Lyric fm's Breakfast show presenter - Marty Whelan.

Guramoogah

HoseaGray2011 wrote: »

I hear there was no Marty this morning.

In my house, there's no Marty any morning.

HugoBradyBrown

I am happy to relieve readers of some doubts that may have been raised in their minds. “Almaviva”, “Doomed”, “TimmyTarmac” and others can rest assured that, contrary to any concerns expressed, I have no issues or interests in this matter. And my name, which I believe it is proper to append openly to anything I put into the public domain, is not entirely an uncommon one. Indeed, I would discountenance the placing of any matter into the public domain under assumed names, believing it to diminish the sense of restraint that behoves people in this activity.

The ad hominem tone in the discussion is perturbing; while I, of course, have drawn it upon myself by engaging as a novice in a debate in this forum, Marty and his team have not. They, in fact, are like members of the British royal family in their dealings with the critical media: they can’t answer back. It would, doubtless, be considered unprofessional, undignified and ultimately self-defeating for any of the team to become involved in a discussion of this kind.

I became aware of Boards only recently. Since this thread has been unremittingly critical of what seems to me and to thousands of others to be sui generis radio, I took it upon myself to seek to balance the scales.

(I might observe in passing that it is worthwhile when writing in public to consider whether a jury might be persuaded that one or more passages of writing went beyond vulgar abuse by constituting defamation; a ‘thought experiment’ of this kind might assist in restraining some of the more extravagantly corrosive comments that one is sometimes unfortunate enough to encounter on the Internet. But that is by the way.)

Notwithstanding my opening statement, I do, however, have an interest, which arises from my being a citizen of Ireland, and, though it is a second-order interest, a second interest of mine is as a payer of the television tax remitted to RTE. This, in my view, is sufficient interest for any person to form and express a view on an issue of this kind.

The nature of the imagined radio programme that seems to be seen as an ideal by some contributors would probably be of such minority interest as to make it viable for RTE to send out tapes by courier on a daily basis to the interested parties, and to allow the listenership to continue to enjoy the existing Marty in the Morning in it multifarious musical glory.

It is not as if classical music is forsworn on the Marty in the Morning. Contributors to Boards might reflect on the complex architecture of the programme. It is especially worthy of note that there is a gentle incline over the first hour or so through undemanding classical works, and that the middle stretches begin to see the polyphony of musical tastes take hold.

And far from being a down-at-heel version of Terry Wogan’s BBC Radio show, this programme is something new, untried and appropriate to this country and its audiences. It may also be worth recalling that 40 years ago or so, the GB Show on Raidio Eireann started as a simple music show, and then gathered moss over time to become the phenomenon that it was. This is a possible future path of Marty’s programme in the coming years.

I myself am well-enough versed in statistics, in polling and in the wiles of the Irish public to realise that a recitation of bald listenership figures from any ‘Book’ must be interpreted with great care. I am convinced from a wide personal acquaintance that the listenership for this programme is greatly understated. People when surveyed are, I believe, being cowed by smart opinion into pretending that they do not listen to Marty, but that they consume Morning Ireland or something similar. Yet I remember both Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahearn arguing at different times that the poll figures showing disaster portending for Fianna Fail should be ignored; they were right and the soi-disant experts of past ages were always wrong. Time after time the electorate when polled by opinion pollsters told one story, as if ashamed of being Fianna Fail supporters, yet they voted straight down the Fianna Fail list in the polling booth, and that party consistently came within a whisker of an overall majority. So too with Marty. People believe that it is somehow ‘uncool’ to admit to enjoying this entertainment, so they do it in the privacy of their own kitchens, cars, offices and train seats.

I believe that a qualitative approach to researching the Marty audience would be likely to yield significantly different results to the existing simple quantitative measures. In such a richer form of data gathering, involving securing the confidence of the subject, many more listeners would emerge from clear air. It would surprise me if fewer than 100 000 people listened to the programme for at least part of each broadcast.

Further sustenance for this view is clear to anyone who has spent time in any institutional setting where radio choices have to be made on a common denominator basis. In nursing homes, hospital wards, care institutions, psychiatric institutes, places of detention and so forth on any morning of the week, people will be found enjoying Marty in the Morning, when no other programme would command their acquiescence as a group.

Hugo Brady Brown

mbur

'Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens;
'Tis just the fashion: wherefore do you look
Upon that poor and broken bankrupt there?

Be gentle people.

I'll just pop down to the pub and check back later.

doomed

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

I am happy to relieve readers of some doubts that may have been raised in their minds. “Almaviva”, “Doomed”, “TimmyTarmac” and others can rest assured that, contrary to any concerns expressed, I have no issues or interests in this matter.

Thanks for that

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

In nursing homes, hospital wards, care institutions, psychiatric institutes, places of detention and so forth on any morning of the week, people will be found enjoying Marty in the Morning, when no other programme would command their acquiescence as a group.

Hugo Brady Brown

Talk about a captive audience!

The point is not that Marty should not be on the air, just that he is a complete mismatch with Lyric (and lest we all head down the music snob route, lets imagine they replaced Tom McGuirk as RTE rugby anchor with Marty). There are two national radio stations to cater for the people who like Marty and the powers that be won't give him a show on either of them. They took his 2FM gig away from him as they did with his afternoon slot on TV (for which he was perfectly suited btw).

There have been plenty of opportunities lately. Maxi's early morning slot went to someone I never heard of. Tubbs got all 3 hours of poor Gerry Ryan's programme, John Murray got the Radio 1 morning gig. Even when the "stars" take their huge summer breaks, MW does not fill in for them. This conveys a very strong impression that RTE do not see MW as a player. Gameshows and the Eurovision - perfect, but prime slots -no way.

Why not move his programme lock stock and barrel to 2 FM? The audience will be much bigger and we can close this thread.

