The Giant Gerry Ryan Mega Thread

mikemac2

Slurping his tay and munching his sandwich while reading the paper headlines

He didn’t give a damn about his job

ogsjw

Pretty sure only his family and dealer miss him. Though I'll never forget that mustard suit for the Eurovision.

The Enbalmer

Beechwoodspark wrote:

He’d encourage callers to take that once in a lifetime holiday or buy that dream car and to hell with the bank!!

Or to buy that apartment that his mate Harry Crosbie was selling.

Beechwoodspark

Hugely popular figure still

Often hear ppl say they miss him

He was a good aul skin was Ger

BarryD2

Not really, he was a self publicist but then I suppose many celebs are.

Ursus Horribilis

No, but I didn't tune in that often. For all his flaws though, it's obvious that the man had some sort of innate ability to connect with his listeners. That's something that is lacking in many of today's shows. Even though there are many more talk based radio shows on air now, they're presented by people who talk at their listeners rather than to them.

DJIMI TRARORE

I miss him greatly,can't get rid of all my powder now

TCM

dingdong1234567 wrote:

Absolutely not, a hypocrite of the highest order.

johnayo wrote:

Yes I miss Gerry. I liked his radio presenting style. I didn't always agree with what he said and wouldn't have liked his lifestyle choices but then who am I to judge.

He did a fair amount of judging others.

Odyssey 2005

retalivity wrote: »

No.

A sanctimonious, hypocritical windbag.

You forgot coke head

ford fiesta

I heard Will Leahy played his usual tribute to Gerry this morning on RTE Gold.

Jurgen Klopp

He always gave me a laugh

"So Mary what have you been up to this morning?"

"Just after hanging out the washing Gerry"

"Mhmmm have you many pairs of knickers on the line?"

The Talking Bread

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Hugely popular figure still

Often hear ppl say they miss him

He was a good aul skin was Ger

No, he isn't. Well known, but definitely not hugely popular. Bit of a joke figure to many.

Sad that he died, more sad that he left such a young family behind but he definitely didn't leave any sort of significant gap as a media man. He was an RTE Lifer and he knew it, hence the foot up on the table, breakfast roll style presenting. Don't get me wrong, he had a bit of character but just because he is the antithesis of unbearable hosts like Eoghan McDermott doesn't neccessarily mean he is "what the viewers want" either.

ford fiesta

Gerry's brother Mike still works in RTE Radio. He can be heard doing continuity and presenting the 'best of radio 1' show at 2am some nights.

He was previously a live overnight 2FM DJ (late 80s and 90s) / Studio controller for Outside Broadcasts on 2FM. He also was a music reviewer on TV's Beat Box in the mid 90s with Ian Dempsey. He has been in RTE Radio since 1988.

His voice sounds a lot like Gerry's.

The_Dark_Lord

The Talking Bread wrote: »

No, he isn't. Well known, but definitely not hugely popular. Bit of a joke figure to many.

He was enormously popular, he practically WAS 2fm.

The Talking Bread

The_Dark_Lord wrote: »

He was enormously popular, he practically WAS 2fm.

Read the post.

No, Gerry got as much slagging as any DJ/presenter gets. Just read the forums on here from when he was presenting. The last best part of a decade he was becoming increasingly criticised by listeners. Very popular during the 90s etc but once he knew he was set up for life he gradually didn't give a care.

He just went through the motions most mornings, he could manage to waste the first hour of the show just reading the newspaper headlines. 1/3 of the programme!

DoozerT6

I don't necessarily 'miss' him - but I am certainly aware of the loss of a radio icon, a loss that shocked the nation whether you liked him or not. For many of us, we grew up in our teens and twenties listening to him on both the evening and morning shows. As mentioned, he had a great rapport with those who phoned in and could talk about anything. Sometimes he was wonderful, sometimes he was cringe. But he was rarely 'pedestrian'.

A little bit of the soundtrack to my youth died this day 9 years ago.

The Talking Bread

Don't get me wrong, it was awful sad and shocking, especially considering his family were so young and sad that apparently he wasn't in control of his addictions, that is on a human level, but I have no personal affiliation with him as most of us here didn't so I assume this thread is more concentrating on him as a presenter/DJ/face.

I even remember exactly where I was, in work sometime in the afternoon, when I heard. Not many people command a memory of where you were when you found out they were dead so many years later but so many people recall finding out about G ryan's passing.

Odyssey 2005

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Read the post.

No, Gerry got as much slagging as any DJ/presenter gets. Just read the forums on here from when he was presenting. The last best part of a decade he was becoming increasingly criticised by listeners. Very popular during the 90s etc but once he knew he was set up for life he gradually didn't give a care.

