The Drifters (1960-1985) Joe Dolan (RIP) solo until 2007

Photo Gallery - Band Lineups - Discography - Audio samples - Where Are They Now?

The Story

Although Brendan Bowyer and Dickie Rock fans may argue, Joe Dolan is generally regarded as the greatest international star produced by the showband era. He had numerous hits in Ireland and Europe, including the U.K. His career started in his native Mullingar with a band that would create two major musical forces in Irish music...The Drifters and The Times. 

The story of The Drifters started when the two Dolan brothers Joe and Ben, got together with some friends and entered a local talent contest which they won. The brothers knew they could make a go of music and quit their day jobs (Ben as a carpenter and Joe as a compositor) and formed The Drifters in 1960 with Ben on Sax and Joe as guitarist and lead singer. The original lineup also included Charlie McMorrow (keyboards/sax), Jimmy Horan (bass), Sean Connolly (trumpet) and Eddie Deehy (drums).  

Within a year, the band's first change took place when Sean left and the boys traveled to Cootehill to discover Tommy Swarbrigg (trumpet), who at 16 had already been playing with a band called the Jordanaires for two years. He joined the band and became their main songwriter. A year later, in 1962, Joe and Ben were on the search again, this time for a trombone player which they found in Swanlinbar's Joey Gilheaney. The final pieces to the puzzle came together when Sid Aughey joined on drums, replacing Eddie Deehy and Des Doherty replaced Charlie McMorrow on the keyboards we think around 1963. 

In 1964, the lineup of the band was set: Ben Dolan (sax), Joe Dolan (guitar), Donal "Sid" Aughey (drums), Jimmy Horan (bass), Tommy Swarbrigg (trumpet), Joey Gilheaney (trombone), and Des Doherty (keyboards). The band's first record was an old Del Shannon song, "The Answer To Everything," which went to No. 4 in the Irish Charts and set the band on their way.

Manager Seamus Casey described the variety of career paths the lads had travelled to get to the ballrooms in a 1967 interview. As mentioned previously, Joe was a printer, and Ben a carpenter. Joey Gilheaney came from a musical family but had been working on the family farm. Des Doherty was the "professional" musician of the band, having done little else but play music during his then 23 years. Jimmy Horan was a shop assistant before joining the band and Donal "Sid" Aughey was a butcher, but went to England where he drove a bus, returning to join the band. Finally Tommy Swarbrigg had been working in a radio shop.     

With a hit single under their belts, the boys took the dancehalls and ballrooms by storm. In the following years, Joe released a string of hits, including "I Love You More And More Everyday", "My Own Peculiar Way", "Aching Breaking Heart", "Pretty Brown Eyes", "Tar And Cement", "The House With The Whitewashed Gable", "Love Of The Common People", and "The Westmeath Bachelor".

In June, 1968, Joe placed an advert in Spotlight magazine offering a £500 for information leading to the identity of the person (or persons) responsible for spreading a rumour which questions Joe's moral character (see below). Although we are unsure what the specifics were, we know that as Joe never married, there were always rumours and speculations about his sexual orientation throughout his life. Joe made a very public plea to find those responsible and very quickly the rumours abated and the fans never abandoned the band or Joe as he had feared.  

However, within just a few weeks, in mid July, 1968, a real crisis hit the band when Tommy Swarbrigg and the younger members of the band decided it was time for a change in direction and left to form The Times. In an article in Spotlight on the 27th of July, it was noted that the split had been a long time in the making. It became increasingly obvious that the five members who broke away wanted to move in the direction of new bands like the Sands and go strictly pop, while Joe and Ben wished to retain the musical variety of the 60's showband era.

Tommy contacted his brother, Jimmy, who was living in London, and he returned to front the new pop band. In a July 17, 1968 interview in Spotlight, Ben Dolan was quoted as saying that the success of the Sands break from the Miami "may have precipitated the break in the Drifters." Manager Seamus Casey added that the band had been offered a contract in Las Vegas which Ben, Joe and he were not interested in pursuing.

This move left Joe and Ben alone, and they went about rebuilding a new band that would eventually go on to even greater success at home and abroad. The new band was on the road after less than a month in mid August. New members of the band included Clones man Frankie McDonald, who had played trumpet with the Irish Army No. 4 band and Sid Shine's Saints showband; Seamus Shannon from Elphin, Co. Roscommon who played trombone, but was also an All-Ireland accordion player; Maurice Walsh, who had previously been the lead singer with the Bye-Laws, but was also an accomplished drummer; Pat Hoye, from Mullingar, who had previously played bass with the Swingtime Aces; Kieran Mc Donnell on keyboards from Strabane and numerous local groups; and finally, Gordon Coleman on guitar from Youghal (he had been with Maurice Lynch). After adding a guitarist, Joe set down his six string and focused all his energy on singing.   