TimmyTarmac

9:03 this very morning. Marty reads yet more guff from 'Hugo' in a suspiciously similar style to HugoBradyBrown's style, as seen on these pages. Followed by the Black Beauty Theme (Lord save us). Now, if you say it is not you, HugoBradyBrown, I must accept that, however reluctantly.
The feeling that it is one and the same person is strong, very strong. And from what I can see, you have not yet denied specifically that you are a regular contributor of corrrespondence to Marty in the Morning.

If I have missed a specific denial, please accept my apologies.

TimmyTarmac

"The point is not that Marty should not be on the air, just that he is a complete mismatch with Lyric"

Yes, Doomed, that is the nub of the matter. Good luck to him, Bobby Darin, The Rolling Stones, Perry Como and the "complex architecture" of his show. It would be fine on another network, but it is a betrayal of the public service committments of RTE while that music selection is left on Lyric.

And Hugo's idea that the listenership for Marty in the Morning is vastly understated in the JNLR: "It would surprise me if fewer than 100 000 people listened to the programme for at least part of each broadcast".
Well, that is the sort of talk that could see one Sectioned into one's local psychiatric institution.

Real FM

Typical boards.ie Radio Forum rubbish. :rolleyes:

I don't listen to Marty Whelan and never have so I don't have any feelings on this particular subject but why do regular posters here automatically presume that as soon as someone defends a station or presenter that they have some sort of connection to it/ them?

I highly doubt most stations or presenters give a dam about what's said on this forum since it seems to be the same ol 15 or so people voicing their same ol repetitive negative opinions. Instead they have the JNLRs...which aren't quite as sensationalist and offer a more well rounded view.

Example, when posters post negative opinions about RTE you never hear anyone replying with accusations that they must be from a competitor's station such as Newstalk. Why? Because such a statement is without any basis or proof and the posters just clutching at straws. Just like when a lot of poster reply to Hugo's posts.

Hugo thanks for a refreshingly positive outlook on an Irish radio programme. It makes a great change from the typical whinging we usually read here.

Sandwlch

Real FM wrote: »

Typical boards.ie Radio Forum rubbish. :rolleyes:

I don't listen to Marty Whelan and never have so I don't have any feelings on this particular subject but why do regular posters here automatically presume that as soon as someone defends a station or presenter that they have some sort of connection to it/ them?

Some contributions are just too far out there to think otherwise :

"allow the listenership to continue to enjoy the existing Marty in the Morning in its multifarious musical glory"

"Marty and his team are therefore like a dose of some palatable psychological medicine"

Please.

But back to the substance, the problem isnt with Marty - its with the people who put Marty on Lyric. I believe they do not know what they are doing. They have made a bad error of judgement by dumbing down Lyric and cannot see their mistake. And have betrayed the Lyric brief and not been honest with the public about it. Mix that with an element of RTE luvvy/cronyism and the whole thing smells very bad. Hence the reaction against Lyric, its management, and Marty as the most conspicuous manifestation of poor public radio management.

TimmyTarmac

Real FM wrote: »

I highly doubt most stations or presenters give a dam about what's said on this forum since it seems to be the same ol 15 or so people voicing their same ol repetitive negative opinions. Instead they have the JNLRs...which aren't quite as sensationalist and offer a more well rounded view

Did you even read Hugo's refreshingly positive outlook, Real FM?

He spent a good part of his latest contribution rubbishing the JNLR's and it's well rounded view. He loves Marty in the Morning. That's fine, but he seems to refuse to accept that the programme is the least listened to daytime programme on RTE Lyric FM, which seems to be the case as I have read it in the JNLRs. The other programmes play either all Classical music or a mix of classical and other 'specialist music'.

So, refreshing and all as Hugo is, is he right or wrong in his assessment, Real FM?

Real FM

Of course I read his posts and whilst I don't share his view on the JNLRs I still appreciate the fact that he is a fan of the show and is passionate about it.

What I don't appreciate is posters constantly jumping to the conclusions that as soon a someone posts sometime positive that they must have some connection to or even be that presenter.

You'd assume people who post on this forum were keen "radio heads" (for want of a better word/s) but the threads are constantly negative and it really makes me wonder if the posters are actually all that interested in radio or are they just tuning in so that they can find something to criticize?

That being said everyone has a right to an opinion and I respect that. However, some posters should also respect that when someone like Hugo posts instead of pointing the finger without any basis and claiming that he must have some connection to Marty.

HugoBradyBrown

Dear All,

Verse was quoted in a previous post, seemingly intended as a form of rebuttal of my views. In my own case, each morning, in relation to Marty in the Morning (MITM),

“If I can I listen,
And if I can’t: regret.”

I may have been inattentive and thus opaque in what I wrote previously. For the avoidance of doubt, I am not Marty’s Hugo, who appears to me to live a happier, more varied, more incident-filled and more fulfilled life than I and perhaps many others. It would also appear that he commands more financial capital than I, and perhaps more cultural capital too. (Neither, incidentally, am I Lorcán in Prague, Maelmuire in the Val d'Aosta or Dr Bobbie of Kenmare (whom God preserve).)

I fear I may not have the intellectual apparatus to respond adequately to the points raised by posters in this thread, but I shall make an effort, and will ask for the indulgence of readers if I fail to achieve the levels of abstraction of thought, of comprehensiveness and of fairness in expression that are otherwise the norms among the critics of MITM.

Lyric FM appears to me to be presenting in the morning a programme that is intended to assist us in coming to terms with the day, as, for example, we try to get the children out to school. It is clearly not aiming at imposing the exacting and stratospheric cultural standards of the Frankfurt School on the innocent plain people of Ireland, ourselves included.

A radio station that broadcast music with the soul-searing asperity that might have helped Theodor Adorno to get his black coffee and pumpernickel rolls down of a morning is unlikely to appeal to the rest of us. (And, indeed, he was hardly a happy man, to judge from both biographies and surviving photographs.)

The criticisms directed at MITM are manifestly unfair to Marty, since his broadcasts do not differ in kind from those of other broadcasters in the jewel in RTE’s crown that is Lyric FM. Undoubtedly his personality informs his programme, but his is simply a form of engagement with a diverse and appreciative listenership. (And I note in passing that his critics on this thread seem to know his programme down to the exact timing of items; this suggests to me that he has even his critics in the strange gravitational pull of his output.)

