The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group who formed in Blackpool in 1974 as the Nolan Sisters, before changing their name in 1980. From 1979 to 1982, the group had a run of hits, including "I'm in the Mood for Dancing", "Gotta Pull Myself Together", "Who's Gonna Rock You", "Attention to Me" and "Chemistry". They are one of the world's biggest selling girl groups. They were particularly successful in Japan, becoming the first European act to win the Tokyo Music Festival with "Sexy Music" in 1981, and won a Japanese Grammy (Tokubetsu Kikaku Shō) in 1992.
History
1962–1974: Early career
Tommy (26 September 1925–1998) and Maureen Nolan (15 December 1926 – 30 December 2007) met at Clerys Ballroom in Dublin and raised their family in Raheny, Dublin. Tommy had a radio show on RTÉ. Due to the lack of work the young family moved from Dublin to Blackpool in 1962, and launched a family singing group, the Singing Nolans, in 1963. The original line-up comprised the parents, and seven of their eight children: sons Tommy (born 20 July 1949) and Brian (born 19 June 1955), and daughters Anne (born 12 November 1950), Denise (born 6 April 1952), Maureen (born 14 June 1954), Linda (born 23 February 1959), and Bernadette ('Bernie', 17 October 1960 – 4 July 2013). The youngest member, Coleen, (born 12 March 1965), did not formally join the group until 1980 as she was too young to perform with her sisters.
The family performed even as the five girls went to school at Blackpool's St Mary's Catholic College. The Nolans also attended The Cardinal Wiseman School in Greenford, West London.
The Singing Nolans recorded an album, The Singing Nolans, a single "Blackpool" – which was a song about their local football club, Blackpool F.C., and is still used on match days at Bloomfield Road – and the EP "Silent Night" for the Nevis label in 1972.
Tommy Nolan Sr. died of liver cancer in 1998. The Nolans' mother Maureen Nolan died in Blackpool in 2007, aged 81, on 30 December 2007 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Anne Nolan released her autobiography, titled Anne's Song, on 27 March 2008. In the book, co-written with Richard Barber, Anne said she had been repeatedly sexually abused by her father, from the age of 11 until she was 15 or 16.
1973–1978: The Nolan Sisters
In 1973, the Singing Nolans were booked to sing in Blackpool's Cliffs Hotel on Christmas Day. After their performance, their father Tommy Nolan was at the bar when businessman Joe Lewis told Tommy that he was very interested for his daughters to move to London to sing in his club above the New London Theatre. In early 1974 the Nolan clan moved to London to work in the London Rooms on Drury Lane, where the girls changed their name from the Singing Nolans to the Nolan Sisters. They made their television debut on Cliff Richard's TV show, singing "Stuck on You" and were the resident guests for the entire run of series 4 of It's Cliff Richard on BBC1. The line-up included Coleen, who sang lead on their debut single "But I Do" released on EMI records in 1974.
Following the 1974 single on EMI, they released several more non-charting singles on Target Records from 1975 to 1977, several of which were composed by Roger Greenaway. A 1977 eponymous album on the Hanover Grand label was sold only at the London Club Room in Drury Lane, and is ranked by price guides as the most collectible UK release by the group.
1978–1984: Chart success
Their chart breakthrough came in 1978 with the covers album 20 Giant Hits on Target, which reached No.3 in the UK. That year, they also supported Engelbert Humperdinck on a US tour, and Denise left the group to pursue a solo career.
In 1979, the group participated in the UK Eurovision selection contest A Song For Europe. Their track "Harry My Honolulu Lover" had been written by former Eurovision contestant Terry Bradford who had finished 11th in the 1978 contest as part of the group Co-Co. The track was considered the favourite before the contest, but ultimately placed fourth, with Black Lace going on to represent the UK. A lightning strike by BBC technicians minutes before the broadcast led to the cancellation of the show. In order to find a winner nonetheless, the regional juries had to make their decisions based on audio tapes of the songs from the show's rehearsals. The group had been booked to promote the song on many BBC shows, leading to speculation that it had been taken for granted they would win the competition. One booking was representing the BBC at the 25th Anniversary celebrations for the Eurovision network, which was staged in Montreux, Switzerland, in May 1979.