Last week, the inimitable Marty Whelan – music mad from ’tache to toe – was once again in the commentary box for the Eurovision Song Contest. Donal O’Donoghue puts the needle in the groove of Marty’s music memories.
This is Marty Whelan mid-morning, shortly after wrapping his daily radio show: dressed dapper, as if for TV, arms laden with CDs, phone buzzing. In the RTÉ radio café, someone asks if he can do a radio piece from Malmö and the Eurovision Song Contest for the other Marty (Morrissey). Absolutely, says himself. "We can even make it a Marty Party!" he quips (there are a lot of such boom-boom moments in any conversation with Marty Whelan).
His 25th time doing commentary for the EVSC, will most likely be a party, with all politics parked. Before we met, the RTÉ press office said Marty would steer clear of questions about Israel taking part in the Contest as that was a matter for the European Broadcasting Union, the content organisers.
In any event, Marty is here to talk music, the soundtrack to a life lived large on radio and occasionally TV.
So, sipping a cappuccino, the broadcaster reels in the tracks of his years (the narrative of his 2015 biography, That’s Life, was strung out along his favourite music and artists).
An only "but never lonely" child, he grew up on the northside of Dublin, in a house that his parents, especially his mum, Lily, filled with music and memories. Martin (as he was known) started out selling insurance (who wouldn’t buy from this man?) before boarding the pirate radio wave and then joining the brand new RTÉ 2FM in 1979. In 1989, he jumped ship to Century Radio, and when that shut up shop after two years, spent some time in the broadcasting wilderness. But his "bouncebackability", as he puts it, ensured he was never going to be off air for long.
His 25th time as commentator for the EVSC coincides with the 25th anniversary of lyric fm (May 1, 1999), his happy home for many years, as well as generating a series of spin-off live concert shows, Marty in the Evening. Married to Maria, they have two grown-up children, Jessica and Thomas, and one grandchild, Lily Nora.
Marty might be sailing towards his 68th birthday, on an annual contract with lyric fm ("my entire life has been year-to-year contracts") but there are no thoughts of retiring from the irresistibly effervescent and evergreen broadcaster. "They haven’t asked me to stop, and I don’t want to stop," he says of lyric. And on that note, we put the needle in the groove and press play.
What were the songs your parents sang to you as a child?
My parents, Lily and Seán, were from a different generation so the songs they sang were evergreen classics like The Teddy Bear’s Picnic and The Ugly Duckling by Danny Kaye. Those childhood memories are still with me, and we still play those tracks on the radio show today because they trigger other people's memories. My mother, who undoubtedly instilled my love of music, used to listen to the BBC Light programme as well as RTÉ and that music permeates my childhood.
First music pin-ups?
I loved The Monkees and was obsessed with the theme music from their TV show, 'Here we come, walking down the street…’ Not only did I watch the show, but I bought all the books and of course, listened to the music. I was an only child and spoiled. I was also the fellow who went to school, aged 10 or 11, and saying to all my mates that The Monkees were much better than The Beatles. So yes, The Monkees were a big deal when I first started listening to music and bought my first transistor radio at the age of 12.
Do the listeners to Marty in the Morning ever surprise you?
Just this morning I got a birthday request for a man called Norman Teeling who taught me how to play the guitar. It came out of the blue, the person who requested it not aware of the connection. Norman taught me how to play ‘Apache’ by The Shadows. I was useless but I did get to play in a band, as a drummer! So, all those guitar lessons ended up with me becoming a drummer. We never made money; we were just playing because we loved it. I still have a set of drums at home which I play now and again.
What is the first single you ever bought?
I’ve Been a Bad Bad Boy by Paul Jones in 1966 when I was 10 years old. The album I remember is Hugo Montenegro and his Orchestra who did a stirring version of Ennio Morricone’s The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, which was a hit for them in 1967. And then there was the Val Doonican EP which had Paddy McGinty’s Goat on it. I still have all those records at home, as well as Sean Dunphy, Herb Alpert who was huge and The Bachelors too (and he’s off singing again, ‘I believe for every drop of rain …’)
What were your teenage kicks musically speaking?
