MT USA: RTE2 Sunday afternoons with Vincent "Fab Vinnie" Hanley

Big Tone

Who here remembers MT USA presented by "VJ" the late great Vincent Hanley (d. 1987)

It was our first taste of an MTV stlye TV channel here and it broke the mould for Irish televison at the time, infact I believe, in Europe.

Does anybody have any particular memories of MT USA, maybe people could post some video on Google Videos or You Tube.

trout

Ah yeah .... I remember this.

Possibly the first use of "simul-cast" where RTE broadcast the video on RTE 2 television (with the volume down) at the same time as they broadcast the sound (in STEREO) on 2FM Radio

In the days before stereo tv broadcasting this was the height of technology :cool:

nlgbbbblth

Started in March 1984.
First series ran for eight weeks.

Lots of videos were repeated.

Van Halen - Jump
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

both broadcast five times in the first series.

other popular videos
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days
John Fogarty - Old Man Down The Road
Don Henley - Boys Of Summer
Laura Branigan - Self Control
Pat Benetar - Love Is A Battlefield
Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Jacksons & Mick Jagger - State Of Shock
Duran Duran - Wild Boys

Ryaller

First time I saw The Cure was on MTUSA - "Close To Me" YEAH!!!

I remember "Thriller" was a huge deal at the time.

Rockee

It started in March 84??? Jeez!! I was 3 that year :eek: Um..yep I remember 'Manic Monday' by The Bangles on there a good bit. I remember as a kid I always got Vincent Hanley mixed up with Barry Lang...similiar looks!

Oh and of course watching The Beatbox and the simul-cast haha yeah!

CLADA

Remember it? I still have 2 video cassettes full of it in my collection.

Rockee

CLADA wrote:

Remember it? I still have 2 video cassettes full of it in my collection.

To the YouTube mobile for you CLADA!!! Wasnt 'Money For Nothin'by Dire Straits a MT USA standard also???

kelle

It was on on Thursday nights, then repeated on Sunday afternoon. I loved Thursdays, when Eastenders followed by Top of the Pops followed by MT USA would be on, I found it difficult to get my homework done! It was replaced in 1987 by Finding Fax Future - this showed American videos also, but was based in Ireland, and random people off the streets would introduce each video.

mike65

God I rememebr that, only watched it cos it was the only prog of its kind. The music was mainly crapola but just to prove nostagia is a deadly thing last night I caught a bit of Duran Duran Girls on Filum and it sounded quite good! :eek:

Mike.

gazzer

MT USA always seemed to show the video for 'We built this city on rock and roll' by Starship(?).. I always remember the big dice chasing people down the street.

smodgley

Ahhhh the memories.. i used to have bout 100 hours of it taped ..wish i still had them.1 song i remember from it was DENNIS De YOUNG '' DESERT MOON'' TURNED INTO A BIG HIT HERE (NUM 1 ?) DONT THINK WAS HIT ANYWHERE ELSE

smodgley

opppsss sorry bout the mad font etc

Cork

Pat Benetar, Suzanne Vega, Denis D Young etc were known here because of this programme.

DublinWriter

mike65 wrote:

God I rememebr that, only watched it cos it was the only prog of its kind. The music was mainly crapola but just to prove nostagia is a deadly thing last night I caught a bit of Duran Duran Girls on Filum and it sounded quite good! :eek:

Yes indeedly, esential viewing for any self-respecting 14 year old in 1984.

Amazing how easily pleased we were back then. We were poor, but happy!

Terry

It would be nice if RTE raided the vaults and threw some clips up.

Wasn't Vincent Hanley one of the first casualties of AIDS?

TheDriver

julep wrote:

It would be nice if RTE raided the vaults and threw some clips up.

Wasn't Vincent Hanley one of the first casualties of AIDS?

Indeed you are correct but we were told he died of an "unknown illness"..............

nlgbbbblth

TheDriver wrote:

Indeed you are correct but we were told he died of an "unknown illness"..............

He died from a disease 'caught from cats' according to my mother.

is_that_so

julep wrote:

It would be nice if RTE raided the vaults and threw some clips up.

Wasn't Vincent Hanley one of the first casualties of AIDS?

Yes, in James' Hospital. He was said to be the first to die of AIDS in Ireland. He was a good front man for the show, and it was essential viewing way back when - 23 years ago............ :eek:

Gaspode

is_that_so wrote:

- 23 years ago............ :eek:

EEEEEK +1 :eek:

kelle

Does anybody know if Vincent tried his hand at singing in 1978? I remember Radio 1 used to constantly play this catchy song with the lyrics "You can hear the music if you try", and I tried to listen out for the name of the singer one day - and I could swear they said it was Vincent Hanley! I was only 8 then, but my friends and I used to sing it in the school playground.

