Val Doonican

Career in Britain Doonican moved to England in 1951 and joined the Four Ramblers who, in addition to touring the variety stages, were featured on the BBC radio serial the Riders of the Range. Recognising Doonican's talent and potential as a solo act, Newley persuaded him to leave the singing group and go solo.

He was auditioned for radio as a solo act and appeared on the radio show Variety Bandbox. Soon after his solo career started, he picked up his own radio show in the afternoons on the BBC Light Programme in 1961 called Your Date with Val. In 1962, he had also had a weekly show on Irish TV called Presenting Val Doonican. Variety and cabaret appearances increased, and he received good reviews following his appearance at London's Astor Club in March 1963.

In the late 1950s, Doonican became one of the artists managed by Eve Taylor, the self-described "Queen Bee" of show business, who remained his manager until her death.

After seeing him in a cabaret in London in 1964, impresario Val Parnell booked him to appear on Sunday Night at the Palladium on 31 May 1964.

As a result of his performances, Bill Cotton, then Assistant Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC, offered Doonican his own regular show, Singalong Saturday, starting on 27 June 1964. The series was a success, and he was given another series on BBC1 called "Date with Doonican" starting on 22 February 1965. The TV shows were produced by Yvonne Littlewood and lasted for over 20 years. At their peak, the shows attracted audiences of some 19 million viewers.

As his TV programmes were variety shows they gave other performers, such as Dave Allen, early exposure. In the United States, The Val Doonican Show aired on ABC on Saturday evenings at 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. Central) from 5 June to 14 August 1971, as a summer replacement test of Doonican's appeal to American audiences.

The Palladium performance also kick-started his recording career. Between 1964 and 1973, Doonican was rarely out of the UK Singles Chart, his greatest successes including the singles "Walk Tall", "The Special Years", "Elusive Butterfly", "What Would I Be" (Decca), "If The Whole World Stopped Loving" (Pye), and "Morning" (Philips); and the albums 13 Lucky Shades of Val Doonican (Decca), and Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently (Pye) which reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart in December 1967. and number 3 in Ireland. In all, he recorded over 50 albums. He also sang the theme song to the film Ring of Bright Water.

Behind the scenes, Doonican was described as "a perfectionist who knew his limitations but always aimed to be 'the best Val Doonican possible.'" He was sometimes compared to American singer Perry Como, though he claimed his main influence was Bing Crosby. He appeared in three Royal Variety Performances.

Doonican officially retired in 1990 but was still performing in 2009. He had a second home in Spain, and was a keen golfer and a talented watercolour painter. In June 2011, he was recognised by the Mayor of Waterford, who bestowed on him "The Freedom of the City".

Death and tributes Doonican died at a nursing home in Buckinghamshire on 1 July 2015, aged 88. Leading tributes to Doonican, fellow entertainer Bruce Forsyth said, "It is very sad. He was always a lovely man to work with ... He was a very warm person and number one in his field. He brought a lovely warmth with his personality and was a very popular man." Elaine Paige commented on Twitter, "Sad to hear of Val Doonican's passing ... RIP Val", while BBC disc-jockey Tony Blackburn said "So sad to hear that Val Doonican has passed away. He was a lovely man and a true professional who I worked with on several TV shows R.I.P."

In popular culture Comic actor Russ Abbot parodied Doonican in his TV creation crooner "Val Hooligan". He appears as himself in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's "The Intro and the Outro", saying "hello there" over the general hubbub. Doonican's 1965 song, "I'm Gonna Get There Somehow", has been used in adverts for Irish toy store Smyths. The same song was used in a Boots Christmas advert in 2023. Since 2006, his name has also been used by the Barnsley comedy-folk band The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican, who celebrate Val's image, wearing loud-knitwear as part of their larger-than-life stage personas.

Discography Chart singles Year Single Chart Positions UK IRE AU 1964"Walk Tall"32291965"The Special Years"7271"I'm Gonna Get There Somehow"25——1966"Elusive Butterfly"53—"What Would I Be"2—261967"Memories Are Made of This"1114—"Two Streets"39——"If The Whole World Stopped Loving"32811968"You're The Only One"37——"Now"43--"If I Knew Then What I Know Now"14——1968"Ring of Bright Water"48——1970"Too Many Times"——821971"Ann"——951972"Morning"125751973"Heaven Is My Woman's Love"34——

Albums

The Lucky 13 Shades of Val Doonican (Decca, 1964, UK albums chart No. 2) Gentle Shades of Val Doonican (Decca, 1966, UK albums chart No. 5) Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently (Pye, 1967, UK albums chart No. 1) Val (Pye, 1968, UK albums chart No. 6) The World of Val Doonican (Decca, 1969, UK albums chart No. 2, AUS albums chart No. 24