Lyric fm's Breakfast show presenter - Marty Whelan.

Expunge

Heard a few minutes of this mornings show with Trish Taylor.
In an 8 or 10 minute stretch from just before 9 am we had:
'The Big Rock Candy Mountain' sung by Burl Ives then some overplayed crap from the Carnival of the Animals followed by a song from The Jungle Book.

For F*ck's Sake!

It matter's not whether Marty is there or not anymore.

The cancer has spread everywhere.

Time for an assisted death for Lyric.

europa11

Expunge wrote: »

Heard a few minutes of this mornings show with Trish Taylor.
In an 8 or 10 minute stretch from just before 9 am we had:
'The Big Rock Candy Mountain' sung by Burl Ives then some overplayed crap from the Carnival of the Animals followed by a song from The Jungle Book.

For F*ck's Sake!

It matter's not whether Marty is there or not anymore.

The cancer has spread everywhere.

Time for an assisted death for Lyric.

I feared the worst when she mulled a little too long over that 'missing word' contest answer (mountain) and instead of choosing to segue "The Mountains of Mourne" or the other hint (which escapes me now) she decided to "do a Marty" for some strange reason and went with Burl Ives which cued my exit so I fortunately missed her Whelan moment.

Otherwise though, her morning selection was pleasant enough.

Hopefully the faux pas was a minor hiccup, and who knows, Mr. Wannabeewogan might just become so engrossed with Eurovision that he may come back with the desire to make a move to 2FM.

bureau2009

Heard some of his "commentary" on the Eurovision last night.

BEYOND cringeworthy, embarassing and seriously dreadful.

Who exactly is responsible for employing this man? I mean, is there a Head of Presentation in RTE? Who is accountable for employing this awful, unlistenable "broadcaster"?

RTE's Senior Management have made a serious error of judgement in letting this man anywhere near a microphone. No one seems to care, and the listener is extremely badly served.

Yvonne23R

Trish was trick acting today on the programme.

I was in Supervalu this morning early when Trish was on when I heard her mention Hugo at around Hugo time, and I thought she was going to read it out. But she was playing the theme music from a film named "Hugo" which I didn't know. But it was funny to get it just at the time. I think she knew what she was doing!!

I wish she had Marty on the line to give a full run down on the Eurovision last night because he must have the "All The Goss" on what goes on behind. He did a great job on it and made it interesting. He was sitting next to the group from Denmark (the Danes). (The interval act wasn't a patch on Riverdance and Michael Flatley though.)

Expunge

Nice job by Lorcan Murray this morning. I listened for longer than I have done in years. Probably Lyric's best bet in the breakfast slot.
Nice voice, genial, a better knowledge of the classical stuff.

Playlist still frequently terrible though. Too much novelty crap.
Ethel Merman played about 10 past 8 or so. Awful, awful stuff.

It's a known fact that the only persons who can stand Ethel Merman singing are:

1. Profoundly deaf people
2. Some Homosexuals
3. The dead

The producer/director who persists in programming this rubbish must be in one of those categories!

Yvonne23R

I am just about to sit down with the kids to enjoy the Eurovision on TV with Marty, so I don't want to say too much here. Lorcan Murray was great today. He's a bit like Marty Whelan in how he goes about it. I was hoping he would have Hugo time actually but maybe Marty keeps them all for himself. He was saying that Marty was having a good "lie in" in the bed in Sweden this morning.

We loved the song by Ethel Merman too while we were having the brekky. But seriously I think it is terrible to say that about deaf people and dead people and Homosexuals. I know they are in music and everywhere. I even work with two homosexuals at work and there are women too. But they're nice and I have no problem with them. And I do not think that they follow Marty -- or Ethel!!!

I don't know why Trish wasn't on this morning?

Expunge

"Lorcan Murray was great today. He's a bit like Marty Whelan in how he goes about it."

Yvonne/Hugo, I was being complimentary about Lorcan, why must you insult the poor man with comparisons to Mr Whelan?

