Lyric fm's Breakfast show presenter - Marty Whelan.

HeidiHeidi · 19-03-2014 4:08pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I agree with this. I never hear anybody talking badly about the programme in the street.

I do have a big problem with Hugo and Daphne though. It's not on every day. And I think Marty should perform it twice in the programme because some days I have left the house before it starts. It's now only on three times a week.

And on the talk business - in the morning you can't be having wall to wall light classical music or people will go back to sleep. Today or yesterday Marty played the Sleepers' Wake and that got a great laugh in our house.

Must. Not. Engage.

jmcc · 19-03-2014 4:33pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I never hear anybody talking badly about the programme in the street.

Perhaps because nobody actually talks about the programme "in the street".

Regards...jmcc

HeidiHeidi · 19-03-2014 4:36pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I agree with this. I never hear anybody talking badly about the programme in the street.

I do have a big problem with Hugo and Daphne though. It's not on every day. And I think Marty should perform it twice in the programme because some days I have left the house before it starts. It's now only on three times a week.

And on the talk business - in the morning you can't be having wall to wall light classical music or people will go back to sleep. Today or yesterday Marty played the Sleepers' Wake and that got a great laugh in our house.

OK, I couldn't resist biting..... why not? Surely talk is equally soporific?

And as for the paragraph before that - so Marty's programme is to be arrange and delivered exclusively for you, yes? OK, at least we're all clear now.....

Onthe3rdDay · 19-03-2014 5:24pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised at this. I think at the time the only stations we could listen to legally were RTE so people who liked continuity music might well have enjoyed Network 2's technical transmissions.

The TAM ratings are now very carefully compiled and the figures are highly accurate as they have to be to please the advertising community that the particular programmes are directed at. And Marty Whelan's show is pulling in more and more people with every passing month. It's not at all as simple as one person not completing the survey skewing the stats.

That's not the case at all. In the 80's there was RTE Radio 1, RTE Radio 2 and FM3/RNaG. plus the BBC stations and all the pirates. You could also legally listen to anything else you could pick up. It wasn't illegal to listen to the pirates, which most people did.

The ratings figures are accurate once you have a certain amount listening, for example 25 percent of the listening population. However when you start going below 5 percent they're not accurate at all. You might have almost no one listening and still get 3 or 4 percent.

This is understood by everyone in the industry. When figures are that low one or two people can and do skew the stats. Have you noticed how there are almost no Ads on lyric. Agencies won't go near it because there's no real return they can measure.

Onthe3rdDay · 19-03-2014 5:30pm

jmcc wrote: »

And as for the TAM ratings, is it true that they ignored the UK/NI TV channels to inflate RTE's market share back then?

Regards...jmcc

It's more complicated than that. It seems that they surveyed houses across the country but with no bias towards more populated BBC receiving Areas, If you go looking for figures in Kerry, Clare and Galway at the time it was 100 percent RTE viewership because that's all they could get. That would then inflate the figures without any need to do anything else.

Harry Angstrom · 19-03-2014 5:36pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I agree with this. I never hear anybody talking badly about the programme in the street.

I do have a big problem with Hugo and Daphne though. It's not on every day. And I think Marty should perform it twice in the programme because some days I have left the house before it starts. It's now only on three times a week.

And on the talk business - in the morning you can't be having wall to wall light classical music or people will go back to sleep. Today or yesterday Marty played the Sleepers' Wake and that got a great laugh in our house.

Which is why Marty should be blasting out some Stravinsky and Mahler to get people out of bed, instead of playing Doris Day :pac:

HeidiHeidi · 19-03-2014 5:39pm

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Which is why Marty should be blasting out some Stravinsky and Mahler to get people out of bed, instead of playing Doris Day :pac:

1812 Overture timed to finish at 7.30am every weekday morning

Yvonne23R · 19-03-2014 5:44pm

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

It's more complicated than that. It seems that they surveyed houses across the country but with no bias towards more populated BBC receiving Areas, If you go looking for figures in Kerry, Clare and Galway at the time it was 100 percent RTE viewership because that's all they could get. That would then inflate the figures without any need to do anything else.

