Mark Cagney's Nightrain (2FM in the 80s)

Drag00n79

I was thinking of this 2FM show the other night. It used to be my nightly listening (up to 01.50) back in the mid-eighties. Cagney really suited nighttime radio. Afterwards Mike Maloney tried to do somethnig similar and while his show was ok it was not in the same class as Cagney's IMHO. I was trying to remember what bands/singers and songs Mark used to play a lot of. What I recall is lots of Prefab Sprout, Robert Cray, JJ Cale, The Doors' 'Riders on the Storm' and The Blue Nile's 'A Walk Across the Rooftops'. Can other people remember what was played a lot on that show? Pity the guy is lost to radio nowadays.

mike65

Radio 2s little slice of "classic American FM" radio. The kind of thing that would never stand a chance of being commissioned now but is exactly what 2fm should be doing.

Mike.

Cooee

Mark after Dark!

Remember hearing stuff like Cocteau Twins and he seemed to play a lot of the Sting stuff (I think - Dream of the Blue Turtles?) and what was that song he played to end the show, the one on something like a tin whistle?

Sponge Bob

That tin whistle tune was actually a LOW Whistle tune and came off the classic instrumental Moving Hearts album The Storm

My favourite one was a new flash/bulletin about a train smash somewhere between dublin and cork and with dead people and all and then just after the news flash the ident jingle goes Nigggghhhhhht Traaaaaaaaaaaain . .

Just the once , then they stopped jingling for the rest of the program

And after 1am they would play about 40mins of music in one straight set no yabbering or ads or jingles. For Ireland in the 1980s it was an excellent program. Please bring him back to us in 2006. 2fm never improved on or matched Marks program in their after 1am slots , not in the past 20 years .

Some of it was absolutely great, I remember 40 mins of classic Bob Marley tunes one night as I drove down from Dublin.

robo

I don't remember Mark Cagney, but Mike Moloney...I loved his show and guests. He used to have bands on and does anyone remember Emilia Go-Lightly????

Wishbone Ash

Yes, I loved it too - midnight to 1.50am. Preceded by 'Lights Out' 10pm to 12mn with Gerry Ryan (before he became an idiot) and before that Dave Fanning 8pm to 10pm.

Big Tone

Shamrok wrote:

Can other people remember what was played a lot on that show? Pity the guy is lost to radio nowadays.

Plenty of Donald Fagan "IGY" and most tracks from The Nightfly LP from 1982, lots of Chris Rea (when he was good) with "Love Strange Ways", "Let it loose" and the 12" version of "I can hear your heartbeat".

One track that still stands out is "When Sly Calls (dont touch that phone) by Michael Franks from the 1983 Passion Fruit LP, another outstanding introduction courtesy of Mr Mark Cagney (when he was good etc etc).

mike65

The Nightfly is a total classic though I suspect it appealed to night owl DJs for reasons other than its quality. It nearly makes a DJ sound noble on the title track!

Mike.

DMC

robo wrote:

does anyone remember Emilia Go-Lightly????

/me nods. And I preferred Moloney after Midnight.

Someone has WAYYY to much time on their hands!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilia_Golightly

Greenman

Remember Pat Kenny on RTE radio before Radio 2 and "Night Bus" That was a good show when didn't know much.

mike65

Pat Kenny did The Outside Track which was album music on a Sunday if I recall rightly.

Mike.

byte

DMC wrote:

/me nods. And I preferred Moloney after Midnight.

Someone has WAYYY to much time on their hands!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilia_Golightly

LOL. That brings back some memories!

Greenman

mike65 wrote:

Pat Kenny did The Outside Track which was album music on a Sunday if I recall rightly.

Mike.

