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Big Tom Show
TG4 is expecting a huge audience for the 70-minute show on Big Tom that airs on St Stephen’s Night at 9.30pm. Big Tom – A Celebration is among the premier highlights on the station’s Christmas schedule.
A crew from Big Mountain Productions spent some days filming material around Oram and Castleblayney, visiting Big Tom and his wife, Rose, as well as the family, at their home in Oram. On 30 August Big Tom headlined a special night before a sell-out audience in the Millennium Forum Theatre in Derry.
This was Tom’s first appearance in Derry for many years and he received an amazing response from the adoring audience. Viewers of the show on TG4 will see Tom perform a selection of his hits, including Gentle Mother, Let Me Go To Texas, Going Out The Same Way You Came In, I Love You Still, One More Christmas With You and Four Country Roads.
Kayla McDonagh from Connemara will be appearing as Big Tom’s special guest and performing some songs in Irish.
It was lovely to be back in Derry again and everyone made me so welcome. I always associate the place with Johnny McCauley, the great songwriter who penned so many of my songs over the years.
"We had a special day and night in Derry and I want to express thanks to all associated with TG4 for putting this show together. I hope the people out there will sit back and enjoy the show when it goes out on television,” says Big Tom.
Michael Commins Christmas Show
The Michael Commins Christmas Show on the Keep It Country Channel on Sky 389 (and also on Freesat 516) goes on on St Stephen’s Night between 11pm and midnight.
The show features a lovely selection of country favourites to tie in with the Christmas season. It includes songs from Johnny Cash, Big Tom, Declan Nerney, Dolly Parton, Seán Keane, Gene Stuart, Jim Reeves and a host of others.
support for Cavan Down Syndrome
Longford man Seamus Sheridan was delighted to hand over a cheque for €5,455 to the Cavan Down Syndrome Support Group, the proceeds from the recent launch of his debut four-track CD, In The Shadow of the Old Mill Wheel, at the Breffni Arms Hotel in Arva. This was the latest in a long line of fundraising ventures undertaken by Seamus through the years.
He was joined on the night by Seamus Farrell and The Breffni Country Band, John Glenn, Padraig Farrell, Barney Brady, Gerry Rowland, Terry Reynolds and other local artists.
The night was a great success and I want to thank all who came along and all who supported it in any way, as well as those who have bought the CD since then.
“It was great to be able to present the Down Syndrome Support group in Cavan with such a decent cheque and thanks again to all who made it possible,” says Seamus.
White Christmas for Dickie and Muriel
Former Irish Eurovision representatives Dickie Rock and Muriel Day have come together to record their first duet, an uptempo version of the Bing Crosby classic, White Christmas.
Dickie, who was lead singer with The Miami at the time, was the winner of Ireland’s second National Song Contest back in 1966 and he secured a fourth place finish at the Eurovision with Come Back To Stay. Butch Moore, who fronted The Capitol, had blazed the trail in 1965 when becoming Ireland’s first Eurovision representative with Walking The Streets In The Rain.
Muriel Day was the first female to represent Ireland. The year was 1969 when she performed Wages of Love in Madrid and finished seventh on the night. Muriel was born in Newtownards and was a singer with The Dave Glover Band. She later spent many years in Canada.
The new duet, featuring an excellent arrangement by Jimmy Hendry and his band, also serves to focus attention on the Down Memory Lane tour, which features Dickie and Muriel and a host of other singers from the showband era. It gets underway with two nights in the Ulster Hall in Belfast on 27-28 December. CL
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