July

July 1-7 ~~~ July 8-15 ~~~ July 16-23 ~~~ July 24-31 ~~~ On this Date

July 1
1942 Peadar Toner Mac Fhionnlaoich died on this day in 1942. (5 October 1857 – 1 July 1942). He was born in County Donegal.

He was known as The Hound of Ulster, During the Gaelic Revival, he wrote stories from Irish folklore in the Irish language. He also wrote some of the first plays written in Irish. Many of his books are still available on the Internet.

July 2
2005 Bob Geldof organised a series of benefit concerts around the world. The world’s biggest music stars gave their time and performed in Live8 concerts in cities around the world today. Cities included London, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome, Toronto, and Moscow. The concerts were held to put pressure on world leaders, and to ’Make Poverty History’. See more here.
See video of Bob Geldof performing at Live8.

July 3
1998 Westlife, the Irish pop group, was formed on 3 July in 1998. Westlife’s lineup was Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, and Brian McFadden (left in 2004).

Westlife’s first seven singles went straight to number 1 in the Irish and British charts ( the only act to so so). They never achieved the same success in America – only one US hit with ‘Swear it Again’ making number 20 in 2000. However, they have sold over 44 million records worldwide.

Although, some of the members can play instruments, they usually only sing on stage and don’t play instruments. They ae backed by acoustic and rock bands.

The boyband teen-pop group have developed into a contemporary pop group focusing mainly on ballads and love songs. They have sung in many genres; rhythm and blues (with great harmonies), jazz, big-band, pop-rock, acoustic, electronic. They now call themselves a manband.

You Raise Me Up melody is based on a traditional Irish song, Londonderry Air (Danny Boy).

They have won numerous awards over the years including Best New Tour Act (Smash Hits 1998), Best UK and Ireland Act (MTV Europe Music Awards 1999), ITV’s Record of the Year (1999 [Flying Without Wings], 2000 [My Love], 2003 [Mandy], 2005 [You Raise Me Up], and in 2011 Best Live Act in the Celebritain Pop Awards.

There are various tribute bands; Westlives, That’s Life, Westlike.
Click for video of MyLove
Click for video of Mandy
Click for video of You Raise Me Up