Yvonne23R

Ah come on! He was good with the Hugh Laurie moment today singing. And all the talk about Liberace in the new film. And General Luxury-Yacht. Lorcan is good but he wouldn't be able to do that. Marty Whelan has even been able now to get the new girl from AA to get into the spirit of the programme. Did Lorcan have Neven on on Friday?

Expunge

Ah come on! He was good with the Hugh Laurie moment today singing. And all the talk about Liberace in the new film. And General Luxury-Yacht. Lorcan is good but he wouldn't be able to do that. Marty Whelan has even been able now to get the new girl from AA to get into the spirit of the programme. Did Lorcan have Neven on on Friday?

With all this 'entertainment' going on, it's no wonder the whole facking station forgot Wagner's bi-centenery.
Radio 3, Classic FM all full of it. Not one programme or special devoted to Wagner this week. Incredible.
Love Wagner or hate Wagner - he is a major figure in music and it not being marked in the week of the 200th anniversary of his birth is just amazing!

When it's Nelson Riddle's anniversary or Val Doonigan's birthday, there'll be a bigger hullabuloo.
Shower of gimps running Lyric.

real rocker

Expunge wrote: »

With all this 'entertainment' going on, it's no wonder the whole facking station forgot Wagner's bi-centenery.
Radio 3, Classic FM all full of it. Not one programme or special devoted to Wagner this week. Incredible.
Love Wagner or hate Wagner - he is a major figure in music and it not being marked in the week of the 200th anniversary of his birth is just amazing!

When it's Nelson Riddle's anniversary or Val Doonigan's birthday, there'll be a bigger hullabuloo.
Shower of gimps running Lyric.

Unfortunately the search engine pages on the Lyric computers are programmed to avoid composers like Wagner. Val Doonican's jumper has it's own entry and Hugoes where no one else can. As for Ella and James Taylor - they are classics or classical in their own right in Lyric eyes. I opt for Pure on Dab now when I want non stop classical music when I can't access my internet options.

Yvonne23R

You are all wrong. They had a lot of Wagner on Lyric this week. Liz Nolan did her special on him. Marty Whelan played him. We even heard George Hamilton playing him so there is that proved. It wasn't Nelson Riddle's anniversary today but it was someone else's and of course he played the music. That's what people have come to expect. (I switched off during the Neven Maguire interlude. I put the kettle on when that starts and have my tea and by the time I'm onto my second cup and switch it on it's AA Routewatch time and I don't have to stomach it. They had a nice piece with the young lady from AA today with their colleague.)

I think they did something in the Concert Hall as well in the concert last week on Wagner and this was on the air. :cool:

He was telling us that Burt Bacharach is 85 and is still on the road. This is good for one of the "Greats." I hope he keeps it up.:)

Expunge

All wrong, is it Yvonne/Hugo?
Liz Nolan did not have a Wagner special last week. In the usual Tales from the Opera slot, she presented an abridged version of Tristan in her usual part hysterical, part over-sexualised delivery.
Marty played some Wagner. Whoopdedoo! Between Michael Jackson and Matt Munroe I suppose.

Fact is there was no special programme to mark the bi-centenary of the birth of Wagner on the national arts and music channel.

We heard more - far more- this week about the wedding of an AA Roadwatch announcer. Good luck to her and her new husband, but why was it all over Lyric at morning time?

Maybe a new director of Radio at RTE might make someone in Lyric see sense and then Marty can sling his hook and Hugo/Yvonne's dreadful unfunny stories can be binned for good. Unless you can get some community radio in Wicklow to air them, which is doubtful.

Yvonne23R

That is not a nice thing to write about Liz Nolan "her usual part hysterical, part over-sexualised delivery" - :mad: she is a fine musician herself and she knows her stuff. Her Wagner programme was supposed to be very good according to people who know. I don't think Wagner cares one way or the other if Lyric play something for his anniversary at this stage.

Marty Whelan doesn't play Michael Jackson. He only plays easy listening and classical and you should know that.

