Lyric fm's Breakfast show presenter - Marty Whelan.

pinkypinky

And he was back this morning.

johnnyk66

Alas the holiday is over:(:(


Its back to Morning Ireland for me......even squabbling politicians is easier to listen to than martys moronic musings.

doomed

pinkypinky wrote: »

And he was back this morning.

The day the music died

Rebelheart

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Isn't it good to see begrudgery knows no age or class barrier on this wonderful little island of ours.

It's not about "begrudgery", so kindly desist from employing that lazy stereotype. It is, however, about Lyric being an oasis of calm, well-chosen music that we could all tune into in the morning in order to avoid the incessant talk which marks both RTE Radio 1 and Newstalk at the same time. With the (extremely loquacious) presenter in question we no longer have that. I can safely say that's the real problem for the vast majority of people here.

mbur

Was hoping for an extra weeks peace so I tuned in Lyric for a long trip to Dingle. The laughing Gnome is back from holiday. Damn. As an intro to Some nice tenor (Paverotti maybe) he was banging on about some royal wedding coverage where the presenters were chatting over the same singer. Nice one Marty, what about the chatter in between the music.. Anyway I stuck it out until he played Dean Martin. I continued my journey in silence. Damn you RTE.

doomed

Personally I don't begruidge Marty his "fame", money, Eurovision coverage, Winning Streak or any amount of tacky tesco ads. Most of all I would not begrudge him a 12 week holiday in the Seychelles. In fact I would be delighted to know he was there until Christmas in a 5 star resort. What I do object to is having this very loud cuckoo in the Lyric nest. To give him 15 hours of Lyric to play with, other much more musically knowledgeable people have to make way.

ghiertal

doomed wrote: »

Personally I don't begruidge Marty his "fame", money, Eurovision coverage, Winning Streak or any amount of tacky tesco ads. Most of all I would not begrudge him a 12 week holiday in the Seychelles. In fact I would be delighted to know he was there until Christmas in a 5 star resort. What I do object to is having this very loud cuckoo in the Lyric nest. To give him 15 hours of Lyric to play with, other much more musically knowledgeable people have to make way.

A slightly unfortunate remark maybe. I just dreamed of him suffering a heart attack and being forced to retire.

goingpostal

doomed wrote: »

Personally I don't begruidge Marty his "fame", money, Eurovision coverage, Winning Streak or any amount of tacky tesco ads. Most of all I would not begrudge him a 12 week holiday in the Seychelles. In fact I would be delighted to know he was there until Christmas in a 5 star resort. What I do object to is having this very loud cuckoo in the Lyric nest. To give him 15 hours of Lyric to play with, other much more musically knowledgeable people have to make way.

That is what irritates me greatly too. Paul Herriot gets 10 hours per week. Even though I find his accent a bit annoying, he obviously knows far more about classical music than Farty Whelan does and he keeps the chat to the point and to a minimum. If they even made Whelan's show from seven to nine and gave the extra hour to Herriot, it would be a big improvement. THREE HOURS OF MARTY!!! It must be banned under the Geneva Conventions on Torture, it must be. I had his show on this morning on my portable radio, the classical music sounds great on DAB, but my trigger finger was on the volume button every time he started rabbiting on about nothing. Why does he repeat everything he says three times, in a variety of equally irritating affected accents? Is this some sort of conspiracy to deprive me of my remaining sanity? I had to change channels, even with the sound minimised, I could still hear too much of him.

Thomas828

Well, I've given Marty his chance and he's really better off on RTÉ Junior. At least that's where I think his voice belongs. I'm not saying anything against Junior, I think his voice is more accordant with the station in general.

Fortunately I have the choice of listening to Rob Cowan or Sara Mohr-Pietsch on BBC Radio 3. That's what I'll be listening to in the morning from now on.

goingpostal

Thomas828 wrote: »

Well, I've given Marty his chance and he's really better off on RTÉ Junior. At least that's where I think his voice belongs. I'm not saying anything against Junior, I think his voice is more accordant with the station in general.

Fortunately I have the choice of listening to Rob Cowan or Sara Mohr-Pietsch on BBC Radio 3. That's what I'll be listening to in the morning from now on.

I think his voice belongs in a vacuum. That way no-one would hear it.:D I have done much the same thing as you and sought an alternative source of classical music in the morning. This is what I came up with, straight out of Tucson, Arizona. Lots of nice, long pieces of classical music, with minimal talk.

Callan57

goingpostal wrote: »

I think his voice belongs in a vacuum. That way no-one would hear it.:D I have done much the same thing as you and sought an alternative source of classical music in the morning. This is what I came up with, straight out of Tucson, Arizona. Lots of nice, long pieces of classical music, with minimal talk.

Now that is exactly what is required to easy me into the day. Thanks

Gloomtastic!

Mod: I know Boards' policy of attacking the post, not the posters but I've never heard such drivel from people who believe they are better than someone else. They're snobs, pure and simple, how dare they!

