"Day Trip to Bangor (Didn't We Have a Lovely Time)" is a single by the folk group

Fiddler's Dram Fiddler's Dram were a British folk band of the late 1970s, most widely known for their 1979 hit single, " Day Trip to Bangor (Didn't We Have a Lovely Time)", which reached no. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Band members The full-time members of Fi ...

. The novelty song was released in 1979 and peaked at number 3 at the start of 1980. The song was written by Debbie Cook and recorded by the lead singer of the band,

Cathy Lesurf Cathy Lesurf (born 1953) is a British folk music singer-songwriter who was brought up in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. She has been a member of bands in the 1970s such as Oyster Ceilidh Band, Fiddler's Dram, and The Albion Band. She released a solo al ...

. The single was the group's only chart entry in their career, making them

one hit wonders A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

Controversy

The release was shrouded in controversy after reports that the song was actually inspired by a trip to

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

, another town in

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

. It was rumoured that Bangor was chosen as the lyric due to it having an extra syllable that flowed better with the song. There were rumours of an outcry among local councillors and businesses in Rhyl about the missed opportunity for tourism which would have been generated. Cook stated that the song was specifically written about Bangor.

Use in popular culture

In 1981, the song was parodied by the comedian

Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), best known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. Early life Born in Shaftmoor Lane, Acocks Green, in Birmingham, Carrott was educated at Acocks G ...

, with his version renamed "Daytrip to Blackpool." The

Barron Knights The Barron Knights are a British humour, humorous pop rock group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire,Colin Larkin (writer), Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), ), p. 32 as the ...

also did a parody version of the song called “Didn’t we have a lovely time (At the office Christmas party)”. Radio presenter

Paul Makin Paul Makin (born 18 December 1947, Marrickville, New South Wales) is a South Australia based television and radio journalist. He started as a cadet journalist at Radio 5KA Adelaide in 1973 joined Radio 2UE Sydney in 1976 before moving to televi ...

did a parody version on Sydney radio station UEas "Bruiser Makin" performing "Daytrip to Woy Woy".. Similarly, in 1980, radio presenter Barry Ion did a parody version, as “Peter Plus” on his “Bazz and Pilko” breakfast show on 5AD in Adelaide, Australia entitled “Daytrip to Victor” (a reference to local tourist location Victor Harbor). The song was adapted, with changed lyrics, for a UK commercial for Anchor butter which ran from 1980.

Paul Dakeyne Paul David Dakeyne (born 30 January 1961), known by his stage name Tinman, is an English house music producer/ remixer from Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1994, his single "Eighteen Strings" (also written as "18 Strings") became an inte ...

did a mash-up of the song at the Chris Moyles Weekender in Bangor in 2010. "Day Trip to Bangor (Didn't We Have a Lovely Time)" was adapted by

Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), better known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, artist, surrealist, musician, actor and television presenter, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. ...

and

Bob Mortimer Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, podcast presenter and actor. He is known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob comedy double act, and more recently the '' Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing ...

for their

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sitcom '' House of Fools'' which began in January 2014. The opening scene of each episode sees the duo sing a song to the tune of "Day Trip to Bangor". The show ran for two series, ending in March 2015 after thirteen episodes.

Charts

Chart performance

The single entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 26 on 13 December 1979 (week ending) two weeks before Christmas. It rose to number 4 for the following two weeks before reaching its peak of number 3 on 5 January 1980 (week ending). It spent two further weeks in the top 10, dropping to number 4 and then number 9 a week later. It was in the top 40 for one more week at number 24, and two final weeks in the top 100. It was also a sizeable hit in Australia where it reached number 8 in March 1980.

Controversy

Use in popular culture

Charts

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links