I loved Deep Purple and for me Ian Pace is one of the greatest drummers who has ever lived. I had friends who were into prog rock bands like Yes and Brand X and I’d be like ‘Wha’? because I’d be listening to Purple, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep. You know I got to meet Ian Pace once. We were in Venice making an opera programme for the radio show and I saw this poster in the street saying that Ian Pace would be doing a charity event later that night. So I went, bought a drumstick and he signed it. Oh, my sweet God! I can see that you’re absolutely rivetted by that story, Donal.
What was the first song that you and Maria danced to?
Ruby Tuesday by Melanie, who only died last January, was the first dance I ever had with my current wife. It was at the Grove Disco in Clontarf in 1974. It took me a while to get up the courage. Normally, a slow set was three songs but the DJ, Cecil, who I knew, was into his sixth slow song before I got to make my move. I was very shy back then, hiding behind a pillar, with Cecil and everyone else silently willing me to walk across and ask Maria, who I had fancied from afar. It was love at first sight for me whereas it took Maria about five years to decide that I might be useful to have around. [Marty and Maria eventually tied the knot in August 1985]
What was your wedding song?
Longer by Dan Folgerberg was played during the ceremony. Fogelberg, a great singer-songwriter, is sadly no longer with us, but I first got into singer-songwriters at the Grove disco. I would sit on the stage with some other lads just to listen to the music. Many of us got our love of music from Cecil and from there my musical tastes widened to Folgelberg, Jimmy Webb and others. When you don’t have an older brother or sister, there is no musical influence outside of your parents, so I got those connections from friends or brothers of friends, so I ended up listening all kinds of everything from jazz music to The Goons or whatever.
What was the song you sang to your children?
Goodnight by The Beatles from The White Album. It was sung on the album by Ringo Starr and to this day, that song will trigger memories of my children, Jessica and Thomas, in those wonder years. Jessica now intends to sing it to her little girl, my four-week-old grandchild Lily Nora. It’s such a gorgeous song with the stamp of George Martin all over it. And maybe I’ll sing it to Lil Nora too. Now I’m not a great singer [but that’s not likely to stop him and off he goes again].
What is the first song you played on RTÉ lyric FM?
Something in the Air by Thunderclap Newman, my favourite song ever. I know that simply because I’ve play it as the opening track for every new radio show I’ve ever done. It probably just helps me settle in and feel good and it was the first song I played when I started on 2FM in 1979. But when Lyric FM came calling (in 2009) that was an amazing, upbeat twist to my career because I’d been through ups and downs, lefts and rights, and all the rest as you’ve documented before [Marty’s shows have felt the edge of the axe a few times]. Lyric resulted in one of the happiest times of my broadcasting career. I’m now able to play all sorts of music for three hours every morning and each one brings its own memory.
What song reminds you of your mother and father?
When I think of my mum, Lily, it would be Morningtown Ride by The Seekers (1964). It was a song she adored and brings me back to childhood. My dad, Seán, wasn’t especially musical but there was a song that would affect him every time he heard it and that was He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother by The Hollies. Now dad didn’t have any brother, just two sisters, but that was the only song I ever saw him get emotional over. I never asked him why and I still wonder about that.
If someone wanted to play a request for Marty Whelan, what song would it be?
The three boys that I’m especially mad about are Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen. Of them all, Van touches my heart every time. He has a song called ‘See Me Through’ on the Enlightenment album, which is essentially a love song to God. There’s another track called Across the Bridge where Angels Dwell from Beautiful Vision which is about people dying but it’s full of hope. Let’s put faith to one side for a moment: this is a song about someone dying and going from this world to the next and about somebody waiting for you on the other side. That’s very comforting if you’ve lost somebody and that song meant a lot to me when my mother died.
Are music and faith linked in any way for you?
I was a practising Sunday morning mass goer but I’m not any more. I do go to mass now and again, which is very laissez-faire and not very good really, but I do have a strong faith. Of course, it has been shaken by all that has happened in the Catholic Church. And as I get older, I question things more; things like what I really believe but my faith is still there because I want to believe that I will meet my mum and dad again. Now that might sound childish to someone with no faith, and it’s not even logical, but it sustains me at times, and I want to cling to the hope of that.
Marty in the Evening with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra is at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin on June 26, bordgaisenergytheatre.ie
