DONAGHADEE couple Trevor and Margaret Burns have shared the best of tunes and the best of times over the course of their happy 60-year marriage.
The couple have travelled the world performing on the showband and cabaret circuits, most famously as Margo and the Marvettes in the 1960s and later as Take Two.
They retired just seven years ago after a lifetime on the road, performing with some of the biggest names of the day.
“One of the nicest gentlemen we met and worked with was Matt Monro and Ben E King was a fabulous, lovely man,” says Trevor, adding that they also performed with the original Drifters line-up.
The couple recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family and friends over a meal at Grace Neill’s.
There was plenty to reminisce about since their first meeting in 1959 when both Trevor and Margaret worked at Cyril Lord’s carpet factory in Donaghadee.
Romance blossomed and in 1959 the couple formed Margo and The Marvettes, with Trevor on guitar and Margaret on lead vocals.
They became a well known fixture on the Irish showband circuit, performing chart hits for the movers and groovers who gathered at the hugely popular dance halls of the day.
They also toured many of the American military bases in Germany, performing for the troops.
Trevor and Margaret relocated to Spain and London for a time but returned home to Donaghadee where they were married at the Parish Church on September 18, 1965.
By this stage they had become recording artists having cut some singles in London and later, in 1981, Margaret had a hit with the song, Behind the Footlights.
Margo and the Marvettes split up as a band in 1969 and Margaret and Trevor rebranded themselves as the duo, Take Two.
Said Trevor: “We wanted to travel the world so we went to Australia, Africa, South Africa, America, Italy, France and Germany.”
With the move away from the showband era, the couple adapted their act for the burgeoning cabaret circuit, performing at nightclubs around England, Scotland and Wales.
The couple have been back living in their hometown of Donaghadee for the past 13 years, the place where their love for each other and for their career in music, first began.
