“Riverdance” spend over four months at the top

This week marks the 30th anniversary of an Irish chart record that will likely never be broken.

Bill Whelan’s “Riverdance” shot to the top of the Irish singles chart in the week ending May 5, 1994. As Autumn dawned, it was still there, only relinquishing the top spot in the second week of September.

“Riverdance” spent a record-breaking 18 weeks at the top of the Irish singles chart. The country had fallen under the spell of the mostly-instrumental tune during the interval performance of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Point Theatre in Dublin on April 30.

Composer Bill Whelan had wanted to create an act showing Ireland’s cultural history. His inspiration for “Riverdance” came from the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, when Ireland, as the competition’s hosting country, organised an interval act called “Timedance”, a Baroque-influenced ballet composed by Whelan and Dónal Lunny and performed by Planxty.

For the 1994 Eurovision, Limerick man Whelan brought Anúna and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on board as performers and teamed up with Irish dancer Michael Flatley who choregraphed the dance routine as well as performing as lead dancer alongside Jean Butler.

The seven-minute production was followed by a standing ovation in the Point, but that was little indication of the worldwide praise to come.

The success of “Riverdance” would change the face of Irish dancing and lead to the creation of a major theatrical show that has since played to more than 15,000 audiences across 49 countries and been seen by more than 30 million people.

“Riverdance”, the song, spent a total of 38 weeks in the Irish charts. It ranks as the second best selling single of all time in Ireland, behind Elton John’s Princess Di tribute, “Candle in the Wind 1997” / “Something About the Way You Look Tonight”. “Riverdance” was largely overlooked in the UK in the Summer of 1994, but did reach the UK top ten in January the following year.

Acknowledged as the most successful interval act in Eurosion history, “Riverdance” overshadowed Ireland’s 1994 winning entry from Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. While “Rock ‘N’ Roll Kids” spent seven weeks in the Irish top ten, it never did make it to the top.

Also thanks to the all-conquering “Riverdance”, Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around”, which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 in the UK, failed to reach the top spot in Ireland, instead spending 13 straight weeks at number two.