Wednesday 19th October 2016: Brian Coll: “My Life”
A native of Omagh, Brian Coll was well known to many of those present as a lead singer from the show band era. Mr Coll proved to be an excellent raconteur with many humorous anecdotes about growing up on “Gallas” [Gallows] Hill” and going to school in Omagh. He first sang in public, very reluctantly, as a member of his school choir but came round to seeing it a away of making a living after he was slipped a ten bob note for singing from the back of a lorry at a fair in Fintona. He recalled his first gig with the “Polka Dots” Show Band in 1960 and how in the decade which followed they played in Orange Halls and Parochial Halls all over the County, in days when nobody minded where you were from as long as you loved the music and liked to dance. Later he formed his own band – “The Buckaroos” – and recounted amusing stories of playing in dance halls the length and breadth of Ireland. Brian also shared his love of motor cycles and the friendship he enjoyed for many years with racing ace, Joey Dunlop. Along the way Brian met and shared the stage with many of the great recording artists of the 60’s and 70’s – such as Jim Reeves, Slim Whitman, Charlie Pride and Dolly Parton. Gently teased by by some old friends in the Club about his plans for retirement, Brian felt that he still had quit a few “Farewell Concerts” left in him.