RTE have dispensed with Larry Gogan's services

colm_mcm · 03-01-2020 08:17PM

I nearly knocked him over years ago. He was doing the just a minute quiz live in the local shopping centre, walked around the corner and didn’t see him!

Rikand · 03-01-2020 08:20PM

tanko wrote: »

Wasn't there a man on one day who got all his questions wrong, Larry said something like "the questions just didn't suit you today". The man replied "would you ever f**k off Larry".

Timmy donovan of Sean's bar fame

wasnt actually timmy but someone in the bar impersonating him. Hilarious at the time.

Sephiroth_dude · 03-01-2020 08:23PM

They should have dispensed of tubby instead, they'd save more given his salary.

Badly Drunk Boy · 03-01-2020 08:24PM

andekwarhola wrote: »

To be fair, he must be about 80.

bmc58 wrote: »

So what?

He's 81 so could he not step aside for a younger model? Like somebody approaching their 60s or something? He has had a grand career.

Where I work, you have to retire when you turn 65, even though you can't get the pension until your 66. That's not right either.

fonecrusher1 · 03-01-2020 08:25PM

I'd say the accountants at RTE are delighted with all the late late tribute shows.

MrMusician18 · 03-01-2020 08:29PM

threeball wrote: »

Poor form if true. He deserved at least some recognition for his time and service.

What? He got 60 years, they even gave him a retirement gig on Gold. He should've been put out to pasture 20 years ago.

That's not a slight on the man, who I'm sure is a fine fellow, but RTE need to be creating new talent not running a retirement home.

Bishop of hope · 03-01-2020 08:31PM

Larry Gogan, Larry Gone Gone.

end of the road · 03-01-2020 08:41PM

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

He's 81 so could he not step aside for a younger model? Like somebody approaching their 60s or something? He has had a grand career.

to be fair it wouldn't be his job to do that, it's on the broadcaster to decide as to whether they would want his services or not.
he doesn't owe someone else a job or an opening into the industry.
just to mention separately to your point he is no longer on 2fm and hasn't been for a year or 2 i believe. the station he currently works on (rte gold) is being closed.

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Where I work, you have to retire when you turn 65, even though you can't get the pension until your 66. That's not right either.

agreed.

end of the road · 03-01-2020 08:50PM

MrMusician18 wrote: »

What? He got 60 years, they even gave him a retirement gig on Gold. He should've been put out to pasture 20 years ago.

That's not a slight on the man, who I'm sure is a fine fellow, but RTE need to be creating new talent not running a retirement home.

him getting 60 years is ultimately irrelevant, he got that because he delivered and was quite rightly not put out to pasture 20 years ago.
rte creating new talent is separate to whether they choose to keep older broadcasters or not.

Strumms · 03-01-2020 09:35PM

The guy is 81, at that age what the fûck do you want to be dragging your arse into work for... he must have a seriously good stash of cash... go enjoy it, take off on a whim, see the world, be with your family, every morning go walk, get the paper and relax ffs. Never understood people who seem enamored with their work over ‘life’, it’s a bit mad. But a good guy I gather and good luck to him..

MrMusician18 · 03-01-2020 09:47PM

end of the road wrote: »

him getting 60 years is ultimately irrelevant, he got that because he delivered and was quite rightly not put out to pasture 20 years ago.
rte creating new talent is separate to whether they choose to keep older broadcasters or not.

How can RTE grow and promote new talent when they've got existing ones taking slots - There's only so many hours in the day. I also don't know why they put him in Gold though instead of giving him a proper send off a few years ago. Himself and Leahy got dumped there with the rest of the media grads and students when they had nowhere else to put them and seemingly couldn't let them go.

What exactly was he delivering on the non commercial Gold channel?

A school principal of a mid size school doing the morning announcements probably had more listeners than the two lads on Gold.

Strumms · 03-01-2020 09:57PM

That’s a point.. if it was me I’d be thinking... “hey, I remember how overjoyed I was to get in to RTÉ, doing the job I craved so much for so long, I’ve done it for 60 years, somebody else should get that shot, who was just like me then”...

Problem with these types of characters is they put too much of their identity with the job and the company and it’s difficult to walk away after so long, a fear.

colm_mcm · 03-01-2020 10:00PM

I’m sure he’s noticed the standard of presenter they insist on hiring.

punisher5112 · 03-01-2020 10:03PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’m sure he’s noticed the standard of presenter they insist on hiring.

