PERSONNEL AT Ireland s largest radio stations have dismissed claims made by The Cranberries singer Dolores O Riordan that the band s music is being blanked by mainstream broadcasters, resulting in poor Irish sales of their most recent album Bury The Hatchet.
In an interview with the October 17 edition of the Irish News Of The World, O Riordan said: We are Irish and apart from an occasional play we are never on the national airwaves. No wonder we have only sold 150,000 of Bury The Hatchet when 2FM and Today FM will not play our music. To get on the radio nowadays you have got to be a robot controlled by record companies who want to make a quick buck.
The singer s sentiments echo those of British artists such as Status Quo, Cliff Richard and Gary Barlow, all of whom have had records ignored by BBC Radio 1. However, despite The Cranberries fourth album performing disappointingly in domestic territories not to mention being largely passed over by MTV America and Europe it has sold more than 2.5 million copies globally, reaching number one in 11 countries.
Several days after O Riordan s comments were published, Brian Adams, Head of Music at Today FM, sent a letter to her via The Cranberries management, PR and record companies, in which he stated: I am amazed both by the inaccuracy of your remarks and also by the laziness with which you sling them. Any cursory attempt to look at the facts would have shown that at the time you spoke Today FM had played your last four singles more than ANY other Radio Station in Ireland. (Figures easily confirmed by Music Control-media monitors and suppliers of the National Airplay charts.)
In the letter, which Hot Press has seen, Adams goes on to say: We at Today FM have always been proud of our strong commitment to supporting Irish music, as all of our 720,000 regular listeners will be aware, and so remain amused, bemused and downright amazed at your continual ability to shoot yourselves in the foot, bite the hand that feeds and generally get the old Doc Marten into the mouth. P.S. I am enclosing a roll of Gaffa tape for Noel, Mike and Fergal. I hope they may be able to use it before your next outburst!
A source at the station suggested that O Riordan s ire may also have stemmed not just from a perceived lack of exposure, but an unfavourable review of Bury The Hatchet by Hot Press and Irish Independent scribe George Byrne on Tom Dunne s Pet Sounds show. In his review, the controversial rock critic attributed the band s continued success in non-English speaking countries to the fact that their foreign fans can t understand O Riordan s lyrics.
Meanwhile during last Sunday s Moloney At The Weekend show, 2FM DJ Mike Moloney responded to the singer s criticisms by saying, Dolores, have you ever considered the fact that people don t play your records on the radio because they think they re shite?
Nevertheless, when contacted by Hot Press, 2FM producer Pat Dunne confirmed that the band s current single Just My Imagination has in fact been playlisted by the station, and also receives regular plays on RTE Radio 1. n