That was on Radio 2.

essdee

At one stage on the programme Mark Cagney did a few nights of soul music (Soul Train) where he went through the alphabet playing some of the icons of soul music. My brother recorded them on an old C90 (which we still have!). Some of the tracks on it include
Hanging up my heart just for you (Solomon Burke)
Please Please Please (DOn't Go) and Get up off of that thing(James Brown)
Let's Groove (Earth Wind and Fire)
Do you Love Me (Now that I can dance), The Contours
Easy Like Sunday Morning (Commodores)
You Send Me (Sam Cooke)
Duke of Earl (Gene Chandler)
Sweet Soul Music (Arthur Connelly)
Memphis Soul Stew (King Curtis)
Working in a Coal Mine (Lee Dorsey)
Do Right Woman, Say a Little Prayer and Respect (Aretha Franklin)
etc. etc.

Overall it was a great introduction to the magic of soul music delivered with Cagney's rich voice and deep knowledge of music

murray sparkle

I really don't wa t to sound like one of those 'they don't make 'em like they used to' heads, but for once people on here are right - Mark Cagney's Night train was quite simply the best radio show on Irish radio in the 80's and since. I started listening from about 85 onwards as an 11 year old. Whilst everyone in my class in primary school was yapping on about Queen and ACDC and U2 I was taping (Oops!) Michael Franks 'When Sly Calls', loads of China Crisis, Brook Benton 'Rainy Night In Georgia', 'Right Next Door (Because of Me) by Robert Cray, 'Tinseltown In The Rain' by The Blue Nile, 'Racing In The Streets' by Springsteen and countless others. Needless to say it was thanks to Mr C that I developed an obsession with Donald Fagen and Steely Dan.

I met him for a few seconds about three years ago and for a few moments wrestled with the thought of going up to him and saying how much I loved the show back then and was about to say 'sod it' - but I went up to him, shook his hand and said a very brief thanks for everything - and thanks for the musical education and he seemed genuinely chuffed. Nice man!

2FM, being the home of great programming ideas (remember Maxi on breakfast!) put Cagney on at Drivetime in the 88/89 time scale. It was called Mr C for Tea! He had all the traffic ****e and stuff but still managed to play When Sly Calls from time to time and ended his last 2FM show with 'Wake Up and Make Love to Me' by Ian Dury and Co. He left on the same night that Marty Whelan left to go to Century.

Oh! He always played that thirteen minute version of The River from the Springsteen box set!

Sadly with radio programmed to within an inch of its life now the chances of ever getting a station like that are nil, the chances of getting a widely available show like that are minimal.

What amazes me is this - there are still millions of people buying CD's, downloading illegally or legally every week in this country, yet the programmers still think that we all want to haer the same 70 songs over and over again. In the off peak hours it's all alternative stuff- there's no show that plays those 80's album tracks mixed with the best new stuff, soul, classic artists all presented with engaging chat - nothing at all. The closest that I have found is the Bob Harris show on BBC Radio 2, but I'd love to listen to Cagney doing a show like that any night!

mike65

Tis a good lament! (and yes everyone on this thread is heading into the Grumpy Old Men cohort). The nonsence is that the demographic shift is such that the kind of 70/80s quality retro music we love should have an obvious audience and its one radio has'nt spotted - still in thrawl to the 15-25 age group for whom music is 'buzzin', 'bad' and 'savage'.

Excuse me while I brew the kettle for some Horlicks.

Mike.

legspin

I have always been a fan of late night radio. Mr C and Mike Moloney on 2fm, Radio Luxembourg (RIP) and now Donal Dineen on Todayfm.

Greenman

legspin wrote:

I have always been a fan of late night radio. Mr C and Mike Moloney on 2fm, Radio Luxembourg (RIP) and now Donal Dineen on Todayfm.

Remember Paul Vincent on ARD, yes that was great late night radio.

Vincent Stuart on Big D.

Oh those were the days.

legspin

Greenman wrote:

Remember Paul Vincent on ARD, yes that was great late night radio.

Vincent Stuart on Big D.

Oh those were the days.

