As 2009 counts down, most news organizations are reflecting on the year from the perspective of pop culture. They are recapping such gems as the nefarious Balloon Boy incident, the very public separation of Jon & Kate plus their incredible brood and the even more outrageous antics of Octomom Nadya Suleman. There was Kanye West who rudely interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards, and Lady GaGa tried to shock us with her outrageous wardrobe - although that boat sailed many years ago. 

There were some inspiring and frustrating moments too. The first black President of the United States was sworn in. The same President accepted a Nobel Peace Prize while similutaneously deciding to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The U.S. may finally have come to their senses when it comes to providing health care to the uninsured masses. Just days ago, they acquired enough votes to push the plan forward. This was the dream of Senator Ted Kennedy who wasn't there to see it happen. In 2009 Susan Boyle, an unknown 48 year old woman endured the ridicule of her reality tv audience and then the invasive crush of pesky paparazzi to become one of the year's best selling artists. Good for her, and perhaps there is still hope for those of us who dream a dream.

In Canada, H1N1 - or swine flu as it was originally called, much to the chagrin of hog farmers everywhere, topped the news. Thankfully, most people emerged unscathed. Did you roll up your sleeve to get your flu shot? I did. 

Most Sunday mornings I enjoy watching a TV show on the CBS network which is sensibly named "Sunday Morning".  This past Sunday, they went through a long list of the people who died in 2009. The list seemed unusually long this year. We lost a lot of well respected, notorious, and famous people. Some passings, like Michael Jackson were shocking - if not surprising. Others, like Farrah Fawcett and Patrick Swayze were sad, but expected as we knew beforehand of their battles with cancer. Near the end of this list, the Sunday Morning show talked briefly about a death I was not even aware of. Apparently on December 4th, 2009, Irish singer Liam Clancy died. Gosh, that hit me hard. Liam Clancy? Way to make me feel really old!

As a child I can remember the records my Mother was most fond of. Rolling Stones, Dean Martin, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash. I didn't care much for my Mother's music, what kid does? But she had one set of records by a band called "The Clancy Brothers" that were too infectious to ignore. Okay, I'll admit to humming along to Dean Martin now and then, but I didn't have to hide my affection for the Clancy Brothers. Everybody liked them. I can't even remember how I found out, but my best friend during those years was a young girl named Sandra Cecil who lived a couple of blocks north from me. Sandra was a very blonde child of Norwegian descent. She had much older siblings who listened to the popular music of the day; Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, George Benson, Peter Frampton. I remember thinking that some of their tastes were so grown up. But there in this vast record collection was a copy of the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem. I was gobsmacked! How is it that a group of Irish hooligans, singing about drinking, women, and memories of Ireland could be popular enough to cross borders of age and culture like they did? They literally were liked by everyone.

Most Saturdays between 1968-1971, I would skip up Waverley Road in Toronto to visit my friend Sandra. She had to finish her chores before we could go out to play so I would help her with tidying and vacuuming the basement of her parent's house. Sometimes to make the task more fun, or just to inspire us to move more quickly, that Clancy Brothers record would wind up on the turnstile and we'd whip through her tasks like we were on fire. When nobody was looking, we'd sometimes pretend to be Irish dancers and wind up laughing so hard that we'd fall to the floor giggling and breathless. Hearing this from upstairs, her parents must have thought we'd ingested goofy juice. 

Music is a powerful medium. It can evoke strong memories of good times, or sad ones. The people who make our favourite music are like heroes to us and in my case, I was sufficiently inspired by what I heard to want to follow in the footsteps of the melody makers who came before me. So it is with great sadness that I close 2009. I almost wish I hadn't heard the news. But I am glad that the Sunday Morning show singled out Liam Clancy to do a brief retrospect of his contribution to music and culture. I even learned a thing or two about him.

We sometimes put far too much emphasis on the rich and famous. Michael Jackson was a great performer and an important figure in pop culture. I was sad to learn that his tragic life had come to an end. But Liam Clancy, the last of the Clancy Brothers band, although not as famous, and most certainly not living out his last years in a lavish lifestyle, was just as important. At least he was to me.

Related Links:

• Clancy Brothers With Tommy Makem Website
• Lyrics to Clancy Brothers Songs
• New York Daily News Remembers Liam Clancy 
• Chronicle Herald Final Farewell 2009
• Sound Samples of Clancy Brothers Songs

Darlene Watters is the author, editor and publisher of Day At The Beach. She also operates the wasaga.com web site. Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone, and do not represent the official positions of any organization or company who advertises on this website