Gay Byrne RIP

paleoperson

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Every tribute is depicting him as some Ambassador of Moral Breakdown, like that's a good thing.
Ireland is so far left now it's scary. If you want to identify as a Giraffe in Ireland, then god dam it you're a Giraffe, and anyone who says you're not a Giraffe is a bigot.
It's all gone a bit TOO far left for me.

Yes but Gay was saying we should be more left when we were far too far right.

I don't recall Gay taking up SJW causes like trans rights like Charlie Bird.

FrancieBrady

Good point there by Graham Norton on RTE:

'He facilitated modern Ireland and in many ways brought it about but you got the feeling he didn't like it when it came'.

Letwin_Larry

i grew up in a small rural town. pop 1000+

Ireland was a cesspit (quite literally if you consider Tuam) of secrecy & repression in the 60s & 70s. sex was considered a dirty word. censorship was rife. unmarried mothers/pregnant girls were regularly "run out of town" (usually by their parents)
i only recall things being opened-up so to speak in the 80s.
the first time we witnessed a girl having the temerity (courage) to hold onto her baby, and show him/her in town was 1984!

looking around me now at how this little country has changed, it's sometimes hard to comprehend how ****ty things were back then.

Strazdas

Interesting to hear Michael Parkinson say the fact that he was a teetotaller and a Mass goer made him seem a 'remote' figure at Granada to his colleagues.

But I suppose this aspect also made him the supreme professional, as he was devoted to his work.

ILoveYourVibes

He was the greatest broadcaster in the world imo.

Its rare i actually feel something when well know people pass. I most certainly do now though.

RIP GAYBO!

KaneToad

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

You only realize how good gay was when you see poor Tubs on a Friday struggling to be average

Don't like Tubs but it's not his fault. The live chat show genre is dead. In Gay's day, the guests came on to talk - not to plug their latest movie/book/boob job/single. It's slim pickings for RTE 'talent' bookers.

FrancieBrady

Strazdas wrote: »

Interesting to hear Michael Parkinson say the fact that he was a teetotaller and a Mass goer made him seem a 'remote' figure at Granada to his colleagues.

But I suppose this aspect also made him the supreme professional, as he was devoted to his work.

You are obviously watching what I am.

In my almost 60 years on this earth I must never have heard him say the word 'provo' before, which is almost as odd and bizarre as his pronunciation of it.

high_king

PropJoe10 wrote: »

Greatest broadcaster in the history of this country, for me. Simple as that. One of a kind.

In the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man was king.

high_king

donkeykong5 wrote: »

RIP Gay Byrne. One of the few presenters around who didn't bow down to the pcbrigade protected snowflakes. Legend.

lol, you must be joking I take it, he was the original pc snowflake

10000maniacs

Ah memories.
Most of the time he was clumsy to the point of embarassment. Try the Kate Bush interview where he asked her what was her mothers maiden name, or the time he told a Scottish doctor he was too drunk and slow, and the audience turned on uncle Gaybo, or when he asked Tom Waits did he get down with the hobos? And when he annoyed Andrew Sachs as he was doing his Manuel routine.
Also he was all we had on Friday nights when I was a kid and it wasn't all bad. so RIP Mr Byrne.

FrancieBrady

high_king wrote: »

lol, you must be joking I take it, he was the original pc snowflake

Well he managed to go to his grave without revealing what political party, if any he supported, what his religious beliefs were or what his stance on many of the issues he discussed was.

Pretty good going for a 'PC snowflake'.

high_king

Letwin_Larry wrote: »

that interview still intrigues me.

why was he so dismissive of her?

He wasn't. Byrne was an expert cute huir at playing both sides of the fence, with both thinking he was on their side. Overall though he was as anti Catholic as an RTE presenter could be then without being cottoned onto.

Never like Byrne on the political stuff, but I used to enjoy his lighthearted stuff on the radio, he was far better at that, than the poor me doom porn guests he infected RTE television with, that the Irish crave.

