The Palladium performance also kick-started his recording career. Between 1964 and 1973 Doonican was rarely out of the UK Singles Chart, his greatest successes including the singles "Walk Tall", "The Special Years", "Elusive Butterfly", "What Would I Be" (Decca), "If The Whole World Stopped Loving" (Pye), and "Morning" (Philips); and the albums "13 Lucky Shades of Val Doonican" (Decca), and "Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently" (Pye) which reached Number 1 in the UK Albums Chart in December 1967 and knocked the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper" off the top of the chart. The 1966 single release "Elusive Butterfly" reached a UK chart peak of #5 and #3 in Ireland. In all, he recorded over 50 albums. After a spell with Philips records in the seventies he also recorded for RCA. He also sang the theme song to the film "Ring of Bright Water".