Unfortunatly I lived in the sticks. Couldn't get the Dublin pirates.:(

mentalson

Well we'd really like to stay with you longer
Cause everything was feeling so right
but till we meet again in the morning
this is RTE Radio 2 wishing you a good good night

Dudess

I was only a nipper in the eighties so the radio would firmly be switched off once the Hotline with Barry Lang was over (:D) but, wow, if I'd been the right age I would have loved that Mark Cagney show. Sounds class. Still raging over that other show with "Train" in the title which was dumped from Radio 1 recently to make way for their "brilliant" new schedule. :rolleyes:
And I've wanted to know for a long time who sang When Sly Calls. Now I've found out, I've never heard of him in my life. But cheers anyway.

CLADA

A serious blast from the past there lads, are there any real oldies who in their teens listened to the programme Cagneys night train replaced? Am I right in thinking it was Declan Meehan...old,new,borrowed, blue quiz etc..

p.s heres a link for when sly calls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTpXhrWBSAs

Sponge Bob

not in the same league at all there was far too much talk on that show where Cagney had no ads and no prattle , just the facts

there used to be a damn fine Dublin pirate contemporaneous with Cagney, was it Capitol or Capital radio.

gernon

I loved Cagney on the Nightrain , played lots of Eagles , Steely Dan and Chris Rea. Pity he became a bit of a tit on TV3's morning show.

Firetrap

gernon wrote:

I loved Cagney on the Nightrain , played lots of Eagles , Steely Dan and Chris Rea. Pity he became a bit of a tit on TV3's morning show.

Going anywhere near TV3 is a one-way ticket to titdom. I remember Martin King and "Our Man" Aidan Cooney from 98FM and don't remember them being so annoying back then.

The old Mark after Dark show was always good for falling asleep to. Plus, he probably single-handedly kept the Blue Nile going through royalties from airplay.

Drag00n79

murray sparkle wrote:

The closest that I have found is the Bob Harris show on BBC Radio 2, but I'd love to listen to Cagney doing a show like that any night!

Very true, murray sparkle. Bob is indeed the only one I can think of whose show resembles the style of Cagney's. Loved reading your post. Brought back some more of what the guy used to play.

Declan A Walsh

Sponge Bob wrote:

not in the same league at all there was far too much talk on that show where Cagney had no ads and no prattle , just the facts

there used to be a damn fine Dublin pirate contemporaneous with Cagney, was it Capitol or Capital radio.

I believe the station you're thinking of is Capitol Radio which ran from 1983 to midnight 31st December 1988. It was my favourite station of the 80's. It had an alternative bent. Initially, it was a rock-oriented album tracks station. It evolved over time into an alternative rock station. In September 1986, it launched its night-time alter ego service Nitesky Radio, which ran from 6 p.m. Basically, during the daytime, it played a bit more A.O.R. and adult pop, but with plenty of indie stuff. Why oh why has it taken so long to come up with a licenced Alternative Rock station (Phantom).
Enough of the rant!....

Mark Cagney's program was a great program for the person with a genuine interest in music and albums. I remember David and David and The Bible, as well as the other examples mentioned.

murray sparkle

Declan A Walsh wrote:

Mark Cagney's program was a great program for the person with a genuine interest in music and albums. I remember David and David and The Bible, as well as the other examples mentioned.

Again - two artists that I ended up hearing on NightTrain. When people manetion The Bible they generally refer to Graceland. Although I seem to remember Cagney and G Ryan playing 'Mahalia' quite a lot. David and David's Welcome to The Boomtown was played to death. It took me years to get it on CD, but it brought back great memories!


I got the first two Bible CD's in Our Price in Henry Street a few years ago and they were as good as I had remembered!

murray sparkle

I am surprised at how long it is since I last posted on this topic. It's been on my mind on and off since. What has been bugging me is that there really is no source to hear this music anywhere on Irish radio. There are plenty of shows catering for those wanting alternative artists and dance music, but surely some place like Lyric FM could incorporate a show like this into their schedules once a week. After all, they play songs from the shows, crooners, JK ensemble stuff, so why not broaden the parameters just a little. Their JNLR is minimal so I am sure that a late night 'Night Train' type programme showcasing classic album tracks and new album tracks from a certain genre of performers would be well received.