The AA Roadwatch team are part of the family now for many people. My lot find the whole thing very funny and lively.

I think Marty's Hugo stories are some of the best things on Lyric these days. You can see why he wouldn't anyone else do them when he isn't on.

I don't live in Wicklow so I don't know what you are inferring with that snarky comment.

Aidric

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I think Marty's Hugo stories are some of the best things on Lyric these days. You can see why he wouldn't anyone else do them when he isn't on.

Hi Hugo.

Yvonne23R

Hi Aidric. Thanks for the photo. I missed him again this morning. I've nothing against the man but I think he does not belong on a music programme. Not Hugo. Thanks.

Good shows this week the days I heard any of them. Does Marty Whelan go out to Dundrum any more? He used to every week but now I think its's the Zoo that.

Next week he might be at Bloom for the gardening.

Almaviva

Then again he might not. Its always so vague when it comes to Marty and Yvonne23R. The couched insder knowledge is just so precious. I think.

Rebelheart

Time for Boards.ie to do some cleanup on duplicate accounts in this now quite touched (to be polite about things) thread.

Almaviva

Rebelheart wrote: »

Time for Boards.ie to do some cleanup on duplicate accounts in this now quite touched (to be polite about things) thread.

Well quite.
Or to put it another way, has anyone ever spotted that rarest of birds - a post that Yvonne23R didnt thank ?
Yours etc.

shoegirl

Expunge wrote: »

All wrong, is it Yvonne/Hugo?
Liz Nolan did not have a Wagner special last week. In the usual Tales from the Opera slot, she presented an abridged version of Tristan in her usual part hysterical, part over-sexualised delivery.
Marty played some Wagner. Whoopdedoo! Between Michael Jackson and Matt Munroe I suppose.

Fact is there was no special programme to mark the bi-centenary of the birth of Wagner on the national arts and music channel.

We heard more - far more- this week about the wedding of an AA Roadwatch announcer. Good luck to her and her new husband, but why was it all over Lyric at morning time?

Maybe a new director of Radio at RTE might make someone in Lyric see sense and then Marty can sling his hook and Hugo/Yvonne's dreadful unfunny stories can be binned for good. Unless you can get some community radio in Wicklow to air them, which is doubtful.

Actually the one good thing Marty does is his eurovision commentary. I think the problem in recent years is the whole thing is so woeful it is almost impossible for even the wittiest commentator to do well. Unsurprising, since Eurovision is, after all, a showcase for all the RTE-like broadcasters all over Europe. A lot of them pulled out years ago (Luxembourg's RTL for example). Not his fault, for once.

I like Liz. I knew her a little through the business in the 90s. She does a reasonable, general interest show.

As for Wagner, to be honest, the programme format at Lyric probably harmed them making any kind of decent job. Its much easier when you are RAI in Italy and La Scala are spouting Ring Cycles all over the places. Even BBC have a huge advantage with so many decent Ring cycles and Wagner performances coming from major houses. I wouldn't totally blame Lyric for this one, my opinions on Ireland's operatic paradox are well known and I won't repeat them here.

I don't see why Marty can't be put back on one of the more suitable channels for him, TBH. He's really just in the wrong place for the kind of audience Lyric mostly has. Younger folk aren't taken in my patronising them with jokey DJs like this.

Expunge

As far as I know most operas recorded and broadcast by RAI or the BBC would be available to Lyric as they are all members of the EBU and share this stuff.
It's beside the point really because all that was needed was a strong profile programme on Wagner around the time of his 200th anniversary.

There were plenty of spots in the Lyric schedule where this could have been done by credible presenters like Ian Fox or Bernard Clarke.
It looks like they couldn't be bothered.
But, as predicted, June 1st came and Marty nearly wet his pants getting in almost 3 hours of Riddle related schmalz onto Lyric.

