class Of '69 (Potato/Attic) AT 254
1982 No More Bread And Butter/Pain In My Past (Potato/Attic)
1982 People Who Read People Magazine (Potato/Attic)
1982 Grandma Got Hit By A Reindeer/Merry Bloody Christmas (Potato/Attic)
AT 275
1985 Everybody's Making It/Bottle Of Wine (Potato/Attic) AT 325
Albums/CDs
as THE IRISH ROVERS
1967 First Of The Irish Rovers (Decca)
1968 The Unicorn (Decca)
1968 All Hung Up (Decca)
1969 Tales To Warm Your Mind (Decca)
1971 On The Shores Of Americay (Decca/MCA)
1971 The Unicorn [re-issue] (Decca/MCA)
1972 The Life Of The Rover (Decca/MCA) DL 75157
1972 Irish Rovers Live (Decca/MCA)
1974 Greatest Hits (Decca/MCA)
1977 Live - The Irish Rovers (Potato/Attic)
1977 Emigrate, Emigrate (Potato/Attic)
1977 Irish Rovers In Australia (Potato/Attic)
1979 Talls Ships And Salty Dogs (Potato/Attic)
1980 The First of the Irish Rovers [re-issue] (MCA)
1980 The First of the Irish Rovers/The Unicorn [re-issue] (MCA)
1981 The Irish Rovers' Greatest Hits [re-issue] (MCA)
1993 Years May Come, Years May Go (MCA)
as THE ROVERS
1980 The Rovers (Potato/Attic/Cleveland Int'l) AT 1095
1980 Wasn't That A Party (Epic/Columbia - US) 37107
1981 No More Bread And Butter (Potato/Attic) AT 1118
1982 It Was A Night Like This (Potato/Attic) AT 1149
1985 Party With The Rovers (Potato/Attic)
198? Children Of The Unicorn (MCA)
198? The Life Of The Rovers (MCA)
1989 Silver Anniversary (Attic) ACDM 1303
1989 Hardstuff (Attic)
1993 When The Boys Come Rollin' Home (Attic) ACDM 1381
1994 The Next 30 Years (Attic)
1995 Celtic Connection
1996 Gems
1997 Come Fill Up Your Glasses
1999 Songs Of Christmas
2000 Down By The Laganside
Compilation Tracks
as THE IRISH ROVERS
196? "The Unicorn" on '60 Flash-back Greats Of The '60s'
(Syndicate/K-Tel) TC 207
as THE ROVERS
1982 "Wasn't That A Party" on 'Full Tilt' (K-Tel) TC 269
1984 "Honky Tonk Christmas" on 'Country Christmas List' (Attic)
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