The rejects pile!!!

anewme · 03-01-2020 10:18PM

MrMusician18 wrote: »

He should've been put out to pasture 20 years ago.

......RTE need to be creating new talent not running a retirement home.

Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, which is arguably the greatest cover ever recorded, was recorded not long before he died..he was 71 and in failing health. Based on your ageist comments above, he also should have been "in a retirement home' or 'put out to pasture'.

A real music lover has respect for others who have contributed
to the world of music and it should be acknowledged that Larry Gogan is a broadcasting legend, far more worthy of respect than the snide comments you have made above.

punisher5112 · 03-01-2020 10:27PM

I see no talent or should I say hear no talent on rte.....

X111111111111 · 03-01-2020 10:30PM

Hopefully the first of many

lalababa · 03-01-2020 10:36PM

Who gives a ****e...

Bishop of hope · 03-01-2020 10:39PM

anewme wrote: »

Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, which is arguably the greatest cover ever recorded, was recorded not long before he died..he was 71 and in failing health. Based on your ageist comments above, he also should have been "in a retirement home' or 'put out to pasture'.

A real music lover has respect for others who have contributed
to the world of music and it should be acknowledged that Larry Gogan is a broadcasting legend, far more worthy of respect than the snide comments you have made above.

He was a dj, boring one at that, seen a clip of him on a show with twink and Mike Murphy the other night on TV, and he had no obvious talent that I could put my finger on.
Personally I remember him well, never liked him, but he was playing music that was only available on one station when we were young.
He never had the word craft or presenting skills of a great many other djs.
He was old fashioned even for rte radio 2 when it opened up first.

spurious · 03-01-2020 10:40PM

tanko wrote: »

Wasn't there a man on one day who got all his questions wrong, Larry said something like "the questions just didn't suit you today". The man replied "would you ever f**k off Larry".

Rikand wrote: »

Timmy donovan of Sean's bar fame
wasnt actually timmy but someone in the bar impersonating him. Hilarious at the time.

Wasn't it "Part your buttocks!" that got shouted?

PopePalpatine · 03-01-2020 10:45PM

Strumms wrote: »

The guy is 81, at that age what the fûck do you want to be dragging your arse into work for... he must have a seriously good stash of cash...

Blown on Anglo shares, I'd assume.

JP Liz V1 · 03-01-2020 10:46PM

He was always likeable

anewme · 03-01-2020 10:46PM

Bishop of hope wrote: »

He was a dj, boring one at that, seen a clip of him on a show with twink and Mike Murphy the other night on TV, and he had no obvious talent that I could put my finger on.
Personally I remember him well, never liked him, but he was playing music that was only available on one station when we were young.
He never had the word craft or presenting skills of a great many other djs.
He was old fashioned even for rte radio 2 when it opened up first.

That's your opinion, fair enough, hundreds of thousands of people differ down the years. The Just A MInute Quiz is recognised in most Irish homes and is a part of Irish culture.

The real point in appreciating music or broadcasting skills though is realising that even though it might not be your thing, that others like and appreciate it, therefore it has its place and sweeping generalisations such as made on this thread indicate very closed minds.

MrMusician18 · 03-01-2020 10:51PM

anewme wrote: »

Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, which is arguably the greatest cover ever recorded, was recorded not long before he died..he was 71 and in failing health. Based on your ageist comments above, he also should have been "in a retirement home' or 'put out to pasture'.

A real music lover has respect for others who have contributed
to the world of music and it should be acknowledged that Larry Gogan is a broadcasting legend, far more worthy of respect than the snide comments you have made above.

If these auld fellas were doing anything creative you could indeed argue that case, and you could've argued that case with Byrne - who did do different things post late late, with the meaning of life and Jazz on lyric (mind, he was only still broadcasting because he lost his pension in bank shares, he said as much in the documentary in 2005). Johnny Giles was another that they kept around too long, another legend and great football man - but when all you can talk about is Billy Bremner in the 50s and not the side that's going to play in front of you, well then questions have to be asked.

But returning to Larry, he was stuck into Gold, where the audience is smaller than you'd have at a junior b game on a wet Wednesday night, in February, in Leitrim. It was also non-commercial, so that old canard of "well he pulls in a big audience, so he's worth having for the advertising money" doesn't wash.

Now forgive my glib comments in the previous post but RTE had to act with a commercial mindset. Larry was a great broadcaster, a legend indeed, with a great radio voice, but the fact that he was shipped off to Gold should tell you something.