[MOD EDIT]: So you know your post breaks the rules but you're going to post it anyway? ... Nuh-uh! Rest of post deleted.

doomed

Dear Marty

Don't take this personally. We wish you well, just elsewhere.
But just in case all this useful anger is being misdirected

(a) Its nothing to do with being forced to listen to it. Its more a case of being unable to listen to Lyric for 3 hours a day because RTE choses to fix up one of their own.

(b) A persons accent has nothing to do with knowledge but in any case a good presenter speaks so little that their accent is irrelevant.

A friend

goingpostal

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Mod: I know Boards' policy of attacking the post, not the posters but I've never heard such drivel from people who believe they are better than someone else. They're snobs, pure and simple, how dare they!

Ah, my old friend, the ad hominem logical fallacy, the last resort of the defeated debater. Maybe you can let us know why you think Marty Whelan deserves 3 hours on what is supposed to be a niche classical music station, ahead of some of the far more knowledgeable presenters that float around the Lyric schedule, covering a clown like Whelan, when he is off on holidays. I have no objection to people like Lorcan Murray, George Hamilton, Frank McNamara etc., who might be better-known for their work in other RTE departments, presenting shows on Lyric, because they present their shows in a professional manner and are willing to take a back-seat to the music. Oh yeah and BTW, is that really you, Marty?:D

pinkypinky

I think we've all established the following points:

1. We would prefer Marty Whelan to not present the morning show on Lyric.

2. We bear him personally no ill will.

There are other internet based options - but those won't work for people like me who want a radio alarm clock to wake them in the morning.

What can we do - other than moan - to resolve our problem?
A number of people have complained directly to Lyric, including me, and we've gotten carbon copy replies telling us politely to pfo.

bbability

Marty is doing a fine job. I believe a lot of factors surround Martys slot time but as I.have said before I think its a great thing that RTE are introducing presenters from outside the golden circle of classical music.

Hermy

bbability wrote: »

...I think its a great thing that RTE are introducing presenters from outside the golden circle of classical music.

Why?

goingpostal

pinkypinky wrote: »

I think we've all established the following points:

1. We would prefer Marty Whelan to not present the morning show on Lyric.

2. We bear him personally no ill will.

There are other internet based options - but those won't work for people like me who want a radio alarm clock to wake them in the morning.

What can we do - other than moan - to resolve our problem?
A number of people have complained directly to Lyric, including me, and we've gotten carbon copy replies telling us politely to pfo.

I have one of those letters of which you speak!! I wrote them a letter and posted it to them and got a letter back talking about how great Marty is, etc. I threw it in the bin, though.

goingpostal

bbability wrote: »

Marty is doing a fine job. I believe a lot of factors surround Martys slot time but as I.have said before I think its a great thing that RTE are introducing presenters from outside the golden circle of classical music.

Conspiracy theory thread this way.
Why is it always that wanting to have knowledgeable, taciturn presenters is characterised as elitist snobbery? And shoehorning verbal-diarrhea-suffering chancers into one of the most valuable slots of the day is characterised as "bringing classical music to the masses"? People who don't like classical music to begin with are not going to be won over by nonsense.

bbability

So in a nutshell Marty is like the too tabloid for the average listener of Lyric. What a load of crap. Marty has, whether you like it or not, marketing presence. Lyric won't survive in the big bad world if there's a unknown voice behind the Mic at a very crucial time of the day.

Coriolanus

bbability wrote: »

So in a nutshell Marty is like the too tabloid for the average listener of Lyric. What a load of crap. Marty has, whether you like it or not, marketing presence. Lyric won't survive in the big bad world if there's a unknown voice behind the Mic at a very crucial time of the day.

It's publicly funded radio, not private. The whole point of publicly funded radio the world over is to provide services that may not be commercially viable. Same with publicly funded transport services to ballygobackwards. It might not be commercially viable but it's in the public interest.

doomed

bbability wrote: »

So in a nutshell Marty is like the too tabloid for the average listener of Lyric. What a load of crap. Marty has, whether you like it or not, marketing presence. Lyric won't survive in the big bad world if there's a unknown voice behind the Mic at a very crucial time of the day.

That line of argument simply just doesn't stack up

Lyric is not a stand alone station that has to compete on a commercial basis or die. It is part of a much larger public broadcasting network with a remit that includes catering to minority interests. If it was purely about the money they would do much better to dispense with the classical music format entirely and make it Radio 1B and fill it with other pople who don't make the grade at Radio 1 or 2 FM. In any event, the JNLR figures for this slot are 19K, hardly evidence of a marketing phenomenon at work.

You will not find a Marty equivalent on any of the successful classical format stations in other countries. They don't dilute their own product nor will they allow someone who seems to have little or no empathy with the Station's purpose to occupy air time.

Lest we get into the whole and misleading snobbery thing again, lets say one of us got a job in a country music station. Would you consider yourself entitled to give the listeners a dose of Mahler, Bon Jovi or Tony Bennett instead of Hank Williams, Willie Nelson et al? Don't think so.

RTE does most things well. It does not allow

• Jedward to present Prime Time
• Joe Duffy to do sports commentary
• Pat Kenny to do stand up comedy

Why is lyric different?

goingpostal

bbability wrote: »

So in a nutshell Marty is like the too tabloid for the average listener of Lyric. What a load of crap. Marty has, whether you like it or not, marketing presence. Lyric won't survive in the big bad world if there's a unknown voice behind the Mic at a very crucial time of the day.

