"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" is a song recorded by Paul Harrington and

Charlie McGettigan Charles Joseph McGettigan (born 7 December 1950, Ballyshannon, County Donegal) is an Irish people, Irish singer. He lived in 2009 in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. Career Performing with Paul Harrington (musician), Paul Harrington, he won the Eu ...

written by Brendan Graham. It in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1994 The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ), and presented ...

held in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, resulting an unprecedented third consecutive time that the same country had won the contest, being Ireland's sixth overall win.

Background

Conception

"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" was written by Brendan Graham. Lyrically, the song originally had seven verses, representing various decades including the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s but on the advice of a DJ, Graham dropped the last two verses as they felt the song was too long. Graham got the inspiration for the title while attending a

Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...

concert at Dublin's

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

in 1991. He entered it in 1992 and 1993 and it failed to get through both times, but was accepted in 1994. According to Graham, "I saw the song as a small song, as a conversation in the kitchen, and I wanted the listeners to be drawn into that kitchen, and into that conversation".

Eurovision

On 13 March 1994, "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" performed by Paul Harrington and

competed in the organised by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to select its song and performer for the of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition, so it became the — and McGettigan and Harrington the performers — for Eurovision. There was a myth among Irish media that the song was deliberately chosen ''not'' to win. As the contest rules expect the previous year's winner to host the next edition of the contest, the argument runs that RTÉ was not prepared to do this for a third consecutive year, hence the selection; this has never been proven. Even when Ireland hosted the event in , Irish entrant Marc Roberts confirmed that RTÉ wanted him to go out and win it, as they had done a deal with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

to host it the following year in case of another Irish victory. On 30 April 1994, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Point Theatre in

hosted by RTÉ, and broadcast live throughout the continent. McGettigan and Harrington performed "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" third on the evening, following 's " Bye Bye Baby" by CatCat and preceding ' " Ime Anthropos Ki Ego" by Evridiki. At the close of voting, it had received 226 points, placing first in a field of twenty-five, winning the contest. It was the first winning song ever to be performed without orchestral accompaniment, as McGettigan's guitar and Harrington's piano were the only instruments needed. It was also the first time in the contest that a song scored over 200 points and the third consecutive win for Ireland, sixth overall. The song was succeeded as winner in " Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden representing . It was succeeded as Irish representative that year by " Dreamin'" by Eddie Friel.

Aftermath

In the Eurovision fiftieth anniversary competition '' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', held on 22 October 2005 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, McGettigan and

Jakob Sveistrup Jakob Sveistrup (born 8 March 1972) is a Danish singer. He entered the Danish music scene in 2003 as a competitor in the Danish televised talent contest '' Stjerne for en aften'' ("Star for a Night"). He made it to the finals. Unusually, Sveistru ...

performed "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" as part of the interval act. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of their victory, Harrington and McGettigan performed a gig in the Sugar Club in Dublin in 2014. Graham reminisced about the inspiration of the song while accepting his Eurovision trophy: "As I stood on the stage at the

Point Depot The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall ...

, through the applause and the cheers, I heard a sound roll in over the Liffey Banks – the sound of a rollin', rumbling piano… and for a moment, I wasn't there. I was back in the Stadium on Bourbon Street, on that steamy Dublin night in 1991. Thank you Fats!"

Charts

Weekly charts

Legacy

Following three consecutive Irish victories in the ESC in 1992, 1993, and 1994, writers of the ''

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three seri ...

'' comedy series wrote an episode entitled "

A Song For Europe A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ...

" jumping on the idea that RTÉ would pick a song that would lose on purpose.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Eurovision songs of Ireland Eurovision songs of 1994 Eurovision Song Contest-winning songs 1994 songs Songs written by Brendan Graham CNR Music singles Songs about nostalgia Songs about rock music Songs about old age 1990s in Irish music