While much recent attention has focused on Gerry Ryan s television talent show and its myriad defects, another regular fillip for Irish talent, this time on RTE radio, has gone virtually uncredited.
For quite some time now on his nightly Rhythm Of The Night programme on RTE Radio 1 presenter Alan Corcoran has been giving valuable weekly exposure to up and coming talent in the programme s weekly Rising Stars spot. Such has been the favourable response to the innitiative that now there s even talk of forming a panel of industry insiders who would pick an annual Rising Stars winner who would then get the full treatment with a CD release on a significant label.
Corcoran and his multi-lingual producer Fiaich O Broin now admit to receiving dozens of unsolicited demos every week covering virtually every musical genre from heavy rock to cabaret. There is also a growing acceptance that the spot provides an invaluable outlet for new talent on our national airwaves.
According to Corcoran himself, We actually introduced the spot when the show was called Ireland Tonight and the producer was Cathal Poirteir. Head Of Radio Helen Shaw is also very supportive of the idea, so it s now a key element in Rhythm Of The Night. Although its always a privilege to interview top established acts like Joe Dolan or Ronnie Drew or an international star such as Reba McEntire, it s also stimulating to bring undiscovered talent to public attention.
But the programme doesn t just play a tape and then file the act in the recesses of their collective memory. According to Corcoran, Apart from featuring one new act every Thursday night we also slip in a track from them and from previous featured acts here and there throughout the week. We also like to keep regular tabs on them, so that we can report how their careers are progressing.
If a received demo isn t quite up to scratch technically, the show has been known to bring the artists into an RTE studio and record some acoustic tracks with them.
Another benefit acruing from Rising Stars is that other key RTE programmes may subsequently pick up on the talent Corcoran discovers during his talent-spotting excavations. As he explained to Hot Press, The most recent example of this was when Carrie Crowley played a track by Carmel Dempsey on her High Noon programme. Carmel is a talented cross between Maura O Connell and Bonnie Tyler. Carrie heard her on my programme and liked her so much she asked me for a tape.
On his various radio shows to date Corcoran has always shown a generous commitment to Irish music, and that s reflected in the fact that 75% of Rhythm Of The Night is comprised of Irish material. Much to his own delight he has also successfully shaken off his earlier image as a country and Irish man only, and his music choice now ranges right across the spectrum, with the pop-rock of Picture House, the soul-funk of Fourteen and the psycho-trad Barleyshakes all having been included on recent shows.
I was always a little uncomfortable with the country tag , he admits. Of course I like country music, but one of my biggest musical heroes was Philip Lynott. I remember going to see his gigs when I was a kid, and I was also a big fan of Rory Gallagher and Pink Floyd and others.
Nor is his programme studio bound. He recently visited the Tramore Songwriters Club and featured the fine work of resident songwriter Tony McLaughlin who has a CD out produced with Denis O Herlihy.
Demos from artists wishing to be featured on the show should be addressed to Alan Corcoran, Radio 1, RTE, Donnybrook, Dublin 4. The tape should be limited to three songs and it s crucial that it s clearly marked with a name and a contact phone number. A short biog and photo might also help, but nothing too elaborate. Corcoran does ask that anyone who sends in a tape should avoid phoning in.
All tapes are listened to in rotation, and we don t have the time to deal with phone-calls. Suffice it to say that if we want to play a tape we ll play it, and if we need to talk to you we will, provided you ve given us a contact number.
If Corcoran s show can t accomodate a particular tape of material he passes it to others, and Ronan Collins and Larry Gogan have already used tapes passed on this way, as well as the aforementioned Carrie Crowley.
Perhaps appropriately, Corcoran scored his own first gig on RTE radio when Larry Gogan heard him doing a disco and suggested to Bill O Donovan at 2FM that he should get Corcoran to do a dj demo. The presenter recalls what happened.
When I sent a tape in I was then called in for an audition with producers Kevin Hough and Peter Browne and from that I was asked to do some links on Maxi s overseas request show. So if I can help an artist by giving their demo a spin, and it gets heard by the right people, then I m really only doing for them what others did for me.
Prior to this, Corcoran admits that he was first turned on to radio as a possible career when his father used some biscuit tins as speakers to make it possible to hear the radio all over the Corcoran household!
But there s one down side to Corcoran s success; he s recently been subjected to pressure from a certain political party trying to persuade him to run for office. Corcoran has declined. So far. But meanwhile he has already earned the vote of anyone who cares about the continuing good health of Irish music and the nurturing of emerging talent. n