"Come On Eileen" was a single released by Dexys Midnight Runners . The song was written by Kevin Rowland, "Big" Jim Paterson, and Billy Adams; it was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. It also appeared on the album Too-Rye-Ay. It was their first #1 hit in the United Kingdom since 1980's "Geno".

The song won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards.

Composition[link]

The song begins with Celtic-style fiddle played over a drum beat, with the bass guitar and piano providing accompaniment. The original single version has an additional intro of a Celtic fiddle solo, playing Thomas Moore's Irish folk song Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms.

The lyrics of the song begin with the lines:

Poor old Johnnie Ray
Sounded sad on the radio
Moved a million hearts in mono
Our mothers sang along
Who can blame them?

The phrase "Come on Eileen" is used as the chorus to the song, which was loosely inspired by the song "A Man Like Me" by the 1960s British soul group Jimmy James and the Vagabonds.^[1][2]

The bridge of "Come On Eileen" features an improvised counter-melody which begins in a slow tempo and gets faster and faster over an accelerando vocal backing. The chord sequence of the bridge is actually the same as the verses but transposed up by a whole tone.

Throughout the song, there are numerous tempo changes and key changes:

Music video[link]

The music video to accompany the single was directed by Julien Temple. It features members of the band wearing sleeveless shirts and dungarees. The "Eileen" as featured in the video (and on the record sleeve) is Máire Fahey, sister of Siobhan Fahey, former singer with Bananarama and Shakespear's Sister. The American singer Johnnie Ray, an early rock-and-roll crooner mentioned in the opening lyrics, is also featured in the video using old film footage.

Filming took place on Brook Drive, Kennington, London. The corner store which was called "Vi's Stores" in the video is located at the corner of Brook Drive and Hayles Street. It is now called Brook Drive Mini Market and can be seen on Google Street View.^[3]

Chart success[link]

In the British charts, the song spent four weeks at number one in August 1982. This success was repeated around the globe; it spent five weeks as the Kent Report's number one in Australia and reached number one in April 1983 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It also holds the distinction of preventing Michael Jackson from having back-to-back number one hits in the U.S. The number one hits "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" were separated by Dexys Midnight Runners' one-week stay at the top.^{[citation needed]}

The song was also successful in Ireland, where it reached number one and spent a total of 11 weeks in the charts.^{[citation needed]}

It is a common example of a one-hit wonder in the U.S., as the band failed to reach similar popularity with any of their later songs, though in the UK they had already reached number one two years earlier with "Geno", and went on to have further hits.

In a poll by Channel 4, a UK TV channel, the song was placed at number 38 in the 100 greatest number 1 singles of all time.^[4] Similar polls by the music channel VH1 placed the song at number 3 in the 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders of all time^[5], number 18 in the Top 100 Songs of the 1980s^[6] and number 1 in the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.^[7]

Cover versions[link]

The song has been covered by several artists including the ska band Save Ferris (who replaced the strings with a horn section), folk metal band Skyclad, French art band Nouvelle Vague, the Japanese band nil, and Badly Drawn Boy.

In 2004, a band called 4-4-2 covered this song as "Come On England" with altered lyrics to support the England national football team during their appearance in the 2004 European Championships.

Australian alternative rock band Eskimo Joe were inspired by the song to create a 2009 track, "Don't Let Me Down" from the album Inshalla.

In 2010, Street Corner Symphony, an a cappella group from Nashville, performed a version of the song on the NBC show The Sing-Off.^[9]

Other media[link]

• The song was used as a background tune in a 2009 episode of the BBC police drama Ashes to Ashes (set in 1982) where a gypsy girl (played by Ellie Paskell) gave birth to a baby girl who was named Eileen after a sarcastic remark by Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister).^[10]
• On 7 August 2005 the song was used to awake the astronauts of Space Shuttle Discovery on the final day of STS-114 in reference to commander Eileen Collins.^[11]
• A portion of the song appeared during a flashback dream from 1983 for the character Brian in the cult British sitcom Spaced.

