TXFM (formerly much missed Phantom) line up

I turned it on again in the last 25 minutes - for research purposes! A presenter called Brian Keaveney (new name to me) has a show called "Souled Out", playing a mixture of funky soul and reggae. It was a bit different and he clearly knows his stuff. It reminds me of those specialist programs you might hear on Dublin City FM, like John Public indeed who does play reggae.

By the way, I am one of those people who would not be within their normal target age group, but that does not stop me listening from time to time to a licensed "Alternative Music" station! Admittedly, I wear an anorak and do tune in to other shows on other stations too!

Still wearing my anorak, does anyone know anything about all these new non-Phantom presenters on the schedule? I do know already that Claire O'Dowd was involved with Newstalk and Spin103 and that Paul Donegan was involved with Freq.FM. Any intel on the other new names (new to me anyway!)?

Edit: In fact, on further examination, there are only a few names new to me in the schedule: Brian Keaveney, Gavin Glass, Nailer, Johnny and Paul (that might be Johnny Lyons from 98FM) and possibly somebody presenting Pogo Rock. Maybe Paul Donegan's radio experience could be fleshed out as well.

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

and possibly somebody presenting Pogo Rock.

presume you're referring to the Pogo/Bodytonic slot on Saturday night.

Pogo are house/techno promoters, part of a number of Bodytonic-affiliated promoters.
I would be pretty certain there'll be no indie/rock-type music on that show.

I just heard a small bit of Cathal Funge's new Wednesday night show (The Listening Post) in the car. It seems to be the same as his old Icon show from Phantom, i.e. the Irish music scene.

One thing I am curious about is (not haven heard that much of it): is it pre-recorded? I wonder because he has to host another breakfast show tomorrow morning from 7am. If it is live, that does not seen like a good idea, healthwise. On Radio Nova, Marty Miller has a similar arrangement, i.e. weekday breakfast show and a weekly night show (Dad Rock), but that's okay because Dad Rock is on Friday night.

If The Listening Post is live, Cathal could have swapped with Derek Byrne, who is on Friday night.

doc1976 wrote: »

They really need to have a Joe sidekick on the afternoon show. He's not the same on his own and yes I do like him as a presenter.
Serious lack of any banter on any of the shows so far, I'm not looking for major laughs but it all seems a little dry.

This is where we differ. Some people are hoping for a talk & banter station. I'm hoping for a music station.
If the DJ is going to rabbit on about something then let it be about the record or band that s/he is about to play. A bit of history to the music. Like Cathal seems to be trying to do, apart from all the fooping tedious callOuts to people on their way to work.

The music choice is still very MOR, safe. It's like wallpaper, you know it's there but you seldom pay any attention to it.

When I'm limited to FM only broadcasts then I'll dip in and out of TX but when I have internets available then it's back to Radio6 or 8Radio.

former legend wrote: »

I'm enjoying Cathal Funge in the morning, keeps the crazy banter to a minimum, plays the music and I think the shoutouts to people are as much about convincing us he's actually live in the studio and not pre-recorded... but yeah, a nice gentle start to the day, I like it.

Caught a bit of Joe Donnelly's afternoon show yesterday. Not sure what to make of it, he's completely dropped the wackiness (a good thing) and maybe I'm being too harsh on him but he's going on about bands and albums and the whole thing just rings hollow, like he's reading from a script or something and doesn't really know what he's talking about. If I'd never heard him on Spin or on the Phantom breakfast show, I'd probably be grand with it so maybe I just need to give him more of a chance.

But if the 'Johnny' on "Parklife with Paul & Johnny" turns out to be Johnnnny Lyons from 98FM, I swear on my children I will burn Communicorp to the ground.

Agree with that stuff about Joe. Yesterday, he was talking about Parquet Courts' new album coming out and for no real reason it was just irritating me. Like when Charlotte used to say what songs were coming up in the next hour, and Joe would interject and be like "oh that one yeah that's a great song, I love that"... God I wish they'd kept Charlotte over him. :rolleyes:

After a few days of popping in and out, I think bland would be the best description of it.

"Hi I'm [presenter name], you're listening to TXFM 1052, here's a song from [band name]"
*boring song from a band formed 5 minutes ago*
*boring new single from a band you didn't realise were still releasing stuff*
*one of Pretzel Body Logic/Jake Bug/John Grant/Kodaline*
*boring song from a band formed 5 minutes ago*


Admittedly I haven't listened to much of the evening shows

Got a tweet from Phantom today asking me to listen to TXFM....bit like receiving a text message from your mother to remind you to buy a birthday card for your fathers mistress.....

Joe Donnelly definitely knows what hes on about. He was the straight man to Keith Walsh. He didnt really have a dynamic with Charlotte in the mornings and they were mismatched (IMO). The two Ritchies show was so popular that there was no chance of Ritchie Mc being paired up with Charlotte in the mornings again, which is unfortunate because they were brilliant together.

Bit strange having Cathal Funge on the radio at stupid o clock in the morning but a vast improvement on what came immediately after the demise of Phantom and before the launch of TXFM.

AlanDeGenerous wrote: »

I also saw they put up a message on Phantom's Facebook page to the same effect. Cue a sh*tstorm about how Joe is the worst presenter on Irish radio. It boggles the mind as to why they didn't just re-brand the Phantom Twitter and FB... would've given them a much bigger following from the get-go.

Facebook pages can't be rebranded

Max Headroom wrote: »

Listened for most of today...have to say i was impressed by todays playlist, good bit of variety, ...i was swayed by Leftfield/PIL though,...
I'm quite liking Joe Donnelly in the afternoon....just the right amount of chat....:)

I'm enjoying this station, so good to have decent music on a breakfast show in Dublin without a presenter's inane ramblings.

Popping in and out for the last few days and have to say, it's like they got the Phantom playlist from the last couple of years and are just rehashing it. I feel sorry for people asking for requests during the day because, unless it's on the playlist, they aren't gonna play it. At the same time they make people who asked for a certain song, feel special.......they were going to play the Feckin song anyway. It's on the big circular Playlist. Rubbish. What's the point of saying you're changing a station when you're just playing the same stuff that was losing listeners by the second? Aaaagh.
Rant over.