Clodagh Rodgers | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1947-03-05)5 March 1947 Warrenpoint,County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 18 April 2025(2025-04-18) (aged 78) |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1961–2015 |
| Labels | Decca,Columbia (EMI),RCA,Precision Records |
Spouse(s) | |
Clodagh Rodgers (5 March 1947 – 18 April 2025) was a Northern Irish[a] singer, best known for her hit singles including "Come Back and Shake Me", "Goodnight Midnight" and "Jack in the Box" and albums includingYou Are My Music,It's Different Now andSave Me.
Rodgers was born inCounty Down in 1947 and started singing at the age of 13. She made her television debut in September 1962. She represented the United Kingdom at the1971 Eurovision Song Contest with "Jack in the Box",[6] and finished in fourth place. After the contest, the single reached #4 on theUK singles chart.
After her divorce in 1979, Rodgers stopped making new music and reduced her live appearances. She released two final singles in 1980 and her last overall release was a 2012 CD. Rodgers lived the last years of her life inSurrey in relative obscurity until her death in 2025.
Rodgers was born inWarrenpoint[7] and began her professional singing career at the age of 13, when she opened forMichael Holliday.[7]
Her father, a dancehall tour promoter, helped her sign withDecca in 1962, where her earliest singles were produced byShel Talmy.[7] Her UK TV debut came on 26 September 1962, appearing as a guest on BBC TV'sAdam Faith Show performingLet's Jump the Broomstick. She made foursingles with Decca, before moving toEMI's Columbia label in 1965, where 'Cloda Rogers' made the 1966 single "Stormy Weather"/"Lonely Room".[8] Although none of her Decca or Columbia singles made theUK Singles Chart, Rodgers became a regular face on British television and appeared in the musical filmsJust for Fun (1963) andIt's All Over Town (1964).[7] She also appeared in various song festivals, finishing third in the European Song Cup competition inGreece with "Powder Your Face With Sunshine".[7] In November 1963, she flew toNashville, Tennessee at the invitation of the American singerJim Reeves, to perform at theGrand Ole Opry. On his Irish tour earlier that year, he had recognised that Rodgers was a promising artist with a bright future.[9][10]
Rodgers appeared withHoneybus onBBC2's music programmeColour Me Pop on 12 October 1968.[citation needed] Her career changed dramatically when she married John Morris, who became her manager. She signed a three-single deal withRCA in 1968, but the first two failed tochart. When producer and songwriterKenny Young saw her onColour Me Pop he telephoned the BBC to find out who she was. Rodgers had chart success in 1969 under his creative wing and with Morris' management (Morris also later managedThe Rubettes,Kenny andFox),[11] – "Come Back and Shake Me" was the first hit, reaching #3 (the song reached #2 in Ireland) and "Goodnight Midnight" followed later in the year reaching #4 – the two songs made her the best-selling female singles artist of 1969.[12]
The same year, she won 'The Best Legs' in British showbusiness andinsured her voice for one millionpounds. Her next two single releases "Biljo" and "Everybody Go Home, The Party's Over" were both hits, "Biljo" being Rodgers third Top 20 hit.[citation needed]
She also recorded "Scrapbook", penned byBilly Ritchie, which appeared on her 1969 albumMidnight Clodagh. In 1970, sherecorded the Labi Siffre song "Give Me Just a Little More Line" with Young under the name Moonshine; though it achieved airplay and critical notice, it failed to chart. Rodgers picked this track as one of her eight favourite discs when she appeared as the featured castaway on the BBC'sDesert Island Discs in March 1971.[13]
In May 1970, Rodgers appeared on the bill at theNME poll-winner's concert, hosted by presenters,Tony Blackburn andJimmy Savile.[14] She was voted favourite female singer for 1969.[citation needed]
Rodgers became a televisionstar and a household name and in 1970, she was asked to represent theUK in the 1971Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. TheBBC were concerned over the reaction the UK entrant would get on the stage from the Irish public. As aRoman Catholic female from Northern Ireland, she received death threats from theIRA who regarded her as a traitor, as a result of her appearing for the UK.[15]
