Shaun O’Dowd and Dingaling
With singing very much in Shaun O’Dowd’s DNA, it’s little wonder that he would go on to make a career out of it. He was preceded in the dancehall business by his mother Phyllis Glancy, who had her own dance orchestra in the mid 1950’s. Growing up, Shaun and his seven siblings would hear stories of the dances and ballrooms where their mother played while his father’s profession was that of a school teacher.
The Co Leitrim native was swept off his feet when he first heard Elvis Presley sing, confessing that he ‘wanted to be Elvis’, to ‘sing like Elvis’ and ‘to talk like Elvis’.
Shaun’s first band was ‘ The Telstars’ which he founded in 1962 which, he says, he named after the
Tornado’s hit record ‘Telstar’ which was a hit for the English group in July of that year. (There was also a band of the same name based in the North of Ireland). Shaun and his band went on stage wearing bright red suits which his father kindly bought having been ‘lovingly worn’ by Joe Dolan and The Drifters.
A trombone player, Sean was an ideal front man his pop/rock image appealing to audiences everywhere. Shaun recorded a number of songs by Limerick star Denis Allen including ‘Those Rockin’ Sounds’ and ‘ Goodbye Love’ produced by Jerry Hughes, making it into the Top Ten at the same time as the songwriter had his own massive hit with ‘Limerick You’re A Lady’.
Shaun would go on to replace Tommy Drennan who was leaving ‘The Top League’ in August 1975. This gave Shaun a much higher profile with the band that was subsequently renamed as ‘Shaun O’Dowd & Dingaling’ Denis Allen played lead guitar with The Top League and continued with ‘Dingaling’. One of Shaun’s most popular hits however, was ‘You Are No Angel’ in 1981, a song that is still requested everywhere he performs.