Fab Vinny

An Riabhach

I'm really looking forward to this tomorrow night on RTÉ 1.

I'm sure a lot of ye will remember the programme "MTV USA" presented by our own Vincent Hanley way back in the 80s.I was only in primary school at the time but I remember that we were still allowed to stay up late and watch it and we always used to chat about it at school the following days.

I also remember the last show I saw,and I distinctly remember my mother saying that Vincent looked "really shook" at the time.
Of course at that time,none of us knew that he was dying of AIDS.

This will be the first documentary of Vincent that I will have seen myself and I think that it is going to be really interesting.

Fab Vinny,tomorrow night,RTÉ One, 7.00p.m.
RTÉ One+1,8.00p.m.

Agent Coulson

Will look forward to this thanks for the heads up.

An Riabhach

Very interesting documentary last night,brought back so many memories. I just wish the programme could have been longer.

Also, really really sad.
Especially the off-camera clips that were shown of him before his live broadcast.You could see that he was really suffering,before he had to put on his happy face when the camera started rolling. And the playing of the instrumental of the Madonna song "Live To Tell" to a backdrop of clips and photos of his bad times made it even more sombre.
So hard to believe that it has been 30 years since his death.

Now any time I hear Madonna's "Live To Tell", I will think of Vincent Hanley.

Disturbing to also hear that HIV/AIDS infections in Ireland are back on the rise.
It seems that people don't realise that AIDS has not gone away and never will.

Atlantic Dawn

An Riabhach wrote: »

Disturbing to also hear that HIV/AIDS infections in Ireland are back on the rise.
It seems that people don't realise that AIDS has not gone away and never will.

Interesting stats on those new diagnoses, those born in Ireland account for less than 30%, see page 12...
http://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/hivstis/hivandaids/surveillancereports/file,15862,en.pdf

Welsh Megaman

RTE don’t seem to be showing it worldwide, for the time being anyway

Very interesting interview with the documentary’s producer Bill Hughes on Tuesday on Ryan Tubridy’s radio show (Dave Fanning sitting in) - well worth listening back.

ford fiesta

It was a great documenary, albeit far too short.

However Conor McAnally was 100% incorrect about ZZ Top breaking as successful in Ireland 3 years before the UK.
They became commercially successful at the same time in both countries and were already well known before and at the time of MT USA starting in 1984.

bobbyss

An Riabhach wrote:

Also, really really sad. Especially the off-camera clips that were shown of him before his live broadcast.You could see that he was really suffering,before he had to put on his happy face when the camera started rolling. And the playing of the instrumental of the Madonna song "Live To Tell" to a backdrop of clips and photos of his bad times made it even more sombre. So hard to believe that it has been 30 years since his death.

Sad to watch that. I Remenber him well. Where is he buried do you know?

ford fiesta

I wonder does RTE have all the full shows of MTUSA in their TV archive?

Atlantic Dawn

ford fiesta wrote: »

I wonder does RTE have all the full shows of MTUSA in their TV archive?

I'd say they recorded over them, same thing happened to episodes of Glenroe.

Clonmel1000

bobbyss wrote: »

Sad to watch that. I Remenber him well. Where is he buried do you know?

Buried in his home town.

ford fiesta

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I'd say they recorded over them, same thing happened to episodes of Glenroe.

I know tape was expensive back then but surely any home produced stuff would be kept?

Arthur Daley

ford fiesta wrote: »

I know tape was expensive back then but surely any home produced stuff would be kept?

That would be quite some shame. You could understand the 60s into the 70s but for RTE to lose 2 of it's flagship shows of the 80s this way is careless.
The TOTP run on BBC4 currently is great fun. RTE2 showing full MTUSA shows on a saturday or sunday night would be a nice bit of nostalgia that loads of people could relate to. It'd be a hit.

ford fiesta

Knowing RTE they would heavily edit it or make a newer version of MT USA with twitter generation presenters who weren't even around in the 80's with old inserts of MT USA. If they have the full tapes they should show them plain and simple, even one per month !

An Riabhach

bobbyss wrote: »

Sad to watch that. I Remenber him well. Where is he buried do you know?

I have no idea.
I've tried looking this up and found nothing.

ford fiesta

An Riabhach wrote: »

I have no idea.
I've tried looking this up and found nothing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbyss View Post
Sad to watch that. I Remenber him well. Where is he buried do you know?
Buried in his home town.

Strazdas

Only caught up with this programme on the Player tonight.

Vincent was a very interesting character, maybe too charismatic to have ever remained as a minor celebrity in Ireland itself.

I get the impression from a couple of articles I've read that he was leading a very hedonistic lifestyle in New York (not just the sex aspect but drugs as well) and perhaps was taking a few too many risks. Looking at the various MTUSA clips, I'd guess he may have been ill a good while before it became really evident to people.

His TV career was like a meteor, over almost as soon as it begun but he had left his mark on Irish TV viewers. It's a bit shocking to see he was only 33 when he passed away.

ford fiesta

He actually joined RTE as early as 1974 on RTE Radio Eireann (now RTE Radio 1), when he was only 20.

Ursus Horribilis

I enjoyed the documentary, though like some others it felt a little short. MT USA was a little before my time so it didn't make the impact on me that it did on others. The story of the show and how they made it was interesting but far more compelling was Vincent's story. I hadn't realised he was so young when he died. Seeing the photos and footage of him once AIDS had taken hold was poignant. Especially when you view it through today's eyes and know that a tablet keeps that awful disease at bay. What a needless waste of a young life that was. Someone who could've gone on to even better things if he'd lived.

Strazdas

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I enjoyed the documentary, though like some others it felt a little short. MT USA was a little before my time so it didn't make the impact on me that it did on others. The story of the show and how they made it was interesting but far more compelling was Vincent's story. I hadn't realised he was so young when he died. Seeing the photos and footage of him once AIDS had taken hold was poignant. Especially when you view it through today's eyes and know that a tablet keeps that awful disease at bay. What a needless waste of a young life that was. Someone who could've gone on to even better things if he'd lived.

The show definitely made a cultural impact. Before it came along, Irish TV was very drab and parochial. All of a sudden it was showing wall to wall international pop videos for three hours (at a time when there was no such programme on British TV). A lot of the American music videos in particular were something that couldn't be seen on any terrestrial channel in the UK.

Vincent seemed very likeable and charismatic. I can't help thinking though he was taking some unnecessary risks with his lifestyle. It seems he was immersed in the most hedonistic parts of New York's gay scene - something that would have been a bit alien even to the other gay contributors to the programme who knew him well as a friend.

It seems too he was in total denial about being ill and couldn't admit it even to himself. It was as if he thought he could wish it away with his positivity and eventually make a full recovery.