TheDriver

I remember him interviewing Americans going to a U2 concert and he wearing those God awful leather thin ties!

FatherTed

I never missed it. It was a whole new world for us 80's Irish teenagers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHrDPD5bFQA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNvOPN1LoQ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e-vgQSqNtA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxoqzhgKReY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17dQIu1lO6M

Big Tone

kelle wrote:

Does anybody know if Vincent tried his hand at singing in 1978? I remember Radio 1 used to constantly play this catchy song with the lyrics "You can hear the music if you try", and I tried to listen out for the name of the singer one day - and I could swear they said it was Vincent Hanley! I was only 8 then, but my friends and I used to sing it in the school playground.

Not sure about the Vincent "Fab Vinnie" Hanley song there but Mike Murphy had a song in the late 70s called " You get by if you give it a try" which was from one of his TV programmes>

stovelid

Never missed it. None of the mates would miss it.

Also around the same time, I think Radio Nova(?) syndicated an american top 40 radio show with Casey Kasem(sp?). I always think of the two together.

Funny how things change cos I was browsing through our TV the other night and there are tons of music channels now.

stovelid

nlgbbbblth wrote:

other popular videos
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days
John Fogarty - Old Man Down The Road
Don Henley - Boys Of Summer
Laura Branigan - Self Control
Pat Benetar - Love Is A Battlefield
Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Jacksons & Mick Jagger - State Of Shock
Duran Duran - Wild Boys

Yup esp the John Fogerty. Remember the vid? Following an amplifier cable through a swamp?

Other big vids

John Waite - Missing you
Chaka Khan - I feel for you

poptart007

Hey rockee - thought I was the only one who made that boo boo with Barry Lang - too funny

dubtom

Ah yes I remeber it well, even my mother watched it. Thriller was eagerly anticipated for weeks if I recall rightly. My favorite was zz top who always had,to my young eys, the sexyiest woman on tv.Looking back that wouldn't have been difficult, the only alternative on irish tv was biddie from glenroe.
Just watched the video, christ it was naff.

hiscan

dubtom wrote:

Ah yes I remeber it well, even my mother watched it. Thriller was eagerly anticipated for weeks if I recall rightly. My favorite was zz top who always had,to my young eys, the sexyiest woman on tv.Looking back that wouldn't have been difficult, the only alternative on irish tv was biddie from glenroe.
Just watched the video, christ it was naff.

Wishbone Ash

nlgbbbblth wrote:

Started in March 1984.
First series ran for eight weeks.

Lots of videos were repeated.

Van Halen - Jump
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

both broadcast five times in the first series.

other popular videos
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days
John Fogarty - Old Man Down The Road
Don Henley - Boys Of Summer
Laura Branigan - Self Control
Pat Benetar - Love Is A Battlefield
Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Jacksons & Mick Jagger - State Of Shock
Duran Duran - Wild Boys

Talking Heads "Road to Nowhere" seemed to be perpetually on.

shinzon

God watching the zz top video again bought back so many memories, as a direct result i went a little zz crazy for awhile, anyone remember when sinnots used to be where boots is now, I went into that shop and bought my first ever casette

Which was zz tops summer ep

http://www.fannins-collectables.com/html/zztop.htm

the first picture in that link, only had 4 songs on it but i played em to death, lol so long ago

Shin

445279.ie

smodgley wrote:

Ahhhh the memories.. i used to have bout 100 hours of it taped ..wish i still had them.1 song i remember from it was DENNIS De YOUNG '' DESERT MOON'' TURNED INTO A BIG HIT HERE (NUM 1 ?) DONT THINK WAS HIT ANYWHERE ELSE

I loved that song. Haven't heard it in years ..................... humming it to myself now

ninsaga

some memories there alright
- Pat Bennitar -played hundreds of times
- Yep - the John Fogarty vid was great
- first time I hear Bob Dillons Jokerman was on that show
- Desert Moon
- ZZ top

Miss Fluff

OMG loved that programme! Girls Just Wanna Have Fun being one of my favourite vids....oh the memories.....

kelle

Big Tone wrote:

Not sure about the Vincent "Fab Vinnie" Hanley song there but Mike Murphy had a song in the late 70s called " You get by if you give it a try" which was from one of his TV programmes>

Gosh, Bigtone, that could be it! Thanks. I wonder if it's on Youtube or if it can be downloaded anywhere?

jos28

There was an interview on the Gerry Ryan show recently with, I think Bill Whelan. He was with Fab Vinnie during his final weeks. Vincent Hanley was really ill but insisted on doing the show. He had to be carried on and off the set, he was so weak. It was a very moving interview. He left us all with some great memories.