Listening to foreign stations didn't count because what matters is providing a forum for domestic talent, paying fees to Irish artists and generally supporting home grown industry. Pirates and external services didn't do anything for the Irish industry. See now how Marty Whelan provides a forum for up and coming talent as well as more mature performers like The Priests and the Celtic Tenors, for Cara O'Sullivan and for Vladimir. It's all about giving back and forming taste and keeping it in the country where we can. Or see the great work he does giving exposure to the Concert Orchestra under John Wilson who are doing a superb job now. Or Lesley Garrett when she was here last month. Or Seven Brides when it was in the Bord Gais. Or Chicago. He really keeps the spirits up for us all.

jmcc · 19-03-2014 5:45pm

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

It's more complicated than that. It seems that they surveyed houses across the country but with no bias towards more populated BBC receiving Areas, If you go looking for figures in Kerry, Clare and Galway at the time it was 100 percent RTE viewership because that's all they could get. That would then inflate the figures without any need to do anything else.

I'm not sure when Galway got cable television but Dublin had the largest cable TV net in Europe in the 1980s. Waterford also had cable TV since the early 1970s as did Cork. Once people got multi-channel TV, their viewing habits changed considerably.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc · 19-03-2014 5:48pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Listening to foreign stations didn't count because what matters is providing a forum for domestic talent, paying fees to Irish artists and generally supporting home grown industry. Pirates and external services didn't do anything for the Irish industry.

Absolute rubbish! The Pirates did more for Irish music than RTE ever did. They promoted local bands and local talent.

Regards...jmcc

HeidiHeidi · 19-03-2014 5:50pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Listening to foreign stations didn't count because what matters is providing a forum for domestic talent, paying fees to Irish artists and generally supporting home grown industry. Pirates and external services didn't do anything for the Irish industry. See now how Marty Whelan provides a forum for up and coming talent as well as more mature performers like The Priests and the Celtic Tenors, for Cara O'Sullivan and for Vladimir. It's all about giving back and forming taste and keeping it in the country where we can. Or see the great work he does giving exposure to the Concert Orchestra under John Wilson who are doing a superb job now. Or Lesley Garrett when she was here last month. Or Seven Brides when it was in the Bord Gais. Or Chicago. He really keeps the spirits up for us all.

You keep harping on about this, as if Marty was single-handedly holding up the entire domestic music scene.

But you never address the many posters who point out that you seem to be in a minority of one (or two if you count SaveOurLyric, which I don't) who appreciates Marty's inane, pointless and frankly stupid chatter.

Is this a democracy or not? Can we organise an uprising and get things changed?

Onthe3rdDay · 19-03-2014 6:01pm

jmcc wrote: »

I'm not sure when Galway got cable television but Dublin had the largest cable TV net in Europe in the 1980s. Waterford also had cable TV since the early 1970s as did Cork. Once people got multi-channel TV, their viewing habits changed considerably.

Regards...jmcc

I'd agree 100percent with this and they knew that in RTE and TAM as well. That's why for every 20 houses used in Dublin there would be double in areas were there was no Multi-Channel. Technically you could then show how popular RTE was. A bit like Tractor Production in the Soviet Union, or Marty on Lyric FM.

Onthe3rdDay · 19-03-2014 6:09pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Pirates and external services didn't do anything for the Irish industry.

Complete and utter Rubbish. Back in the 80's and up to today BBC Radio 4 commission New Irish Drama, BBC Radio 2 Plays New Irish Artists. Many who have been blocked by the National broadcaster down here get an Airing on BBC Radio Ulster.

As for the Pirates many of them provided a top notch Local service which RTE could never do. I remember WKLR in West Cork sending people over to London to record shows for Christmas. This was before the days of easy cheap communication.

I also Remember Several of the Pirates in Cork and in other Parts of the Country Having proper Classical Music Programmes. They would never play what Marty plays because no one would listen. If it was a 3 hour Classical programme there would be no mama's and papa's or Doris Day. Why? because it's not good radio.

Harry Angstrom · 19-03-2014 6:09pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Listening to foreign stations didn't count because what matters is providing a forum for domestic talent, paying fees to Irish artists and generally supporting home grown industry. Pirates and external services didn't do anything for the Irish industry. See now how Marty Whelan provides a forum for up and coming talent as well as more mature performers like The Priests and the Celtic Tenors, for Cara O'Sullivan and for Vladimir. It's all about giving back and forming taste and keeping it in the country where we can. Or see the great work he does giving exposure to the Concert Orchestra under John Wilson who are doing a superb job now. Or Lesley Garrett when she was here last month. Or Seven Brides when it was in the Bord Gais. Or Chicago. He really keeps the spirits up for us all.