Lunchtime Classics, The John Kelly Show and even, to some extent, Classic Drive are recognizable stable-mates of MITM, in terms of content, range, selection, listener interaction, expertise, entertainment, prize-draws, jocularity and so forth. Listening to the requests and comments pouring into Lyric during the day makes one realize that there is a fund of goodwill and support for the programmes it broadcasts. I find it difficult to avoid a suspicion arising that rank and arrant snobbery could possibly lie behind some of the criticism of MITM and other strands of the output of the station.

On the contemporary radio spectrum, where are listeners going to get to hear Andy Williams, Noirin Ni Riain, Amy Winehouse, Daniel O’Donnell, John Barry, Stanley Myers’ Cavatina, Cara O’Sullivan, Tony Bennett, Hayley Westenra, Andrea Botticelli, Lesley Garrett and the splendid new Doris Day album? One or two of these, perhaps, here or there, but nobody else will select this particular diversity of talent. In the morning Marty gives us the whiff of the nightclub, a strain from the jazz club and a blast from the tranny of the past.

Does the audience for this deserve to be force-fed Bruckner, Berg, Berio and Baroque Requiems over their morning cereal? Surely BBC Radio 3 caters, with its big potential audience, for more monastic tastes. Why should Lyric FM be a clone of something that is possible in a much larger society, where the state broadcaster is awash with funds?

And MITM is, among other things, a fine showcase for emerging Irish musical talent in several fields.

The jocularity of Marty’s output makes me think of an aural version of “Ireland’s Own” at its best. He manages to make something both unexpected yet comforting, something ‘rich and strange’, to extend our common debt to Shakespeare.

There is, I believe, a presumption abroad that classical music is somehow the pinnacle of man’s musical achievement, as if everything is in some sense a falling away from an ideal. I, and the great silent majority who support MITM, are clearly cultural relativists. It is my experience that people who are genuinely knowledgeable and indeed expert about music are those who can appreciate the excellence that is achieved by good or great popular music. Indeed, professional musicians generally appreciate and value all music, not just some austere strand of high culture. People like Sir Jimmy Galway are as ready to play ‘Phil the Fluther’s Ball’ as they are to give vent to ‘Syrinx’. Sir Simon Rattle is another who will conduct a tango as readily as the Turangalîla-Symphonie.

Classical music not the only ideal: a two-way street with it at one end must be created, for the common good. A roaring tenor, a bawling baritone or an orchestra of scraping strings in a deservedly forgotten sinfonia are just as much to be deprecated as bad popular music. The issue is not the genre of the music, but the quality. And Marty and his team are, on the evidence, one of the best Quality Control Units in the country.

Nor is there anything a priori ‘better’ about playing extracts, gobbets and selections from high cultural musical works. Indeed, I would be inclined to argue that a radio station that relied in any significant way on a “These You Have Loved” potpourri of ‘classical fovourites’ is probably a lower form of broadcasting that something like MITM, which brings us echoes of Central and Eastern Europe, mediated through the output of the great American cultural industry. Old Vienna, Old Odessa, Old Vladivostok, Old Budapest: these come back to us through the conduit of the Great American Songbook, and MITM is one certain place where we can enjoy it in a suitable context.

Though it is hardly party of the brief, in my view MITM also meets and exceeds the Reithean desiderata for broadcasting, to educate, inform and entertain. (The order in which these three items were ranked is, I believe, no accident.)

MITM educates by leading its audience on from what it knows it likes to what it finds it also likes. Such education has previously been theorized as being unidirectional towards high culture; MITM has shown that education is also necessary in the other direction, away from classical music. MITM has in two short years broadened the horizons of many listeners, by instilling in them an appreciation for the great achievements of great musicians who do not appear in public dressed like waiters. Even the most high-minded amongst us can benefit from the kind of musical, human and humane education being offered free of charge over the airwaves by MITM.

The informing function is carried out straightforwardly through AA Roadwatch inserts, and through News. However, it is also sustained by Marty’s determined drawing the attention of listeners to cultural and musical events that might not have come to their notice otherwise; this week, for example, his brief reference to the Princess Grace exhibition in the Newbridge Silverware Gallery has apparently led to a surge of interest; last week we learned where to go to see the Beatles first suits.

And, as for entertainment, this is surely the warp and weft of the programme. Throughout his well-knitted three hours, we have music and comment; we have the presenter’s lighthearted, impromptu and virtuosic interaction with the AA Roadwatch people; we look forward expectantly to his beginning similar joshing with Anne Doyle and her colleagues in the Newsroom before or after the brief bursts of mundane reality that must intrude on our morning musical reveries.

The size and loyalty of the audience is in itself a demonstration that his is a job well done. A recent popular text, ‘The Wisdom of Crowds” points up the value that we can legitimately place in the broad consensus that is achieved in a large group of people. MITM’s success and persistence on the airwaves is in itself validated by its enthusiastic reception by its audience. Other than here and among professional media critics, one never hears a negative comment about the show. And, indeed, it is perhaps worth recalling that the final documents of the last Council, drawing our attention to the need to heed the ‘Signs of the Times’, tell us to pay particular attention to ‘vox populi’. MITM is clearly a suitable response to vox populi in this secular context.

Sometimes, I realize, in the heat of expressing an opinion in matters of this kind, there can be embedded a perhaps inadvertent sense of cultural superiority, with the natural hazards of this veering close to snobbery. We ought, therefore, to be charitable to each other in all our dealings in real life and on the Internet. But those of us who have our dinner in the middle of the day, those of us who subscribe to the ‘Messenger’, those of us who may not have had luxury of ballet and viola lessons after Montessori, are equally worthy of having some influence on the programming choices made for us by our superb national broadcaster.

Finally, the station is clearly named ‘Lyric FM’, not ‘Unremittingly Classical FM’. Anything lyrical would seem to meet the requirements of the rubric, whether that be Brahms (Johannes) or Bennett (Tony), Wagner (Richard) or Williams (Andy), Bach (Johann Sebastian) or Bassey (Shirley).


