The founding members of the group were Conleth (Con) Cluskey (born 18 November 1941; died 8 April 2022), Declan (Dec) Cluskey (born 23 December 1942), and John Stokes (Sean James Stokes) (born 13 August 1940). In 1957 they formed their first band together, "The Harmonichords" (also seen as "The Harmony Chords"), a classically styled instrumental harmonica-act.
As The Harmonichords, they appeared on Hughie Green's 'Opportunity Knocks' on Radio Luxembourg[1] and on the 'Ed Sullivan' TV Show St. Patrick's Day Special (filmed in Dublin, broadcast 15 March 1959), where they played "Danny Boy."[2] They also played background music plus featured pieces in a 25 week radio comedy series called 'Odd Noises' on Radio Éireann featuring Eamonn Andrews.[3] They changed their name to "The Bachelors" in 1962 at the suggestion of Dick Rowe, A&R at Decca Records, who reportedly recommended the name "because that’s the kind of boy a girl likes."
During the 1960s, they had many successful songs in music charts in Europe Australia, South Africa, South America, parts of the USSR, and the United States. Some of the most successful were "Diane" (1964), "Marie" (1965), "I Wouldn't Trade You For the World" (1965), and "In the Chapel in the Moonlight" (1965). In 1965 they had the 'most played juke box track' with "The Stars Will Remember" from a film they made with then-current DJ Sam Costa.
Live work carried them into the 1970s with record breaking theatre season shows, but after a successful start to the decade with the album World of the Bachelors hitting the top 5, the band became less and less dominant in the music industry. Along with singers like Tom Jones they found themselves stuck in a decade of Glam Rock, unable to change with the times. They remained successful recording artists and moved to the Pye label, which contracted easy listening stars like Frankie Vaughan and Max Bygraves. Despite their last chart single being in 1967, they continued to play the cabaret circuit, still maintaining the original line-up until 1984, when there was "a messy split" between the Cluskey brothers and Stokes.
Following the split, the Cluskey brothers appeared as "The New Bachelors" and Stokes as "Stokes & Coe", Stokes allegedly also then appeared as "The New Bachelors" so the Cluskey's now perform as "Con & Dec The Bachelors"
In 2008 a compilation CD, "I Believe - The Very Best of The Bachelors," featuring the 60s hits together with two new songs recorded by Con and Dec Cluskey, was released through Universal who had acquired the Decca catalogue (available in the US as an import from Uni Classics Jazz UK), reached #7 in the UK Radio One album chart 27 July - 2 Aug 2008. Con and Dec Cluskey appeared on TV and radio to promote the album.
Marta
The Bachelors Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Marta, with your fragrance divine
Rosebud, of the days of my childhood
Watched you bloom in the wild wood
and I hoped you'd be mine.
Marta, now your eyes beam at twilight
sparkling like each dewdrop at dawn
I awake with a sigh
and I find you are gone.
Marta, Rambling rose of the wildwood
Marta, with your fragrance divine
Rosebud of the days of my childhood
Watched you bloom in the wildwood
and I hoped you'd be mine
Marta, now your eyes beam at twilight
sparkling like each dewdrop at dawn
Marta, when I look for your love light
I awake with a sigh, and I find you are gone.
The song "Marta" by The Bachelors tells the story of a person's love for a woman named Marta. The lyrics paint Marta as a beautiful and fragrant wild rose that the singer watched bloom from a rosebud in his childhood, hoping she would be his one day. As time passes, Marta's beauty only grows, but the singer's love for her remains unrequited. He searches for her love but finds that she is always elusive, gone just as quickly as she appears.
On the surface, "Marta" can be interpreted as a simple love song about unfulfilled longing. However, a deeper analysis of the lyrics reveals a message about the transience of life and the fleeting nature of love. Marta symbolizes the joy and beauty of youth that inevitably fades with the passing of time. The singer's inability to possess her love represents the futility of trying to hold onto things that are fleeting and impermanent.
Overall, "Marta" is a hauntingly beautiful song that speaks to the human desire for love and the inevitability of loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Marta, Rambling rose of the wildwood
Marta, you are like a wildflower that grows freely in nature.
Marta, with your fragrance divine
Marta, your scent is heavenly and mesmerizing.
Rosebud, of the days of my childhood
You remind me of my childhood and the memories associated with it.
Watched you bloom in the wildwood
I witnessed you grow and thrive in your natural habitat.
and I hoped you'd be mine.
I wanted to possess your beauty and keep it with me forever.
Marta, now your eyes beam at twilight
As time passes, you have blossomed into a mature and beautiful woman.
sparkling like each dewdrop at dawn
Your eyes glisten with a radiance that is reminiscent of the morning dew.
Marta, when I look for your love light
When I search for your affection and attention,
I awake with a sigh
I realize that my love for you is unrequited.
and I find you are gone.
You are either physically or emotionally unavailable to me.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: L. WOLFE GILBERT, MOISES SIMONS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@williamschlenger1518
I loved this song then & I love it now at 79yrs.old & I'm in love 💕 again.
@mousecat9398
i was born in 1967 and i know my mum loved the bachelors...i wonder if she knew this track....Rip mum
@brianharris7058
What a beautiful song, what gorgeous voices the Bachelors had. This song brings back so many wonderful memories.
@john111257
Their last top 20 hit, another oldie
@Artyfiction
This song always reminds me of my wonderful mother ...'.I awake with a sigh and I find you are gone...'.. Sadly missed
@ashleytemme8573
roy
@kimberleyfarley6021
My Mum was named from the song and I feel the same everytime I hear it.
@42peter1
I knew the Marta of this song in the 1960s and 70s! Â She was French and the song was written by her Cuban father, living in Paris, and dedicated to his new baby. Â He had taken part in the Spanish Civil War. Lovely lady - can't hear it without thinking of her.
@davidmiller8896
Peter Worley
@gilliangordon
Me and my mum and my bro love this. Remember it from the 60s
Lovely memories