The very reason why I question Lyric's remit. If I want to hear about "Seven Brides...." or Chicago, I'll put on The Derek Mooney Show, or I'll listen to Aedin Gormley's programme (which I usually try my best to avoid).

Lyric had a certain specific raison d'être when it was founded, but it seems to me that this has become compromised over the years. Marty is the very epitome of this compromisation - he wouldn't know his Satie from his Satisfaction.

Yvonne23R · 19-03-2014 7:03pm

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

The very reason why I question Lyric's remit. If I want to hear about "Seven Brides...." or Chicago, I'll put on The Derek Mooney Show, or I'll listen to Aedin Gormley's programme (which I usually try my best to avoid).

Lyric had a certain specific raison d'être when it was founded, but it seems to me that this has become compromised over the years. Marty is the very epitome of this compromisation - he wouldn't know his Satie from his Satisfaction.

Actually I think Aedin's programme is one of the stars of the schedule. She has such a lovely lovely voice for a start with crystal clear enunciation and a lovely personality on air. And it's another one that shows that Lyric is about more that just the fusty world of Beethoven and Brahms, who have their place on Friday nights with Paul Herriott of course. And Marty Whelan actually plays Satie quite a lot, in hour one: the Gymnopedies feature heavily. They're serious but palatable at that time of the morning.

Aedin shows that the music from the movies and the shows are just as much part of the Lyric remit as anything else. Up there with Reels to Ragas and The Blue of the Night, Nova and the nightly Friday Concert from the NCH. Hans Zimmer and Maz Styner are as big in musical circles today as Bach and Beethoven were in the nineteenth century; ask anyone who knows their music, or look at something like the BBC Music Magazine.

SaveOurLyric · 19-03-2014 7:36pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Listening to foreign stations didn't count because what matters is providing a forum for domestic talent, paying fees to Irish artists and generally supporting home grown industry. Pirates and external services didn't do anything for the Irish industry. See now how Marty Whelan provides a forum for up and coming talent as well as more mature performers like The Priests and the Celtic Tenors, for Cara O'Sullivan and for Vladimir. It's all about giving back and forming taste and keeping it in the country where we can. Or see the great work he does giving exposure to the Concert Orchestra under John Wilson who are doing a superb job now. Or Lesley Garrett when she was here last month. Or Seven Brides when it was in the Bord Gais. Or Chicago. He really keeps the spirits up for us all.

This. I couldn't put it better myself.
And when you add in what Marty has done for the Wexford Opera Festival, widening its audience beyond the cosy club it used to be, you appreciate what a professional to his fingertips he is, and the rich contribution that he makes to Irish musical life.

Calina · 19-03-2014 7:51pm

If Marty is so effective, could he please get a talking arts show not at 7am in the morning and do something to promote the Abbey Theatre which gets ca 7million a year versus the ca 2 million a year the NCH gets.

And stop pretending he does anything much about classical music. He doesn't.

Onthe3rdDay · 19-03-2014 7:55pm

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

This. I couldn't put it better myself.
And when you add in what Marty has done for the Wexford Opera Festival, widening its audience beyond the cosy club it used to be, you appreciate what a professional to his fingertips he is, and the rich contribution that he makes to Irish musical life.

Yvonne23R we may have found your long lost identical twin. When you put your comments and Save Our Lyrics Comments into a program to check words and phrases it turns out to be the same person

HeidiHeidi · 19-03-2014 8:00pm

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

Yvonne23R we may have found your long lost identical twin. When you put your comments and Save Our Lyrics Comments into a program to check words and phrases it turns out to be the same person

That's a scurrilous allegation :eek: I've got slapped on the wrist before for saying things like that.

But a not unreasonable one

(That's all I'm sayin'. For some strange reason I don't want to get banned from this thread. Although I should, just to give my head some peace.)

Onthe3rdDay · 19-03-2014 8:03pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

That's a scurrilous allegation :eek: I've got slapped on the wrist before for saying things like that.

