AS HIS book The King of the Swingers climbs the best selling Irish books chart this Christmas the veteran musician Paddy Cole has revealed that he put the finishing touches to it in Lahinch, where he has a holiday home for years. The acclaimed saxophonist also penned a poem, during lockdown, about his love of the Banner County.

The memoir was written, during lockdown, with Galway author Tom Gilmore. With both of them cocooning on different sides of the country, most of the interviews were done via Skype.

“However, when the first lockdown was lifted, Tom and myself met in Lahinch over a weekend and the finishing touches were put to the book at Lahinch Golf Club,” Paddy said.

Known to music fans as ‘The King of the Swingers,’ Paddy has been an international star for almost 70 years and his book lifts the lid on his showbiz exploits at home and abroad. The autobiography reveals the secrets of his international escapades from playing for Elvis to going on stage after Go Go Girls, in Las Vegas. The memoir is laced with the good humour for which this bubbly star of stage, radio and TV is famous. From playing at the London Palladium, performing to a TV audience of over 30 million, to entertaining Elvis in Las Vegas, or doing TV shows in Dubai, or playing the Jazz clubs of New Orleans, the virtuosic saxophonist, clarinettist, and singer is humble and humorous about it all.

Nowadays, Paddy lives in Dublin and presents a popular Sunday show on Sunshine Radio. He likes to make a break for the Clare coast whenever he can. While he is a member of the world-famous Lahinch Golf Club, Paddy is modest about his achievements on the fairways, and denies that he is the King of the Swingers there!

Strange Times

By Paddy Cole

Strange times that we live in, not advised to go out

Not for papers or coffee, or the black pint of stout

So, we sit in the garden and think of what we miss

A walk by the sea, our grandchildren’s kiss

We miss meeting old friends, talk of times gone by

When we’d solve the world’s problems and tell the odd lie

To jump in the car, and head to the Banner

Golf in Lahinch, and a swim in Liscannor

To go to rehearsal, to learn a new tune

But now I stay home, and learn to cocoon

Soon this will be over, and for that we can’t wait

We’ll be up, dressed, and ready, and first out the gate

In the meantime, be patient, be positive, be brave

And think of the rules, and the lives we can save.