Mike’s True Number Calling

The lively Mike WEDS14JUNE23

t’s fitting that, when it comes to bingo numbers, 35 is Jump & Jive…

As it happens, Greystones’ most famous quiz master did more than his fair share of jumping ages jiving in his early years as a would-be pop sensation.

Living in London in the early 1960s and ‘70s, Mike Morrissey was on the cusp of stardom – all it would take is that one great big chart topper to send him into the stratosphere. A million-seller, such as The Tornado’s Telstar. Or Tony Christie’s (Is This The Way To) Amarillo.

Two songs the young, dynamic, ear-off-the-ground Mike Morrissey turned down.

“Thanks for reminding me,” the man himself deadpans, sitting in the still hot late evening sun of his Kindlestown Park front garden. “You have to think, you may have had fame, and you may have had money, but maybe you wouldn’t have found the happiness that I’ve been blessed with in this life.

“And I’m very happy with the life that’s been dealt me…”

As anyone who has attended one of Mike Morrissey’s weekly quiz and bingo nights in Greystones will already know. Beyond the prizes and the glory, fun has always been the main aim of the game, something that has resulted in Mike shouting the odds and the bingo numbers for 35 years now.

“We started way, way back, at The La Touche Hotel,” he smiles. “Before the town had electricity, I reckon, and year after year, after year, people just keep coming…”

Tonight, as it happens, marks the 10th anniversary of Mike’s Wednesday nights at The Beach House, and it’s clear that it’s still the highlight of the man’s week.

“It’s a second home, and a second family,” he says. “Through all the changes, through the ups and downs that life brings, it’s amazing to have these nights where we all forget our troubles and basically have a little party…

“It helps to keep me so young at heart…”

You can jump back to our July 2018 interview with Mike here, where he delves deeper into his pop star dreams.