But a not unreasonable one

(That's all I'm sayin'. For some strange reason I don't want to get banned from this thread. Although I should, just to give my head some peace.)

It's not at all, I'm just saying she might have a long lost twin:D

Yvonne23R · 19-03-2014 11:15pm

Calina wrote: »

If Marty is so effective, could he please get a talking arts show not at 7am in the morning and do something to promote the Abbey Theatre which gets ca 7million a year versus the ca 2 million a year the NCH gets.

And stop pretending he does anything much about classical music. He doesn't.

Well I don't think the Abbey needs Marty behind it because it has been going from strength to strength in recent years.

Marty Whelan is an expert on opera, Italian opera especially. He doesn't claim to be an expert on other kinds of classical. But that's how he bonds with the lsiteners because he's on the same level as us. He's exploring the repertory with us, inch by inch and row by row. There's a place for real experts like Liz Nolan, George Hamilton, Lorcan and even Trish Taylor, but it's the people Like Marty, Gay, Aedin, and Paul Herriott who are somewhat feeling their way along who give Lyric FM its special feel of being on the same level as the common listener like ourselves.

It doesn't claim to be a museum like the BBC Radio 3 service. And it's not a university or a school of music. It's showbusiness like the DIT Conservatory, the Bord Gais and all. It's more lively and mixed. I often think that it's like waking up with a lucky bag or a jukebox on random play when Marty comes on in the morning. Marty's whole aim is to shine sunshine up on us and he does. And the rapidly rising listener numbers prove this inconclusively.

HeidiHeidi · 19-03-2014 11:22pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Well I don't think the Abbey needs Marty behind it because it has been going from strength to strength in recent years.

Marty Whelan is an expert on opera, Italian opera especially. He doesn't claim to be an expert on other kinds of classical. But that's how he bonds with the lsiteners because he's on the same level as us. He's exploring the repertory with us, inch by inch and row by row. There's a place for real experts like Liz Nolan, George Hamilton, Lorcan and even Trish Taylor, but it's the people Like Marty, Gay, Aedin, and Paul Herriott who are somewhat feeling their way along who give Lyric FM its special feel of being on the same level as the common listener like ourselves.

It doesn't claim to be a museum like the BBC Radio 3 service. And it's not a university or a school of music. It's showbusiness like the DIT Conservatory, the Bord Gais and all. It's more lively and mixed. I often think that it's like waking up with a lucky bag or a jukebox on random play when Marty comes on in the morning. Marty's whole aim is to shine sunshine up on us and he does. And the rapidly rising listener numbers prove this inconclusively.

Well i don't know about you, but I'm a grumpy cow when i wake up, and the last thing I want to hear is Marty wittering on with his drivel about Daphne, and his lame jokes. I don't want sunshine in the morning, I'd quite like some nice music and some coffee. I can sort the coffee myself (just about), it'd be nice if Lyric FM would provide what we pay them to provide - the music. There are about fifteen other chat stations on the go in the morning, is it too much to ask that Lyric (LYRIC - the clue is in the name!) plays some music?

ETA - And what's this about rapidly rising listener numbers? I strongly suspect that you and SaveOurLyric are the only Marty listeners left!

Onthe3rdDay · 20-03-2014 12:18am

Yvonne23R wrote: »

And the rapidly rising listener numbers prove this inconclusively.

Firs time I've been able to agree with Yvonne23R:D

On a more serious note, If Lyric doesn't claim to be a museum like BBC Radio 3, why do Producers and spokespeople from Lyric always compare the station to Radio 3?

jmcc · 20-03-2014 11:40am

Yvonne23R wrote: »

It doesn't claim to be a museum like the BBC Radio 3 service.

But it does have out of place artifacts like Marty Whelan and Gay Byrne. Strange that.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc · 20-03-2014 12:07pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Marty Whelan is an expert on opera, Italian opera especially.

Really? He has a few CDs, has he? It seems that he impressed some RTE management droid with his "knowledge" of Opera but that story is probably public relations spin for dumping yet another failed RTE DJ into Lyric FM as a digout. Perhaps when Tubridy's figures fall low enough, he will be dumped into Lyric FM with a books review programme.

If your beloved Marty is such an expert on Opera then why didn't the RTE management give him his own programme on Opera? Simple question.