Joe Dolan and the "New" Drifters' first international chart success came in July, 1969, when they reached no. 3 in the UK charts with "Make Me an Island." Joe appeared on the BBC's Top of The Pops, one of the few showband performers to do so. Around this time, there were strong rumours about Joe possibly going solo which were constantly denied. In a June issue of Spotlight magazine it was reported that Joe had signed a "loose agreement" with Colin Berlin, who was involved with Tom Jones, but Joe never went solo. Following this, the floodgates opened and Joe and the band continued to record hit after hit. During the Seventies, Joe continued to have hits in Ireland, Europe, South Africa and Australia.

In the early seventies, the band suffered a couple of minor setbacks when first Ciaran McDonnell left the band to become a priest in September, 1970, then Seamus Shannon left to join Brendan Shine's Superband in 1971, and was replaced by Liam Meade and in July, 1973, Patrick Hoye left the band and journeyed to the United States to study at the Berklee School of Music, where he studied with the likes of Paul Ashford (who would return to form Stepaside) and John Farrell (of the Dazzle Band). Pat was replaced by Mick Bagnell (who also played with Margo for a spell).

In 1974, Joe and the band hit another high when "Sweet Little Rock n' Roller" won the European Pop Jury. In 1979, the song would be covered by English group, Showaddywaddy and would become one of their most famous songs and their last top twenty hit.

After Christmas, 1974, long time drummer Maurice Walsh left the band to study music and was replaced by Jimmy Walsh, who would in turn be replaced by Tony Newman. In 1977, the band was changing again. David Scott came in on bass along with Gerry Kelly on guitar. In early 1978, Patrick Hoye had returned from the States and Ben asked him to join the band for an eight week tour of South Africa. He ended up staying with the band for the next eight years. A few months later, in 1978, Joe and the band became the first Western based band to play in Russia. [Tony Newman, who would go on to play with Joe for many years, sadly passed away in 2000.]

The early eighties were a time of growth and transition for the band. Joe's fame was growing so quickly that it started to overshadow the importance of "The Drifters" as a separate entity. The band was touring constantly: Las Vegas, Russia, South Africa, Canada, Germany, etc. They even abandoned a tour of the Middle East (Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt) because the Ayatollah came back to Iran and changed everything.

Ben Dolan's son, Ray, joined the band around this time and was added on percussion. Gerry Kelly, who had replaced Gordon Coleman on lead guitar headed off to the United States in the early 1980's and was replaced by Joe Meehan. By the time the mid 1980's rolled around the "Drifters" had more or less ceased to exist. What had started as The Drifters Showband, and then became "Joe Dolan and the Drifters," ended up as Joe Dolan (and his band). Pat Hoye left in 1985 to return to Boston where he still lives today. 

Sadly, in December, 2007 Joe Dolan passed away at the age of 68 on St. Stephen's Day (December 26th). He had been ill for some time and canceled several Irish tours earlier in the year. However, his story did not end with his passing. In 2008, Ben Dolan revived the Dolan band with Joe featured performing on video with the band playing live. They are still performing regularly and Joe's legacy appears set to go on indefinitely with reunion tours and further disc releases already planned.   

Read more: Joe Dolan: An Appreciation  

Photo Gallery

click on thumbnails for full image

*from Julie Boyd's column Nov 14th, 1974

Discography (partial list)

