Tom Hardy (Radio Presenter) RIP

Red Fred

Sad news that the radio presenter Tom Hardy has passed away. Tom had been in the Mater Hospital when he suffered a heart attack on Saturday.

RIP

magicbastarder

probably worth clarifying which tom hardy because the thread title could drag in people who think you mean the british actor.

Dakota Dan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118723588#Comment_118723588

I always thought he was American, ah well you live and learn. I’ve never heard of the radio presenter and Tom the actor was the first that came to my mind when u saw the thread title.

ford fiesta

Tom Hardy was not just a radio presenter. Tom was PD of many stations including during the best years of Today FM

Ballycommon Mast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724097#Comment_118724097

He was a presenter too, his last on air job was on 98fm from 1989-1992ish, I was always surprised that he was never tempted to go behind the mic at Today FM the odd time https://m.mixcloud.com/gcamblin/tom-hardy-classic-hits-98fm-1st-show-november-1989/

TheBMG

Very sad news. Only met him a few times but was regarded as a gentleman by the industry.

RIP Tom and sincere condolences to his loved ones

Kiss1037

Sad news. Radio great behind the scenes on so many stations. Rip

Declan A Walsh

I am sorry to hear that news. I became familiar with the voice of Tom Hardy when he presented on the Dublin superpirates Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova. I lived briefly in the UK in 1986 and was surprised to hear him presenting on Chiltern Radio. He was one of the original presenters on 98FM - the Classic Hits era of the station.

During his Today FM days (as PD), I did see a few interviews with him. I had never actually seen what he looked like before!

Tom very kindly supplied me with his radio experience at one stage. I won't go into it all * here but here is some of it. He started with college radio in the 1970s and then was involved with offshore pirates The Voice of Peace and Radio Caroline. After his stint with legal radio in the 1980s with Chiltern Radio, he returned to Irish superpirates in the shape of Monaghan's Kiss FM. During his time with 98FM, he got involved with the launch of another Denis O'Brien-owned station in Prague with the Classic Hits formula. Between 98FM and Today FM, he had some involvement with UK stations.

• Tom's extensive experience is largely covered on Linkedin, which includes programming consultant, work for the Public Relations Institute of Ireland and PPI Awards board member.

Tom Hardy had a great radio voice and I would like to have heard him on Today FM, like another poster mentioned. I believe he was a guest presenter for a program where one artiste was concentrated upon - in his case it was Creedence Clearwater Revival.

RIP Tom Hardy.

Ger Roe

Sad to hear this news today.

I was first aware of Tom Hardy through his stint on Caroline and then, as Declan has outlined above.... he arrived on our shores.

I best remember him for his work on Pirate Nova, particularly in the days of the raid in 1983 when he was one of the presenters announcing the closedown at six o'clock. He would occasionally email into The Anorak Hour with additional info when we covered Caroline aspects that he was familiar with.

After he hung up the headphones, he was involved in radio management for various Irish and European stations. I agree with the post from Ford Fiesta above, that Tom was PD for the best years of Today FM.

I had heard he was ill, but didn't know the detail.... and the news this morning is a shock.

RIP.

https://pirate.ie/archive/interview-tom-hardy-radio-nova/

Declan A Walsh

Just some of the tributes to him:

https://deathobits.com/2022/03/03/tom-hardy-death-tom-hardy-legendary-today-fm-and-real-radio-caroline-man-has-died/

https://radiotoday.ie/2022/03/tributes-paid-to-radio-programmer-and-presenter-tom-hardy/

Ballycommon Mast

Did anyone on Today FM do a tribute to him at all ?

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118727217#Comment_118727217

most of the presenters on Today FM wouldn't have known who Tom Hardy was.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118727372#Comment_118727372

Those that know him from the current crew at Today FM might be in a minority but there are definitely a few: Ian Dempsey, Ed Smyth, Alison Curtis, Matt Cooper, Ray Foley and JP. Edit: Also Mario Rosenstock.

Infoanon

Saddened to hear the news this morning.

Tom Hardy aka Brian Johnson made mid mornings his own at Nova ,the perfect radio voice and ability to pick the perfect tunes for 'the coffee break '

Ger Roe mentioned the 'raids' in an earlier post and I recall the story of Tom heading up to the transmitter site in Stocking Lane in a P&T van and taking the 'scenic ' route.

Tom RIP

Muller1991

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118727217#Comment_118727217

Ray Foley opened his show with a small tribute to him. Tom was the guy who brought Ray to Today FM. I'm sure it will be on the listen back.

Ger Roe

A clip of Tom on Radio Caroline, from July 1978. 'Live from the North Sea, on 319 meters, 962Khz'.

https://soundcloud.com/user-921120019/tom-hardy-caroline-july-17th-1978

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118735823#Comment_118735823

That reminds of the charts countdown that Tom used to do on Sunshine Radio on Saturdays around lunchtime. I think it was call the Sunshine Survey. He used to have bits of information about the new chart entries which made it more interesting. It was quite impressive considering there was no internet available!

Declan A Walsh

I learnt from another thread that More Music Ireland have a tribute to Tom on their website, and here it is:

https://moremusic.ie/special/rememberingtomhardy.html

Ger Roe

Thanks for that tip Declan.

Great job by all who contributed to it - a fitting tribute and very well put together.