Dudess

poptart007 wrote:

Hey rockee - thought I was the only one who made that boo boo with Barry Lang - too funny

I did too. Very similar-looking.

1985 was the year I really started getting into music. I was seven and I never missed MT USA. I associate two vids in particular with it:

-Big in Japan by Alphaville
-Puss in Boots by Adam Ant

My mate and I recently found a record with tons of the MT USA songs on it. So sh*it but, strangely, so class!

But who the hell was John Fogarty?!

Zaph

Dudess wrote:

But who the hell was John Fogarty?!

He was in Creedence Clearwater Revival, probably best known here for "Bad Moon Rising" and "Proud Mary". Great band.

Dudess

Ah I know CCR all right.

stovelid

Dudess wrote:

Ah I know CCR all right.

enjoy

Dudess

Cheers Stovie. That's some good stuff. Actually, weirdly enough, a guy at work put on a John Fogerty/CCR CD the other day - oh, the relief. No more 98FM. Really good stuff. Reminds me of The Band and other groups on The Last Waltz. Like it a lot.

kelle

Dudess wrote:

My mate and I recently found a record with tons of the MT USA songs on it. So sh*it but, strangely, so class!

Any chance you'll put some of it on YouTube?

Dudess

No, it was an actual vinyl LP (remember those?!;)). Hits 84 or something. But tons of the songs on it are the very ones that were featured on MT USA.

stovelid

Dudess wrote:

No, it was an actual vinyl LP (remember those?!;)). Hits 84 or something. But tons of the songs on it are the very ones that were featured on MT USA.

I think I have that at home somewhere. Like a big cube on the front IIRC.

Rockee

poptart007 wrote:

Hey rockee - thought I was the only one who made that boo boo with Barry Lang - too funny

Heehee, indeed! Spittin image

nlgbbbblth

Dudess wrote:

No, it was an actual vinyl LP (remember those?!;)). Hits 84 or something. But tons of the songs on it are the very ones that were featured on MT USA.

The Hits Album

advert with tracklisting here

Came out in November 1984 as a rival to the Now That's What I Call Music series which had reached its fourth volume at that stage. The Hits Album won the battle. My mate bought it and I bought the Now 4 double LP. We taped them for each other then.

I remember when we were buying them and the woman in the record shop proclaimed that the Now 4 album was a far better purchase.

'Why?' we asked.

'Because The Hits Album has Prince on it and I don't like him'.

Dudess

nlgbbbblth wrote:

'Because The Hits Album has Prince on it and I don't like him'.

Excellent reasoning :rolleyes:.

Oh wow, nlgbbbblth, you beauty! That's the very one! And I'm not ashamed to say that I still love the Laura Branigan track, the Alphaville track and the Howard Jones track! The Neil one I'm not so sure about...
I remember the Hits series now. We actually had Hits 4 and Hits 5 (1985/86 direction). Compilation albums were the biz (how's that for an 80s expression?!:))

nlgbbbblth

Dudess wrote:

Oh wow, nlgbbbblth, you beauty! That's the very one! And I'm not ashamed to say that I still love the Laura Branigan track, the Alphaville track and the Howard Jones track! The Neil one I'm not so sure about...
I remember the Hits series now. We actually had Hits 4 and Hits 5 (1985/86 direction). Compilation albums were the biz (how's that for an 80s expression?!:))

Looking at it now, it still stands up as a pretty strong compilation. A lot of the tracks are from the hot summer of 1984 and bring back cool memories.
That Laura Branigan track is amazing, I remember buying the 7". Sadly she died a few years ago. Alphaville rocked too. They also released Forever Young which is sublime.

Zaph

Dudess wrote:

The Neil one I'm not so sure about...

I bought the 12" of Hole in My Shoe, it's still in my parent's house somewhere I reckon. In my defence, I was on an all-day bender and was sh*t faced when I bought it. IIRC, it was in a bargain bin and cost me 99p, and somehow survived the rest of the drinking binge.

nlgbbbblth

I bought Hole In My Shoe too. 7". It reached No 2 in the UK charts but scraped a No 1 position over here, knocking off Two Tribes for a week before the FGTH tune regained the top spot.

mike65

Some terrible things are being admited to here!

Mike.

Dudess

I know. It's great, isn't it?!