Singles:
The Answer To Everything / When You Say I Love You - #4 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.15681 - June, 1964  
I Love You More And More Everyday / Does It Always Have To Be This Way - #3 Irish Charts   
Pye Records - 7N.15760 - January, 1965  
My Own Peculiar Way / Don't Ever Let That Little Chance Go By - #2 Irish Charts   
Pye Records - 7N.15902 - July, 1965  
Aching Breaking Heart / The Wrong Impression - #2 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.17003 - November, 1965  
Two Of A Kind / I've Got Five Dollars And It's Saturday Night // I'll Sit On Your Doorstep / Minutes to Midnight / The Jolly Tinker - #10 Irish Charts
Pye Records - NEP.24250 - May, 1966  
Pretty Brown Eyes / But I Do - #1 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.17152 - July, 1966     
The House With The Whitewashed Gable / Work Day Blues - #1 Irish Charts  
Pye Records - 7N.17265 - January, 1967    
Tar And Cement / The Time Of My Life - #3 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.17354 - July, 1967    
Love Of The Common People / The World Is Going Mad - #8 Irish Charts  
Pye Records - 7N.17484 - February 24, 1968    
The Westmeath Bachelor  
Pye Records - 7N.????? - October, 1968    
Make Me An Island / If You Care A Little About Me - #2 Irish Charts [#3 UK Charts]
Pye Records - 7N.17738 - April, 1969  
Teresa / My First Love - #1 Irish Charts [#20 UK Charts]
Pye Records - 7N.17833 - September, 1969  
You're Such A Good Looking Woman / Something Happens - #4 Irish Charts [#17 UK Charts]
Pye Records - 7N.17891 - January, 1970  
It Makes No Difference / I'll Be Home In About A Day Or So - #11 Irish Charts  
Pye Records - 7N.17978 - August, 1970
The Boola Boola / Make Me Smile
Pye Records - 7N.????? - December, 1970
Sometimes A Man Just Has To Cry / Friend In A Bottle
Pye Records - 7N.45060 - April, 1971
You and the Looking Glass / One Way Woman
Pye Records - 7N.45101 - October, 1971
Take The Money and Run / Home Isn't Home Anymore - #19 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.45145 - June, 1972
Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller / What Have You Done? - #14 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.45330 - December, 1973
16 Brothers / Hush Hush Maria
Pye Records - 7N.45412 - 1974   
The Most Wanted Man In The U.S.A. / Lady Laura - #12 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.45451 - November, 1974      
Lady In Blue / My Darling Michelle
Pye Records - 7N.45PY-12.124 - June, 1975   
Bogie (Boogie?) Mama / Crazy Woman
Pye Records - 7N.45562 - September, 1975  
Sister Mary / You Belong to Me Baby - #2 Irish Charts
Release Records - Unknown - May, 1976     
You Belong To Me Baby / Sister Mary (Record flipped?)
Pye Records - 7N.45634 - November, 1976  
I Need You / Little Boy Big Man (different B side, different label)
Release Records - RL.877 - 1977  
I Need You / Caterina Ballerina - #1 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.45702 - May, 1977  
Don't Ever Change Your Mind / Bonjour Madamoiselle
Pye Records - 7N.46111 - June, 1978     
My Love - #27 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.46??? - May, 1979  
Silent Night - #2 Irish Charts
Release Records - RL.988 - November, 1979  
More And More / When Your Lover Leaves You - #1 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - RITZ 19 - 1979   (Also listed as Release Records - RL.1045)
It's You, It's You, It's You / Spirit Of Love - #3 Irish Charts
Release Records - August, 1981 (also on Release Records) 
It's Only Make Believe / Let Me In - #13 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - RITZ.016 - March, 1982 (possible wrong catalog number)  
Deeper and Deeper - #10 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - Unknown - October, 1983  
Sometimes When We Touch / Yours Faithfully - #22 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - RITZ 064 - March, 1984
Come Back Home - #19 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - Unknown - October, 1984
Take Me I'm Yours / Hang Tough - #9 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - RITZ 147 - June, 1986  
Don't Set Me Free - #17 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - Unknown - March, 1987
Wait Til The Clouds Roll By (Jenny) - #20 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - Unknown - September, 1989
She Doesn't Live Here Anymore - #11 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - Unknown - February, 1990
When You Walk In The Room
Harmac Records - Unknown
Sometimes When We Touch - #22 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - February, 1984      
Come Back Home - #19 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - October, 1984    
Take Me I'm Yours - #9 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - June, 1986    
Don't Set Me Free - #17 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - March, 1987       
Wait 'til The Clouds Roll By (Jenny) - #20 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - September, 1989    
Ciara - #28 Irish Charts
AINM Records - July, 1993    
Somebody to Call My Girl
Unknown Records - 1994    
I'll Give All My Love To You
Unknown Records - 1996    
Endless Magic
Unknown Records - 1997    
Good Looking Woman (Duet with Dustin) - #1 Irish Charts
LIME Records - November, 1997    
The Universal - #19 Irish Charts
EMI Records - October, 1998    
Everybody Hurts
Unknown Records - 1999    
Better Man
Unknown Records - 2001    
Dreaming of You
Unknown Records - 2002    
Yours Faithfully
Unknown Records - 2003    
Little Green Bag / Have You Ever Been In Love
Unknown Records - 2004    

Albums:

Joe Dolan's Greatest Hits
Marble Arch Records - MAL.1143 - June, 1969
Good Looking Woman
Pye Records - NPL.18340 - June, 1970
Midnight Lover
Release Records - Unknown - May, 1978
Turn Out The Light
Release Records - RL.8009 - February, 1980

Audio Clips

Where Are They Now?  

Click here to visit Joe's website at www.joedolan.com

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