Regards...jmcc

Calina · 20-03-2014 12:12pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

It doesn't claim to be a museum like the BBC Radio 3 service.

BBC Radio 3 is not a museum. Nor is Classic FM. They are specialist music stations. The sort of specialist music that regularly fills the NCH, for example.

I am at a loss to understand how you justify It's My Life by Bon Jovi on any Lyric FM show given that Lyric has traditionally had a specialist remit.

I mean, it gets played on 4FM, 2FM and probably every single local station in the country.

Yvonne23R · 20-03-2014 12:23pm

Calina wrote: »

BBC Radio 3 is not a museum. Nor is Classic FM. They are specialist music stations. The sort of specialist music that regularly fills the NCH, for example.

I am at a loss to understand how you justify It's My Life by Bon Jovi on any Lyric FM show given that Lyric has traditionally had a specialist remit.

I mean, it gets played on 4FM, 2FM and probably every single local station in the country.

I think the answer is that it's played probably because Lyric wants to appeal to normal people as well as to people with limited musical taste. It's all about linking people together because all music is as good as any other. It's a mistake to claim that the heavy classical is better than the rest. It's just older - and a lot of it is old hat and forgotten. The music that gets played is only a small fraction of all the classical there has been. A lot of the dreary stuff never gets used in films or on adverts and so it's forgotten.

Music has moved on so Lyric is covering the whole run of music from Beethoven to Bacharach and up to Bon Jovi and even beyond. We can't stay stuck in the past. Otherwise where will the young listeners to Lyric come from???

HeidiHeidi · 20-03-2014 12:30pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I think the answer is that it's played probably because Lyric wants to appeal to normal people as well as to people with limited musical taste. It's all about linking people together because all music is as good as any other. It's a mistake to claim that the heavy classical is better than the rest. It's just older - and a lot of it is old hat and forgotten. The music that gets played is only a small fraction of all the classical there has been. A lot of the dreary stuff never gets used in films or on adverts and so it's forgotten.

Music has moved on so Lyric is covering the whole run of music from Beethoven to Bacharach and up to Bon Jovi and even beyond. We can't stay stuck in the past. Otherwise where will the young listeners to Lyric come from???

Well by this logic 2FM should be playing the Four Seasons Concerto and a bit of Mozart and Stravinsky and Ravel every now and then, because "all music is as good as any other". Then we'll wind up with a load of generic stations, all playing all sorts of music and with no differentiation at all between them. What's the point of that?

Radio stations are aimed at different markets, that's why there's more than one of them.

Lyric used to be aimed at those with an interest in classical music (ie me), 2FM was aimed at those with more of a taste for Bon Jovi (ie not me). I'm indulging in gross generalalisation there, but you get my drift.

Why is it suddenly Lyric's aim to appeal to EVERYONE, resulting in them apparently appealing to no-one apart from Yvonne and her clones?

ETA - and "Lyric wants to appeal to normal people" does it? So what does that make the rest of us? Abnormal?

Calina · 20-03-2014 12:38pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I think the answer is that it's played probably because Lyric wants to appeal to normal people as well as to people with limited musical taste.

Do you have any idea how ignorant, insulting and condescending this sounds? Do you seriously think I have a limited musical taste? If you do, you are wrong. But this is not surprising.

Additionally, normality is not defined by what music people listen to.

Yvonne23R wrote: »

It's all about linking people together because all music is as good as any other. It's a mistake to claim that the heavy classical is better than the rest.

I have never claimed this. I have said I want to hear classical music and classical music only on the supposedly classical music station in the country because I can listen to dad rock on almost every other radio station in the country any time of the day.

Yvonne23R wrote: »

It's just older - and a lot of it is old hat and forgotten.

Most of Beethoven's music has had a longer shelf life than Duran Duran. The fact that you think it is old hat and forgotten suggests that you could perhaps go and listen to 4FM as that seems to be the music you want to listen to.

Yvonne23R wrote: »

The music that gets played is only a small fraction of all the classical there has been.

On Marty's show this is definitely true

Yvonne23R wrote: »

A lot of the dreary stuff never gets used in films or on adverts and so it's forgotten.

You're clearly not qualified to comment.

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Music has moved on so Lyric is covering the whole run of music from Beethoven to Bacharach and up to Bon Jovi and even beyond.