Musicians (band members)[link]

• Kevin Rowland – vocals
• Billy Adams – banjo and backing vocals
• Giorgio Kilkenny – bass and backing vocals
• Seb Shelton – drums and backing vocals
• Micky Billingham – piano, accordion, and backing vocals
• Helen O'Hara – fiddle
• Steve Brennan – fiddle
• Jennifer Tobis – fiddle
• Roger MacDuff – fiddle
• "Big" Jim Paterson – trombone
• Paul Speare – tenor saxophone
• Brian Maurice – alto saxophone

References[link]

Look up come on in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Come On may refer to:

• "Come On" (How I Met Your Mother), an episode of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother
• Come On (game), a video game for the Vii
• A sexual advance or flirtatious remark
• A catch phrase frequently used by the character Gob Bluth in the TV series Arrested Development.
• ComeOn.com, a casino, poker and sportsbook company

In music:

• Come On (EP), an EP by Elf Power
• "Come On" (Chuck Berry song), a song by Chuck Berry, notably covered by The Rolling Stones as their debut single.
• "Come On" (Earl King song), a song by Earl King, notably covered by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• "Come On" (The New Power Generation song), a song by The New Power Generation
• "Come On" (The Jesus and Mary Chain song), a song by The Jesus and Mary Chain from Stoned & Dethroned
• "Come On"/"Morphine", a single by Kish Mauve
• "Come on Come on" (song), a song by Little Birdy
• "Cum On Feel the Noize", a song by Slade
• "Come On", a song by The Verve from Urban Hymns
• "Come On", a song by Barry White
• "Come On", a song by Krokus from Metal Rendez-vous
• "Come On", a song by The Visionaries from Galleries
• "Come On/Let's Go", a song by Paul Weller from As Is Now
• "Come On", a single by Mushroomhead
• "Come On", a song by Hell on Wheels
• "Come On", a 1964 song by Tommy Roe
• S&M, a 2010 song by Rihanna re-edited and renamed as "Come On" for release in the UK

In film:

• Come On, 2000 French fim produced and directed by Pascal Aubier
• The Come On, 1956 US film starring Anne Baxter

See also[link]

• C'mon (disambiguation)
• Common (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Jools Holland
Holland at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Background information
Birth name	Julian Miles Holland
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 54) Blackheath, London, England
Genres	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B
Occupations	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Website	Official site

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.^[1]

Life and career[link]

His great grandfather came from Ireland.^[2]

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."^[3]

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.^[3]

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks.^[4] He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005

In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.^[3]

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[5] Since 1992 he has presented the music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny.

In 1996, Holland signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records,^[3] and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff.

Personal[link]

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in South East London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner.^[6] Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie.^[6] Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. His younger brother, Christopher, also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as being a singer-songwriter.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film Spiceworld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.^[7] He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay,^[8] and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings.^[9] He is also patron of the Drake Music Project^[10] and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.^[11]

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, before they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.^[12]

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, an Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.^[13]

Writing[link]

His 2007 biography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography[link]

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications[link]

Releases[link]

• 1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)
• 1981 Jools Holland and His Millionaires
• 1984 Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy (U.S. release only)
• 1990 World Of His Own
• 1991 The Full Complement
• 1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)
• 1992 The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano
• 1994 Solo Piano
• 1994 Live Performance
• 1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll
• 1997 Lift The Lid
• 1998 Best Of
• 1999 Sunset Over London
• 2000 Hop The Wag
• 2001 Small World Big Band
• 2002 SWBB Volume Two: More Friends
• 2003 Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)
• 2004 Tom Jones & Jools Holland
• 2005 Beatroute
• 2005 Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska
• 2006 Moving Out To The Country
• 2007 Best of Friends
• 2008 The Collection
• 2008 The Informer (With Ruby Turner)
• 2008 "The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)
• 2009 "I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)
• 2010 Rockinghorse

Film and television[link]

• 1981 Urgh! A Music War
• 1982 Police: Around the World
• 1982 - 1987 The Tube (Host for 121 editions)
• 1983 Rebellious Jukebox: Compere
• 1984 The Young Ones: Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")
• 1985 Walking To New Orleans (Jools Holland in New Orleans)
• 1987 Eat the Rich: Sun Reporter
• 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap: Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)
• 1987 The Laughing Prisoner: No. 7
• 1987 French and Saunders (Episode 1.5)
• 1988 Sunday Night: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 Juke Box Jury: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 The Groovy Fellers Himself, 6 episodes
• 1991 Mr Roadrunner (Jools Holland in Memphis)
• 1994 There's No Business: Pianist
• 1994 - 1995 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
• 1995 The Beatles Anthology
• 1997 Spice World: Musical Director
• 1997 Name That Tune: Host and Pianist
• 2003 Jool's History of the Piano : Presenter
• 2006 Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.
• 2007 Fairport@Forty: Interview
• 2009 Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car : Customer

Current television programmes[link]

• 1992–present Later... with Jools Holland
• 1993–present Hootenanny

Books[link]

• "Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road, (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)
• Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)
• Ray Charles: Man and Music, (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)
• Hand That Changed Its Mind , International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)
• Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts , Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jools Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Jools Holland's Radio 2 show at BBC Programmes
• Later...with Jools Holland at BBC Online