Chart entered : 5 July 1967
Chart peak : 20
The Irish lads probably weren't expecting this to be their swansong. Since their chart breakthrough , only 1963's "The Angel And The Stranger" had failed to make it and though their positions had slipped over the past year the singles had a tendency to stick around.
"Marta" was popularised by Arthur Tracy n the 1930s. The boys stick rigidly to their tried and trusted formula delivering the song without irony as a strumalong with their trademark soaring harmonies. They knew what their audience of forty plus mums and Irish expats wanted and this utterly safe, uninteresting record fitted the bill.
But even the safest artists sometimes feel the need to break out of the mould and the guys next chose to record a song by young Belfast songwriter David McWilliams ( best known for Days Of Pearly Spencer ) , another client of their manager Phil Solomons. It's a dense, wordy song from the point of view of a street drunk observing the bright young things spilling out of a nightclub in the early hours of the morning. There's not much of a chorus and the tune is rather sombre. Alan Tew gives it a sprightly late sixties pop arrangement and the boys' singing can't be knocked but as an exercise in baffling your audience it's up there with Nilsson's Coconut.
Their next single in January 1968 was "If Ever I Would Leave You" from the musical Camelot. It was a much safer option but the mould had been broken. Two months later they put out a cover of "The Unicorn" a massive US hit ( number 7 ) for the Canadian band The Irish Rovers the previous year. It's a kiddie- folk song along the lines of Puff The Magic Dragon that would have had a better chance at Christmas time.
In July they released "I'll Walk With God", popularised by Mario Lanza in the film The Student Prince and given a big arrangement by Reg Guest. It's listenable but could have been in the charts with David Whitfield and Frankie Laine. "Turn Around, Look At Me " is the same song the Bee Gees recorded in Australia and their version is much better than these guys' bland take.
Their first single of 1969 was "Where The Blue Of The Night" originally sung by Bing Crosby though the country-lite arrangement suggests it was the recent Hank Locklin version that informed the choice. Whatever it's complete BBC Light Entertainment fare, bland as can be. In July they turned back to Paul Simon ( their version of The Sound Of Silence had made number three in 1966 ) and covered "Punky's Dilemma" from Bookends. What they thought they were adding to this idiosyncratic satire on Hollywood society is anybody's guess. In September they butchered "Everybody's Talkin'" turning it into supper club fare, easily the worst version I've heard.
Their last single of the sixties was "My First Love" in November 1969 . It was written by Dennis Wright and Johnny Arthey which is standard MO R fare and buyers could find a better version on the B side of their compatriot Joe Dolan's current single Teresa. With " ( All Of A Sudden ) My Heart Sings" ( a hit for Paul Anka in 1959 ) they entered a new decade. It sounds like they were trying t move into Tom Jones territory but Con Cluskey doesn't have the voice for it.
Decca seem to have realised there wasn't much future in the singles market for them and it was eighteen months before "Diamonds Are Forever" was let loose. I can't say Shirley Bassey's version really floats my boat but at least she understood that Bond themes have to be given a bit of welly. The Bachelors sound like they're auditioning for Sing Something Simple.
Another year went by before "The Land Of The Other Way Round" in October 1972 which is the sort of song Brian Cant ( just about the only untainted celeb from my childhood left ) and Jonathan Coren used to conjure up for Play School.
At last Decca pulled the plug at this point and they had to move across to Philips in time for a Christmas single. I haven't heard "Dear Father In Heaven" but I don't think I need to really; the sleeve tells you enough.
I haven't heard the other two Philips singles "Sing Me A Song To Make Me Happy" ( 1974 ) and "Roxie" ( 1975 ) either.
By 1977 they were on Galaxy ( owned by Solomons ) with Tony Hatch producing. They did "Torn Between Two Lovers" a song I adore so I'm glad not to have heard their attempt. That actually came out as "The Bachelors featuring Con Cluskey". Then came "Save The Last Dance For Me" where their own name was misspelt as "Batchelors" on the label.
1978 was quiet apart from a re-release of "Charmaine" by Decca then the following year saw "Travellin Home " which I'm guessing was the Vera Lynn song. And that thankfully was it as far as new product went. We could rest assured that there'd be no more soppy Irish boys blanding out other peoples' songs in our charts. Oh hold on....
The Bachelors remained a strong live draw after they stopped recording and periodically went into the studio to re-record their old hits for compilation LPs. In 1984 there was an acrimonious split between John Stokes and the Cluskey Brothers and they have performed separately ever since. In 2009 Con Cluskey had a near brush with death through a burst artery in his leg.
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