^^Strawman logical fallacy. I have already said I don't mind Lorcan Murray, George Hamilton, Frank McNamara, Eileen Dunne etc., presenting shows on Lyric FM, even though they come from outside the "golden circle of classical music". All these people have "marketing presence" or a more widely known name, due to their presence on other, more popular RTE platforms. They present their shows in a professional, discreet, verbally-parsimonious manner, obviously like classical music, and don't repeat the same phrase, three times, in a variety of accents designed to destroy my fragile psyche at approximately 8am, Monday to Friday.

mbur

doomed wrote: »

Originally Posted by bbability
So in a nutshell Marty is like the too tabloid for the average listener of Lyric. What a load of crap. Marty has, whether you like it or not, marketing presence. Lyric won't survive in the big bad world if there's a unknown voice behind the Mic at a very crucial time of the day.

That line of argument simply just doesn't stack up

Lyric is not a stand alone station that has to compete on a commercial basis or die. It is part of a much larger public broadcasting network with a remit that includes catering to minority interests. If it was purely about the money they would do much better to dispense with the classical music format entirely and make it Radio 1B and fill it with other pople who don't make the grade at Radio 1 or 2 FM. In any event, the JNLR figures for this slot are 19K, hardly evidence of a marketing phenomenon at work.

You will not find a Marty equivalent on any of the successful classical format stations in other countries. They don't dilute their own product nor will they allow someone who seems to have little or no empathy with the Station's purpose to occupy air time.

Lest we get into the whole and misleading snobbery thing again, lets say one of us got a job in a country music station. Would you consider yourself entitled to give the listeners a dose of Mahler, Bon Jovi or Tony Bennett instead of Hank Williams, Willie Nelson et al? Don't think so.

RTE does most things well. It does not allow

• Jedward to present Prime Time
• Joe Duffy to do sports commentary
• Pat Kenny to do stand up comedy

Why is lyric different?

This post deserves it's own sticky.

Dirigent

goingpostal wrote: »

^^Strawman logical fallacy. I have already said I don't mind Lorcan Murray, George Hamilton, Frank McNamara, Eileen Dunne etc., presenting shows on Lyric FM, even though they come from outside the "golden circle of classical music".

And none of the above would dream of mouthing dum-dee-dum-daa-daa after playing a track.

Gloomtastic!

I keep getting drawn back to this thread for some odd reason......

Only 19,000 people listen to Lyric in the morning? Even as a public service medium, that's shocking! If Marty has increased it by 20%, fair dues to the man!

I like listening to Lyric because i like most of the tunes they play - JK needs to examine what a tune is sometimes but he can find some real gems.

Marty plays some cracking tunes and sticking them together with a bit of harmless gibberish is forgivable in my opinion.

Management have decided they want more people listening to Lyric and as probably one of the most expensive stations to air due to the royalty payments, we as license payees should be seen to be getting some value for money.

They've tried with various presenters but none have the same crowd pulling ability. I think it may be called personality!

I wonder is Marty snubbed by all other presenters or do they see him as the savior of the station?

Coriolanus

I still want to know what survey the Irish Times pulled those statistics off of. As far as I can make out it wasn't a JNLR poll.

doomed

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I wonder is Marty snubbed by all other presenters or do they see him as the savior of the station?

I suspect neither. They are far too nice for the former and too unmedicated for the latter.

cherrieblossom

marty whelan is a tonic in the mornings, I just love his so called giberish , its about all my poor demented brain can cope with , listening to marty is just like getting a giant hug from a very huggable thing

Rebelheart

bbability wrote: »

I think its a great thing that RTE are introducing presenters from outside the golden circle of classical music.

Just what, pray tell, is this? Really, I'm baffled. I haven't a note in my head and I'd obviously have no truck with undereducated anti-Irish peasants like the horrendous Marie-Louise O'Donnell who have notions about themselves and their knowledge of classical music. But really, what is this "golden circle of classical music"?

I love Lyric because it's different, different in the calming, soft, mellow sense with presenters who enlighten me about music, tell me about Bach cantatas on a Thursday night in St Ann's Church, about a harpist playing in Smarmore Castle, or about violinists playing in The Coach house, and so much more. It has nothing to do with paranoid concepts like "golden circles" but much to do with being tired of the sameness of commercial Irish radio stations and presenters who have an astounding misunderstanding of their own importance. Lyric offers difference on radio, but also opens me to a world of difference in many venues across Ireland.

Lyric, excluding the awfully talkative morning programme under discussion here and Gay Byrne's equally vacuous programme, is a break from everything else. The only station which provides a cultural alternative as "radical" (for want of a better word) is RnaG when it has discussion programmes, albeit in linguistic rather than musical terms.

Lyric may not be commercially popular but it has a huge value in Irish broadcasting terms. People of all ages and experiences can access it, and open their minds to rich cultural worlds at various times in their life. In its difference and depth, it has something real to give every Irish person at some stage in his or her life.