One of Ireland's best and most-loved songs was once banned by RTE because of its sexual nature.
You may laugh now but The Dubliners tune 'Seven Drunken Nights' was axed by the National Broadcaster because of the Saturday and Sunday night verses
By 1960s Ireland standards, many listeners found the song anything but funny with many complaining to RTE to get the ban.
The Dubliners iconic tune about skulling pints seven days a week was a non-runner among disc jockeys due to the raunchy content but as a result it was a springboard for the band's worldwide success.
Word spread about the ban and the song became a favourite on pirate radio station Radio Caroline which increased sales both here and in the UK leading to a seventh place chart position and Top Of The Pops appearance according to RTE's programme Cosc which aired last night.
The show also highlighted how The Dubliners got the director of their music promo for the song so drunk that he woke up the next day to realise he had lost all the footage.
Filmmaker Peter Whitehead traveled to Dublin to film an insert for the legendary band's smash hit but keeping true to the song, got baloobas himself.
The Avant Garde director, who was well-known for his art house videos for The Rolling Stones, said he had never heard of The Dubliners before being asked to film them by Top of the Pops bosses in the UK.
He was taken to the band's much loved O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin city centre.
He said: “I didn’t really drink at the time, just the occasional beer but I did that night because I wanted to be one of the boys."
When he asked the folk group what they wanted to do for the video, they replied: "Let's go on a pub crawl."
Peter said: "So we get out of the pub, and just at that moment there is a guy going by with a horse and a cart. He spots the band and shouts, ‘Ah, The Dubliners’."
The next thing he knew, he found himself on the cart with the band as their boozy session managed to reach as far as Strawberry Beds.
Peter said: "The next thing I remember is waking up the next morning in my hotel room with a very pretty Irish redhead . . . I didn’t have my camera and I didn’t have the footage.”
The footage was found after he returned to London and Peter realised that out of the 40 minutes he had filmed, around 27 minutes couldn't be salvaged.
He said: "I thought I’d blown it, but I went through the footage and found every single frame I could use.
"By some miracle I ended up with the exact amount of footage."
He was shocked after his promo was described as "fantastic" by Top of the Pops.
Speaking about the promo, Dubliner John Sheahan told RTE: "It’s amazing, like a nightmare, a drunken dream.
"There was no direction. It was done by a drunken cameraman and a drunken crew, and it’s wonderful. God bless you, Peter Whitehead."