Lefty Bicek

10000maniacs wrote: »

Ah memories.
Most of the time he was clumsy to the point of embarassment. Try the Kate Bush interview where he asked her what was her mothers maiden name, or the time he told a Scottish doctor he was too drunk and slow, and the audience turned on uncle Gaybo, or when he asked Tom Waits did he get down with the hobos? And when he annoyed Andrew Sachs as he was doing his Manuel routine.
Also he was all we had on Friday nights when I was a kid and it wasn't all bad. so RIP Mr Byrne.

Or the night he took off his britches to put them in the trouser press they were touting :eek:

The 'Scottish doctor' you are referring to was, I think, R.D. Laing.

If the human race survives, future men will, I suspect, look back on our enlightened epoch as a veritable age of Darkness. They will presumably be able to savor the irony of the situation with more amusement than we can extract from it. The laugh’s on us. They will see that what we call “schizophrenia” was one of the forms in which, often through quite ordinary people, the light began to break through the cracks in our all-too-closed minds.

- The Politics of Experience

high_king

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Well he managed to go to his grave without revealing what political party, if any he supported, what his religious beliefs were or what his stance on many of the issues he discussed was.

It was pretty easy to tell all of those actually. Bryne didn't hide it that well or even try to. Just enough for plausible denial and no more.

moonage

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that he was the first (or one of the first) person to interview the Beatles during his time on British TV in the early 1960s?

Yes in 1963, and Paul McCartney asked him to be the Beatle's manager.

How different things would have been if he'd accepted!

Raconteuse

If one person is calling him a pc snowflake and another is saying he was the ultimate anti pc snowflake, strong chance he was neither, and occupying somewhere in between.

Lefty Bicek

Raconteuse wrote: »

If one person is calling him a pc snowflake and another is saying he was the ultimate anti pc snowflake, strong chance he was neither, and occupying somewhere in between.

Or either, as the situation required.

high_king

Raconteuse wrote: »

If one person is calling him a pc snowflake and another is saying he was the ultimate anti pc snowflake, strong chance he was neither, and occupying somewhere in between.

This would be an inaccurate assumption, as some are basing their knowledge of Byrne in his later years where he wasn't in touch as much.
In the 70's and 80's he was a near to a fawning PC snowflake as you could get to being one then.

MrMusician18

KaneToad wrote: »

Don't like Tubs but it's not his fault. The live chat show genre is dead. In Gay's day, the guests came on to talk - not to plug their latest movie/book/boob job/single. It's slim pickings for RTE 'talent' bookers.

Many of his guests were there to plug something too, but Gays most interesting discussions were usually the panel at the end. Back then you had real plurality in the Irish media with eloquent conservatives and equally passionate liberals. These days the conservatives that are willing to appear on media are generally loons (usually of the religious type), and the bland liberals are just the "woke" type.

high_king

MrMusician18 wrote: »

These days the conservatives that are willing to appear on media are generally loons (usually of the religious type), and the bland liberals are just the "woke" type.

Or rather, you mean the only ones asked on are, and deliberately so. Which means, by design, no hope of any intelligent debate.

FrancieBrady

high_king wrote: »

It was pretty easy to tell all of those actually. Bryne didn't hide it that well or even try to. Just enough for plausible denial and no more.

The reason I said was that there were a couple of his friends on the radio today who specifically said they couldn't.

high_king

FrancieBrady wrote: »

The reason I said was that there were a couple of his friends on the radio today who specifically said they couldn't.

They didn't listen to him much on RTE then, or were still attempting the thinly veiled cute huir cover for him. He wasn't that hard to read and wanted you to know, but not enough that he could be directly accused of it. One of the weasel things that let him down actually, and took away from his genuinely excellent light entertainment skills.

ToBeFrank123

Raconteuse wrote: »

Why is "middle-class" a pejorative?

Agreed. And most people complaining on here are also smug middle class.

high_king

Raconteuse wrote: »

Why is "middle-class" a pejorative?