Hugo Brady Brown

TimmyTarmac

"For the avoidance of doubt, I am not Marty’s Hugo"
Right so, Hugo. Please accept my apologies, the similarity in writing styles in my opinion is striking.
As for your views on Marty in the Morning, yes you and others should have it but not on RTE Lyric FM. We'll have to agree to disagree on the public service merits or otherwise of the show.
I'll once again repeat that it is a deriliction of duty by RTE radio management to have that programme in it's current format on Lyric.
But, but public service broadcasting comes in many forms, as you point out. You make the case for this show and, even though I could never agree, there are other radio channels in RTE's stable and room could be found for it somewhere else.
As an aside, as you mention BBC Radio 3, the natives there are very unhappy as there is a percieved 'dumbing down' taking place. Clearly, it's all relative. A pressure and discussion group, Friends of Radio 3 has been set up. When the BBC closed down discussion on Radio 3 from it's official sites, they set up this www.for3.org .

goingpostal

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

I think that Marty is an excellent addition and leavening in Lyric FM, giving people a real and substantial alternative to Scary Radio One, and bringing an intelligent, compassionate and witty eye to bear on the issues that really matter to people. He combines his easy competence in the studio with a deep and comprehensive understanding of the music that people actually like to hear at the start of their day. The days he is away from his show, one might imagine that a coup d'etat had taken place, to hear the lugubrious and dreary heavy classical music that they mistakenly put on; Wagner and Brahms at 7.30 in the morning are too much for anyone in this timezone. It's more of John Barry's music, and of Rod Stewart's singing, and of young Neven Maguire's inspiring recipes that the nation needs. And what other presenter would be able to secure the generosity of Neven going on to an audio feed each and every Friday from wherever he is around the globe, or to get the young soprano Renee Fleming to expose herself to his gentle but searching questioning, or to have the superstar Martin Hayes drive from Feakle to Limerick to be interviewed on a wet Wednesday morning? The worry for the listenership, of course, is that Marty will be snapped up by another station, or rescheduled to a time of day when we cannot devote three hours to our listening pleasure. I think Marty has his hand on the carotid pulse of Ireland, and that 'no change' is the message that should be sent out loudly to the Head of Light Entertainment in Montrose.

Pure fcuking genius. I don't care if you are serious or not, I wish I could write like that. Thanks for the laugh, fellow prole!!

goingpostal

I think the debate needs to be widened somewhat, to talk about what direction, if any, Lyric FM is taking. It has too many ads, too many traffic bulletins, too many news bulletins, too many crappy competitions for CD's, and not enough music. Marty's program is a good illustration of all these problems, to the max, with the added distraction of a garrulous, vacuous presenter. Some people might enjoy his "lively banter", while other people might be driven to distraction by his pointless, repetitive guff. Lyric needs to decide whether it wants to be a specialist classical music station or a personality-driven easy-listening musically-unchallenging station. Right now it is neither fish nor fowl, and is pretty unlistenable a lot of the time. The lunchtime show spends too much times reading out texts from clowns. I couldn't give a flying fcuk if John and Mary are driving to Wexford for their cats anniversary, I just want to hear as much music as possible. I am boycotting Lyric til they get their act together. Crossing a classical music station with 2FM is a pretty terrible idea.

This is a great classical music station which broadcasts from San Francisco, you can download their app from the Apple App store or the Android Market for your iphone, ipad or smartphone. They play lots of really long classical music pieces, it is publicly funded radio so there is no ads, and the presenter is practically non-existent.

Maggie McGaggie

Marty and his pals are very similar to that new fim "Cane Toads:The Conquest". His creeping movement to an ever greater dilution of classical music is sneaky and deliberate. His new tactic seems to be playing pieces from soundtracks instead of composers. I have taken these from the lyric fm website playlist of Marty's show on Monday 3rd of October 2011. I'm amazed they are not too ashamed to put this up. Can you imagine what the original founders would have thought if they were somehow able to see this playlist when they were launching the station.

http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/marty/1325506.html

These are just a few gems from it:
Track Name: Nine Million Bicycles
Complete Work Name: Nine Million Bicycles
Composer: Batt, Mike
Soloist: Katie Melua (Vocal)

The Best Is Yet To Come
Complete Work Name: The Best Is Yet To Come
Composer: Coleman, Cy/Leigh, Carolyn
Soloist: Michael Bublé (vocal)

All creatures great and small (AKA Piano Parchment)
Complete Work Name: All creatures great and small
Composer: Johnny Pearson
Soloist: Johnny Pearson (piano)

World in Union
Complete Work Name: World in Union
Composer: Holst/Skarbek
Soloist: Hayley Westenra

Song To Woody
Complete Work Name: Song To Woody
Composer: Dylan, Bob
Soloist: Bob Dylan

Psycho - Suite
Complete Work Name: Psycho
Composer: Herrmann, Bernard

The Living Years
Complete Work Name: The Living Years
Composer: Rutherford, Mike/Roberstson, B.A.
Soloist: Mike and The Mechanics


The Look of Love
Complete Work Name: The Look of Love
Composer: Bacharach, Burt/David, Hal
Soloist: Dusty Springfield

I Love Paris
Composer: Porter, Cole

Body and Soul
Complete Work Name: Body and Soul
Composer: Green, Johhny/Eyton, Frank/Heyman, Edwar
Soloist: Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse

I went to a marvelous Party
Composer: Coward, Noel

Fields of Gold
Complete Work Name: Fields of Gold
Composer: Sting

Almost there
Complete Work Name: Almost There
Composer: Shayne/Keller/Mersey
Soloist: Andy Williams (Vocal)

The Trolley Song
Complete Work Name: Meet Me in Saint.Louis
Composer: Blane, Ralph/Martin, Hugh
Soloist: Kim Criswell & Chorus

johnnyk66

Maggie McGaggie wrote: »