He just went through the motions most mornings, he could manage to waste the first hour of the show just reading the newspaper headlines. 1/3 of the programme!

Just like f'arcy does,15/20 mins of shyte every day(he shows up )

The Talking Bread

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Just like f'arcy does,15/20 mins of shyte every day(he shows up )

D'arcy also uses the "what age are you", "what age were you then", "how old were your kids" style questions to buy some time!

Most morning shows throw out some newspaper headlines, it is a good way to start a show, a nice prop as such and feeds some good material to viewers, but G Ryan would nearly read you the star signs or the Page Three girls profile if he knew he could buy a bit of time from actual interesting and researched material

Strumms

What I liked about Gerry was... he didn’t take himself or his work toooo seriously... it was fun, it was entertainment and for many it was entertaining. He just seemed like a pretty decent ordinary guy who turned up for work and tried to spread a bit of fun and entertainment accross the airwaves and into people’s lives.. Like what he did or not the personal vitriol aimed at him in this thread is disappointing. Drugs are bad but ultimately so is being a judgmental dickhead who thinks by virtue of ones failings... ALL attributes, talents or qualities somebody has should be erased by virtue of making mistakes along the way. Not for me.

Beechwoodspark

Do people realise his show was not current affairs or news?

It was a light entertainment show fronted by him

He would regularly have serious issues on -depression, domestic violence, alcoholism etc. he did some wonderful interviews over the years. Radio that stopped you in your tracks. That doesn’t happen by chance.

But the first hour or so was always light entertainment.

Gerry would read the paper often accompanied yes by the brekkie roll and tea. A bit of craic

He had a huge listenership. Genuinely intelligent guy but He had the common touch. People loved him -faults and all. Nobody is perfect and Gerry was first to admit he was deeply flawed.

It is no exaggeration to say day time 2fm was centered around him.

And they have never recovered since his untimely death.

The Talking Bread

Strumms wrote: »

What I liked about Gerry was... he didn’t take himself or his work toooo seriously... it was fun, it was entertainment and for many it was entertaining. He just seemed like a pretty decent ordinary guy who turned up for work and tried to spread a bit of fun and entertainment accross the airwaves and into people’s lives.. Like what he did or not the personal vitriol aimed at him in this thread is disappointing. Drugs are bad but ultimately so is being a judgmental dickhead who thinks by virtue of ones failings... ALL attributes, talents or qualities somebody has should be erased by virtue of making mistakes along the way. Not for me.

So you would prefer if we just patronised him and be a hypocrite. I don't think anyone is saying anything that extreme about him to the point of personal vitriol,

Ursus Horribilis

I wonder would he still be on 2fm if he had lived?

Beechwoodspark

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I wonder would he still be on 2fm if he had lived?

Def he would. He was their main draw

TCM

Ursus Horribilis wrote:

I wonder would he still be on 2fm if he had lived?

I wonder is he would be still alive if he had lived.

The Talking Bread

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I wonder would he still be on 2fm if he had lived?

If he wanted to be. That is generally how RTE works.

TCM

ford fiesta wrote:

I heard Will Leahy played his usual tribute to Gerry this morning on RTE Gold.

Joe Duffy was nearly in tears. Hypocrite.

The Talking Bread

TCM wrote: »

Joe Duffy was nearly in tears. Hypocrite.

Why, was their an issue between them? AFAIK they were very close and Duffy done an interview a few years ago where he was talking emotionally about him

DoozerT6

DoozerT6 wrote: »

I don't necessarily 'miss' him - but I am certainly aware of the loss of a radio icon, a loss that shocked the nation whether you liked him or not. For many of us, we grew up in our teens and twenties listening to him on both the evening and morning shows. As mentioned, he had a great rapport with those who phoned in and could talk about anything. Sometimes he was wonderful, sometimes he was cringe. But he was rarely 'pedestrian'.

A little bit of the soundtrack to my youth died this day 9 years ago.

What an interesting post. I reckon if any of his family or friends are reading this, they'd be glad of your sentiments.

I only started actively listening to radio in the mid-2000s when I was a teenager, and although I remember listening to Gerry Ryan, I didn't understand his appeal. Maybe I was too young to appreciate his shows, or maybe they weren't my cup of tea anyway, but now I'm curious.

Does anyone know where, apart from YouTube, it might be possible to listen back to some old shows?

(By the way, we badly need a free, online archive for RTE radio in general)

kravmaga

No Op, I dont miss him on the radio