Again with the insults.

Yvonne23R wrote: »

We can't stay stuck in the past. Otherwise where will the young listeners to Lyric come from???

The station is not age driven. It was never designed as a station for people of a certain age, but of a certain taste in music.

Yvonne23R · 20-03-2014 1:59pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

all music is as good as any other

ETA - and "Lyric wants to appeal to normal people" does it? So what does that make the rest of us? Abnormal?

What does ETA mean? I'm confused.

HeidiHeidi · 20-03-2014 2:05pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

What does ETA mean? I'm confused.

Edited to add

What about all the other points lots of us have raised? Are you ever going to address those? Or just tell us again how much you love Daphne and how Marty Appealing to the Masses (sic) is a good thing, when clearly we disagree and have actually justified our points of view?

Yvonne23R · 20-03-2014 2:12pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Edited to add

What about all the other points lots of us have raised? Are you ever going to address those? Or just tell us again how much you love Daphne and how Marty Appealing to the Masses (sic) is a good thing, when clearly we disagree and have actually justified our points of view?

My researchers tell me that Daphne may not be a real person, so I'm not likely to love her.

(If I loved anyone I think it would be Myrtle, who has a bit of spirits.

) Marty Whelan is giving us a fantasy soap opera on radio the like of which hasn't been aired before or maybe ever I'd say.:)

I don't know how I could open closed minds who have limited musical horizons but you seem to want me to try. Do you know that Dame Very Lynne has released a new album today aged almost 100? I picked this nugget up from the show. Where else would you become aware of that kind of musical detail, I ask you?

Today the show started with Greensleeves second, and that was so suitable to the time of the morning with the storm still roaring outside. :(I heard very little of it after about 7.30 but what I heard was good. Something for everyone in the audience is what it's all about on Marty's Show.:cool:

SaveOurLyric · 20-03-2014 2:17pm

Anyone who was on last year's Italy trip will testify to the great depth of knowledge Marty has of opera - he is a real specialist in Italian opera.
Join the trip to Berlin and you might learn a think or two about opera appreciation!

HeidiHeidi · 20-03-2014 2:18pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

My researchers tell me that Daphne may not be a real person, so I'm not likely to love her. (If I loved anyone I think it would be Myrtle, who has a bit of spirits. ) Marty Whelan is giving us a fantasy soap opera on radio the like of which hasn't been aired before or maybe ever I'd say.:)

I don't know how I could open closed minds who have limited musical horizons but you seem to want me to try. Do you know that Dame Very Lynne has released a new album today aged almost 100? I picked this nugget up from the show. Where else would you become aware of that kind of musical detail, I ask you?

Today the show started with Greensleeves second, and that was so suitable to the time of the morning with the storm still roaring outside. :(I heard very little of it after about 7.30 but what I heard was good. Something for everyone in the audience is what it's all about on Marty's Show.:cool:

OK, on the basis of this rubbish, I'm out. Good luck to the rest of ye.

Yvonne23R wrote: »

What does ETA mean? I'm confused.

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

Thanks. Poor me trying to think how Estimated Time of Arrival made sense there !

Are you mixing up your accounts there by any chance Yvonne/SOL??? Your ninja edit was just a teeny bit too late

Rubberchikken · 20-03-2014 2:20pm

i'm one of those people who isn't au fait with classical music like so many are, but lyric has opened my ears to such wonderful music and brilliant presenters that i listen to this station above all others.
love listening to john kelly in the afternoons, could listen to his voice forever;)
aideen gormley plays great music from movies/stage, and she sounds such a pleasant/knowledgeable person.

love love marty. the man is a joy. he should be cloned and spread around the other radio stations, esp 4fm, which i did attempt to listen to but don't have that much patience.

big fan of daphne and myrtle btw. keep it going marty::D

yosser hughes · 20-03-2014 2:22pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Marty Whelan is an expert on opera, Italian opera especially.

No he is not. He can read a CD sleeve.

jmcc · 20-03-2014 2:30pm

yosser hughes wrote: »

No he is not. He can read a CD sleeve.

Wonder if he thinks that Tony Vivaldi is a character on The Sopranos?

Was it Yvonne or Marty who thought that Vivaldi was called 'the red priest' because he wore a red cloak?

