11 August – Your summer song in the blue of the Irish sky

We should remember that our contest isn’t all about what’s happening now. It has a rich history that we should celebrate. I’m sure everyone out there has favourites from former times. But there are those we hear less.

As you may know, there is no publicly available visual copy of the 1964 contest, except for a few tantalising snippets. So you may not know the song by today’s birthday girl Rachel. The video isn’t a contest performance, but might give us an idea how her pleasant little song came across. There was a runaway winner in 1964, but Rachel still scored a maximum. See if you think it should have done better than fourth.

Rachel is 78 today.

Bonne anniversaire, Rachel!