Sunday, April 09, 2023

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Dublin City Ramblers


 Artist:Dublin City Ramblers

Song:The Rare Old Times

Album:20 Great Irish Ballads, Rebel Songs & Instrumentals


The folk group Dublin City Ramblers have been around since the 70s. They have a big following in Ireland and they are still around. They started out in the mid-60s as The Jolly Tinkers and the name was changed to The Quare Fellas. The members were Patsy Watchorn, Sean and Matt McGuiness and Pat Cummins. After recording a couple of albums for CBS, they decided to change the band name to Dublin City Ramblers. They signed with the Irish label Dolphin Records. In 1972 the band was Watchorn, Sean McGuiness, Philip McCaffery and Kevin Molloy. The 1972 album A Nation Once Again went top ten in Ireland. For the most part the Dublin City Ramblers record traditional songs. Occasionally they get political as they did with the 1978 album Irish Republican Jail Songs. The Rare Old Times was written by Pete St. John and the Dublin City Ramblers released it as a single in 1977. It's turned out to be one of their most popular songs. Danny Doyle topped the Irish charts with his 1978 recording. It doesn't look like the Dublin City Ramblers ever put it on an album. But you can get it on this comp. Sean McGuiness is the only original member of the Dublin City Ramblers. McCaffery and Molloy left in 1989. Watchorn left in 1995. Paddy Sweeney replaced Molloy and left in 2002. Since then the membership has been a revolving door. Though they haven't recorded for a while, McGuiness still leads the Dublin City Ramblers on tour. Here's the Dublin City Ramblers performing The Rare Old Times on an 80s TV show.


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