Marty and his pals are very similar to that new fim "Cane Toads:The Conquest". His creeping movement to an ever greater dilution of classical music is sneaky and deliberate. His new tactic seems to be playing pieces from soundtracks instead of composers. I have taken these from the lyric fm website playlist of Marty's show on Monday 3rd of October 2011. I'm amazed they are not too ashamed to put this up. Can you imagine what the original founders would have thought if they were somehow able to see this playlist when they were launching the station.

http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/marty/1325506.html

These are just a few gems from it:
Track Name: Nine Million Bicycles
Complete Work Name: Nine Million Bicycles
Composer: Batt, Mike
Soloist: Katie Melua (Vocal)

The Best Is Yet To Come
Complete Work Name: The Best Is Yet To Come
Composer: Coleman, Cy/Leigh, Carolyn
Soloist: Michael Bublé (vocal)

All creatures great and small (AKA Piano Parchment)
Complete Work Name: All creatures great and small
Composer: Johnny Pearson
Soloist: Johnny Pearson (piano)

World in Union
Complete Work Name: World in Union
Composer: Holst/Skarbek
Soloist: Hayley Westenra

Song To Woody
Complete Work Name: Song To Woody
Composer: Dylan, Bob
Soloist: Bob Dylan

Psycho - Suite
Complete Work Name: Psycho
Composer: Herrmann, Bernard

The Living Years
Complete Work Name: The Living Years
Composer: Rutherford, Mike/Roberstson, B.A.
Soloist: Mike and The Mechanics


The Look of Love
Complete Work Name: The Look of Love
Composer: Bacharach, Burt/David, Hal
Soloist: Dusty Springfield

I Love Paris
Composer: Porter, Cole

Body and Soul
Complete Work Name: Body and Soul
Composer: Green, Johhny/Eyton, Frank/Heyman, Edwar
Soloist: Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse

I went to a marvelous Party
Composer: Coward, Noel

Fields of Gold
Complete Work Name: Fields of Gold
Composer: Sting

Almost there
Complete Work Name: Almost There
Composer: Shayne/Keller/Mersey
Soloist: Andy Williams (Vocal)

The Trolley Song
Complete Work Name: Meet Me in Saint.Louis
Composer: Blane, Ralph/Martin, Hugh
Soloist: Kim Criswell & Chorus

Lyric FM R.I.P.

snubbleste

I keep expecting him to launch into a 30 second spiel for a well-known supermarket when I hear his voice..

europa11

Parts of that playlist definitely more Alan Partridge than Lyric fare, but what else would you expect from the king of cheese.

If RTÉ are committed to capturing an "easy listening/golden oldie" market -and judging by that playlist it seems obvoius to me at least - that they are. Then why hijack LyricFM for such a purpose when RTÉ2FM was and still is, a dormant chamber which lost it's target market long ago.

The baby-boomers' don't readily associate with Lyric for one thing, yet would have grown up with 2FM. As the current "yoof" market is clearly unimpressed by Tubbers and Larry Gogan :eek:, et al, and have departed long ago for the Indie stations, maybe it's past time for the Montrose mandarins to finally grab that 2FM bull by the horns and try to re-capture the generation it was born into.

Send Marty over there, give Ronan Collins a 3 hour show, drop Tubridy and I suppose seeing as it's pointless in shifting him let Larry continue to graze there. I'm sure Maxi would appreciate a spot (at a decent time of the day). Cathal Murray, who seems to share similar taste and fills in for RC is another who could fill the airtime with more e-z listening, add in a few others and build an identity about them, eving time just play non-stop Oldies from 9pm until whenever Marty comes in to open the shop with his flask and cheese sandwiches under his oxter.

Perhaps Marian Finucane could be persuaded to play some of her muscial choices for an hour or two each day during the week (at no additional cost needless to say), if only to "justify" her outlandish salary and holiday perks.
And Pigs may yet indeed fly :P

Let Lyric revert back to what it was intended to be, and if RTÉ have any intentions of capturing a share of the youth market, let them launch a new station to do so. They already have one going on the Digital network anyway so how much extra would it be to assign a wavelength and hire a couple of headbangers (sans egotist preferably).

HugoBradyBrown

The debate on Marty in the Morning still gathers moss, I see.

The founders of RTE Lyric FM, if they were to see the playlist of last Monday (and I am sure that they have no difficulty seeing it, if they wish to), would probably applaud it for being the sensible and rational response of a stable radio station meeting the needs and preferences of an Irish audience. The nub of the issue lies elsewhere. What I might term the 'Continuity RTE FM3 Music' audience seems to have difficulty in accommodating itself to the reality that drive-time radio listening is different from evening and late night concentrated listening. The old pre-Lyric service was not on air during drive-time; programming of the same kind is still broadcast by RTE Lyric FM at the time that FM3 Music broadcast. In the early days of Lyric FM, admittedly, experiments were conducted with more demanding music across the schedule; this was revealed to be a mistake, and to be unwelcome both to the great Irish public and to the experts in the advertising profession.

I am also adamant that there isn't an audience in Ireland of the size necessary to justify some form of a resurrected BBC Third Programme broadcasting to a nation enduring long commutes to work, or getting the children out to school. People might claim in surveys that they would listen to serious classical music at such times; their behaviour will show this to be self-delusion on the part of the vast majority.

Consider, also, the experience of concert promoters in Dublin and throughout the country, putting on fine concerts and recitals. Only the best known musical lollipops, or the most famous performers will guarantee an audience. Otherwise, the supposedly music-loving public in Ireland will stay away from concerts in their droves. See, for example, the pleading advertisements for the 'last remaining seats' even at the Wexford Opera, where the very best is available. We the people tend to flatter ourself about what we like and what we listen to; in reality we are, most of us, rather ordinary, rather pedestrian and rather sane in our tastes. Buxtehude near bedtime; Tony Bennett at breakfast, and so forth.

Marty in the Morning is giving us what we want, when we want it: amusing, light, undemanding, uplifting broadcasting. It is functional radio, not 'Wigmore Hall FM' broadcasting to a tiny if cultivated minority. And sometimes the masses are sensible.


