JOE DOLAN (IRELAND)

Born: 16 October 1939
Died: 26 December 2007 (aged 68)
Real name: Joseph Francis Robert Dolan

Dolan was born in Mullingar, a town about 80 kms northwest of Dublin. He was the youngest of 9 children. His father owned a bicycle shop, but sadly died when Joe was only 10. His mother would pass away 9 years later while Joe was still a teenager. However, his mother encouraged him to play the piano and he would make his first live appearance at a talent show held in his hometown of Mullingar. Around the time his mother died, Joe got a job with a local newspaper and also got his first guitar. He and his brother Ben, who played the saxophone, started playing in bands in the area and not long after that they formed their own group called The Drifters. This changed to become Joe Dolan & His Drifters. The first single Joe Dolan & His Drifters released was called ‘The Answers To Everything’ which was a cover of a b-side of a Del Shannon single. The track proved successful, going to number 4 on the Irish charts. In 1969 he recorded ‘Make Me An Island’, a song written by Albert Hammond along with a guy called Mike Hazlewood. This would give him his first UK hit as it went to number 3 there. It would be the best peak he would see from his 5 UK chart hits. In 1981 Dolan would tour South African and again in 1983 despite the cultural embargo on the country at the time. In 2005 he had a hip replacement operation and this led to the discovery that he was suffering from type 2 diabetes. He auctioned off his hip for charity, but his health declined and he died on Boxing Day 2007. Allegedly Dolan’s hip bone is the only human body part to have been sold on eBay.

Date of entry	Song	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
29-Aug-1969	Make Me An Island	2	10
12-Mar-1971	You And The looking Glass	12	6
19-Dec-1975	Lady In Blue	1 (6)	14
10-Jun-1977	Hush Hush Maria	1 (3)	17
21-Oct-1977	I Need You	1 (2)	17
30-Jun-1978	Little Boy Big Man	9	8
13-Jul-1979	My Love	1 (2)	17
12-Jun-1981	More And More	1 (3)	16
27-Nov-1981	It’s You, It’s You, It’s You	1 (2)	18
		Total hits	9
		Total weeks	123

Biggest climber awards	5
Star rater climbs	14
Biggest fallers	9
Weeks with oldest in the charts	22
Longest run in the charts (weeks)	18
Weeks with more than 1 in the charts	0
Biggest gap between hits (weeks)	243
Top 30 points ranking	11
Top 20 points ranking	7
Top 30 points	2887
Top 20 points	1657

Joe Dolan spent a total of 18 weeks at 1 which was the tied 5^th highest by any act. He was the most successful Irish act using both a top 20 and a top 30 points basis.