Sounds from the Emerald Isle.

I'll finish up today with another uplifting
song from the great ENYA.

Orinoco Flow.

I was the cohost of a weekly radio program called Cael Celtach on a folk music station from mid-1994 to the end of 1996.

That must have been awesome, where did the station broadcast too.
What type of music and are you still involved in radio or music.

P.S. It was your idea to open this thread. Remember.
For you P.

Christy Moore. ___ Two Island Swans.

You must be psychic because I have a very loonnnggg Christy thread on youtube and then I have another thread called "animal transformations," which features this song although it is not, strictly speaking, a transformation.

The station was WADN-AM out of Concord, MA. It went dark about a year after I left. It was a folk music station. Our show largely followed a British Isles format because we didn't have enough purely Celtic music to do an all Irish show.

While we're t'inkin' on the immortal Christy, have you not considered Planxty? (An attempt to write in brogue.)

This is one of those songs that I listened to again and again and again. Truly one of the great instrumental and vocal performances that reach the level of a lesson in music theory:

The Blacksmith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK_caqXhbXU

When Christy starts on the bodhran, well, laddie, tis my heart starts poundin'.

So, laddie, what do you think of some of the Neo-Celtic performers across Europe? Do you know Rapalje from Holland? Have you heard the Polish folk-trance groups who do Polish-Viking music that has Celtic aspects to it?

Here are the wild men of Rapalje:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPmmOYDB3PE

Here, they do a song by that Scots Wizard Andy M. Stewart who can call up more ghosts of ballads past than anyone else:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEQ_glAuUhA&feature=related

covering a song from Christy's younger brother Luka Bloom:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA0dEFlgRhA&feature=related

and, finally, their ballad version, of The Crown and the Ring, from American fantasy heavy metal band (gamer rock) Manowar paired with the ubiquitous Morrison's Jig:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myeh8sgZgp8

For sure, Planxty are going to be played. I've already done Christy & Moving Hearts.
I've been lucky to see all three in concert, Very lucky. Blacksmith is a great track.

I'd say it was nice, sharing music that you love over the airwaves.
Nice memory to have.

Rapalje are excellent, Probably out-Irish the Irish. I have to say I cant remember
any Irish trad bands looking the part like Rapalje do, maybe some of the ladies might
Celt it up a bit but an Aran jumper is about as far as the lads will go. So hats off to Rapajle for the effort.
The Dutch have always loved Celtic music, I lived & worked in Amsterdam for a few years and you could
catch a ballad session nearly every night.
So in answer to your question,
" So, laddie, what do you think of some of the Neo-Celtic performers across Europe? "
I say the more the merrier.
Some of that Polish folk-trance is nice, very Celtic Rock.
I like the Poles, their a lot like the Irish.

Warsaw Village Band in Dublin 2006.

One of the hottest acts around at the moment, THE SCRIPT.
They are a Dublin band, They only released their debut single, We Cry, in 2008
but have already achieved worldwide success.
Their music has featured in many popular TV programmes like 90210, Ghost Whisperer,
The Hills, Waterloo Road, Eastenders and The Vampire Diaries.
This year their first US single, Breakdown, sold over a million copies
And they are currently touring and are due to gig in Europe, Australia & the US.
You can get all the latest news & gig dates at www.thescriptmusic.com
Here's three from the lads.

Break Even.



We Cry.



For The First time.

I love the Warsaw Village Band, but, then I am as Polish as I am Irish. I imagine those girls in the band are popular with the men as well. Very pretty.

Take a look at the carved figure with the many heads, all facing in different directions. Celtic? Slavic? Viking? All of the above?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGupr_ISDtc

" Celtic? Slavic? Viking? All of the above?"
Definitely And more, this is native American.
It's striking the similarities, then again good music is universal.

Cherokee Morning Song.

Not doing anything?, jump in & we'll go
for a spin through Belfast. Belt up.
I've got good sounds on the stereo.
What, you want to drive, well ok but
remember we drive on the left here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l5Ft6Nya00

We'll finish the day with two from both ends of the spectrum.
First up

U2. ______ Beautiful Day.


Second up

Chris De Burgh. _______ Missing You.


GO on so, a bonus.

Christy Moore. ______ City of Chicago.

Start the day with a live track from the wonderful
________ Cathy Davey ________

Reuben.



NICE.....

Next we'll hear from the great & venerable Mr VAL DOONICAN.
Val, born in Co Waterford in 1927 had a very successful singing and TV career.
For over 20 years he had his own show on BBC television in the UK which featured
his own singing performances and a variety of guest artists.
He often wore cardigans and jumpers, which together with the rocking chairs he often
sat in became his trademark.
Between 1964 and 1973 Val was rarely out of the UK Singles Chart, his greatest successes
including the singles "Walk Tall", "The Special Years", "What Would I Be",
"If The Whole World Stopped Loving", and "Morning".
Val ceased touring in 2009 and now enjoys spending a lot of free time in Spain, where he has
a second home, and is a keen golfer. He lives in Knotty Green, Buckinghamshire.
You can learn more about Val at www.valdoonican.com
Now lets hear a few from Val.

Walk Tall.



Windmills of Your Mind.



What Would I Be.

Why not try an interactive trip around Dublin.
[CLICK ON THE ANNOTATIONS TO CHOOSE WHERE TO GO !!!! ]

Interactive drive around Dublin city - Kildare street to Stephen's Green, Dawson street,
Nassau street, Pearse street, Tara street and left to O'Connell Bridge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjW2uE6_Wac

Here's another.
Interactive drive around Dublin city - O'Connell bridge to D'Olier street,
Dame street, Christchurch and right onto Winetavern street.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4DpAoW58Zk

Enjoy the drive.

After the discovery of the New World, people, from Elizabethan into Victorian times, thought that Celts looked like Native Americans.

I can live with that, some of them native Americans are damn handsome,
so it must be true.
Though I have no doubt it was just another way of dehumanization.
Because is this not how cruelty & oppression are justified and still are to this day.

Why not visit the Guinness Web site, learn how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness,
the history, it's connection with sport and go on a short tour of the storehouse,
a major tourist attraction in Ireland.
Go to ____ www.guinness.com OR www.guinness-storehouse.com

Slainte