Hugo Brady Brown

goose2005

doomed wrote: »

But he's a nice guy and a pal so they fix him up with a gig on Lyric for which he is the least suitable person in the entire RTE stable. If RTE don't want to do a specialist music station then they should be honest and say so and not pretend to support it ("oh Lyric is a gem") while crapping all over it by giving airtime to people like Marty. While Gay Buyrne is such a windbag he should be reclassified as a musical instrument, he at least knows his old time jazz and swing.

Wrt to that patronising attitude, I hate the "oasis of calm" ad. This isn't the All-Muzak channel, what's calming about this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYeW2wCsyxs

TimmyTarmac

In the early days of Lyric FM, admittedly, experiments were conducted with more demanding music across the schedule; this was revealed to be a mistake, and to be unwelcome both to the great Irish public and to the experts in the advertising profession.

Again, Hugo, there is a lot of generalisation going on in your latest post, if you don't mind me saying so. The experts in the advertising profession seem to have largely ignored Lyric with their client's money and Marty in the Morning has not changed that, as far as I can see. It should not be a priority for a public service channel anyway.

Who deemed the playing of largely mainstream Classical music in the mornings to be a mistake? It seemed to be going okay for the first 11 years of the service.

As for the uptake of tickets for events such as Wexford Opera. I don't know about you, but 80 blah for an ordinary ticket plus accomodation, plus expenses means it's out for me, but I am looking forward to the broadcast of the three operas on Lyric. That's what it's for.

If you want to talk about the popularity of the music and presentation format of Marty in the Morning, at the moment it's simply not there. When he first arrived at lunchtime playing this desperate mix of music, he lost almost one third of the audience and now at breakfast he languishes at 21,000 listeners - the smallest daytime audience on the schedule. (of course that could change)
At the moment Hugo, it is the likes of you who are in the minority in what you want out of Lyric. If it's Mike and the Mechanics and the reading out of unfunny e-mails by sad, isolated folk, Marty's the man for you. But, to paraphrase the late President Hillery, you can have Whelan but you can't have Lyric.

Maggie McGaggie

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

The debate on Marty in the Morning still gathers moss, I see.

The founders of RTE Lyric FM, if they were to see the playlist of last Monday (and I am sure that they have no difficulty seeing it, if they wish to), would probably applaud it for being the sensible and rational response of a stable radio station meeting the needs and preferences of an Irish audience. The nub of the issue lies elsewhere. What I might term the 'Continuity RTE FM3 Music' audience seems to have difficulty in accommodating itself to the reality that drive-time radio listening is different from evening and late night concentrated listening. The old pre-Lyric service was not on air during drive-time; programming of the same kind is still broadcast by RTE Lyric FM at the time that FM3 Music broadcast. In the early days of Lyric FM, admittedly, experiments were conducted with more demanding music across the schedule; this was revealed to be a mistake, and to be unwelcome both to the great Irish public and to the experts in the advertising profession.

I am also adamant that there isn't an audience in Ireland of the size necessary to justify some form of a resurrected BBC Third Programme broadcasting to a nation enduring long commutes to work, or getting the children out to school. People might claim in surveys that they would listen to serious classical music at such times; their behaviour will show this to be self-delusion on the part of the vast majority.

Consider, also, the experience of concert promoters in Dublin and throughout the country, putting on fine concerts and recitals. Only the best known musical lollipops, or the most famous performers will guarantee an audience. Otherwise, the supposedly music-loving public in Ireland will stay away from concerts in their droves. See, for example, the pleading advertisements for the 'last remaining seats' even at the Wexford Opera, where the very best is available. We the people tend to flatter ourself about what we like and what we listen to; in reality we are, most of us, rather ordinary, rather pedestrian and rather sane in our tastes. Buxtehude near bedtime; Tony Bennett at breakfast, and so forth.

Marty in the Morning is giving us what we want, when we want it: amusing, light, undemanding, uplifting broadcasting. It is functional radio, not 'Wigmore Hall FM' broadcasting to a tiny if cultivated minority. And sometimes the masses are sensible.


Hugo Brady Brown

Hugo, have you listened to Lyric since it first began broadcasting or are you a johnny come lately to the station? In fairness you seem to have a good knowledge of all types of music and nobody could accuse you of being a snob even though hieroglyphics might be easier to decipher than your prose.

My point is that i have been listening since the origins of the station and have always felt a sense of loyalty towards the presenters. There is no doubt that classical music in all it's forms is even more of a minority interest here than most of western europe, but it doesn't mean that this audience should be treated with disregard. Part of your argument seems to be that the advertising community should hold sway of the remit of publicly funded radio. We all live in the real world and you may have a point regarding this but even if marty has garnered extra listeners it's increased revenue accruing to rte cannot be but a trifle in the overall scheme of things. What if rte were to let marty go and hire in some tyro, would the saving here permit a more demanding output?

For ever person who enjoys melua and sting there is an equal, if not greater number, who despair at having no morning aural companion.

Almaviva

Maggie McGaggie wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/marty/1325506.html

These are just a few gems from it:
Track Name: Nine Million Bicycles
Complete Work Name: Nine Million Bicycles
Composer: Batt, Mike
Soloist: Katie Melua (Vocal)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The Trolley Song
Complete Work Name: Meet Me in Saint.Louis
Composer: Blane, Ralph/Martin, Hugh
Soloist: Kim Criswell & Chorus

WOW !!!

Quit listening to Lyric completely almost 2 years ago when the rot set in. Looks like it has gone to the dogs completely.

Radio licences have conditions governing their content. Is Lyric not in violation of some legislation/charter/licence airing that sort of schedule? Someone there must be breaking some rule - quite apart from being unable to do their job and run a specialist music station.

HugoBradyBrown

Dear All,

It's RTE Lyric FM, not RTE Classical Favourites All Day FM. It's funded by the TV tax paid by the plain people of Ireland, not just by those of us who may personally prefer art music all day. There is a moral obligation on RTE to provide a service that meets the demands of the audience. There is also an implicit obligation on RTE not to allow RTE Lyric FM to decline into a classical lollipops reservation, since charges of elitism are very easily levied against RTE.

