*This article was first published in The Irish Post in 2004*
HE'S a true legend, a man who has entertained millions of people and a singer whose distinctive tones are known all over the world.
Yet he's not too big or grand to give up his time to entertain Irish elders at a lunchtime pensioners club.
For Val Doonican is just one of the famous stars who have popped in to English Martyrs in Reading to provide a special treat for the regulars at the weekly Wednesday lunchtime get together.
Others have included Daniel O'Donnell and the club is getting something of a reputation as a place the stars must visit.
So what is it the makes Val give up his spare time for free to entertain these Irish men and women?
Ask anyone and they'll tell you: Despite his fame and fortune Val has remained a man of the people and close to the people he knows.
It's a loyalty that inspires devotion among his circle.
A childhood friend became his tour manager and his musical director is the same man he has worked alongside on numerous television series.
And that same level of loyalty is evident from his fans that turn up to see him perform all over the world.
On first meeting the man himself looks remarkably younger than his 77 years.
Dressed in a casual white shirt and blue slacks, it is hard to reconcile that you are face-to-face with a show business veteran who has more than half a century of entertaining audiences behind him.
Val pictured in his south London home in 1965. Picture: Getty ImagesThere is still a twinkle in the eye and his legendary charm is ever-present as he puts everyone at ease - shaking hands and signing the much-prized album covers for eager fans.
When they are exercised, Val's vocal chords are also in tremendous shape with his distinctive sound unchanged by the passing of time.
Incredibly, here's the man around whose programme the Saturday night television schedules revolved for 24 years - a show which attracted more than 19million viewers at its peak.
They're the kind of figures unlikely to be ever repeated in the current multi-channel world of television where viewers have a plethora of choice at all hours of the day and night.
But the Waterford singer and entertainer has no wish to attempt any kind of return to that sort of demanding schedule.
Val explains: "One thing I have always been conscious of, throughout my career is recognising that you have a shelf-life in this business and you must never exceed that.
"The camera does you no favours as you grow older and, besides, there aren't the same kind of musical shows that I did on the box anymore.
"I would never want to be on television just for the sake of it - game shows and the like are not my sort of thing. I'm a musical entertainer and always will be."
An eight minute performance on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1964 totally transformed Val's career and put him on the path to worldwide fame.
"That one appearance led to all sorts of offers - records, radio programmes and, eventually, the television show," he says.
But Val refused to be dragged in by all the hype.
"It took me 17 years - first as a member of a quartet and then as a solo performer - to become an 'overnight success' so I wasn't taking anything for granted," he says.
"I was just fortunate - as my father would say - that they took a liking to me and felt very privileged to have had that stroke of luck.
"Things were so different in them days where we had the theatres and the clubs in which you could learn the business properly, unlike today where there is no shopfloor to pick up your craft and everyone is rushing to have instant fame.
"The BBC offered me six television shows in 1965 and I was very conscious that it was just as easy to fade away as it was to be a success."
But after those programmes - performed live in the same converted church hall where they recorded Top of the Pops - a further contract to do more television was offered.
Val was ahead of his time when it came to record deals.
He still retains the rights to everything he committed to tape, vinyl and CD by controlling the production then leasing the tape to the record company - a practise that is now commonplace amongst the big players of the industry.
His first major hit Walk Tall cost just £340 to produce and was only denied the top spot by the Beatles sixth consecutive number one I Feel Fine.
But Val's single remained in the charts for 21 weeks.
He recalls: "I was in Belfast just after the record was released and was surprised to see it listed on the chart displayed in the front window of a music shop."
The surprise turned to delight as it climbed up the hit parade in the weeks that followed.
Val with his wife Lynn. Picture: Getty ImagesThe song had first appeared on an album by US Country singer Faron Young some years before and was passed onto him by a music publisher friend.
The Special Years - the follow up hit and also the same title used by Val for a book he penned on his early days in Waterford - came his way from the same source, Peter Callendar.
He says: "The song was a ballad written by an American called Martha Sharp and was completely different to Walk Tall.
"But when I heard the demo I knew that was the song.
"It's very easy to get pigeon-holed and become a flash in the pan in this business so there had to be a change of direction after the first single."
When questioned, Val is not conscious of possessing any particular musical style.
He says modestly: "I'm fortunate to have sung duets with some of the all-time greats like Perry Como and there has been a wide variety in the kind of songs I've recorded.
"But it was the television show that gave me those opportunities and for that I shall always be grateful to it. The records and everything else simply followed on from that."
Although now in semi-retirement, Val still treads the boards. He undertook a short British tour last year and is still packs them in wherever he appears.
And he still possesses charisma and star quality in abundance - although he remains very much a man of the people.
To him Waterford is still home and always will be.
Clinging to those roots has kept his feet on the ground and ensured that his professional career will continue for as long as he wants.
And for that, we should be grateful.
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