He's really just in the wrong place for the kind of audience Lyric mostly has. Younger folk aren't taken in my patronising them with jokey DJs like this

The age profile of Lyric listeners is high - that's probably a given. What I think he has done is replace older listeners who like mainly classical music with older listeners who dont really like classical music and wouldn't listen to the rest of the Lyric output in a fit.
In other words Whelan's presence on the station has burned away 'Lyric' listeners and only adding 'Whelan' listeners (mostly deranged persons i'd say) who don't listen to anything else on it.
According to the ilevel media analysis of the last JNLR, Lyric was "the worst performing station on the national stage, dropped 16,000 or 12%"
http://www.ilevel.ie/media-blog/radio/jnlr-2013-1-national-stations

Why do ya think that was?

bureau2009

Expunge wrote: »

In other words Whelan's presence on the station has burned away 'Lyric' listeners and only adding 'Whelan' listeners
(mostly deranged persons i'd say) who don't listen to anything else on it.
According to the ilevel media analysis of the last JNLR, Lyric was "the worst performing station on the national stage, dropped 16,000 or 12%"
http://www.ilevel.ie/media-blog/radio/jnlr-2013-1-national-stations

Why do ya think that was?

I know exactly why that was :eek:

Yvonne23R

I heard the programme this morning. Marty was interviewing Bryn Terfel and they talked a lot about crossover music. That should be one for people to put in their pipe and smoke it. Bryn told Marty that he wouldn't cover Frank Sinatra or Elvis, but, he would do Cole Porter (and one other one of the greats I can't remember now.) He's going to ask his Facebook friends to send in their proposals for their favourite tracks for a popular hits album. He is coming to Ireland soon for the golf.

(And, did anyone see Fair City this week, because Marty Whelan was the man at the centre of the action in part of it? It was good stuff and gave us a great laugh.)

Judgement Day

Is Marty Whelan on his uppers or is it that his ego means that he can't live without hearing his voice booming out of the radio? I mean surely he earns enough as a presenter not to need to prostitute himself by doing appalling, banal ads for Tesco. Every little helps **** off! Sorry if this should be in R&R but I'm fed up with the man and the radio will go out the kitchen window one of these days. :mad:

Greyham

He's a great broadcaster, just maybe lyric isn't the best way of using his talents

Yvonne23R

I'm listening to Lorcan Murray now and loving the show. I have my hat in the ring for the Madeline Peyrout CD that he had in the competition.

But I agree with the last speaker about Marty Whelan. He is an excellent broadcaster but we probably need to have him on television more than on radio to get the best out of him. He has that quality about him that works better on TV.

Almaviva

Yvonne23R wrote: »

He has that quality about him that works better on TV.

I think that quality he has works best off-air, unrecorded, in a soundproof room to a live audience of zero. The beauty is that this would serve both radio and television equally well.

Aidric

Almaviva wrote: »

I think that quality he has works best off-air, unrecorded, in a soundproof room to a live audience of zero. The beauty is that this would serve both radio and television equally well.

OTT. Marty does have something to offer, but Lyric isn't the medium for it.

Almaviva

Aidric wrote: »

OTT.

Nah.
He deserves all the criticism. Though not for his endless mindless chatter and bad taste in music. I agree, that probably does have an appeal to some - there is a large audience out there of those of little culture or sophistication. His real crime is being chief murderer of what once was a decent radio station.

Yvonne23R

Almaviva wrote: »

Nah.
He deserves all the criticism. Though not for his endless mindless chatter and bad taste in music. I agree, that probably does have an appeal to some - there is a large audience out there of those of little culture or sophistication. His real crime is being chief murderer of what once was a decent radio station.

I would not agree with any of this. I think it is snobby to say that about people who like the programme. It isn't as heavy as the other stuff on Lyric but it is what most like. And Marty Whelan's taste in music is second to anybody's. Listen out for all the requests and decidations he gets. It is a disgrace to say people have no culture or sophistication. How do you know what they have?

And even Neven Maguire would be nice if he was on TV with Marty. Anyway you need to see cooking done not talked about.

europa11

Yvonne23R wrote: »

............ And Marty Whelan's taste in music is second to anybody's.......

Absolutely correct.