Wexford Festival Opera this year is charging the exorbitant sum of 120 euros, rather than 80 for tickets, so most of us will rely on RTE Lyric FM or on BBC Radio 3. My point was really that, despite our self-image, there is, most unfortunately, an insufficiently large audience in Ireland willing to go outside the door to listen to live classical music, if there is anything else to do. Even in the case of free concerts in the Hugh Lane Gallery on a Sunday afternoon, there are at times empty seats.

An all-day Eine Kleine Vivaldi-Corelli-Tosca radio station would amount simply to aural wallpaper; with Marty in the Morning, there is genuine engagement with a large listenership. (I remain convinced that that audience for Marty has to be larger than the 21 000 figure cited; on the basis of my personal knowledge, most people of my direct acquaintance seem to enjoy the programme for at least some part of each morning.)

And while Culture File on Niall Carroll's programme is a sterling effort on the part of RTE Lyric FM to enhance its arts coverage, Marty too does a heroic job in this area of the PSB remit. Consider yesterday's fascinating and informative interview with Mario Lanza's daughter, which has drawn near-universal plaudits, to the best of my knowledge. Recall this morning's fine and genuinely engaging interview with Lloyd Webber. Look forward to an entire morning's broadcast next Friday from Neven Maguinre's restaurant kitchen in Blacklion, where Marty will draw on his culinary knowledge and on his facility as a broadcaster. In short, we can recognise Public Service Broadcasting when we see it. (I hardly imagine that a programme with such vibrancy and with such all-pervading listener involvement could possibly be characterised as being the preserve of lonely attention-seekers. Indeed, it could be argued that, with his genuine enthusiasm and his patent personal authenticity, what Marty has done is to convert an RTE Lyric FM community into a national radio family gathered around the wireless. Walter Benjamin would surely have approved of such two-way use of the medium.)

I accept the kind comment about my musical interests, though I see myself as a simple consumer of the best that Limerick has to offer. As for hierogyphics, well, as Napoleon said, they become clear with practice.

Finally, I have been a listener to Lyric FM since the days of its pre-launch test broadcasts; I might have become a Continuity RTE FM3 Music grump too, but I realised that I, like RTE itself, live in the real world.

With all good wishes,


Hugo Brady Brown

Sandwlch

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

Marty's radio art

:D:D:D


Clearly beyond the beyond now HBB ! Previously we could read your posts. Now we know not to.:D

pinkypinky

I have to admit that my eyes glaze over when I see another essay from HBB, but everyone's entitled to their opinion.

I'm going to have to invest in a more serious alarm clock to try and get BBC R3 tuned in on it - I prefer a clock than my phone.

Maggie McGaggie

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

Dear All,

It's RTE Lyric FM, not RTE Classical Favourites All Day FM. It's funded by the TV tax paid by the plain people of Ireland, not just by those of us who may personally prefer art music all day. There is a moral obligation on RTE to provide a service that meets the demands of the audience. There is also an implicit obligation on RTE not to allow RTE Lyric FM to decline into a classical lollipops reservation, since charges of elitism are very easily levied against RTE.

Wexford Festival Opera this year is charging the exorbitant sum of 120 euros, rather than 80 for tickets, so most of us will rely on RTE Lyric FM or on BBC Radio 3. My point was really that, despite our self-image, there is, most unfortunately, an insufficiently large audience in Ireland willing to go outside the door to listen to live classical music, if there is anything else to do. Even in the case of free concerts in the Hugh Lane Gallery on a Sunday afternoon, there are at times empty seats.

An all-day Eine Kleine Vivaldi-Corelli-Tosca radio station would amount simply to aural wallpaper; with Marty in the Morning, there is genuine engagement with a large listenership. (I remain convinced that that audience for Marty has to be larger than the 21 000 figure cited; on the basis of my personal knowledge, most people of my direct acquaintance seem to enjoy the programme for at least some part of each morning.)

And while Culture File on Niall Carroll's programme is a sterling effort on the part of RTE Lyric FM to enhance its arts coverage, Marty too does a heroic job in this area of the PSB remit. Consider yesterday's fascinating and informative interview with Mario Lanza's daughter, which has drawn near-universal plaudits, to the best of my knowledge. Recall this morning's fine and genuinely engaging interview with Lloyd Webber. Look forward to an entire morning's broadcast next Friday from Neven Maguinre's restaurant kitchen in Blacklion, where Marty will draw on his culinary knowledge and on his facility as a broadcaster. In short, we can recognise Public Service Broadcasting when we see it. (I hardly imagine that a programme with such vibrancy and with such all-pervading listener involvement could possibly be characterised as being the preserve of lonely attention-seekers. Indeed, it could be argued that, with his genuine enthusiasm and his patent personal authenticity, what Marty has done is to convert an RTE Lyric FM community into a national radio family gathered around the wireless. Walter Benjamin would surely have approved of such two-way use of the medium.)

I accept the kind comment about my musical interests, though I see myself as a simple consumer of the best that Limerick has to offer. As for hierogyphics, well, as Napoleon said, they become clear with practice.

Finally, I have been a listener to Lyric FM since the days of its pre-launch test broadcasts; I might have become a Continuity RTE FM3 Music grump too, but I realised that I, like RTE itself, live in the real world.

With all good wishes,


Hugo Brady Brown

Hugo, you are a lucky member of a very rare breed. Most of lyric's audience pre-Marty consisted of classical music aficionados, but there still was a place for people who wished to dip into the scene on the lunchtime request show and drivetime(to a lesser extent). I can't imagine that there would many Wexford festival patrons who would also indulge in Marty. Obscure opera and Marty in the Morning doesn't really go hand in hand. I don't think it fair to label you a troll, i'm sure there are many others like you who also enjoy Bennett and Bartok and Sinatra and Shostakovich. Personally speaking, that easy-listening crooner stuff is my least favourite genre of music. But, just because you enjoy MW's patter doesn't mean that others do so. As for listenership figures (i'm not au-fait with totals) if MW has gained an extra 10,000 or so, are these all new listeners and do they have other options in the morning, because i like to listen to the radio on rising but i feel disregarded. Lyric is supposed to fulfill a particular remit. I think you are looking at this from a very selfish point of view, because Marty is anathema to most long-term Lyric listeners.