Radio consultants have created a memory vacuum whereby station managers believe that the typical 25 - 54 year old only knows and likes 600 songs in total and that they haven't got the capacity to remember anything from their past that wasn't a universal top five hit.

Amazon wouldn't be the success it was if it didn't sell 'deep catalogue' stock and magazines like 'The Word' in the UK wouldn't be celebrating their 50th edition if it wasn't for the artists mentioned in these posts and their contemporary counterparts.

Where on Irish radio can you hear a mix of Madeline Peyroux, Ry Cooder, Bruce Springsteen, Scritti Politti, David &David, Bowie, Declan O'Rourke, Jackson Browne, RayLaMontagne, Joni Mitchell, Len Cohen, Martha Wainwright, Alfie, Stevie Wonder and other? Nowhere -but I can guarantee that there are people sitting on public transport every day in this country with IPODS choc full of this stuff.

Dudess

allie_e17 wrote:

he probably single-handedly kept the Blue Nile going through royalties from airplay.

That in itself makes me a small bit willing to forgive the man. It's probably an ageist thing to say, but I suppose hitting middle-age makes a person more willing to leave the cutting-edge stuff fall by the wayside and turn their attention to the bland, middle-of-the-road side of things. But then again, look at Dave Fanning. And Ian Dempsey's apparently the wrong side of 45, yet I find the stuff he plays now actually better than fifteen years ago. It's great when he digs out a gem from Ian Dury and the Blockheads or Tubeway Army.

mmco.miller2

Hi One and All,
I have to say that this was the best radio show ever - loads of fond memories not to mention great tunes. While this is an abstract question I hope someone ready this can help me on finding a couple of tunes played way back then to which I've got no titles nor artists. The best I can do is to describe what's known about the songs and upload the tunes for anyone willing to help. There are 3 songs driving me crazy and they are as follows -
Song 1 - Some Lyrics - "hey boy come out and take a dance, come on and take a chance- believe in the light of day"
This has very harmonic lyrics, American I would say, very slick. After the couple of versus and choruses it goes on to a string of solos beginning with a guitar solo, followed by a bass solo, then a flute solo I think and finally a keyboard solo - all class - very smooth - about 10 minutes long.
Song 2 - Instrmental Rock-Country - American - very smooth, slick guitar - great musicianship by all
Song 3 - Early Larry Carlton I think - starts of with "the dance of life" in a choral time of effect - I can't figure out the rest. Instrumtal thereafter. Predominantly guitar based - towards the end great triplets roll on drums. Saw it once as a backing track for skateboarding.
Hope someone can help me put names to these tunes. These have been bothering me for the last 30 years.
Cheers
Mick

lawchicky

I'm also a big fan of this show. I was in boarding school and listening under the covers! My love Of steely dan started here too I think.

I too am looking for a song from this era. Circa 1983 ballady, guy,maybe from northern Ireland, catchy. Was played relentlessly either by Gerry Ryan or Mark Cagney - or both

WHL

mmco.miller2 wrote: »

Hi One and All,
I have to say that this was the best radio show ever - loads of fond memories not to mention great tunes. While this is an abstract question I hope someone ready this can help me on finding a couple of tunes played way back then to which I've got no titles nor artists. The best I can do is to describe what's known about the songs and upload the tunes for anyone willing to help. There are 3 songs driving me crazy and they are as follows -
Song 1 - Some Lyrics - "hey boy come out and take a dance, come on and take a chance- believe in the light of day"
This has very harmonic lyrics, American I would say, very slick. After the couple of versus and choruses it goes on to a string of solos beginning with a guitar solo, followed by a bass solo, then a flute solo I think and finally a keyboard solo - all class - very smooth - about 10 minutes long.

I threw song 1 into google. Looks like "Light Of Day" by The Little River Band. This has the lyrics:

Hey boys, come out and dig the dance,
come on and take a chance,
believe in the light of day

lawchicky

Well done

I found my song last night after looking for years.

"some people smile" - Paul Cleary of The Blades.

Fuzzy Clam

lawchicky wrote: »

Paul Cleary of The Blades.

Miles better than U2 were back then:cool: Bono STILL can't sing.

Fuzzy Clam

lawchicky wrote: »

Well done

I found my song last night after looking for years.

"some people smile" - Paul Cleary of The Blades.

I must try to track that song down.

Bullrush

Very good, alright. Cagney always seemed like a decent skin as well.

lawchicky

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

lawchicky wrote: »

Well done

I found my song last night after looking for years.

"some people smile" - Paul Cleary of The Blades.

I must try to track that song down.

It's on spotify!

By the way, I think the economic climate is right for a re release of Downmarket by The Blades

lawchicky

lawchicky wrote: »

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

lawchicky wrote: »

Well done

I found my song last night after looking for years.

"some people smile" - Paul Cleary of The Blades.

I must try to track that song down.

It's on spotify!

By the way, I think the economic climate is right for a re release of Downmarket by The Blades

In an unfamilar bed
In a unfamiliar room
There’s a throbbing in my head
I’ve succeeded I presume

Everything’s black and white and grey
Living from day to day to day
I suppose I can’t be choosy, when there’s not too many choices
With the problems of the nation
I’m not waiting at an airport
I’m not waiting at a station
I’m standing at a bustop, Downmarket, Downmarket

On a rainy afternoon
On a gambling machine
Same old jukebox, same old tune
It’s hard to break and old routine

Everything’s black and white and grey
Living from day to day to day
I suppose I can’t be choosy, when there’s not too many choices
With the problems of the nation
I’m not waiting at an airport
I’m not waiting at a station
I’m standing at a bustop, Downmarket, Downmarket

It’s a fatal resignation
When there’s nothing left to hope for
In a hopless situation

I’m not waiting at an airport
I’m not waiting at a station
I’m standing at a bustop, Downmarket, Downmarket

Drag00n79

I was re-reading this thread earlier and wondered if there were any recordings of the Nighttrain online and I was pleased to discover these on a very good wordpress blog called The Fanning Sessions. The sound quality isn't great but it's two recordings from his show on 5th January 1988 (about an hour in total). Btw, play the second one first as they're in the wrong order.
http://www.mixcloud.com/fanningsessions/mark-cagney-1-side-a/
http://www.mixcloud.com/fanningsessions/mark-cagney-1-side-b/

ford fiesta

Dragging up an old thread I know, though with Cagney gone from TV3/Virgin Media One after 20 years, is it time for him to return to radio?.

Radio has changed so much in the past 20 years since he was on Today FM... where would he fit in now?

bobbyss

ford fiesta wrote:

Dragging up an old thread I know, though with Cagney gone from TV3/Virgin Media One after 20 years, is it time for him to return to radio?.

ford fiesta wrote:

Radio has changed so much in the past 20 years since he was on Today FM... where would he fit in now?

Too much is made of presenters. I read somewhere Cagney was described a 'broadcasting legend' no less. Haven't heard or seen anything of him in the last few decades. Why is he gone by the way?

AwaitYourReply

bobbyss wrote: »

Too much is made of presenters. I read somewhere Cagney was described a 'broadcasting legend' no less. Haven't heard or seen anything of him in the last few decades. Why is he gone by the way?

I would suspect that Mark Cagney may have felt that now was the time to move on from rising out of bed at 03:00am to host breakfast television from Monday to Friday inclusive - that would take it's toll on most people after a while especially if you had to attend any evening social engagements. Most of his time working on "Ireland AM" on Virgin Media One TV would have been under TV3 and perhaps the Virgin Media's takeover of TV3 Group resulted in a lot of changes behind the scenes too which can be unsettling for long established members of staff to adjust. Before this I think he was briefly on Radio Ireland/Today fm and prior to this he was on a Dublin local radio station for a while.

I recall Mark Cagney on NightTrain on Radio 2 just after Gerry Ryan's "Lights Out" programme on weeknights which ran up until around Feb/March 1988 before The Gerry Ryan Show first began. On weekends Sat/Sun Tony Fenton would replace Gerry Ryan whilst Mike Moloney would do NightTrain over the Wkd! Mike Moloney eventually got a more full-time slot by the early '90's called "Moloney After Midnight" in later years which had regular slots like "Emelia Go Lightly" etc;

If Mark Cagney was to return to radio, all I can say is that he is highly unlikely to return to a station like today's 2FM, Dave Fanning looks out of place and Cagney would no longer be a good fit with it's younger age demographic. In fact, he probably would not be targeted by Today FM either so maybe a station like RTÉ Gold, RTÉ lyric fm, Classic Hits (4FM), Nova or who knows. Cagney always had a great voice for radio and I could imagine him doing something in this area again in some form or another as he's 63yrs of age. Pat Kenny has passed his 70th birthday, George Hook, Gay Byrne all kept going beyond their 70th+ on radio.

Ursus Horribilis

I wouldn't be calling him a broadcasting legend but he has managed to work for 40+ years in the business - that's impressive. I hadn't seen him for a very long time so I was shocked to see how much he has aged. Getting up at that ungodly hour for years has to have taken some sort of toll on him. And perhaps he has decided he has had enough and wants a quieter life.

The only radio stations where I could see him fitting in now are Radio 1, RTE Gold, 4FM or some of the local stations. Even in his pre-TV3 days, I remember him as being a DJ who played "older" music than what I was into (The Blue Nile etc.) Unless his presenting skills went to pot on breakfast TV, he'd still be a solid presenter to have on the books.

AwaitYourReply

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I wouldn't be calling him a broadcasting legend but he has managed to work for 40+ years in the business - that's impressive. I hadn't seen him for a very long time so I was shocked to see how much he has aged. Getting up at that ungodly hour for years has to have taken some sort of toll on him. And perhaps he has decided he has had enough and wants a quieter life.

The only radio stations where I could see him fitting in now are Radio 1, RTE Gold, 4FM or some of the local stations. Even in his pre-TV3 days, I remember him as being a DJ who played "older" music than what I was into (The Blue Nile etc.) Unless his presenting skills went to pot on breakfast TV, he'd still be a solid presenter to have on the books.

HaHa - as a child, teen and young man I rarely recognised Mark Cagney's playlist on NightTrain on Radio 2 all those years ago. Cagney like Dave Fanning tended to showcase the more unusual on what later became 2FM. This was in stark contrast to shows like: Larry Gogan Show (The Golden Hour and Just-A-Minute Quiz), Barry Lang's Hotline (the Hitlist in the Evening Herald) or Gerry Ryan's Lights Out from 10pm-12Midnight. Cagney for most of his years on Radio 2FM was a "night-owl" who worked the grave yard shift for many years from 12Midnight until 01:50am when Radio 2 was required to cease transmission nightly in the days before it was permitted to broadcast 24/7. Cagney's father was a musician in his native Cork City and Mark started out as a roadie!

ford fiesta

Did Mark Cagney go to 2FM Drivetime, after his many years on Nighttrain, or did he go straight to 98FM??

As evidenced from the hour on mixcloud above, his shows around early 1988 had got a bit more chart orientated (Terence Trent D'arby, George Michael), so less adult/album tracks than earlier/mid 1980s shows...but still a fantastic show and great memories when Radio 2 was the big station on the FM dial

AwaitYourReply

ford fiesta wrote: »

Did Mark Cagney go to 2FM Drivetime, after his many years on Nighttrain, or did he go straight to 98FM??

As evidenced from the hour on mixcloud above, his shows around early 1988 had got a bit more chart orientated (Terence Trent D'arby, George Michael), so less adult/album tracks than earlier/mid 1980s shows...but still a fantastic show and great memories when Radio 2 was the big station on the FM dial

Yeah, I think Mark may have finished his stint on Radio 2 FM doing DriveTime but it was not for very long in his overall career on the station. I also recall him doing an album show on Sunday early evenings for a certain period. Like Dave Fanning, Cagney ended up doing closer to mainstream towards the end of his 2FM stint. I think after Dave Fanning did "2TV" on Sunday mornings (a 2FM simulcast with Network 2 TV) he had almost shifted more towards pop music in a way he hadn't done in earlier years. Mark Cagney & Dave Fanning were probably RTÉ Radio 2FM's closest thing to BBC Radio One's John Peel/Andy Kershaw in my opinion.

I used enjoy a show on weekends which used only play 12inch releases and I think it may have been hosted by Peter Collins (RTÉ sports presenter) if memory serves me correct?

Looking back, there's a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time. When Jimmy Greeley was plucked from his 09:00-11:30am weekday morning slot to cover a special themed station in Dublin called Millennium 88FM which was established to mark Dublin City's 1,000th year 988-1988, it left a gap in the morning schedule and Gerry Ryan was switched from his 10pm-12Midnight "Lights Out" show to cover a new 09:00am-12Noon slot and it was so successful it was one of the few shows to survive a major relaunch of 2FM 12 months later. I never recall Jimmy Greeley returning to Radio 2 again although Greeley would have presented RTÉ News on TV and did a lot of continuity work for RTÉ One TV. Of course Jimmy eventually switched to one of the Dublin local independent stations for a number of years and when 4FM launched around 2009 he was one of the original presenter line-up and did a very similar style show to his old RTÉ Radio 2 programme many years previously.

Declan A Walsh

ford fiesta wrote: »

Did Mark Cagney go to 2FM Drivetime, after his many years on Nighttrain, or did he go straight to 98FM??

As evidenced from the hour on mixcloud above, his shows around early 1988 had got a bit more chart orientated (Terence Trent D'arby, George Michael), so less adult/album tracks than earlier/mid 1980s shows...but still a fantastic show and great memories when Radio 2 was the big station on the FM dial

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

Yeah, I think Mark may have finished his stint on Radio 2 FM doing DriveTime but it was not for very long in his overall career on the station. I also recall him doing an album show on Sunday early evenings for a certain period. Like Dave Fanning, Cagney ended up doing closer to mainstream towards the end of his 2FM stint. I think after Dave Fanning did "2TV" on Sunday mornings (a 2FM simulcast with Network 2 TV) he had almost shifted more towards pop music in a way he hadn't done in earlier years. Mark Cagney & Dave Fanning were probably RTÉ Radio 2FM's closest thing to BBC Radio One's John Peel/Andy Kershaw in my opinion.

I used enjoy a show on weekends which used only play 12inch releases and I think it may have been hosted by Peter Collins (RTÉ sports presenter) if memory serves me correct?

Looking back, there's a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time. When Jimmy Greeley was plucked from his 09:00-11:30am weekday morning slot to cover a special themed station in Dublin called Millennium 88FM which was established to mark Dublin City's 1,000th year 988-1988, it left a gap in the morning schedule and Gerry Ryan was switched from his 10pm-12Midnight "Lights Out" show to cover a new 09:00am-12Noon slot and it was so successful it was one of the few shows to survive a major relaunch of 2FM 12 months later. I never recall Jimmy Greeley returning to Radio 2 again although Greeley would have presented RTÉ News on TV and did a lot of continuity work for RTÉ One TV. Of course Jimmy eventually switched to one of the Dublin local independent stations for a number of years and when 4FM launched around 2009 he was one of the original presenter line-up and did a very similar style show to his old RTÉ Radio 2 programme many years previously.

