40 Years of RTÉ 2fm Michael Doherty recalls the launch of RTÉ Radio 2 in 1979 and chats to a stalwart of the station, Dave Fanning
With RTÉ Radio 2fm celebrating its 40th anniversary this week, Michael Doherty recalls the beginnings of a broadcasting revolution
“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...” It started with Larry Gogan dropping the needle on Like Clockwork by e Boomtown Rats. e date was May 31, 1979, and a brand-new radio station, RTÉ Radio 2, was nally Comin’atcha. “I’m not disconnected; I’m not unaware / I’m in one place at one time; I’m neither here nor there I’m hooked to the mainstream; tuned into the world...”
Radio 2 was established in response to the popularity of youth-oriented music stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg, not to mention the pirate radio craze sweeping the nation at the time. In addition to Larry Gogan, already the éminence grise of Irish disc spinners, that original line-up included broadcasters who had moved across the corridors from RTÉ Radio One or were recruited from local pirate radio stations such as Radio Dublin, ARD, Radio Vanessa and e Big D.
“...My heart is beating oh so fast
I feel the hours crashing /
Because my mind keeps time like clockwork”
ere was a lot happening in the popular culture of the time. Watercooler TV shows included Dallas and e Rockford Files; I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and Tragedy by the Bee Gees were that week’s biggest singles; and Alien and
e Muppet Movie were packing them in at the cinemas. Into this heady world arrived the Radio 2 crew (the station would be rebranded 2fm in 1988). Declan Meehan kicked things o with his breakfast show, followed by Vincent Hanley with his mid-morning programme. Larry Gogan ( Golden Oldies) and Ronan Collins (phone-ins and consumer advice) kept things ticking over in the a ernoon until Marty Whelan arrived for his drivetime show ( Whelan Home). Jimmy Greeley took the baton for his early evening slot, Night Moves, before the maestro, Dave Fanning, introduced a generation of music fans to the glory of rock music (and championed a little band called U2) with his midnight show, Dave Fanning Rocks.
“ inking back on it now,” says Dave today, “I don’t remember it as a leap into the unknown. I remember it as an exciting time. I also remember I was reluctant to give up Big D radio! But myself and Ian Wilson [producer] sussed out it would be a good thing to do. Yes, it was the midnight slot but students stayed up later back then. And remember, there were very few alternatives to what we were doing. It was John Peel, bad reception, or Dave Fanning, better reception; so all we had to do was to be not crap!”
Not only was Dave’s rock show “not crap’”, it quickly became the go-to forum for both up-and-coming and established bands and it also established the institution that became Fanning’s Fab 50. “We knew the Fab 50 was successful, recalls Dave, “because we were receiving thousands of entries. And it was postcards only back
then! You’re talking sacks of mail for a show that began at midnight. We also received lots of demo tapes, but Ian’s big innovation was to persuade RTÉ to allow us to use Studio 8 to showcase both established and up-andcoming bands. ey would play four songs during these sessions and those songs would be played again before the end of the month.”
Among those up-and-coming Irish bands to nd a platform on Dave Fanning Rocks were four lads from Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Clontarf. Dave will forever be associated with our most successful ever band, but did he always know that U2 were destined for greatness? “Not in a million years!” he laughs. “I remember we brought U2 in to play three songs and it was down to the listeners to decide what would be on the A-side and the B-side of their rst single. ey chose Out of Control backed by Stories For Boys and Boy/ Girl. Imagine doing that nowadays! ere were about 20 people at the launch of that single in Windmill Lane, so I had no idea they were going to be huge. e fact that they got a residency at e Baggot was stunning. I couldn’t believe it when they played the National Stadium. Remember, U2 was a fairly unknown band, but it was a band I knew about from my time at the pirates. And this is going to sound corny, but I really liked them as people.”
Of course, it wasn’t all about rock music in the early days of Radio 2. Elsewhere in the schedules, future host of Mailbag, Arthur Murphy, presented a country music show; Bryan Day played jazz and Pat Kenny, yes, Pat Kenny, counted down the Top 40 hits, with a bullet. Another pirate radio alumnus, Gerry Ryan, brought his unique brand of talk radio to weekends with Saturday Scene. In 1988, Gerry introduced his weekday morning programme, e Gerry Ryan Show, to an unsuspecting listenership and changed the landscape of modern radio broadcasting. e citation for Gerry’s 1990 Jacob’s Award described his three-hour show as “unbelievably bizarre and unprecedented and at the same time, serious, hilarious and unpredictable.”
Forty years later, 2fm continues its evolution with the revamped daytime schedule, featuring Eoghan McDermott & Doireann Garrihy; our cover star, Jennifer Zamparelli; Tracy Cli ord and Jenny Greene. Not to mention those a ernoon and evening stalwarts, Dan Hegarty, Stephen Byrne, Chris & Ciara, and the man himself, Dave Fanning, who gets the last word. “It was an honour to provide a platform for all the bands,” he says. “I’m really glad that we did it. It was pretty special.”
The New 2fm schedule starts on June 4
I don’t remember it as a leap into the unknown. I remember it as an exciting time