Because it's an imported class system from England, and doesn't even work as a class in Ireland, except for advertisers, trying to sell us what we don't actually need . . so we think we look middle class, whatever that is. In Ireland we have the connected class / golden circle, the welfare class, and the working class that pay for the other two classes. In Ireland, if you have to work for a living, you are working class, despite what any advertiser tries to fool you to buy.

allcosgrave

Rip Gay

Tony EH

Only just found this out. Been in a bubble all day. :mad:

Never really liked him as a person, but grew up with the Late Late on the tele, which was a daring show no matter what country we're talking about. It covered a lot of topics that wouldn't have been touched at all, elsewhere, and created a lively studio debate on many occasions. Gay Byrne was very much instrumental in developing that, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. He managed to get details from a guest or a panel that wouldn't have been forthcoming to another interviewer.

I personally found Byrne to be quite wheedling in many respects, especially in the more light-hearted interviews, and he could be extremely irritating, while coming across as dreadfully disingenuous too. But still he remains one of the greatest interviewers this country has ever produced and is absolutely head and shoulders above anyone at Montrose today, that's for damn sure.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Tony EH wrote: »

Only just found this out. Been in a bubble all day. :mad:

Never really liked him as a person, but grew up with the Late Late on the tele, which was a daring show no matter what country we're talking about. It covered a lot of topics that wouldn't have been touched at all, elsewhere, and created a lively studio debate on many occasions. Gay Byrne was very much instrumental in developing that, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. He managed to get details from a guest or a panel that wouldn't have been forthcoming to another interviewer.

I personally found Byrne to be quite wheedling in many respects, especially in the more light-hearted interviews, and he could be extremely irritating, while coming across as dreadfully disingenuous too. But still he remains one of the greatest interviewers this country has ever produced and is absolutely head and shoulders above anyone at Montrose today, that's for damn sure.

Sure, even his biographer said that he was quite gossipy but that that was what made him a good interviewer. He was very curious.

zcorpian88

Love him or hate him, his grace, charm and wit helped mould Ireland into a better place and got us away from the dictatorship that is the Catholic Church. I think we lost a huge part of Ireland today in a way, so many grew up watching him when there wasn't cable or satellite or Netflix of if you're old enough, a second channel on your tv!

For me when I was a kid in the 90s growing up, there was nothing more comforting then chilling out in front of the open fire with the family on a dreary Irish winters night in front of The Late Late, back then the guests were better. The toy show's were magic then as well. I still watch The Late Late, and I do get a similar sense of comfort from it, even if the guests aren't as good these days.

I'll never forget myself and my Dad busting our asses laughing when Gay had Lenny Henry on the show and he took that spill out of his chair, was like the funniest thing ever, must have been like 6 or 7 but still remember the laughs out of my Dad, I still laugh when I see repeats of it. I'm grateful to Gay for the good he has done and being on the radio/tv so long and on a personal level just for that memory of comfort in front of the fire and tuning into him. Good times.

RIP Gay

Arghus

donkeykong5 wrote: »

RIP Gay Byrne. One of the few presenters around who didn't bow down to the pcbrigade protected snowflakes. Legend.

What are you on about mate?

Using imported buzzwords to talk about a TV and radio presenter in Ireland that effectively retired two decades ago?

Some people need to get out more.

Sputnik102

Very sad news. He was a legend in the broadcasting industry and the best toy show host ever. Loved his annual "rows" with Dustin the turkey.

bodhrandude

10000maniacs wrote: »

Ah memories.
Most of the time he was clumsy to the point of embarassment. Try the Kate Bush interview where he asked her what was her mothers maiden name, or the time he told a Scottish doctor he was too drunk and slow, and the audience turned on uncle Gaybo, or when he asked Tom Waits did he get down with the hobos? And when he annoyed Andrew Sachs as he was doing his Manuel routine.
Also he was all we had on Friday nights when I was a kid and it wasn't all bad. so RIP Mr Byrne.

