Music was in Brendan’s family from an early age. His father, the late Paddy Shine, had his own Country Band, with whom Brendan made his musical debut, playing twice a week, at an open air dance called the Maypole in Summerhill. Whilst still at secondary school, it became clear that Brendan had a unique singing voice, and was a very talented musician, and it was only a matter of time before he was to become one of the biggest stars Ireland has ever produced.
Brendan joined “Kieran Kelly’s Ceili Band” along with school friend, Johnny Dawson, (who, to this day, is still playing drums with Brendan, in the “Brendan Shine Band”). He stayed with the ceili band for six years. By day, Brendan ran a successful market garden farm, and had a tremendous name as a carrot producer. Brendan later made his own traditional song, “Carrots”. By night, the van became his first tour bus. He then formed his own band, which included Johnny and Brendan’s younger brother, the late Owen Shine on keyboards. Playing pubs and clubs around his hometown of Althlone most nights of the week, it was time then to move on from the farming job to concentrate on his musical career.
Brendan became a full time professional entertainer, and started a long and successful relationship with Noel Carty Promotions and recorded his first hit record entitled “Treat My Daughter Kindly”. This was just the start of many hit records to follow for Brendan, many of which turned silver and gold overnight. Some of the most memorable hits include “Do You Want Your Old Lobby Washed Down – Con Sine”, a song about his uncle and received four silver discs and a platinum award. The “Lobby Song” was played on Radio 2 six to seven times a week and remained in the Top 75 for the following seven weeks. By this time Brendan had a total of 35 hit singles in England and Ireland, most of which went on to become hit records in other countries too.
Brendan Shine became a household name, and his popularity grew rapidly as he toured all over Ireland. His first album, “The Best of Brendan Shine” had a tremendous impact on the public, a large following of fans realising his talent as an accordion player. The venues became larger and larger with tours of England, Scotland and Wales in all major theatres being added to a very hectic touring schedule. So, it was no surprise at all when Brendan made several television appearances, followed by his own show, “Brendan Shine – One Hour Special”. In 1982 he recorded six shows of his own television series “Nice and Easy”, followed by another six in 1983. Both series topped the television ratings in Ireland and was later a big hit on the screens in England. Also during this hectic time came numerous hit singles and many albums which reached No. 1 in the English and Irish charts.
Brendan’s success went from strength to strength, with video’s being made and his tours taking him as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, Canada and America.
This unique artist shows us what star quality really means, this man is here to stay. Many singers come and go, but the biggest star ever to come out of Ireland, Brendan Shine will be entertaining us for many years to come. He appeals to a very wide age group and no matter what their music preference may be, you just can’t help but get permanently hooked on this genius with the Accordion. Surely a unique all round star!
