Red HurleyBands: Colours • Wheels • Nevada • Red Hurley Band • Solo
Red started his singing career in 1969 as the very young lead vocalist with The Colours. Other than the fact that Red cut a record with The Colours and had his first chart hit with A Poor Man's Roses (no. 14), we can't find any information about the band or its members. In 1970, Red formed his first band, Wheels. Also in Wheels with Red was his brother, Liam, a talented musical arranger and guitarist who had started his career with The Airchords Showband. With Wheels, Red released a few more singles including, Isadora and Take Me Tonight, both of which caused a minor stir on the scene and made it into the lower reaches of the Irish Charts. Around this time, Red and the band also took top honours in the Castlebar Song Contest with their song, The World Is Such An Empty Place. In early 1971, Liam left the Airchords to join The Nevada Showband. A few months later, when Roly Daniels left the band, Liam suggested his brother, Red, and together with "The Blonde Bombshell," Eileen "Kelly," Red Hurley and the Nevada took the country by storm. Former band member, Tommy Hayden took over the band's management and the Nevada dominated all the polls for top Pop Band and vocalists in the early 70's. Red was selected to sing one of the entries in the Irish National Song Contest in 1971, Going Away. He finished second to Angela Farrell's song, One Day Love, and although the record didn't make the charts, the experience helped establish him as one of the country's top vocalists. The same year (1971) Red had two major hits with the Nevada, the number one hit, Sometimes in the summer of that year and Kiss Me Goodbye which hit the charts just before Christmas. This success would continue in 1972 as the band swept the top spots in the Spotlight Awards winning for top male vocalist, female vocalist and top band. In the late spring, Red released Hold Me which went to number 3 in the Irish charts. The same year, the band was the subject of a BBC documentary called The Best Years Of Our Lives. 1973 was a good year for Red as his recording of Arkansas reached number one in the Irish charts and the band went from strength to strength. However, 1974 was to be a pivotal year for Red as he and Kelly both left the Nevada: Kelly to join Brendan Bowyer's Big Eight in Las Vegas and Red to form his own Red Hurley Band. Red found top class musicians to back him including several members of the Sands showband, who were undergoing major personnel changes at the time. He was also joined by his brother Liam, yet again, who eventually quit to focus on production work. Red and the band were instantly successful on the ballroom circuit and Red continued his dominance as one of the top male vocalists in the country.
As the seventies came to a close, things started to change on the ballroom scene. Country music broke to the front of the pack and solo artists like Red started to lose a little of their luster on the dance circuit and began turning to cabaret and increasingly touring abroad, especially England, where they could still pack them in. Despite this, in an interview published in Starlight Magazine in May 1979, Red was asked about moving into television, to which he responded, "my main bread and butter is the ballrooms, with a little cabaret as well, so I won't be breaking with that." Little did Red (or anyone) know that within a few short years the tables would be completely reversed. Also in 1979, Red hooked up with another ex-Nevada star, Tina Reynolds, to sing Hiding Behind Our Smile for the Irish National Song Contest, but they finished a disappointing eighth. Happy Man for Cathal Dunne was the winner that year. The early 1980's were a period of great transition for Red, as well as many other showband stars. With discos taking over the dancing scene, many bands folded, but not Red. Like Dickie Rock, as the band scene slipped away, Red comfortably moved to cabaret where he was able to keep his career going strong. He is still very active on the entertainment scene today and plays regular gigs both at home and abroad. He also plays regularly in charity golf tournaments both in Ireland and the United States. The picture above is Red at one such event in 2004. Red now spends part of his year in the United States where he also has a home and in 2007. he did a special with PBS which will saw him starring in his own show and appearing on the network on St. Patrick's Day and repeated later in the year. He also recently appeared on the Late late Show with Pat Kenny and is still going strong after almost forty years on the scene. Photo Gallery
Discography through 1990: Singles: A Poor Man's
Roses / I Didn't Even Know (with The Colours) -
#14 Irish Charts Solo:
I Know -
#5 Irish
Charts Best of Red
Hurley |
Brian "Red" Hurley started on the scene in the
late 1960's but burst into stardom as the front man with The Nevada in 1971. He
had just replaced Roly Daniels who left the band to pursue a career in country
music and owned the early and mid 1970's as the
premier male vocalist in Ireland. In fact, all but a few of Red's singles made
the Irish Charts, a rare feat for any Irish artist. 
In
1976, Red hit the jackpot when his song, When was chosen to represent Ireland in the Eurovision song
contest. Although Red finished tenth, his performance was considered
one of the best of the evening and many have said he would have done
far better, but the contest was going through a period when up tempo
pop numbers seemed to carry the day. The contest was won by
Britain's Brotherhood of Man with their song, Save Your Kisses for
Me.
