James Augustine "Butch" Moore (10 January 1938 – 3 April 2001) was an Irish singer and a showband icon during the 1960s. Moore was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. He achieved celebrity status as

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's first contestant in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

in 1965 and attracted huge crowds with The Capitol Showband in the State's many ballrooms. Moore was at the height of his success, when he won the National Song Contest to represent

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1965 The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the tenth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Naples, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti. Organised by the European ...

, in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, singing

Walking the Streets in the Rain Ireland was represented by Butch Moore, with the song "Walking the Streets in the Rain", at the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 20 March in Naples. This was the first time Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. B ...

. The song reached number one on the Irish Singles Chart, but failed to chart in the UK. Butch Moore married Norah Sheridan (born June 1940) in 1962. They had 3 three children; Karen, Grainne and Gary. He played with a number of bands before securing his big break with The Capitol Showband in 1958. Its line-up included band leader, Des Kelly, and Paddy Cole, who is still involved in the entertainment business, and an early songwriter for the band was

Phil Coulter Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009. Coulter ha ...

. The Capitol Showband achieved a considerable degree of success in the early 1960s. It toured America in 1961, and two years later became the first showband to appear on the new

RTÉ television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

service. The Capitol Showband played in the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

in 1964 on a night when the lineup included Roy Orbison. In 1965, The Capitol Showband recorded and issued the single "Born to Be with You" b/w "Far, Far Away". The single did not enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but peaked at number twenty-six on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. As the lead singer with The Capitol Showband, he rivalled the Royal Showband's

Brendan Bowyer Brendan Bowyer (12 October 1938 – 28 May 2020) was an Irish singer best known for fronting the Royal Showband and The Big Eight, and who had five number one hits in Ireland. He was also renowned for having The Beatles open for the Royal Showb ...

as Ireland's most popular showband vocalist. His marriage to Norah broke down in 1969 and when his career went into a decline, he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1970, where he spent the last 31 years of his life. Butch Moore married Irish ballad singer Maeve Mulvany (born 1945) in 1972 in the United States. They formed a very successful group known as "Butch and Maeve" with a mixture of ballads and pop. They also owned a pub in Massachusetts named after a song they sang "The Parting Glass". They had three children, Rory, Tara and Thomas. Butch died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at his home in the United States on 3 April 2001, at age 63. Maeve died on 14 February 2004; she had planned to move back to Ireland where she had bought a house in Cormeen, County Meath.

References

External links

Butch Moore biography

James Augustine "Butch" Moore findagrave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Butch 1938 births 2001 deaths People from County Dublin Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Ireland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1965 20th-century Irish male singers Pye Records artists Irish emigrants to the United States Castlebar Song Contest winners