Feargal Sharkey - Feargal Sharkey

The single "A Good Heart" was a big song in Canada back in '85, selling 50,000 copies. While the album itself would crack the top 20, I don't think it sold enough to be certified. This would be the only song I ever heard on the radio by the warbling Irishman.

After making his splash in the pool, I was not aware of a follow-up and in time Mr. Sharkey would be firmly relegated to the bin of one-hit wonders. While it was an okay song, it was one that never resonated with me. Feargal was soon out of sight and out of mind, and he remained there. So it was a surprise when decades later "A Good Heart" popped into my brain. Not long after I found the album in a cheap bin and couldn't help myself. Which is the only way you can hear the album. His streaming footprint is surprisingly thin.

The album was produced by Dave Stewart who that year had co-produced Southern Accents with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Be Yourself Tonight by his band The Eurythmics. He was a busy guy and was pretty much on top of the world.

Feargal Sharkey's album is interesting while also being pretty nondescript. It's his voice that makes and breaks the album. His vibrato sounds like it was produced by quickly running your index finger up and down over your Adam's apple. It's distinctive if not entirely pleasant sounding. Now, having said that, it's what gives the album its character.

Nostalgia and the passage of time have changed my opinion of "A Good Heart." True, there was a time this didn't feel like much, but the truth is there was always something different about the song that was oddly appealing. Here I am forty years later, and that song truly is the centrepiece of the album. It's weird how some albums can open with a stellar song and maintain momentum, while others grind to a halt. I wouldn't say the album grinds to a halt, but it definitely struggles to keep going. The record never manages to recapture the magic inherent in the album's lead-off track, but it does manage to find a cruising speed that moves things along. It's not fast enough to get a ticket in a school zone, but it is like a lazy Sunday drive on a country road. It's enjoyable for all that, but it really is just wasting time and not getting anywhere.

The album closes with an unusual cover of "It's All Over Now," a song made famous by The Rolling Stones that sort of grows on you with repeated spins. The album was an interesting listen and while it may seem like I was pretty ambivalent to it, it was enjoyable enough while it played.

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