Val Doonican Rocks…….

….but gently. Isn’t that a brilliant album title? And it topped the charts in 1968. When talking about the Irish love of Jim Reeves yesterday, how could I forget Ireland’s greatest ever vocal icon? Bono doesn’t even come close. So it was fish on Fridays, mass on Sundays and between the two, Val Doonican on Saturday evenings. His show ran from the mid-60s to the mid-80s and was bigger than either Strictly or The X Factor. With his rocking chair, patterned sweaters and wonderfully relaxed style, this man was loved by all. Famously kind, he never had a bad word for anyone. Except, intriguingly, Engelbert Humperdinck. So rock back and enjoy this. You’ve always known it was Val Doonican: you just didn’t know what it was called.