At least he had Kate Fcuking Bush on the Late Late, along with Tom Waits, Spike Milligan (some of the very best). Peter Sellers and when he put trad specials on like the Dubliner's tribute in 1987 he had proper fecking trad bands and musicians instead of the usual hick trad country boy band trendy stuff playing on the Late Late of late. Saying that Ryan did do a good tribute to John Sheehan for his eightieth birthday but these shows are few and far between. RIP Gay.

igCorcaigh

RIP Gaybo.
A pioneer.

It would be nice if RTE released some of the LLS archives online.

Tell me how

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

This interview with the Diceman a few months before he died really stayed with me:

Thank you for posting that. Really lovely interview.
Also, notable the questions from the audience they were very thoughtful and empathetic.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Tell me how wrote: »

Thank you for posting that. Really lovely interview.
Also, notable the questions from the audience they were very thoughtful and empathetic.

Considering he was suffering from brain atrophy (the phrase he used - I’m not sure if it’s the correct phraseology today), he did very well in that interview. I was so pleased to find it on YouTube and that it was as good as I remembered.

RabbleRouser2k

It's absolutely amazing, if you think about it, how he could hold an audience for close to 40 years. You can say 'ah, there was nothing else on TV'... but there was renting a movie, going to the pub, or any other number of options. Gay made it so that you HAD to watch the Late Late... or you were out in the cold for the rest of the week. During his tenure, his show would average One million viewers per night... minimum. There's nobody in Ireland that can pull those numbers now-genuinely, there isn't. Tubridy can only hope for that many for the Toy show, but the rest of the time, he's scraping 400, 000, at most. In the time of Gay Byrne, A show with 300, 000 or less viewers wouldn't be on the following year. Rte would cut ties.

Yet Gay Byrne managed to maintain a loyal audience for almost 40 years. Look at the guests he managed to secure... modern hosts can only DREAM of getting that caliber of guest.

But he was also flawed... there were many times he over-stepped the mark. Even the 'Gaybo' documentary that was repeated tonight didn't shy away from that.
He often let his bias shine thru-but he wouldn't shy away from letting individuals destroy themselves. (Padraig Flynn, for one. Or when he brought on Terry Keane, who revealed her affair with Charlie Haughey-further destroying his legacy. Gay had zero tolerance for Haughey-he could spot the odd snake in the grass).
IT was this intriguing way that was often less 'attacking' someone, and more teasing out information that meant they destroyed themselves. They had nobody else to blame but themselves.

But there was also this... magic, for want of a better word, with Gay Byrne. Look at this interview, for example-it's almost 30 minutes long. It's interviewing Billy Connolly.
And it never loses steam... he's bouncing ideas off of Billy-he's letting him perform. (And keep in mind Connolly had just stepped off of stage from one of his shows-and was still 'wired'.) And Gay is also suffering from a headcold, a flu or sore throat... and he's STILL able to get a great interview out of Billy.

The problem I see with the likes of Tubridy or Brendan O' connor, to name a few, is if an interview is going south...they don't know how to roll with it and make it memorable. On one occassion, Gaybo managed to get Noel Gallagher from Oasis, then at the height of his powers, to appear on the show, straight after a gig... and it was a last minute booking!
Gay was unprepped, had no time to get an interview ready... and made television Gold...

His show paying tribute to the lives lost after the Omagh bombing was both a tearful 'wake' to the lives lost-but also an instigator of healing. Something that was needed to show the Irish spirit could not be broken.

The last few weeks.... tbh, I sensed there was something wrong, sadly. Kathleen Watkin's interview on Ray D'arcy, where she revealed Gay wouldn't return to TV, as well as Ryan Tubridy revealing the owl would be named 'Gabriel' in honour of the man who started it all... created a genuine ominous feeling. It's hard to describe, but one tends to pick on the 'signs' that someone is not long for this world by the actions of those around them.

Gay didn't pretend to be a flawless individual. He was a work in progress, I think even he would admit that. RIP. My condolences to his family, and friends.

