Top Rank Entertainment

The tradition of Country and Irish music in Castleblayney is a deeply rooted part of the towns musical heritage. It is the home place of Big Tom Mc Bride and his backing band The Mainliners, Paddy Cole of The Royal Showband, and of the late Tony Loughman, one of the original music moguels of Ireland. Castleblayney became the adopted homeplace of many of the acts Tony managed, Philomena Begley, Susan Mc Cann, Hugo Duncan, Margo amongst many others. Tony Loughman had a solid grip on the Country and Irish music scene all over Ireland, with his ‘Top Rank’ organisation. Tony had all the biggest names in Country and Irish on his books, his very own recording studios in Castleblayney (across the road from The Embassy Ballroom where many of his acts performed), a chain of ballrooms around the country, his own tape manufacturing factory, and a monthly music magazine callended ‘Entertainment News’ which featured all his top artistes and provided them with invaluable coverage and advertising. This is not to say that Tony was overseeing the entire Country and Irish industry however he did have sizeable control of the market. Top Rank entertainment are responsible for many of the largest American Country music stars touring Ireland, Johnny Cash, Hank Locklin Charlie Pride to name a few. He was also responsible for many Irish artistes recording albums in Nashville where he had built up a very good reputation for himself. Dee Reilly an American Country singer spoke of her experiences with the late Tony Loughman

“A gentleman by the name of Tony Loughman spotted me singing out in Chicago at an Irish festival there, and of course I had known about Tony Loughman because he discovered people like Philomena Begley, and of course Susan Mc Cann, Big Tom and all these wonderful acts, he worked with all the big Irish country acts for years, but he also made great in-roads in Nashville, Porter Wagner and The Grand Ole Opry people and I think Hank Locklin and all these people had tremendous respect for what Tony Loughman was doing because they [his acts] were doing the brand of country music that I feel is right now, missed, on the Country Music scene today.”



Tony had an uncanny knack for spotting talent and choosing the right people to work with in order to bring out the best in his acts. Philomena Begley one of the original ‘Queens of Country’ music scored her biggest hit with a Billie Jo Spears song ‘Blanket on the ground’ which Tony discovered before it had even been released in Ireland, ensuring that this song which is quintessentially country, would become her signature tune long before Billie Jo Spears even had the chance to introduce it herself to Irish audiences. It was this ambition that led Tony to becoming one of the most respected music managers in Ireland putting Castleblayney on the map as the home of Country and Irish music.

“He really was the King himself of Castleblayney for Country Music. He had it all in his head, but he was not afraid to take it out of his head, and put it out there for the people to enjoy. I’ve learned you’ve got to have belief in what you’re doing and Tony was a man that just gave it his all because he truly believed in Country music and he believed in the artists he selected.” (Dee Reilly)



The Country and Irish scene in Castleblayney and indeed across the country hailed Big Tom as the King of Country and Irish music on more than once occasion and there have been many many songs written about him and his music, none more prominent than ‘Big Tom is still the King’ by the great Susan Mc Cann and ‘The Great Big Tom Mc Bride’ by Philomena Begley. Newer artists such as Robert Mizzell have their own tributes to Big Tom as well in which they play medleys of his most popular songs. The influence of Big Tom, and by extension Tony Loughman, is very apparent in Country and Irish recordings from its hay days in the 1970’s and 80’s to the present day. Big Tom and similar artists had huge popularity until the early 1980’s when disco started taking over as the primary form of entertainment around the country, however this was not to last. Mass emigration in the mid 1980’s meant that there was once again a massive upheaval in the entertainment industry. “There was no pop music: all the pop fans had left, there was Country, Country and Irish, Traditional and the mix of all three which, when played by oddly names outfits, functioned as a sort of surrogate folk music” By the mid 1980’s Declan Nearney, Mick Flavin, Louise Morrisey and the hugely famous Daniel O’Donnell brought Country and Irish music back to the forefront of the entertainment industry. In fact Daniel O’Donnell recorded his first ever record in Castleblayney. “On 9 February 1983, I went into the studios owned by the Irish country singer Big Tom in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, and I recorded four tracks…It was a big undertaking and I felt very apprehensive because the recording end of things was a whole new experience for me…I went into the recording booth with a packet of sweets and I didn’t come out for the day. I only appeared when I was told to, because I felt so inferior” Needless to say Daniel O’Donnell did not need to worry about feeling inferior he would soon become a global icon, the first Irish Country singer to reach markets in Australia and middle Europe. His apprehension does show the extent to which Castleblayney was a formidable area for Country and Irish singers. Daniel O’Donnell had his humble beginnings here and rightly he was intimidated by the atmosphere he walked into, home of the ‘Great Big Tom Mc Bride’. The renewal of interest sparked by these newer musicians in the mid to late 1980’s meant that the largest stars Big Tom, Philomena Begley, Ray Lynam could continue touring though by the 1990’s their tours would become less frequent the newer Country and Irish stars were just beginning to settle in keeping the traditions alive. However there was a definite change in audiences “As the Irish economy improved Country music came to be seen by the younger generations as ‘for the old folks’, for those in country and farming communities Country music came to embody authenticity and the past” While Country and Irish music held a dominant position within the entertainment industry it was increasingly becoming a niche market ‘for the old folks’ and this is largely how it remained for the next decade or so.