"What's Another Year" was Irish singer and composer Johnny Logan's first

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 ...

winning song, achieving success in the 1980 edition of the contest, as well as 's second Eurovision victory. Composed by

Shay Healy Shay Healy (29 March 1943 – 9 April 2021) was an Irish songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of ''Nighthawks'', a RTÉ Television chat show of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and for composing "What's An ...

(who also wrote "The Ultimate Country and Western Song" performed by Billy Connolly), the song reached number one in 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 ...

for two weeks in May. When

showband The Irish showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and ...

frontman Glen Curtin, the original choice of singer, turned down "What's Another Year", the song was rearranged by

Bill Whelan Bill Whelan (born 22 May 1950 in Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, ''Riverdance'', was a seven-minute display of tradi ...

to suit Johnny Logan's singing style.''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', "Golden boy, forgotten man", 8 August 2009 Whelan later composed "

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

" for the interval entertainment slot at the

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. Musically, the song is easily identifiable by its

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

introduction played by Scottish musician Colin Tully, who now lives and teaches in Wales. The success of "What's Another Year" launched Logan's Eurovision career (he would go on to achieve success in with " Hold Me Now", and he would have another win as songwriter for

Linda Martin Linda Martin (born 27 March 1952) is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song " Why Me?". She is also known within Irelan ...

's " Why Me?" in ). In addition, the song was selected as one of the 14 greatest Eurovision entries in a special to mark the 50th anniversary of the contest. It was covered by

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGo ...

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in the ''Song for Eurotrash'' cover album of 1998. Famously, after being announced as the winner of the Contest, Logan was overcome with emotion and could not achieve the high notes near the end of the song in his reprise. Instead, he called out "I love you Ireland", a phrase he would repeat seven years later. The song was performed seventeenth on the night, following 's

Profil Profil may refer to: *La Mouette Profil, a French hang glider design *Profil (band), a French musical group *''Profil (literary magazine)'', a Norwegian literary magazine *''profil (magazine)'', an Austrian news magazine * ''Profil (Russian magaz ...

with "

Hé, hé M'sieurs dames France was represented by five-member group Profil, with the song "Hé, hé M'sieurs dames", at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 19 April in The Hague. Before Eurovision National final Having chosen their 1979 entry by ...

" and preceding 's

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with "

Quédate esta noche "Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52" (also known as "Quédate") is a song by Argentine producer Bizarrap and Spanish rapper Quevedo. It was released on July 6, 2022, through Dale Play Records, with the music video released on Bizarrap's YouT ...

". At the close of voting, it had received 143 points, placing 1st in a field of 19. The song was succeeded as Eurovision winner at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the Europea ...

by British band

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and the song "

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". It was succeeded as Irish representative at the 1981 contest by

Sheeba Sheeba were an all-girl pop trio popular in Ireland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were Maxi, Marion Fossett and Frances Campbell. They are best known for representing the host nation, Ireland, in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 ...

with "

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". Johnny Logan released German-language and Spanish-language versions of "What's Another Year". During the 2020 special '' Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light'', Logan performed the song live in a studio in Dublin. He was backed by the special's presenters

Edsilia Rombley Edsilia Francisca Rombley (born 13 February 1978) is a Dutch singer and television presenter. She began her career in 1995, as a member of the Dutch girl group Dignity. Rombley began her solo career in 1996, after winning the Dutch talent show ''S ...

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and Jan Smit from their studio in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

, and a chorus of Eurovision Song Contest fans from around the world. A short video highlighting Logan's three Eurovision wins (1980 and 1987 as main performer, 1992 as composer) was shown during the instrumental bridge of the song.

Track listing

* European single 7" / 45 RPM single (RL 1005)/(EPC 8572) :A. "What's Another Year" :B. "One Night Stand" * Spanish single 7" single (EPC 8572) :A. "Por un Año Más" - 3:08 :B. "One Night Stand" - 3:52 * West German single 7" single (EPC 8732) :A. "Was Ist Schon Ein Jahr" - 3:08 :B. "One Night Stand" - 3:52

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1980 singles Johnny Logan (singer) songs Eurovision songs of 1980 Congratulations Eurovision songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Israel Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Portugal Number-one singles in Sweden Eurovision songs of Ireland Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Eurovision Song Contest winning songs Pop ballads 1980 songs Epic Records singles