Regards...jmcc

Yvonne23R · 20-03-2014 2:31pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Are you mixing up your accounts there by any chance Yvonne/SOL??? Your ninja edit was just a teeny bit too late

Is this a closed shop where only people who want to criticise Lyric FM are tolerated? It seems that there are accusations sloshing around that because several people are supporting the station they are all the same person. This is an ugly suggestion.

If it is meant only for criticism and snobbery please put a note on the Board that this is so and all reasonable people will know and keep away.

jmcc · 20-03-2014 2:35pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Is this a closed shop where only people who want to criticise Lyric FM are tolerated?

This is where people who listen to radio post. And they don't seem to like your beloved Marty and his MOTR schlock on a Classical station.

It seems that there are accusations sloshing around that because several people are supporting the station they are all the same person. This is an ugly suggestion.

There was an incident where another fanatical Martydom account accidentally replied to one of your posts as you. The only one continually defending him here is you. Then there was the personas issue. (The "ordinary" housewife who was a fan of Marty and who knew nothing of broadcast and its technology suddenly acquiring a lot of industry specific vocabulary.)

Regards...jmcc

Yvonne23R · 20-03-2014 3:50pm

jmcc wrote: »

This is where people who listen to radio post. And they don't seem to like your beloved Marty and his MOTR schlock on a Classical station.
The only one continually defending him here is you.
Regards...jmcc

I think the problem for the critics here is that more and more people in the street and here appreciate what Lyric FM is doing. Have you seen that special profile in the Sunday Times Culture magazine about Lyric? And all the fine things that were said? It speaks volumes.

jmcc · 20-03-2014 4:03pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I think the problem for the critics here is that more and more people in the street and here appreciate what Lyric FM is doing.

No they don't. Marty is an irrelevance - a failed 2FM DJ who just wasn't getting the figures. The management apparently fired him while he was on holidays. Now that's cold but then he had lost so many listeners that it was eating into advertising revenue. People are more likely to listen to their local radio stations or Tubridy or whatever aural space filler is available. His Tesco voiceover ad probably has a bigger audience than his radio programme.

Have you seen that special profile in the Sunday Times Culture magazine about Lyric? And all the fine things that were said? It speaks volumes.

Quite a non-committal piece that was not at all complimentary to Marty and Lyric's management. However you seem to keep trying to spin it as a great success because the article is behind a paywall and most people cannot access it.

Regards...jmcc

yosser hughes · 20-03-2014 4:53pm

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I think the problem for the critics here is that more and more people in the street and here appreciate what Lyric FM is doing. Have you seen that special profile in the Sunday Times Culture magazine about Lyric? And all the fine things that were said? It speaks volumes.

I read it, it was not complimentary to Marty at all, so why are you trying to say otherwise? This has already been pointed out to you earlier. Why would you try to distort the truth? What is the matter?
It's bizarre behaviour for an adult.

Yvonne23R · 20-03-2014 4:54pm

jmcc wrote: »

...... probably has a bigger audience than his radio programme.

... all complimentary to Marty and Lyric's management.

Regards...jmcc

I imagine Marty Whelan's television work on the Winning Streak probably has a larger audience than the Marty Whelan Show on radio - but that's in the nature of the medium. I imagine also that there's a lot of crossover between the two because one supports and advertises the other.

But this thread is about the Marty show on radio.

Regards ...

HeidiHeidi · 20-03-2014 4:58pm

Has anyone got a link to the ST piece? Or is it completly paywalled?

When was it - I have a few culchur magazines left over around the house - I wouldn't mind reading it to see where I've been going wrong, maybe the journalist will succeed where Yvonne has so far failed in converting me to the wonders of Marty's Mediocrity

jmcc · 20-03-2014 5:09pm

Cutting words out of posts to make it seem like they agree with you? Textual analysis of your posts seems to indicate that the words and styling are possibly from a male. It was only a simple program with a limited amount of input text.

Does your beloved Marty play much Opera on his show given that he is considered an "expert"? And if not why not?

Regards...jmcc

jmcc · 20-03-2014 5:12pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Has anyone got a link to the ST piece? Or is it completly paywalled?

Think it is from a few weeks ago and covered the direction of LyricFM and how it was its way It would probably be paywalled.

