The Nolans
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The Nolans, previously billed as The Nolan Sisters are siblings from Ireland, who reached the peak of their success as a vocal act in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
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[edit] Career
The Nolan family consisted of Irish Catholic parents Tommy and Maureen (both singers), six daughters and two sons. The family moved from Dublin to Blackpool in 1962 and three years later their youngest daughter was born. "The Singing Nolans" toured the Northern club circuit for several years as a full family unit, before the five eldest girls broke away to form The Nolan Sisters in the early 1970s.
The original line up of The Nolan Sisters consisted of:
- Anne (born 12 November 1950)
- Denise (born 9th April 1952)
- Maureen (born 14 June 1954)
- Linda (born 23 February 1959)
- Bernie (born Bernadette Therese 17 October 1960)
The sisters became popular on variety programs on British television during the 1970s and released several records featuring their versions of various popular songs. In 1978 they released an LP on Target Records containing their own versions of twenty well-known songs entitled 20 Giant Hits, which reached the Top 3 on the U.K. album chart. They also supported Engelbert Humperdinck on a successful tour around the United States, and came fourth in the "A Song For Europe" competition with the Hawaiian-flavoured "Harry my Honolulu Lover." The group was subsequently signed to Epic Records (a division of CBS). It was around this time that Denise left the group to pursue a solo career.
[edit] The "Epic" years
The period during which the now four-piece sister group were signed to Epic (1979-1984) was their most commercially successful. Their first Top 40 single ("Spirit, Body and Soul") was issued in 1979, after which the youngest member of the family, Coleen (born 12 March 1965) joined the group. It was at this point that the once again five-piece group changed its name to The Nolans.
At the end of 1979, the group released the disco-flavoured single "I'm In The Mood For Dancing;(called in Japan「ダンシング･シスター(dancing-sister)」" which became their signature tune, as well as a huge hit for the quartet. It shot to the U.K. Top 3 and became a success all over the world, particularly in Japan (where the group would remain popular for many years). Their self-titled album(called in Japan「恋のハッピーデート(koino-happy-date)」) followed shortly thereafter, and made the U.K. Top 20. Shortly after this time Anne Nolan left the group to have a baby, once again making The Nolans a four-piece.
Success continued into 1980 with the singles "Don't Make Waves" (#12) and "Gotta Pull Myself Together" (#9). These tracks were later found on the album Making Waves, released towards the end of the year. This album spent more weeks on the U.K. chart (33 in total) than any other Nolans release. The album also spawned two more Top 20 singles - "Who's Gonna Rock You" (#12, 1980), and "Attention To Me" (#9, 1981). The former was co-written by Billy Ocean.
1981 also saw the release of a new single - "Chemistry" (#15), which would later appear on the 1982 album Portrait. This album would become their second Top 10 and also provided their final Top 20 single "Don't Love Me Too Hard" (#14). It's follow-up, "Crashing Down" failed to chart, as did the remainder of their singles on the Epic label. Towards the end of the year, a compilation album entitled Altogether was released, containing all of their hit singles on the Epic label. It sold in moderation.
The Nolans achieved success in Europe, Australia and New Zealand but their biggest success was in Japan, where several of their songs reached number one. They are famous for outselling The Beatles in Japan.
By the time Altogther was released, Anne Nolan had re-joined the group and they begun to tour as a five-piece again for a while before Linda left in 1984 to marry the group's ex tour manager Brian Hudson, and to pursue a cabaret-based solo career. She was nicked named the "Naughty Nolan" after launching her career with a near-naked publicity shot.
[edit] Post success era
Since breaking away from Epic, The Nolans have been signed to several record labels (mostly minor ones). The remainder of their work in the 1980s mostly consisted of cover versions of popular songs (their Epic label albums had generally consisted of some covers plus some original songs). An album of covers entitled "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was released on Towerbell Records in 1984 and became their final U.K. Top 40 album.
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s the foursome continued to perform together as well as concentrating on their own solo projects. They remained popular in the far east and in 1992 became the first British group to be awarded the Tokubstsu Kikaku Sho (Japanese Grammy) for best foreign recording artist. They also did a four week tour of the country (during which time they found themselves appearing on a nude television show!) and signed a six-album deal there.
Major changes came to the group in 1994 when Coleen left the group to have a baby, and Bernie (who had been the lead singer of the group since she was 13) left to pursue an acting career. At this point The Nolans simply consisted of Anne and Maureen.
[edit] Current line-up
As of 2004, the line-up consists of Maureen and Anne, together with Anne's daughter Amy and her cousin Julia. Their act is largely cabaret, and they perform throughout Europe in clubs and also, particularly, in Japan.
The other sisters have continued to work in showbusiness. Bernadette is an actress who has played a continuing role in the police drama The Bill, and also had long term part in Brookside. Coleen is a television presenter, and Denise and Linda have toured with a production of Blood Brothers after completing a successful West End run in London. Linda toured with Prisoner Cell Block H - The Musical. Maureen has now taken over the role of Mrs Johnstone in the West End version of Blood Brothers. After completing two successful tours of "The Magic Of Judy Garland" Denise Nolan joins the tour of "The Rat Pack Is Back" reprising her Judy Garland tribute as the show's special guest.
[edit] Discography
U.K. singles released on the "Epic" label:
| Title | Peak chart position(UK) | Peak chart position(JAPAN) | Year | Lead vocalist | From album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Spirit, Body and Soul" | #34 | - | 1979 | ? | Nolans |
| "I'm In The Mood For Dancing" | #3 | #1 | 1979 | Bernie | Nolans |
| "Don't Make Waves" | #12 | - | 1980 | ? | Making Waves |
| "Gotta Pull Myself Together" | #9 | #20 | 1980 | Bernie | Making Waves |
| "Who's Gonna Rock You" | #12 | #40 | 1980 | Bernie | Making Waves |
| "Attention To Me" | #9 | - | 1981 | Bernie | Making Waves |
| "Chemistry" | #15 | - | 1981 | Coleen | Portrait |
| "Don't Love Me Too Hard" | #14 | - | 1982 | Linda/Bernie/Maureen/Coleen | Portrait |
| "Crashing Down" | - | - | 1982 | Bernie | Portrait |
| "Dragonfly" | - | - | 1982 | Bernie | Altogether |
| "Dressed To Kill" | - | - | 1983 | Bernie | ? |
Charting albums:
- 20 Giant Hits (1978, Target Records, #3)
- Nolans (1979, Epic Records, #15)
- Making Waves (1980, Epic Records, #11)
- Portrait (1982, Epic Records, #7)
- Altogether (1982, Epic Records, #52)
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (1984, Towerbell Records, #39)
