The Swarbriggs

Irish musical duo and music promoters

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".[1] 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[citation needed].

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.[2] 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.[3]

Legacy

The brothers were attributed as the inspiration for the 'My Lovely Horse' music video in the channel 4 television series Father Ted.[4][5]

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. ^ https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/1975/ireland
  2. ^ https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2020/05/26/swarbriggs-some-of-mullingars-original-music-stars/
  3. ^ https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2009/11/04/the-swarbriggs-on-the-road-again/
  4. ^ https://extra.ie/2017/05/12/news/this-is-the-real-life-irish-eurovision-entry-my-lovely-horse-lampooned
  5. ^ https://m.independent.ie/entertainment/television/eurovision-from-johnny-to-jedward-the-top-12-best-and-worst-irish-entries-ever/34688127.html
  • Swarbrigg Entertainment official site as music promoters
  • From Ian Gallagher's showbands site:
    • Swarbriggs
    • Times Showband
    • Drifters
  • From Irish-showbands.com:
    • The Drifters (1964-1980's)
    • The Times (1968-1982)
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Tina Reynolds
with "Cross Your Heart"
 Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
1975 		Succeeded by
Red Hurley
with "When"
Preceded by
Red Hurley
with "When"
 Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
1977 		Succeeded by
Colm Wilkinson
with "Born to Sing"
  • v
  • t
  • e
ParticipationArtistsSongs
  • "22"
  • "All Kinds of Everything"
  • "Born to Sing"
  • "Ceol an Ghrá"
  • "Chance of a Lifetime"
  • "Come Back to Stay"
  • "Could It Be That I'm in Love"
  • "Cross Your Heart"
  • "Do I Dream"
  • "Doomsday Blue"
  • "Dreamin'"
  • "Dying to Try"
  • "Et Cetera"
  • "Every Song Is a Cry for Love"
  • "Happy Man"
  • "Heartbeat"
  • "Here Today Gone Tomorrow"
  • "Hold Me Now"
  • "Horoscopes"
  • "If I Could Choose"
  • "If My World Stopped Turning"
  • "In Your Eyes"
  • "Irelande Douze Pointe"
  • "Is Always Over Now?"
  • "It's for You"
  • "It's Nice to Be in Love Again"
  • "Lipstick"
  • "Love?"
  • "Maps"
  • "Millennium of Love"
  • "Mysterious Woman"
  • "One Day Love"
  • "Only Love Survives"
  • "Playing with Numbers"
  • "The Real Me"
  • "Rock 'n' Roll Kids"
  • "Somewhere in Europe"
  • "Story of My Life"
  • "Sunlight"
  • "Take Him Home"
  • "Terminal 3"
  • "That's Rich"
  • "That's What Friends Are For"
  • "They Can't Stop the Spring"
  • "Together"
  • "The Voice"
  • "The Wages of Love"
  • "Wait Until the Weekend Comes"
  • "Walking the Streets in the Rain"
  • "Waterline"
  • "We Are One"
  • "We've Got the World"
  • "What's Another Year"
  • "When"
  • "When You Need Me"
  • "Why Me?"
  • "Without Your Love"
  • "You Can Count On Me"
  • Note: Entries scored out signify where Ireland did not compete
  • v
  • t
  • e
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"
  • v
  • t
  • e
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"
Authority control databases: Artists Edit this at Wikidata
  • MusicBrainz