Stacksofwacks

Good post, Tubridy by comparison seems very scripted and seems almost terrified of any audience interaction, if there is even a murmur out of the audience he scolds them like children straight away wheras Gay encouraged it. Its what made the show imo.

blinding

I don’t care one way or another . I really don’t , but is it possible that Gay was Gay ?

Stacksofwacks

blinding wrote: »

I don’t care one way or another . I really don’t , but is it possible that Gay was Gay ?

I don't really care one way or another...

Edgware

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

Good post, Tubridy by comparison seems very scripted and seems almost terrified of any audience interaction, if there is even a murmur out of the audience he scolds them like children straight away wheras Gay encouraged it. Its what made the show imo.

When Gay Byrne was running the Late Late Show the guest list was secret. Then the show was either very good, good or ****e. With Tubridy we know on a Wednesday which z list soap star is coming on or will know who's book is going to be promoted. We probably think Gay Byrne was excellent because what came after him were average.

realdanbreen

Invisibleman wrote: »

He was full of himself and full of sh*t in my opinion,
made a career out of talking down to people

Wow! If you're that bitter towards the dead you must really be twisted towards the living!

Calhoun

Anyone know what the deal with Tayto? Apparently people going mad over a tweet about his death.

ShamNNspace

Duffy on the phone Aonghus, fanning and that one Terry prone on Irl am in studio now.. I have enough of it now

Beechwoodspark

ShamNNspace wrote: »

Duffy on the phone Aonghus, fanning and that one Terry prone on Irl am in studio now.. I have enough of it now

There’s gonna be weeks and months of this yet!

ShamNNspace

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

There’s gonna be weeks and months of this yet!

Prone is some dose in fairness

valoren

It is an indication of the quality of his broadcasting that over the length of his career that people can only point to the very few interviews that were duds. He wasn't infallible and given the length of his career he was forgiven for a few misses. I guess that's the way the Late Late show has gone. Byrne could do 99 professional, on point, entertaining interviews but he gets lambasted for grilling Annie Murphy or for showing disdain for Gerry Adams. He set a high standard and nowadays we see Tubridy doing 99 bland and mediocre “interviews” but then getting praised to the hilt for one which was actually par for the course for Byrne. I've always thought Byrne was the epitome of professionalism. Well researched, well prepared and well executed. Class. May he RIP.

Beechwoodspark

RIP to him
And condolences to his family

But like always RTÉ are going to drag the absolute arse out of this and go way way OTT

FrancieBrady

high_king wrote: »

They didn't listen to him much on RTE then, or were still attempting the thinly veiled cute huir cover for him. He wasn't that hard to read and wanted you to know, but not enough that he could be directly accused of it. One of the weasel things that let him down actually, and took away from his genuinely excellent light entertainment skills.

Yes, you probably knew he was a Roman Catholic, but my sister and Mum are Roman Catholics of very different religious beliefs. Gay kept what he 'actually' believed close to his chest.
As he did with what political party he favoured at any one time.
And he rarely, if ever, introduced a topic for discussion in the context of his feelings or position on them (with the exception of NI and Brussel Sprouts) that is why he was such a good interviewer and chairman of a debate.

You may guess at things...but you 'don't know'. He was the opposite of PC in that regard, you know exactly where you stand with someone who is PC because they tiresomely tell you.

valoren

ShamNNspace wrote: »

He does excellent chalice work a genius with a thurible

From the Tabernacle to the Coffin, he is a solid "box to box" priest.

Declan A Walsh

Strazdas wrote: »

Interesting to hear Michael Parkinson say the fact that he was a teetotaller and a Mass goer made him seem a 'remote' figure at Granada to his colleagues.

But I suppose this aspect also made him the supreme professional, as he was devoted to his work.

I think that's one fact that Michael Parkinson got wrong. I recall someone who knew Gay Byrne saying yesterday that he did have a drink.

FrancieBrady

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I think that's one fact that Michael Parkinson got wrong. I recall someone who knew Gay Byrne saying yesterday that he did have a drink.

He was in his early years I believe. Took a drink later in life.