Heralded by two separate front-cover features on the BBC listing's magazine, theRadio Times, Rodgers appeared as the resident guest onIt's Cliff Richard, a prime-time variety show hosted byCliff Richard onBBC1 from January 1971, performing one shortlisted song a week for six weeks, followed by a performance of all six on week seven and with a repeat of the six songs immediately after. Viewers would normally have been asked to send in postcard votes for their favourites, but because of a postal strike, regional juries decided the winner, with "Jack in the Box", written byJohn Worsley and David Myers, being named the winner the following week.[citation needed]
For the first time in the Eurovision Song Contest, broadcasters were required to prepare a 'preview'video of the song for broadcast in all the participating Eurovision countries to help promote the songs before the contest. For the performance in Dublin, Rodgers wore a pink frilly top and spangledhot pants.[16] She finished in fourth place, behindMonaco, Spain and Germany.[citation needed]
After Eurovision, the single reached #4 on theUK Singles Chart, her third UK Top 10 success.[17] It remains her most famous hit.[10] The record was also successful all over Europe.[citation needed]
At Eurovision, Rodgers' sister Lavinia joinedThe Breakaways as her four backing vocalists. Lavinia was almost part of a backing group called Three’s a Crowd.[citation needed] In1982, Lavinia and brother Louis attempted to represent the UK in the contest with "Every Day of My Life" as part of the group Good Looks, but finished second toBardo in theA Song For Europe contest.[citation needed]
Rodgers admitted toKen Bruce during his eponymousBBC Radio 2 show in an interview broadcast on Friday, 25 May 2012, that the intention had been to release "Another Time, Another Place", which had placed fourth of the six entries in theSong for Europe contest as the follow-up single to "Jack in the Box" and she began promoting it whilst in Dublin for the Eurovision final.[18] However,Engelbert Humperdinck released a cover version before her track was available, denying her the opportunity to release it, but gaining himself a #13 hit single.[19] Despite only one more Top 30 chart single, "Lady Love Bug" in autumn 1971, Rodgers continued to be a major TV star in the UK, guesting on many shows (including playing herself in the BBC sitcomWhack-O![20]), and appearing successfully in the biggest cabaret clubs throughout the country.[citation needed]
Rodgers also became the face ofBisto gravy, in a series of television advertisements.[citation needed]
On Irish television,The Clodagh Rodgers Show won an award at theGolden Rose TV festival inMontreux. She starred in many other shows, includingSunday Night at the London Palladium in 1974, singing three songs, including her latest single "Get It Together". Rodgers also appeared inSeaside Special forBBC Television in 1975[21] andThe Morecambe and Wise Show in 1970.[22] She was a regular guest ofThe Two Ronnies.[citation needed] In August 1973, Rodgers hosted the first edition of BBC2'sShow Of The Week: TheYoung Generation Big Top,[23] the forerunner of the later BBC1 seriesSeaside Special.[citation needed]
Rodgers also made a mark with herimpressions of fellow artists such asCilla Black, often working withMike Yarwood,Des O'Connor,Tommy Cooper,Bob Monkhouse, andDickie Henderson in variety.[citation needed] She was a regular performer in UKresorts'summer seasons, sharing the bill withMike and Bernie Winters in Blackpool andMatt Monro in Great Yarmouth among others.[citation needed]
This success was mirrored on stage, where she starred in London'sWest End in her own show at theTalk of the Town (breakingSammy Davis Jr.'s box office record), and inCinderella at theLondon Palladium in 1971, which was also a success and ran for months. The Cinderella show (co starring Ronnie Corbett) then ran at the Manchester Palace in 1972 and at the Bristol Hippodrome in 1973.[citation needed]