Bishop of hope · 03-01-2020 10:53PM

anewme wrote: »

That's your opinion, fair enough, hundreds of thousands of people differ down the years. The Just A MInute Quiz is recognised in most Irish homes and is a part of Irish culture.

The real point in appreciating music or broadcasting skills though is realising that even though it might not be your thing, that others like and appreciate it, therefore it has its place and sweeping generalisations such as made on this thread indicate very closed minds.

I must admit, I enjoyed the quiz.
My mind was closed as regards Larry alright, didn't like his presenting style, dave fanning was my favourite at that time, but as I said, at that time we had only one station here we could get music at that time.

anewme · 03-01-2020 11:06PM

Bishop of hope wrote: »

dave fanning was my favourite at that time

I never really connected with Dave Fanning, , I found his voice monotone and very fast and I had to really concentrate to listen to him , where I felt Larry Gogan had warmth in his voice, almost like you were having a conversation with him.

Neither bad, just different preferences.

Mad_maxx · 03-01-2020 11:11PM

Bishop of hope wrote: »

He was a dj, boring one at that, seen a clip of him on a show with twink and Mike Murphy the other night on TV, and he had no obvious talent that I could put my finger on.
Personally I remember him well, never liked him, but he was playing music that was only available on one station when we were young.
He never had the word craft or presenting skills of a great many other djs.
He was old fashioned even for rte radio 2 when it opened up first.

the man never uttered a spontaneous or original thought in his entire career. impossible to interview

people liked him however so what more can you do

Potential-Monke · 03-01-2020 11:16PM

Double savings for RTE this weekend so! Although, I can't find how much Larry was earning, or how much his pension will cost us.

Wheety · 03-01-2020 11:18PM

The Tetrarch wrote: »

Google is your friend.

Q Name a famous bridge
A Bridge over troubled waters

Q Can you divide 48 by 16?
A Yes

Q Name a bird with a long neck
A Naomi Campbell

Q What would you be doing if you were on the piste?
A Drinking beer

Q Name something that flies that doesn't have an engine
A A bicycle with wings

Q What star do travellers follow?
A Joe Dolan

Thank you Larry

Not a very good friend. The bird with a long neck is Family Fortunes for a start

It casts doubts on your other examples too.

end of the road · 03-01-2020 11:26PM

MrMusician18 wrote: »

How can RTE grow and promote new talent when they've got existing ones taking slots - There's only so many hours in the day.

rte have been doing exactly that for years.
some of the younger talent came from commercial radio among other areas.

MrMusician18 wrote: »

I also don't know why they put him in Gold though instead of giving him a proper send off a few years ago. Himself and Leahy got dumped there with the rest of the media grads and students when they had nowhere else to put them and seemingly couldn't let them go.

he didn't want to retire, and rte wanted to keep him because he was bringing in the listeners.
if both were happy then that's up to them.

MrMusician18 wrote: »

What exactly was he delivering on the non commercial Gold channel?

A school principal of a mid size school doing the morning announcements probably had more listeners than the two lads on Gold.

whether that be the case, the station still catered to an audience, who will still be paying a license fee. so it's existence is a non-issue, and presumably they felt it was best to put a couple of familiar names on the station in the aim of trying to bring in a bit more of an audience where terrestrial transmission for the station exists.
none of rte's channels are exactly "commercial" bar rte and 2fm in theory, and given 2fm at least takes license fee money the days of it being commercial are probably behind it.

MrMusician18 wrote: »

If these auld fellas were doing anything creative you could indeed argue that case, and you could've argued that case with Byrne - who did do different things post late late, with the meaning of life and Jazz on lyric (mind, he was only still broadcasting because he lost his pension in bank shares, he said as much in the documentary in 2005). Johnny Giles was another that they kept around too long, another legend and great football man - but when all you can talk about is Billy Bremner in the 50s and not the side that's going to play in front of you, well then questions have to be asked.

But returning to Larry, he was stuck into Gold, where the audience is smaller than you'd have at a junior b game on a wet Wednesday night, in February, in Leitrim. It was also non-commercial, so that old canard of "well he pulls in a big audience, so he's worth having for the advertising money" doesn't wash.

Now forgive my glib comments in the previous post but RTE had to act with a commercial mindset. Larry was a great broadcaster, a legend indeed, with a great radio voice, but the fact that he was shipped off to Gold should tell you something.

it tells me that they wanted to scue younger with 2fm so moved the older presenters around to other stations.
that is nothing new for big multi-service broadcasters if the individual broadcaster fits one of their other services.

RTE have dispensed with Larry Gogan's services

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