There are a few things Daniel O'Donnell doesn't like and cars without CD players is one of them
He’s still making music, but Daniel O’Donnell admits he’s not a fan of social media, or cars that don’t have CD players writes .
Daniel O'Donnell has something he wants to get off his chest. He isn’t the only performer struggling with the fast pace of technology and the effects that streaming have had on the recording industry. However, the singer’s particular bugbear relates to something you won’t hear a lot of performers mention.
The biggest damn thing of it all is that the cars they are making now have no CD player. I couldn’t believe that. I hired a car one day — I was in England — and I had taken Moya Brennan’s new album to play it. Well, I got into the car, and I was looking everywhere to see where I would put in the CD and there was none in it.
Then I realised that is the future. If you want a CD player in a car now, you have to request it
O’Donnell’s latest album Walkin’ In the Moonlight has just charted at No 23 in the British charts, continuing his 31-year streak of charting a new album every year. He’s not exactly keeping count though.
“There’s a lot anyway. People are telling me I’m breaking records — I never set out to make a record, never mind break one,” he laughs.
“If I looked into it, I’d say I’m the one who has recorded the most. Maybe Foster and Allen would give me a run for my money. I’ve recorded an album every year since 1984 and they started going in the charts in 1988 in the UK.”
O’Donnell says he has been extremely lucky to build such a loyal following but he is concerned about how his fans access his music.
“As the years go by, it is harder and harder, with the record shops not being there. The biggest problem we have now is getting somewhere for the record to be bought because my audience isn’t really a download audience. The big shops like Tesco that do have records, unless you are selling a bucketload, they don’t want you.
“Where you used to have 20 different titles on the shelves, now you only have the one that’s out at the minute. It’s just a by-product of progress, a sad fact of life. I’m not complaining, just making a point of how lucky I am that I still get into the charts.”
O’Donnell attributes his loyal following and unique connection with fans to the fact that he has always gone out of his way to meet and mingle with them.
“I enjoy meeting my fans. It was never somebody saying, ‘Oh, it would be good for your career to meet them’. There are bands who go out and don’t know anybody. I go out and actually know a lot of the people by sight, and a lot by name. When somebody says to me, ‘What is the best place you’ve ever been’, my mind always goes to who I’ve met, that is what makes a memory for me.”
The 58-year-old entertainer has reached a whole new audience through his RTÉ show Daniel and Majella’s B&B Road Trip, in which he and his wife Majella travel around the country sampling the hospitality of B&Bs.
“We are so surprised, both of us, with the show’s success. It is such a simple idea, it is not contrived; we are not told what to do. Obviously, it is all organised because we don’t know where we are going. It is like leaving mice out at a crossroads and seeing what road they’ll take. I suppose with what I’ve been doing for years, it was a head start but if people didn’t enjoy it, it wouldn’t matter who you were.
It has been quite something. The strange thing about it is that young people and children really like it. Maybe it’s watching two adults doing silly things, I don’t know. There was a wee fella up at home who wanted to open a B&B so we could come visit. I think that’s amazing. They would never have got to know me through the music.
While O’Donnell now gets as much attention for his TV appearances, including a memorable turn on Room to Improve, he says he never tires of being approached by fans. Of course, the autograph books have now been replaced by smartphones and requests for selfies.
Ah sure, I’m up with the best of them when it comes to the selfies. I’m nearly as good as the Pope
- he laughs.
“I never feel a pressure from it. I do get plenty of time away. We go to Tenerife every so often and we go to the Irish bars. We know if we go to the Irish bars, of course people might want you to sing and all that. If you don’t want to do that, you know not to go there that night. You don’t go up to the fire and expect to be cold, do you know what I mean? If you are any way cute at all, you know what you should and shouldn’t do.”
Selfies, however, are about as far as it goes when it comes to embracing the changes that technology have brought.
He is not a fan of social media.
“No, I’m not on any of those. And I don’t read a thing. When Facebook and all that started, I did read a bit in the beginning. And certainly, a lot of it is complimentary but there is an odd one that comes on and they would take the feet from under you.
“And the bad comment really resonates with you, it’s human nature. But I realised that I know everything there is to know about myself. I don’t need to read it.”
Daniel O’Donnell plays the INEC in Killarney tonight. He has also announced a 2019 summer tour, and will play Cork Opera House on Aug 26-28.
danielodonnell.org
A Question of Taste with Daniel O'Donnell
I’m not a great reader, unfortunately. The last book I would have read was the Big Tom book [Big Tom: The King of Irish Country] because obviously it is of interest to me.
The last one I went to was the Freddie Mercury one [Bohemian Rhapsody] which I thought was fantastic. I loved his music anyway and I thought the film was really well done.
I love all country music. When we were in America, we got to see a group called Dailey and Vincent. They were fantastic. There were a family I saw called The Petersens, a bluegrass band that are coming to Ireland in January. They were terrific.
The best show I ever saw was Celine Dion in Las Vegas. I would have liked Celine Dion but I wouldn’t have been a huge fan before I went with Majella and two friends of ours. Honest to God, she was absolutely fantastic. I remember seeing Don Williams at the Point and it was brilliant, but Celine Dion was a standout in terms of production and her singing ability.
I love anything to do with houses. I was always a big fan of Coronation Street, but I don’t keep up with it, although you could leave it for five years and in a month, you would know everybody again. And any kind of quiz show. I love The Chase — Anne, the Governess is my favourite and I think Bradley Walsh is fantastic.
I was in South Africa, standing outside my hotel, when a huge gold car pulled up. There was a woman who I thought I knew and as she got up to the car, I realised it was Winnie Mandela. She got in and I sat into the other side. How I wasn’t shot I don’t know, there were bodyguards everywhere. I stretched out my hand, and said ‘Hello, I’m from Ireland, pleased to meet you’. I don’t know why in God’s name I did that. She said ‘Pleased to meet you’ back. I’ve never told that to anybody other than yourself.
Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride and Cliff Richard. I went to visit Loretta in Nashville when we were there recently. She’s not in great health, she had a stroke about 18 months ago and she broke her hip last January. I feel very blessed to know them all and I was in no way disappointed when I met them.
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