The Joe Dolan I knew

On my mobile phone I carry a 'saved message' which was sent at eighteen minutes past ten on last Christmas Eve. It reads 'Happy Christmas, Bernie' and it was from Joe Dolan: Forty hours later he was dead.We used to exchange the odd text from time to time - mostly jokes from him! That morning I met his sister-in-law, Helen, in town and she told me that Joe was weak and that 'his phone never stops ringing.' I said; 'I won"t add to that, but tell him we are all rooting for him.'I was a friend of Joe Dolan, but as I said to Ricey Scully in a radio interview at the time, there was nothing unique or special about me for that because Joe was everybody"s friend. For close on half a century he weaved his way in and out of my life at all its differing stages. I hit the dance hall boards at around the same time as Joe hit their stage. After all these years if I were to describe in one word what Joe and the Drifters meant to me, that word would be 'pride'. Pride in what Joe achieved and the reflected pride of coming from the same place. People who never left Westmeath may not fully appreciate this - although at one time I didn"t think The Drifters was the best band in Westmeath! Brendan Molloy, leader of 'The Merry Minstrels' asked me in 1960 which I preferred, The Drifters or The Merry Minstrels and I replied 'The Merry Minstrels'! So Brendan, now you know you are the only one I ever considered better than Joe Dolan! Would I be correct in thinking that at that time Paddy Foley from Reynella, who always had his hand in many pies and delivered newspapers, also delivered The Drifters to dances in his station wagon?Soon after that I went to work in Kilcormac, Co. Offaly, but by then I had an early case of 'Driftermania' and when I saw them billed to play in a place called Rath, I ranted and raved and gathered a crowd of young Offaly men to come to the dance and share my joy. As we entered Rath Hall one of the band was playing an accordion; I loved it but I never heard the end of the slag down there that you couldn"t have a Westmeath band without having to listen to an accordion!I was working in Ballinasloe when 'The Answer to Everything' was released. The 'Emerald Ballroom' was packed out for Joe and another lovely memory from there is the evening that Joe, Ben and the entire band called in to see me in the pub where I worked because I was a Westmeath man. I wonder does Seamus remember that around that time a critic in the Evening Press wrote that Joe was not a great singer!? Interesting to know what that guy finished up working at!! I wrote the paper one of my tantrum temper letters but heard no more. By now I had a car and if Joe Dolan ever thought he had a stalker - I was it! The stalking continued right up until 16th August 2007 and I was always amazed over my years abroad that when I returned from England or Canada or after being years away, Joe and Ben would remember me. From the beginning the band always had genuinely nice guys on board, whom of course, were also superb musicians; Names like Jimmy Horan, "Doc" Doherty, Sid Aughey early on, Frankie Mcdonald, Joe Mehan, Conor Kenny, spring to mind and in recent years John McCafferty with whom I became friends through his work in Spain.And it is in Spain over the past decade that I really got to know Joe, after he started coming out to visit us in Paddy"s Point. Joe was at his best then; relaxed and with nothing more to prove.He golfed and he drank and he told jokes and we all laughed until our face ached. Apart from Ben, Joe had no equal with the quick retort or 'one liner'. He and my wife, Pamela, became great buddies. 'Are you coming home with us?' Ben or Helen would ask: 'No, I"m staying; Pamela will mind me - won"t ya Pet!' My most abiding memory is of Pamela linking him out to her car, being mobbed and both of them loving it. His parting words to Pamela outside the hotel would always be: 'Don"t tell Helen!' and then a hearty laugh!The greatest craic was outside on the terrace where Joe, typically made a big fuss of the Moroccan pedlars, or 'Lucky Lucky men'. He loved to haggle with them and one night he bought, above all things, a huge stainless steel knife set!! Soon the Moroccan returned, this time with a singing toy bird in a cage and the bird was driving everyone mad - except Joe! After Joe finally bought the bird he had the same crowd around him listening to the bird, the same crowd which an hour earlier was shouting at the Moroccan to feck off with that yoke!! Whatever about the knives, he sure as hell didn"t need a singing bird!When Joe first came to Spain I tried to hide him from the crowd to give him a break but I quickly realised that Joe and crowds of people go hand in hand and that is how he always wanted it. He must have been thrilled looking down on the unveiling of his statue - but he would not like the canonisation because he was no saint. Like many of us he could sometimes be a bit awkward in drink, but he never carried a grudge overnight and didn"t expect others to either. Few will fully appreciate the extent to which the love, patience, and understanding of his flaws by Ben, Helen and Seamus Casey kept the 'Joe Show' on the road no matter what.Ben Dolan said recently that nobody knew who he was till Joe died.This is not true; without Ben there would be no Joe the internationally acclaimed superstar. I have always had great time for the qualities of all the Dolans and this includes Joe"s nephews and nieces. Their wholesome decency along with the nice guys who backed Joe - leaving aside obvious talent, had a large input to Joe"s stardom. Joe sang 'Make me an Island' but he was far from being an island with the calibre of people surrounding him.At Joe"s funeral a woman turned to me and said; 'I know what you"ll be writing about next week.' I didn"t write anything until now because so many others better equipped and more articulate than I were struggling to do justice to 'our Joe' - the icon and friend. These are just a few personal memories spread over 47 years and one thing for sure is that the laughs we enjoyed on his occasional visit to our home in Graftonstown, in recent years, will always remain sweet memories.If you want Joe"s full story, I recommend Ronan Casey"s book.'The day the music died' was coined to mark the passing of Buddy Holly, but Joe Dolan"s music will live forever and while Ben, Ray, Adrian and Sandra are around, Joe is never far away.Nollaig Shona.I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas. Our final thought is with those who can"t make it home this year and will read this in another land. Beannachtaí na Nollaig.