The 1990s were not a good decade for the catholic church in Ireland. There would be sex scandals, there would be embezzelment scandals, there would be the close-to-the-knuckle ribbing of Father Ted
. And there would be Patrick Kielty and Graham Norton.
First out of the block came the big hit from the Saw Doctors. Formed in a bar in Tuam, Galway, in 1987, the group was a Celtic-punk band, and you didn't get many of those to the punt. The group toured the UK and Ireland with the Waterboys in late 1988, picking up a certain fan base.
At home, success came quickly: second single I useta love her
(Davey Carton / P Cunniffe / Leo Moran / P Stevens) took the number 1 single in July 1990, deposing the Irish world cup squad's song. The tune was all about finding a catholic mass attractive only because there was a pretty young girl in the building. It offended the established church no end, and state broadcaster RTÉ played the song as little as it could. The public loved it, of course, and the song remained the number one for nine weeks, eventually becoming Ireland's biggest selling single of all-time, ever.
This side of the Irish Sea, we heard next-to-nothing. 1992's album All the Way From Tuam
had a couple of top-five singles in Ireland. Here, a few spot plays on Simon Mayo's breakfast show, and nowt more. Not until 1994's Small bit of love
did the Saw Doctors even threaten to break the UK, and Ric Blaxill - now in charge of Top of the Pops - gave them every help he could. Two more EPs followed in 1996, both going into the top 20 here, and promoting Same Oul' Town
into the album top 40, but the group failed to gain sufficient traction to become chart regulars.
The group has continued to record and release albums in the years since, and I useta love her
returned to Ireland's top 10 after its use in RTÉ's People In Need Of Assistance appeal this year. And no, there's no similarity between RTÉ's appeal and the BBC's Children In Need Of Assistance. None whatsoever.
Ric Blaxill was the Head of 6 Music until having a sword thrust into him over some 0898gate nonsense; he never used his position to promote the Saw Doctors, and we reckon that is a far greater offence. It's not clear whether I Usedta Love Her
remains Ireland's best-selling single: significant changes in the chart compilation took effect in 1992, and the best-sellers under this mechanism - first Riverdance
, then Something about the way you look tonight
- may or may not have outsold the Docs.
