NOW that the faces of hunky hit makers Boyzone are embedded in our national consciousness, let us not forget the youthful looking visage of the man who masterminded Ireland's biggest teeny pop sensation.
Without Louis Walsh there would be no Boyzone since the band was his idea in the first: place. According to business partner John Reynolds, who owns Dublin's POD nightclub, the concept for Boyzone took seed when the pair went to see British chart sensations Take That at Dublin's Point Theatre, and Walsh remarked: "You know, we could do this."
Later, in the VIP room at the POD, Walsh announced his plans to create an Irish rival to Take That. And that, as they say, was that.
But he didn't just arrive on the last bandwagon. A veteran of the Irish showband scene. Walsh has been in the business since the early 1970s when he came to Dublin from his native Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, to work for booking agent Tommy Hayden.
Walsh may have been the youngest and least experienced booking agent on the scene at the time, but he quickly gained a reputation as one of the most dynamic entrepreneurs around.
Shay Healy remembers Walsh from those innocent days before megastars and multi media, as editor of Starlight magazine, Shay had regular dealings with the young Mr Walsh, who seemed to have practically every showband in town on his books.
"Louis had a bizarre system of doing business," recalls Healy. "He'd arrive in the office at four in the afternoon, nip into Cora's on Mary's Road for a bite to eat, then work flat out until 10 o'clock with three or four phones going at the one time."
He was also "the most assiduous, unselfish agent in the business. He was always prepared to give you a break".
Walsh worked with two of Ireland's Eurovision winners, Johnny Logan and Linda Martin, and was there in the background when each walked off with the coveted Grand Prix. This was Walsh's first taste of the international stage - until then he had been firmly a product of the showband scene.
In those days, artistic credibility and long term development were anathema to the business; no one was willing to sacrifice short term gains in favour of long term rewards. The prevailing attitude was: get the gigs now because it could be all over next week.
In many ways, this attitude carried over into the concept of Boyzone. Walsh has been quoted as saying that his pet pop project was never meant to last more than a couple of years.
So far Walsh has been proved wrong at the end of their second year. Boyzone are firmly ensconced in the British Top Ten with Father and Son, and they're getting bigger by the minute.
"I think Louis was always happy enough with his Irish horizons," says Shay Healy, "but I don't think he anticipated how big Boyzone would become. This is a big test for him, and he's got to rise to the challenge. But everyone in the business is thrilled for him."
Bill Hughes of Radius Television, who made the last five Boyzone videos and also the long form Said And Done video, believes that Walsh's instinct and sense of humour will keep him afloat in the high seas of international pop success.
He hates earnestness he hates the tortured artist syndrome, he hates anything that smacks of negativity, says Hughes.
There's nothing tortured or negative about Boyzone's eternally happy pop tunes, all of which are hand picked by Walsh. Although the group is now writing some of its own material (aided by composer Ray Hedges), it's the carefully chosen cover versions which provide Boyzone with their most memorable hits.
"He's the best picker of a pop tune I've ever met," says John Reynolds. "I remember when he played me the original of Love Me For A Reason (by The Osmonds), and he just said: `This is the single that's going to be mega for Boyzone'."
Louis Walsh may have transcended his showband roots to become a major player on the international pop scene, but he's still inextricably linked with the homegrown scene of his past.
He now manages Irish dance pop act Who's Eddie?, the 1990s equivalent of a Chips or Miami showband, who sold out every cabaret and disco around the country on a regular basis.
But unlike the old days the stakes are much higher, the arenas bigger, and the rewards almost limitless. If Walsh continues to play the game with the same combination of shrewdness and integrity which marked his career at home, then he may well find the key to success.
He will, however continue to shy away from the spotlight: as his long time friends John Reynolds and Bill Hughes testify, Walsh prefers to remain firmly in the wings, satisfied to watch his proteges conquer the world.
"He loves to put people out in the spotlight," says Hughes, "and he loves to sink into the background. He's the classic background boy".
