Charlie McGettigan & Paul Harrington will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their Eurovision win with ‘Rock & Roll Kids’, during a rare performance together in the Church of Ireland Boyle tonight July 23rd.
This Arts Festival event commences at 10pm
Paul Harrington first came to public attention with his debut album ‘What I’d Say’ reaching the Top 10 in 1991. However, that attention reached new heights in 1994 when he represented Ireland and won the Eurovision Song Contest along with Charlie McGettigan. The song ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Kids’ is one of the most popular to ever win Eurovision and is still a regular feature on Irelands’ airwaves today.
In the late nineties Paul was the performer of choice for many of the A-list celebrities that would frequent the VIP Room in Dublin’s most prestigious nightspot. Here he would regularly entertain, and quite often be joined by , stars from the world of music, film and television. He has performed for, amongst others, the Rolling Stones, Prince and U2 .
It was here that Michael Flatley and Paul reconnected after 10 years and was so impressed that he created a role for him as principal singer in his most recent dance extravaganza ‘Celtic Tiger’. This saw Paul performing in arenas across Europe and North America , including Wembley, and the most famous venue in the world Madison Square Gardens .
After these various career twist and turns Paul is now back doing what he loves best, interpreting great songs and performing them with a passion.In 2010 an album call “Songs” featuring his unique interpretations of some of the world’s best loved songs was released to critical acclaim . This was a live studio album produced by Grammy nominees Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy, and featured the musical talent of Bill Shanley, Sean Devitt and Tony Molloy.
Paul returns this year with a new live album recorded by Tim Martin at the Sugar Club Dublin and it’s called, “Lights of Home” featuring nine new songs again working with Bill Shanley and Sean Devitt ,Graham Murphy and Adam Taylor. Although this will be Paul’s first solo album in eight years in recent years he has collaborated on other albums including Christmas album featuring the Whitefriar Street Choir, called ‘O Holy Night’ and a North American – Irish collaboration called ‘Cape Spear’.
Charlie McGettigan started his musical career in the 1960s in various rock bands in Donegal. Moving to Dublin in 1968 he honed in on the thriving folk scene there at the time. In 1973, Charlie formed the highly successful group Jargon, which went on to win the prestigious Letterkenny Folk Festival, following in the footsteps of bands like Clannad and Pumpkinhead. Charlie has worked with artists like Maura O’Connell and Eleanor Shanley who both recorded many of his songs including “Feet of a Dancer”, “A Bed for the Night” and “If Anything Happened to You”.
Charlie joined forces with Paul Harrington and Brendan Graham to win the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with “Rock n Roll Kids”. He has released many solo albums including “In Your Old Room”, “Family Matters” “ The man from 20” and “Stolen Moments” produced in Nashville by legendary producer Bil Vorndick.
These days Charlie tours both here in Ireland and abroad. He presents “The Saturday Connection” on Shannonside/Northern Sound Radio, a two hour programme where he previews live music and theatrical events, interviews guests from the world of arts and entertainment and plays an eclectic mix of music and song on CD. As well as serving on the Board of IMRO, Charlie is also a member of the Board of The Dock Arts Centre in Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
Charlie’s latest album “Tuesdays with Paul” is receiving great attention from the media and includes songs like “Dust if you must” and “When I was a kid”.