As part of BBC1's celebration of the UK and Republic of Ireland both joining the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973, Rodgers appeared onTop Of The Year on 31 December 1972, alongsideBruce Forsyth[24] and withJimmy Tarbuck inThe Tarbuck Follies on 1 January 1973[25] to see in the new year.[citation needed]
Having left RCA in early 1974 (after two well received albumsIt's Different Now andYou are my Music, Rodgers then released a single for the Pye label, "Saturday Sunday" later that year. Numerous TV work supported all these three releases, includingTop of the Pops andPebble Mill At One.[citation needed]
She signed toPolydor Records in 1976.[7] Her 1977 single "Save Me" was in Capital Radio's Top 30, reaching #21. The track wascovered in the U.S. byLouise Mandrell, who took it to #6 on the U.S.country chart in 1983. "Save Me" was also covered by the South Africanall-female bandClout (an SA no. 7 hit in 1979). Other artists who recorded this song includedMerrilee Rush andHelen Reddy.[citation needed]
In 1978, Rodgers hosted UKITV'sSt. Patrick's Day variety show for the first time, appearing on the cover of theTVTimes to promote the show and at the same time was confirmed as the host for the 1979 show. Later in 1978, Rodgers teamed withTerry Wogan on the ITV game show3-2-1 in the programme's first Christmas Special Celebrity edition.[citation needed]
She split from her manager/husband not long after their son's birth and opted for motherhood over a musical career; although she released two singles on the Precision label in 1980.[7] One of these tracks was "My Simple Heart", which was placed on aB-side. Shortly after its release,The Three Degrees released their version of it, which reached the UK Top 10. Similarly, Rodgers had released "Stand by Your Man" as the B-side of her 1971 single "Lady Love Bug." "Stand by Your Man" (co-written by Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill) had previously been a hit for Tammy Wynette in the United States.[citation needed]
Rodgers appeared in two hit musicals in the West End,Pump Boys and Dinettes at thePiccadilly andAlbery Theatres (co starring with Joe Brown) and in the lead role of Mrs Johnstone in the long-running hitBlood Brothers at thePhoenix Theatre.[7] She appeared in the UK tour ofBlood Brothers between 1995 and 1998. This included shows in York, Liverpool, Bromley and Bristol. Rodgers co-starred withDavid Cassidy in the Bristol production.[citation needed]
In 1996, the first of two CD retrospectives was issued, bringing Rodgers back into the limelight. In 1998, she made a TV appearance with other former Eurovision artists such asJohnny Logan andLynsey de Paul, (one of her co stars inPump Boys and Dinettes) performing on comedianJohn Shuttleworth's EurovisionparodyEuropigeon on BBC Two, just before the 1998 contest inBirmingham.[citation needed]
In 1999,Mint Royale issued the track "Shake Me," whichsampled Rodgers' original recording of "Come Back And Shake Me"; it was featured on the British television programmeQueer As Folk.[citation needed]
In 2001, Rodgers played a recurring character in the ITV police drama seriesThe Bill.[citation needed]
In 2012, Rodgers released a CDThe Kenny Young Years. It features all Rodgers' recorded highs with Young.[citation needed]
Rodgers was married twice. Firstly she married John Morris in 1968, in London; he later became her manager. The marriage, which produced one son, ended in divorce in 1979.[26] Her second husband, guitarist Ian Sorbie, whom she married in 1987 and with whom she had had a son in 1984, died of a brain tumour in 1995, not long after theirPaignton-based restaurant business collapsed, leaving them bankrupt.[26] Rodgers' sister Lavinia was also a singer.[citation needed]
Rodgers, who had been ill for around three years, died at her home inCobham, Surrey, where she had lived for many years, on 18 April 2025, at the age of 78.[27][28]
The Northern Irish star secured fourth place in the competition, (...)
Northern Irish singer and actress Clodagh Rodgers, (...)
The Northern Irish singer was described as "the rock of this family" by her son Sam, (...)
Northern Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers has died
Away from her Eurovision participation, the Northern Irish singer experience[d] chart success
| Preceded by | UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
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