Most-Recorded Tunes of the 1980s

Of related interest:
  • Top Ten Tunes of the
  • Top 100 Tunes of the Century.
  • Top Ten
    of the Century.
  • Recordings by Decade: A graph of the historical distribution of my recorded tune sources.

This list ranks the top 10 most-recorded tunes during the 1980s. By carefully comparing the 1,317 individual tune recordings dated as from the 1980s which appear on the indexed recordings, I identified a total of 1,069 musically distinct tunes. The top ten of those tunes are listed below, in order of how many albums they appear on. When tunes have the same number of recordings, tunes having the oldest recordings appear first. Note that reuses of a particular cut in other anthologies are counted, which is fair, since the popularity of a recording is a good indicator both of the popularity of the tune and of the likelihood that musicians will learn the tune from that recording.

Click Tune Info below to see tune details and sources.

RankNumber of
Recordings		Explanation
Rhythm		Explanation
Titles used for this tune (and other notes)
15 – Tune
Info		JigDTranscription of first 2 bars of Out on the OceanOut on the Ocean / Out in the Ocean / Over the Sea / Portroe Jig / Portroe / O'Connell's Jig on Top of Mount Everest / Split the Whisker / The Banks of Ahasnagh / Banks of Ahasnagh / Crossing the Bogs / Mick Mulcahy's / Tierney's Jig / A Clare Jig (also in A)
25 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Hand Me Down the TackleHand Me Down the Tackle / Sín Chugam Anuas an Tácla / Hand Down the Tackle / The Pure Drop / Tom Steele / Tomás Stíl / Thomas Steele / The Hielander's Kneebuckle / The Hielanman's Kneebuckle / Búcla Glúine an Híleantóra / Reidy Johnson's / Reidy Johnston's / Drogheda Lasses (4th in set Humours of Galway on FG 3) (compare settings included here of The Drogheda Lasses, and The Pure Drop; compare very distantly Callan Lasses #4741)
34 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Pigeon on the GatePigeon on the Gate, The / Pigeon on the Gate / Pidgeon on the Gate / A Pigeon on the Gate / An Colúr ar an nGeata / Pigeon on the Pier / The Pigeon on the Pier / Lagan Slashers / The Lagan Slashers / League and Slasher / The Athol Braes / The Scotch Braes / Reidy's Reel / The Drinking Reel / The Drunken Tailor / The Wandering Tinker / Gallagher's Best / The Swallowtail (2nd in set The Chattering Magpie on Ch 6; 3rd in The Taproom Set on CLnn 2) (also in A or G or G Minor; quite a bit of variation in the 2nd part) (compare The Drunken Landlady #549 and compare 1st part with 1st part of Drunken Tailor #551)
44 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Moving CloudMoving Cloud, The / Moving Cloud / The Moving Clouds / An Néal faoi Shiúl (also in F or D; also without 3rd part) (composed by Neil O'Boyle aka Neilidh Boyle in 1942, also with a different third part possibly by Martin Mulhaire)
54 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Foxhunter's ReelFoxhunter's Reel, The / The Foxhunter's / Foxhunter's / Foxhunter / The Foxhunters / The Foxhunters' Reel / Fiagaí an Mhada Rua / The Fiddler Is Drunk / Patrick Kelly's Reel / Greig's Pipes (in set Chasing the Fox as well as in Horses of Ireland - Part 2 on Ch BIH) (also in A) (compare Clare Reel #333 and compare 1st part with 2nd part of Tailor's Choice #4799)
64 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Maudabawn ChapelMaudabawn Chapel / Maudebawn Chapel / Maudabawn's Chapel / Ryan's Reel / Hall's Favourite (3rd in set Humours of Galway on FG 3) (composed by Ed Reavy)
74 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Mullingar RacesMullingar Races, The / The Mullinger Races / Rásaí an Mhuilinn Chearr / Murphy's Favourite / The Hunchback (1st in set The Maid behind the Barrel on FG 3)
84 – Tune
Info		JigDTranscription of first 2 bars of Australian WatersAustralian Waters / Vincent Campbell's / Dewdrops on the Corn / Mooney's Jig (as Gan Ainm on JOS 1; 1st in set Australian Waters on A RS)
93 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Farewell to IrelandFarewell to Ireland / Slán le hÉireann / Slan le hEireann / Farewell to Erin / Naughton's / Naughtons / Leitrim Thrush / The Maid in the Cherry Tree (composed by Michael Coleman?)
103 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Morning ThrushMorning Thrush, The / The Thrush in the Morning (composed by Séamus Mac Aonghusa aka Jimmy Ennis aka James A. Ennis)
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This page was updated on 29 April 2008.
© 2006–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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