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The Swarbriggs

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(Redirected from The Times showband) Irish musical duo and music promoters Not to be confused with Swarbrick.
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The Swarbriggs in concert
The Swarbriggs in concert

Thomas "Tommy" Swarbrigg and John James "Jimmy" Swarbrigg are Irish music promoters and former pop musicians. As The Swarbriggs, they represented Ireland at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest with "That's What Friends Are For". As The Swarbriggs Plus Two, with Nicola Kerr and Alma Carroll, they competed again in 1977 with "It's Nice To Be In Love Again". The brothers wrote both songs.

They also scored numerous other top 20 chart hit singles in Ireland during the 1970s, including "Joanne" (a No. 1 hit in 1976), "Looking Through The Eyes Of A Beautiful Girl", "If Ma Could See Me Now", "Funny" and many more. They had over 20 top 20 Chart Entries through the 1970s, which were all self composed.

Early years

From 1962, Tommy played trumpet with Joe Dolan's showband, The Drifters (not to be confused with the American group). In 1969 he and the other backing musicians left to form The Times Showband, with Jimmy added as lead vocalist. The brothers wrote their own compositions, which was unusual for a showband, and they scored numerous hit singles in Ireland. By 1973 they had their own television show on Raidió Teilifís Éireann and worked independently of the showband, leaving altogether in 1975, the first year they competed in the Eurovision.

Jimmy Swarbrigg claims that they would have won the Eurovision in 1977 if it wasn't for political voting motivated by a dispute over fishing rights. They ended up placing third that year.

Musical Promotion and Management

They retired as performers in 1980 and In later years they had various business ventures, including promoting concerts in Ireland for various Irish and foreign artists, including Smokie, Leo Sayer, Meatloaf (3 tours) The (American) Drifters, Jack L, Albert Hammond, Dermot Morgan, and Richie Kavanagh.

Legacy

The brothers were attributed as the inspiration for the 'My Lovely Horse' music video in the channel 4 television series Father Ted.

The re-written song of The Swarbriggs "If Ma Could See Me Now" was heard from the 2002–2008 Mrs Brown's Boys direct-to-video film series in Ireland.

References

  1. "Eurovision 1975 Ireland: The Swarbriggs - "That's What Friends Are For"".
  2. "Swarbriggs: Some of Mullingar's original music stars". 26 May 2020.
  3. "The Swarbriggs – on the road again". 4 November 2009.
  4. "Watch: The real My Lovely Horse Eurovision entry that inspired Father Ted hit - Extra.ie". 12 May 2017.
  5. "Eurovision – from Johnny to Jedward the top 12 best and worst Irish entries ever". 5 May 2016.
Awards and achievements
Preceded byTina Reynolds
with "Cross Your Heart"
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
1975
Succeeded byRed Hurley
with "When"
Preceded byRed Hurley
with "When"
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
1977
Succeeded byColm Wilkinson
with "Born to Sing"
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation
Artists
Songs
  • Note: Entries scored out signify where Ireland did not compete. Italics indicate an entry in a future contest.
  • See also: Irish Eurovision discography
Eurovision Song Contest 1975
Countries
Artists
Songs
  • "At Va'Ani"
  • "Une chanson c'est une lettre"
  • "Dan ljubezni"
  • "Ding-a-dong"
  • "Era"
  • "Et bonjour à toi l'artiste"
  • "Gelukkig zijn"
  • "Jennie, Jennie"
  • "Let Me Be the One"
  • "Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein"
  • "Madrugada"
  • "Mikado"
  • "Old Man Fiddle"
  • "Seninle Bir Dakika"
  • "Singing This Song"
  • "That's What Friends Are For"
  • "Toi"
  • "Touch My Life (with Summer)"
  • "Tú volverás"
Eurovision Song Contest 1977
Countries
Final
Withdrawn
  • Tunisia
Artists
Songs
  • "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim"
  • "Beatles"
  • "Boom Boom Boomerang"
  • "Casanova"
  • "Enséñame a cantar"
  • "Frère Jacques"
  • "It's Nice to Be in Love Again"
  • "Lapponia"
  • "Libera"
  • "De mallemolen"
  • "Mathima solfège"
  • "A Million in One, Two, Three"
  • "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant"
  • "Une petite française"
  • "Portugal no coração"
  • "Rock Bottom"
  • "Swiss Lady"
  • "Telegram"
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