The Bachelors

The Bachelors were a popular music group, originally from Dublin, Ireland, but based primarily in the United Kingdom. They had several international hits during the 1960s, including eight top-ten singles in the UK between 1963 and 1966.

The founding members of the group were Conleth (Con) Cluskey (18 November 1935 – 8 April 2022), his younger brother Declan (Dec) Cluskey (born 23 December 1941) and their friend John Stokes (Sean James Stokes) (born 13 August 1936). They formed their first band together in 1957: "The Harmonichords" (also seen as "The Harmony Chords"), a classically styled instrumental harmonica act.

As the Harmonichords, they appeared on Hughie Green's Opportunity Knocks on Radio Luxembourg and on The Ed Sullivan Show St. Patrick's Day special (filmed in Dublin, broadcast 15 March 1959), in which they played "Danny Boy". They also played background music plus featured pieces in a 25-week radio comedy series called Odd Noises on Radio Éireann, which featured Eamonn Andrews. In 1960, they changed their name to the Bachelors at the suggestion of Dick Rowe, A&R at Decca Records, who reportedly recommended the name "because that's the kind of boy a girl likes".

During the 1960s, they had many successful songs in music charts in Europe, Australia, South Africa, South America, USA and USSR. Among the most successful were: 1963 – "Charmaine", Diane (a UK no. 1 hit, the first by an Irish group); 1964 – "I Believe", "Ramona", "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World" (UK no. 2); 1965 – "Marie" (written by Irving Berlin), "In the Chapel in the Moonlight". In 1965 they also had the 'most played jukebox track' with "The Stars Will Remember", from the film "It's all over town". Their last big hit in the UK was a cover of the Paul Simon song "The Sound of Silence", which reached no. 3 in April 1966. They had eight top-ten singles in the UK between 1963 and 1966 and eight in Ireland from 1962 to 1966.

After a successful end to the 1960s with the album World of the Bachelors hitting the top 10 in 1968, the band became less successful in the changing music industry. They remained recording artists and moved to the Philips label, which contracted easy listening stars such as Val Doonican and The New Seekers. The group continued to play theatre shows and performed on the cabaret circuit, maintaining the original line-up until 1984 when there was "a messy split" between the Cluskey brothers and Stokes. The Cluskeys removed Stokes from their business company, "Bachelors Ltd", then dismissed him from the group. Stokes took legal action and it was ruled that the "Bachelors" name belonged to all three men. Following this acrimonious parting of the ways, with the rift never being healed, the Cluskey brothers appeared as "The New Bachelors" and Stokes as "Stokes & Coe"; Stokes also then appeared as "The New Bachelors and the Cluskeys performed as "Con & Dec, The Bachelors". The brothers continued performing cabaret as "The New Bachelors" with Peter Phipps until 1993, when they branched off as a duo called "The Cluskey Brothers".

In 2008, a compilation CD I Believe – The Very Best of The Bachelors was released. Featuring the 1960s hits together with two new songs recorded by Con and Dec Cluskey, it was issued by Universal which had acquired the Decca catalogue. Available in the US as an import from the UK, it reached no. 7 in the UK album chart. Con and Dec Cluskey appeared on TV and radio to promote the album.

The brothers continued to sing until 2020, when lockdown restrictions prevented them from touring.

Con Cluskey died on 8 April 2022, aged 86. He had been living in Elland, West Yorkshire, since 1970. Dec Cluskey still performs solo. John Stokes' Bachelors did a farewell tour in late 2022.