When was it - I have a few culchur magazines left over around the house - I wouldn't mind reading it to see where I've been going wrong, maybe the journalist will succeed where Yvonne has so far failed in converting me to the wonders of Marty's Mediocrity

It was like the journo had the unfortunate task of having to listen to Mediocrity In The Morning as part of her research.

Regards...jmcc

HeidiHeidi · 20-03-2014 5:20pm

Haha, found the start of it (it is paywalled :mad:)

<<What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus. Last Tuesday, Marty Whelan read out this schoolboyish joke on Marty in the Morning, his RTE Lyric fm show. It was a typical example of the type of facile gag with which, in an all-too-obvious attempt to win over casual listeners, the Dublin presenter peppers his self-consciously chummy programme. A fast-paced blend of witticisms, middlebrow works, giggly traffic reports and easy-listening numbers from contemporary artists such as Van Morrison and Ennio Morricone, the determinedly populist show is not going down well with some classical-music devotees. For the purists Whelan and to a lesser extent the station’s other “celebrity DJs”, including George Hamilton and Gay Byrne, personify the dumbing down of Lyric.>>

Bold emphasis is mine.

How could anyone POSSIBLY construe that as being even slightly complimentary to Marty, never mind praising him

Seriously? Come back from cloud-cuckoo-land, Yvonne.

(Qualifier - I haven't read the whole article, but I'm assuming the author didn't do a 180 handbrake turn in paragraph 3

)

goose2005 · 20-03-2014 5:39pm

Flicking through stations, came onto Lyric just as he cued up the theme tune to Last of the Summer Wine. No comment.

Onthe3rdDay · 20-03-2014 6:08pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Haha, found the start of it (it is paywalled :mad:)

<<What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus. Last Tuesday, Marty Whelan read out this schoolboyish joke on Marty in the Morning, his RTE Lyric fm show. It was a typical example of the type of facile gag with which, in an all-too-obvious attempt to win over casual listeners, the Dublin presenter peppers his self-consciously chummy programme. A fast-paced blend of witticisms, middlebrow works, giggly traffic reports and easy-listening numbers from contemporary artists such as Van Morrison and Ennio Morricone, the determinedly populist show is not going down well with some classical-music devotees. For the purists Whelan and to a lesser extent the station’s other “celebrity DJs”, including George Hamilton and Gay Byrne, personify the dumbing down of Lyric.>>

Bold emphasis is mine.

How could anyone POSSIBLY construe that as being even slightly complimentary to Marty, never mind praising him

Seriously? Come back from cloud-cuckoo-land, Yvonne.

(Qualifier - I haven't read the whole article, but I'm assuming the author didn't do a 180 handbrake turn in paragraph 3 )

I did read the article at a friends house and It looked like a piece that Lyric suggested but the journalist did silly things to upset the apple cart, Like listening to Marty for a morning and actually talking to people with an opinion. I didn't agree with every comment in the piece but it was a real kick in the teeth for lyric. The last paragraph or two were more upbeat about the station, but you could see why they were thrown in. It would have looked very negative otherwise.

HeidiHeidi · 20-03-2014 6:14pm

OK - found the magazine and read the whole article. It's not as condemnatory of Marty all the way through as in the first paragraphs I quoted - but it certainly ain't a glowing tribute either.

The only ones even attempting to justify the shambles that is Marty in the Morning its producer and the head of Lyric - hardly a surprise there. All of the others quoted in the article - including a professor of music in UCC and a contemporary composer - seem to recognise the problem in the dumbing down of the station. They have the height of praise for the stations specialist programmes, while damning the likes of Marty and Classic Drive with faint praise.

I enjoy Classic Drive - it's popular stuff, but at least it sticks to the brief and it's music, not the presenter on an ego-trip.

George Hamilton also comes in for a bit of stick - although I quite enjoy his programmes when he sticks to the music and not the football puns, he clearly knows his stuff.

John Kelly, although he's a bit out-there for my taste, also clearly knows his stuff, and I have no objection to him whatsoever - I simply don't listen as it's not what I enjoy (most of the time).

It's the total waste of the two hours at prime time in the morning to stupid jokes and drivel and clearly non-classical/art music on a station that is meant to be a classical/art music station that galls me.

Did I say I was out earlier :rolleyes: