Larry Gogan retiring from daytime radio

radioman

It's the end of an era.

From breakingnews.ie

Larry Gogan to retire from daytime radio
08/01/2007 - 16:48:55

One of the best known names in broadcasting Larry Gogan is to leave weekday radio after 45 years, it was revealed today.

The DJ, who has interviewed some of the biggest stars in the music business over his lengthy career, has announced his decision to move to work weekends on RTÉ’s 2FM.

“I feel the time is right for a change and I’m looking forward to a less demanding work schedule,” the Golden Hour DJ said.

Larry, known for his 2pm to 4pm slot featuring the news, sport and the 'Just a Minute Quiz' before a string of classic hits, is to be honoured for his contribution to pop radio with his second lifetime achievement award at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards next month.

The award is being presented in recognition of his contribution to Irish music and his relentless support of up-and-coming acts alongside established artists.

Head of RTÉ 2FM, John Clarke, said: “Larry has already made an outstanding contribution to RTÉ 2FM and I’m very pleased that he is still available to work on the station at weekends.

“Larry’s move will make a valuable addition to an already strong RTÉ 2FM weekend schedule.”

The DJ, who began his RTÉ Radio broadcasting career 45 years ago, has spent 30 years working with 2FM.

Larry has interviewed dozens of music stars including members of U2, Cliff Richard, Garth Brooks, Kris Kristofferson, Glen Campbell, Ringo Star, Roy Orbison, Michael Bolton and Tom Jones.

In 1987, the industry veteran won the IRMA Award for services to Irish music, a Jacob’s Award and the Hot Press Industry Award.

What a legend

fade2black

Hopefully he has his retirement planned. I can imagine retirement is a lot harder on widows.

DMC

He'll be missed by this listener, but he'd be ideal for the Ireland's Biggest Jukebox programme on Sundays.

radioman

Yeah but that show is John 'most boring voice on radio' Clarke's 'baby' so will he give it up and let Larry into the hot seat?

Bard

radioman wrote:

Yeah but that show is John 'most boring voice on radio' Clarke's 'baby' so will he give it up and let Larry into the hot seat?

[Homer Voice]Heeeeee'd BETTER!!![/Homer Voice] *Shakes Fist*

Seriously... about time for Granda Gogan to retire - hopefully the other old fogies in 2FM will follow suit and a bit of young blood will be injected...

zuutroy

I dont know what he was like in his hay-day but Jaysus he's brutal now. Talk about the DJ3000. Robotic rubbish.

mike65

Does this mean 2Fm can become a youth station now?

Mike.

fred funk }{

Legend.

Gran Hermano

mike65 wrote:

Does this mean 2Fm can become a youth station now?

Mike.

Looks like only on weekends!
“Larry’s move will make a valuable addition to an already strong RTÉ 2FM weekend schedule.”

RTE really need to look at what the BBC did with Radio 1 and Radio 2.
Can RTE not understand basic demographics and what is required for
a youth orientated station?

Badabing

Larry Gogan what a gentleman and will be missed.

MemEmee

Larry Gogan is a legend. He's not the problem in 2fm. He knows his music and does his job. His age is irrelevant.

If you want to let RTE know what a mistake they've made you can email their information office at info@rte.ie to let them know what you think of the shafting of a great dj.

they don't really have a great pool of talent to replace him now do they!!!

zuutroy

What makes him a legend?!...that he's been doing his job for 45 years... EVERYONE does that!....The guy hasn't said an original word on his show in years. " And that was xxxx with their current single, xxxx and isnt it a great one". Never plays any new music or anything slight off track. That show was a yawn-fest: song-song-link-song-link-jam quiz-song-song-link-song-news.

Not to forget the just a minute quiz when someone does **** "Ah you got some sticky ones today xxxxx" or "They didnt really suit you today, did they?".

BuffyBot

If you want to let RTE know what a mistake they've made

How are they making a mistake? The guy want's less work!

Genghis

My prediction - Gogan and Will Leahy swap places.

Was reading only two weeks ago how Leahy is 2FMs only substantially rising star - so being RTE they will flog him now to death. Leahy is however, a practicing solicitor in Limerick, so RTE would've needed to convince him to give up the 'day-job'.

I agree with alot of what is said on Gogan. I would admire him as a veteran broadcaster, but he is an awful man for the cliche and the script. He never comes across to me as a natural broadcaster, but I think his complete inoffensiveness has made him into something people don't quickly turn off, even if they may not be quick to turn him on.

grumpytrousers

If leahy has any sense he won't...I think he's good on the radio, but all he needs is to fall out of favour and he might find it hard to get back in the saddle at his old job; as things stand it's a hobby that pays well and to be honest, that's something we should all have!!!

S'funny about Larry; I do reckon him to be an untouchable and find the intolerance here which verges on, quite simply, ageism to be rather offensive; Larrys schtick was *never* about playing anything remotely daring/new/whatever; I kinda think that when the Lord God Almighty was wearing short trousers that Larry was doing the Golden Hour then.

See, in one way, he does the job property - record, link, record, link, ad break etc etc etc; I find with a lot of jocks that you get more opinion than music. Okay, if the music ain't to your taste then you're gonna have to switch channels, but there are a lot of people who, at that time of the day, enjoy the rather easy going stuff; it's not as if there's much (certainly down here in the sticks) more radical going on elsewhere...(death notices and farming news, innit!!!). In fairness to him, he's not a graduate of the smashy'n'nicey school of fab-tabu-la-tastic, mate, broadcasting. I don't know much about him, he doesn't talk about himself on the air, and in this day and age I find that refreshing, believe it or not!

As for Genghis' last point...being classed as somebody that 'a lot of people won't turn off' is a lot more valuable than you'd think in radio nowadays!!!

J.R.HARTLEY

grumpytrousers sums it up perfectly for me, good night and god bless Larry, and f*ck the begrudgers

murray sparkle

I'd be fairly confident that Will Leahy will be the only new addition to the daytime schedule on 2fm........

zuutroy

grumpytrousers wrote:

In fairness to him, he's not a graduate of the smashy'n'nicey school of fab-tabu-la-tastic, mate, broadcasting.

Thats exactly what he IS! All he ever comes out with is DJ SPEAK. No personality. And it aint ageism, he's just a different kind of lame to most other DJ's. I dont really mind listening to him but 45 years of plodding along means he should be hailed as some form of hero?

grumpytrousers

zuutroy wrote:

Thats exactly what he IS! All he ever comes out with is DJ SPEAK. No personality. And it aint ageism, he's just a different kind of lame to most other DJ's. I dont really mind listening to him but 45 years of plodding along means he should be hailed as some form of hero?

nope. wrong wrong wrong...if you want graduates of the school of smashy/nicey then you look to tony fenton, ian dempsey, gareth o'callaghen and ruth scott..."I was watching something on telly last night and I thought 'how strange'"..."I was at a do last night for my local charidee"..."have you ever noticed how rude people are nowadays"...

THAT'S your smashy/nicey stuff. There's a fine line between that and having a personality, i'll grant you...

Sounding enthusiastic about a "new smash-hit record that's really GREAT" whilst being, perhaps, quaint and dated has always been the stock in trade of ANY DJ. If you find it annoying that's fine, but it's not smash/nicey...

I'm not saying he's a hero at all. Being a DJ can be a simple job; he just happens to do the simple things and do them well...

r3nu4l

Well, I'm not the biggest fan of Larry but he did exactly what he was supposed to be doing on the Golden Hour and most likely what his bosses asked him to do. A true professional.

DMC

r3nu4l wrote:

Well, I'm not the biggest fan of Larry but he did exactly what he was supposed to be doing on the Golden Hour and most likely what his bosses asked him to do. A true professional.

Exactly. He doesn't add glitter to his broadcasts, he doesn't read out celebrity news or attempt to do comedy... he does what any good DJ should do. Play music. On the side, there is the Golden Hour and the Just a Minute quiz, good audience interaction.

The Ian Dempseys and Tony Fentons of this world add their own opinions on things they know nothing about, nor should we accept their opinions on big matters. Thats where Larry Gogan's class shines over. He doesn't comment on the record he's just played, he doesn't comment on the news. He lets the music play. Its no wonder his JNLR figures are as good as they are.

People like Larry.

I remember a few years ago when the Golden Hour moved to 5pm. Ratings for that slot went up, while his old lunchtime slot went down. When he moved back to 2pm, the ratings went up again, and 5pm's went down.

That's why he's a legend.

DMC

zuutroy wrote:

What makes him a legend?!...that he's been doing his job for 45 years... EVERYONE does that!....

Radio is a very personal medium. For some reason, people think that the radio broadcaster is directly speaking to you, because rather often people listen to the radio alone.

For a DJ to spend 45 years playing contemporary and classic hit music on national radio, and still be hugely popular, is massive endorsement for the man. Everyone who works for 45 years gets, like, a watch, a carriage clock or a handshake when they retire, but because Larry has been on the airwaves of the nation daily for decades, in such a public role, he gets all this attention.

He's been part of daily life for a lot of people, he's entertained the country, and entertainers who've been there for almost 50 year deserve recognition, nay legendary status.

FlutterinBantam

Never listen to him..but hey, you made a good case there DMC

tbh

DMC wrote:

People like Larry.

.

When I was in college, I spent the summers working for a catering company, and at one stage found myself working in RTE. I was on a break, sitting in an empty cafeteria, when Larry wandered in. He got a cup of tea, and just sat down beside me and started chatting - just general crap. When I got up to leave, he said "nice chatting to you, all the best" and I just thought "what a nice guy". I accept the time is right for him to move on, and all things change, but he's about the last thing left from my childhood still on the radio. Slightly off topic, but remember listening to the Gay Byrne show when you were home sick from school? That kind of thing. Once he's gone, he's gone forever. I wish him all the best.

zuutroy

tbh wrote:

but remember listening to the Gay Byrne show when you were home sick from school? That kind of thing.

Ha! Classic. Just as I was reading that the music popped into my head. The music totally reminds me of my ma cleaning up after breakfast and me thinking 'I should be in school' on sick days! Gay was cool (no mention of WWTBAM please!)

Milktrolley

Genghis wrote:

My prediction - Gogan and Will Leahy swap places.

Was reading only two weeks ago how Leahy is 2FMs only substantially rising star - so being RTE they will flog him now to death. Leahy is however, a practicing solicitor in Limerick, so RTE would've needed to convince him to give up the 'day-job'.

I agree with alot of what is said on Gogan. I would admire him as a veteran broadcaster, but he is an awful man for the cliche and the script. He never comes across to me as a natural broadcaster, but I think his complete inoffensiveness has made him into something people don't quickly turn off, even if they may not be quick to turn him on.

If The Saturday Show goes then 2fm may as well shut down. It's the only thing that I consider worth listening to on it, and the only thing on 2fm that isn't being done better elsewhere.

Wasn't able to listen to Larry all that often, but I got the impression that all he played was what he thought was popular, and very often that isn't good music. Personality wise I thought he was fairly good, particularly in that he wouldn't rant on pointlessly. Whatever he said was relevant, and sometimes endearing, it seemed.

radioman

Will Leahy is probably one of the countries best radio personalities at the moment and there's no doubt his addition to 2FMs daytime schedule would work wonders for them and perhaps would be the best thing 2FM have done in years, but all this speculation is very premature. Leahy has a great thing going at the moment with his solicitor practice at weekdays and radio show at weekends. He also is involved in the application for Limerick's radio licence which is due to be announced in the next few days.

However 2FMs 'pushing back' of their new schedule announcement to February could possibly be a result on Leahy waiting to see if he's been successful in his licence bid. All speculation of course, we shall wait and see.

DK47

larry will be missed but its time to go, hope he wont swap with DAMIAN macul:eek: , what a bore, bring back DAMIAN FARRELLY:D , wasted on night time 2fm, nicki hayes was better suited there, her new lunchtime show had less content the DAMIAN FARRELLYs show at lunch time.

Fulton Crown

Not a greta fan of Larry G ...but hey he was better than those arseholes dave fannin and Val Joyce.. he played good middle of the road musik

Fulton Crown

Sooo larry's gone ..I for one will miss his gentle ways ..an oasis of fuggin calm in a nmad world .:rolleyes:

Fulton Crown

dkhill47 wrote: »

larry will be missed but its time to go, hope he wont swap with DAMIAN macul:eek: , what a bore, bring back DAMIAN FARRELLY:D , wasted on night time 2fm, nicki hayes was better suited there, her new lunchtime show had less content the DAMIAN FARRELLYs show at lunch time.

Ok..ok so Larry is going - will miss him ..but hey whats a 70 year old doing playing pop an rap music on yoof radio ...always thought he was a little bit of a "one trick pony"..no great depth...if you catch my drift..but jeeze what about the freakin gang of attention junkies coming up..all these hoarse voiced females desparately trying to sound with it..Nikki Hayes..(HOW ARE YAH!!!) Ruth Scoh (as she says) and saddest of all those teamed with a male presenter and unable to contribute anything other than the odd squaak ref FM 194 / 98FM etc.
An as for that Dave Fannin - what fcukin age is he with his fast talk...mostly sh^^*e.
Where do u go for some reasonable intelligent radio???

moe_sizlak

zuutroy wrote: »

I dont know what he was like in his hay-day but Jaysus he's brutal now. Talk about the DJ3000. Robotic rubbish.

hes the exact same now as he was 50 yrs ago

the man never utterd a spontaneous line in his entire life , every single thing was pre planned , more personality in a washing machine

he has been more or less a 50 yr unsackable institution

Pigman II

zuutroy wrote: »

I dont know what he was like in his hay-day but Jaysus he's brutal now. Talk about the DJ3000. Robotic rubbish.

How about those clowns at Montrose? What a bunch of clowns!

juuge

Pigman II wrote: »

How about those clowns at Montrose? What a bunch of clowns!

Clowns that are paid by you and me, yet we have no say in the matter. Where else would someone be allowed to work until 'they decide to go' ? It's really outrageous. RTE are clearly not aware of the term 'best before date' and they are apparently answerable to no one. Not yet anyway !

enner43

Fulton Crown wrote: »

he was better than those arseholes dave fannin and Val Joyce.

Jesus I cant stand Dave Fanning! Give me Larry any day.

juuge

enner43 wrote: »

Jesus I cant stand Dave Fanning! Give me Larry any day.

Why want either of them ?
They've both reached their 'sell-by' date. Why can't they just move on ?

Dudess

Fulton Crown wrote: »

Ok..ok so Larry is going - will miss him ..but hey whats a 70 year old doing playing pop an rap music on yoof radio ...always thought he was a little bit of a "one trick pony"..no great depth...if you catch my drift..but jeeze what about the freakin gang of attention junkies coming up..all these hoarse voiced females desparately trying to sound with it..Nikki Hayes..(HOW ARE YAH!!!) Ruth Scoh (as she says) and saddest of all those teamed with a male presenter and unable to contribute anything other than the odd squaak ref FM 194 / 98FM etc.
An as for that Dave Fannin - what fcukin age is he with his fast talk...mostly sh^^*e.
Where do u go for some reasonable intelligent radio???

Weird you waited nearly a year to continue this discussion, but anyway. Is Larry retiring completely now?

Fulton Crown

Yeah - he is going all right...I will really miss his shallow humour and vacuus laugh........:mad::mad:

The Muppet

Fulton Crown wrote: »

Yeah - he is going all right...I will really miss his shallow humour and vacuus laugh........:mad::mad:

Is he really retiring? I know he wasn't happy when he was moved to the weekend but I would be surprised if he is to hang up the headphones for good. There would be no shortage of takers for his services if he decided to move on to pastures new.

DMC

There has been no announcement that he is to quit his current weekend duties. Unless links can be provided.

Big Balls

I love the little armchair radio DJs on here who slag off Larry... come back to us when you have survived on daytime radio for so long. :rolleyes:

The day Larry quits 2FM is the day someone else will snap him up.

juuge

Big Balls wrote: »

I love the little armchair radio DJs on here who slag off Larry... come back to us when you have survived on daytime radio for so long. :rolleyes:

The day Larry quits 2FM is the day someone else will snap him up.

Yeah! perhaps a Palaeontologist.

Fulton Crown

Big Balls wrote: »

I love the little armchair radio DJs on here who slag off Larry... come back to us when you have survived on daytime radio for so long. :rolleyes:

The day Larry quits 2FM is the day someone else will snap him up.

Don't think so big balls...reason is that Larry is on a big fatt Montrose salary paid for by our buckin license fees.
Any of those stations with a need to make money couldnt afford him - they have plenty of hoarsed voiced attention seeking geeks willing to work for nothin..believe me !

FlutterinBantam

Are you including capital expenditure,maintenance of the network,buildings and equipment depreciation, in that equation.??

Latchy

Larry gogan , the man who gave swinging a new name ,the voice of mid-atlantic 60s 70s ireland before everybody else had a one (a mid-atlantic irish voice ) Him and the late alan freeman were of the same mould .Use to listen to his 60 second pop quizz on 2fm .He must be the longest serving employee out at montrose . Him or angus Mcanally

Big Balls

Fulton Crown wrote: »

Don't think so big balls...reason is that Larry is on a big fatt Montrose salary paid for by our buckin license fees.
Any of those stations with a need to make money couldnt afford him - they have plenty of hoarsed voiced attention seeking geeks willing to work for nothin..believe me !

Larry has made it clear and well documented that should the right gig come up to get him on weekday daytime radio again, he will jump ship. Whatever the man earns, he has earned it with 40 years in radio.

FlutterinBantam

Jaysus!!!!.. now in fairness it's time he put the feet up and gave the young bloods a chance.

It doesn't look well that dudes like himself and Val Joyce are dragged kicking and screaming out of Montrose.

If they were as marketable as they think they are why are they so reluctant to leave.???

C'mon let's be realistic here.

juuge

No one is doubting the contribution Larry made to light broadcasting over the years, but can he not just bow out gracefully and make way for new blood. It seems the descent thing to do, then again it is RTE and different rules apply.

Fulton Crown

Yes its time to go Larry.....Jeeze did u see him on the tribute yo Joe Dolan with that fckng Nordi Druid Fr.Trendy -- Larry was in CARGO PANTS looked freekin ridiculous..didn't contribute either -obviously lost without a script - Go Gogan..in the name of God ..GO!

FlutterinBantam

I hear there are two barrels of ginger hair dye still out in the Make Up dept out in Montrose,now that Marty has come out, and Larry has gone.

Richard Keys of Sky sports offered to take them off their hands.!!!

moe_sizlak

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

I hear there are two barrels of ginger hair dye still out in the Make Up dept out in Montrose,now that Marty has come out, and Larry has gone.

Richard Keys of Sky sports offered to take them off their hands.!!!

marty has come out ????????????