Clodagh Rodgers signed for Decca records in 1961, at the age of 14. She made a number of recordings with Decca, changing to Columbia in the mid 60's, but her career took off only after she signed to RCA. After a slow start her recording of the Kenny Young song "Come Back & Shake Me" shot up the charts, giving her a million selling gold disc and launching her into stardom in 1969. She followed this with another top 4 hit "Goodnight Midnight," plus "Biljo," which resulted in her being the best selling female singles artist of that year. ...show more

Clodagh Rodgers signed for Decca records in 1961, at the age of 14. She made a number of recordings with Decca, changing to Columbia in the mid 60's, but her career took off only after she signed to RCA. After a slow start her recording of the Kenny Young song "Come Back & Shake Me" shot up the charts, giving her a million selling gold disc and launching her into stardom in 1969. She followed this with another top 4 hit "Goodnight Midnight," plus "Biljo," which resulted in her being the best selling female singles artist of that year.

She also won the award for "The Best Legs" in British show business and insured her voice for one million pounds. The further single releases "Everybody Go Home," "The Party's Over," and "Lady Love Bug," continued her chart success in the next few years. Clodagh became a major household name and TV star, even if the hits didn't quite match her profile. In 1970 she was asked to represent the UK in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin.

According to John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, part of the reasoning behind the BBC's invitation was their concern over what reaction the UK entrant would get on the stage from the Irish public. Clodagh received death threats from the I.R.A. as a result of her appearing for the UK. Heralded by two separate front cover features on the BBC listing's magazine The Radio Times, Clodagh appeared as the resident guest on It's Cliff Richard, a prime-time variety show hosted by Cliff Richard on BBC1 from January 1971, performing one shortlisted song a week for six weeks, followed by a performance of all six on week seven and a repeat of the six songs immediately after. ...show less