The Saw Doctors Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

The members of The Saw Doctors: from left, Kevin Duffy, Davy Carlton, Rickie O’Neill, Leo Moran (front) and Anthony Thistlethwaite. (The Saw Doctors)

Quiz time: Which song did voters in Ireland pick as their favorite pop tune of all time?

If you picked U2′s “One” or Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” or Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town,” you’re wrong.

“I Usta Lover” by The Saw Doctors is Ireland’s best selling single – ever – topping the charts for nine weeks in 1990.

In fact, for a quarter century this band from Tuam, County Galway, has been making music worth raising a pint to. They’ve had 18 top 30 singles in Ireland, including three chart toppers.

With St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in full swing, The Saw Doctors is touring the U.S. with its new album 25:25, which features 25 tracks commemorating 25 years in the business.

Lead guitarist Leo Moran told Here & Now’s Robin Young that the band never tires of playing in America.

“When you’re growing up writing songs in a small town in the west of Ireland, it would be beyond your wildest dreams that those songs would bring you to America, the home of rock and roll, where when you’re driving around every sign on the highway is like a song. It’s a great excitement, and it still is, even after so many trips,” he said.

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The Saw Doctors: “I Useta Lover”

Guest:

• Leo Moran, founding member and lead guitarist for The Saw Doctors.