I think Mark Cagney had left 2FM by the first half of 1989. He turned up as a guest contributor on an album show presented by Richard Crowley during the first few months of Century Radio (September - November 1989), Ireland's first legal independent commercial radio station. Mark was definitely gone from RTE at that stage as RTE was very shirty about the new competition in the early days of commercial radio! Mark Cagney was the first presenter of 98FM when it launched at midnight on November 1989 and the first tune he played was Hotel California by The Eagles. I tuned in to hear its launch.

In relation to Jimmy Greeley, the local station that he moved to in 1994 was the same 98FM. I think, as far as the radio side of his career was concerned, he may have been briefly with the relatively short-lived part-time classical RTE station FM3 between Millennium Radio and 98FM. This was subsequently replaced by the full-time Lyric FM. I remember Peter Collins's show alright during the late '80s.

Mark Cagney's last radio station was Today FM before he joined TV3. Unlike his other ex-98FM colleagues - Aidan Cooney and Martin King - he did not keep his hand in radio presenting, although he has done plenty of ad voiceovers. I think the best radio fit for Mark Cagney, provided he has some free rein, would be RTE Gold, RTE Radio One (late-night music show) or 4FM or maybe one or other of Radio Nova's digital stations.

ford fiesta

Cagney's final show on the radio was in around early 1999 "Sunday Shining" on Today FM, after his weekday mid morning show was replaced by Tim Kelly I think

AwaitYourReply

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I think Mark Cagney had left 2FM by the first half of 1989. He turned up as a guest contributor on an album show presented by Richard Crowley during the first few months of Century Radio (September - November 1989), Ireland's first legal independent commercial radio station. Mark was definitely gone from RTE at that stage as RTE was very shirty about the new competition in the early days of commercial radio! Mark Cagney was the first presenter of 98FM when it launched at midnight on November 1989 and the first tune he played was Hotel California by The Eagles. I tuned in to hear its launch.

In relation to Jimmy Greeley, the local station that he moved to in 1994 was the same 98FM. I think, as far as the radio side of his career was concerned, he may have been briefly with the relatively short-lived part-time classical RTE station FM3 between Millennium Radio and 98FM. This was subsequently replaced by the full-time Lyric FM. I remember Peter Collins's show alright during the late '80s.

Mark Cagney's last radio station was Today FM before he joined TV3. Unlike his other ex-98FM colleagues - Aidan Cooney and Martin King - he did not keep his hand in radio presenting, although he has done plenty of ad voiceovers. I think the best radio fit for Mark Cagney, provided he has some free rein, would be RTE Gold, RTE Radio One (late-night music show) or 4FM or maybe one or other of Radio Nova's digital stations.

If Mark Cagney had left 2FM during the first half of 1989 I reckon he was probably gone by the time RTE Radio 2 underwent a major station revamp in March 1989 and with that came an overhaul of the station's programme/presenter schedule. Radio 2 would have been 10 Years on the air in 1989 and was preparing for competition from legal independent commercial radio sector for the first time. This was a highly publicised campaign to relaunch the station to be known as simply "2FM" going forward and I think it went 24hrs a day for the first time in 1989. I can still recall a clip of a DART train with the 2FM music boasting that the station starts off in the morning and never stops the night before. "The Key To The Sound of 2FM" was the promotion campaign mission statement and was basically a blaze of publicity as all the pirate radio stations had closed by 31st December 1988 in advance of the launch of Ireland's first legal independent commercial radio stations. First to launch were some local stations to be followed by national commercial independent Century Radio in September, 1989. 2FM was a massive force in radio across Ireland during this period and were anxious to keep a tight grip on their large audience.

ford fiesta

I remember in early 1989 the "2FM is mine " stickers they were giving out.

the clips below with mark cagney in early 1988 on the same night, has the station being referred to as "2FM" and also "Radio 2":

https://www.mixcloud.com/fanningsessions/mark-cagney-1-side-b/
https://www.mixcloud.com/fanningsessions/mark-cagney-1-side-a/