If you are saying that MW is allowing for the introduction of a younger audience to the classical fold then you may have a point, but i believe that Carl Corcoran was doing so years ago. I did actually hear that interview with JLW and most of it consisted of MW enquiring about babies and schools. There was almost nothing asked about music. Mario Lanza is not regarded as a serious singer, so i don't see how relevant an interview with his daughter would be. I don't really have a problem with Neven Maguire on the show but MW should listen to Trish Taylor's segments with Gerry Daly if he wants to learn how to make it work better. I can't accept your point about Marty's genuine engagement with the listener because other presenters are equally capable of doing so. I will admit that MW has an infectious personality and can be quite witty, but i would quite willingly forego all that to have the old Lyric back.

HugoBradyBrown

Dear All,


I appreciate the reasonable and considered comments that have been posted, and I realise that highly sophisticated contributors may enjoy a cultural life that is far beyond my imagination. However, I feel that there were some unfair and unfounded suggestions that I was 'trolling' in my attempts to moderate a range of needlessly harsh ad hominem criticism of one of what the Japanese would term the 'Living Treasures' of broadcasting in this country. Suggestions that anyone who recognised the unusual qualities of Marty's work was in need of involuntary confinement in a psychiatric institution are hard to distinguish from vulgar abuse, or from gross incivility, or from an unwarranted sense of social or cultural superiority.

But there are happier moments: today was probably the first anniversary of Marty's arrival at breakfast time, according to his producer Al (who is also responsible for Gay's distinctive Sunday afternoon programme). (The records about the launch date seem to be unclear for the present.) As Marty said, it seems like longer; the programme is deeply bedded down now in the schedule. It appears from internal evidence that there will be no Marty tomorrow; celebrations may be under way for the anniversary. Incidentally, Marty indicated this morning that as soon as the Richard Clayderman LP is returned to the Lyric FM library, it could be given some airplay. It seems it's on long loan to Niall Carroll's 'Classic Drive'. Monsieur Clayderman is due in Ireland shortly, so it's understandable that there should be a run on his recordings; the early bird, I suppose.

I think that those with access to the audience figures may see a large surge on Friday, and perhaps the readers of this bulletin board will consider boosting the figures by listening in at least for this edition, which promises to be one of the highlights of the new autumn schedule, as Marty and Neven feed the nation in spirit, in wit and in music.

With my sincere regards,


Hugo Brady Brown

TimmyTarmac

Suggestions that anyone who recognised the unusual qualities of Marty's work was in need of involuntary confinement in a psychiatric institution are hard to distinguish from vulgar abuse, or from gross incivility

As this was my suggestion, Hugo, let me clarify. It was in response to to your earlier estimate of Marty's audience at over 100,000, which I felt was crazy talk. It was not because you enjoy Marty in the Morning. Allow me to apologise if you found it abusive, it was not meant to be so.

As for 'The Prince of Romance', Richard Clayderman's frequent ads on Lyric, I'll be signing myself in soon if they don't stop.

Maggie McGaggie

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

Dear All,


But there are happier moments: today was probably the first anniversary of Marty's arrival at breakfast time, according to his producer Al (who is also responsible for Gay's distinctive Sunday afternoon programme). (The records about the launch date seem to be unclear for the present.) As Marty said, it seems like longer; the programme is deeply bedded down now in the schedule. It appears from internal evidence that there will be no Marty tomorrow; celebrations may be under way for the anniversary. Incidentally, Marty indicated this morning that as soon as the Richard Clayderman LP is returned to the Lyric FM library, it could be given some airplay. It seems it's on long loan to Niall Carroll's 'Classic Drive'. Monsieur Clayderman is due in Ireland shortly, so it's understandable that there should be a run on his recordings; the early bird, I suppose.

I think that those with access to the audience figures may see a large surge on Friday, and perhaps the readers of this bulletin board will consider boosting the figures by listening in at least for this edition, which promises to be one of the highlights of the new autumn schedule, as Marty and Neven feed the nation in spirit, in wit and in music.

With my sincere regards,


Hugo Brady Brown

Tue 05 May 1999 The Irish Times

On the Radio
There was optimism abroad when the State's latest nationwide radio station, Lyric FM, was launched at the weekend. Ms Sile de Valera, the minister responsible for the arts, expressed the hope that there would be much that is novel and experimental in the programme schedules and that the service "will foster new Irish creative and performing talent". It may just do that but if it does it will be unique. The trend in radio in this State is towards sameness and safety. It has turned away from innovation in search of revenue maximisation. Lyric FM will do broadcasting a considerable service if it displays the courage to reverse the trend.
Lyric FM has taken to the air sooner than many had anticipated and it has recruited persons of proven ability, such as Seamus Crimmins and Eamonn Lawlor. But, to succeed in keeping above the bland, Lyric FM will have to display a boldness in planning and programming that may be inimical to commercial priorities and somewhat of a stranger in the corridors of RTE.

Now, if i can ask a question? Has lyric succeeded in rising above the bland and fostering a new creative talent? I know Marty is a talented host but maybe we are focusing our ire on the wrong target? Maybe it's the management who are at fault here. I have never heard of Richard Clayderman but Niall Carroll is generally ok so i cannot really comment. Gay deserves a slot somewhere and i never listen to the radio on Sunday afternoons so i don't mind about this. You couldn't call Marty bland but if he even bluffed a greater knowledge of classical music it would improve the show. It's difficult to imagine him being in demand on other classical music stations but he does seem to be massively popular here so it's possible that we are stuck with him for the forseeable future. My main objection to him is his unwillingness to immerse him in the staple of lyric. Nobody could complain about his personality and we know that he is an experienced broadcaster, therefore he knows how to please an audience but is he really suitable for this slot?