TONY STARDUST ON THE RADIO

Well, it could have been. Following the time-worn practice of DJs adopting fictitious names, back in the seventies the former Anthony Fagan had reached that particular rite of passage and his best mate Barry Lang was assisting him in arriving at the right decision.

According to the DJ formerly known as Fagan, “I wasn’t into those bizarre names like Justin St Francis or whatever. Declan Meehan became Arneaux St Jude because he lived in a house called St Jude. That wasn’t for me. A guy called Shorty Long became Jason Mayne. That was a bit better. Then Barry Lang pointed out that the pop star Alvin Stardust had previously been called Shane Fenton. Fenton sounded better than Fagan and not as pretentious as some other options, so that’s how I was reborn, as it were!”

And he’d like to put on record that, despite what you read in the tabloids, he was never called Anto Fagan by his mates. So there.

Now celebrating his fifteenth year with 2FM, Tony Fenton looks back on a career that has seen him become Irish radio’s Mr Pop Music.

THE BORING DETAILS

Born in the Rotunda Hospital and grew up in the North Dublin suburbs of Finglas and Glasnevin.

FIRST RECORD PURCHASED

“The first record I remember buying was ‘Crocodile Rock’ by Elton John when it was a hit in 1972. I was about eleven at the time and I still love that record.”

EARLY INSPIRATION

“As far back as I can remember I used to listen to Radio Luxemburg at night under the bed clothes in case my parents heard. That’s when I got the radio bug. Probably my favourite DJ of all time is Simon Bates who was on BBC Radio 1 in the early days. I also rated Rob Jones and Bennie Brown from Radio Luxemburg and Noel Edmonds from Radio 1. I was also fortunate later to receive a lot of constructive advice from people like Tony Allen, Tom Hardy and Steve Dunne, and much later still from my 2FM colleagues Liam Thompson and John Clarke.”

PARENTS

“My Mum was okay about my ambitions to be a DJ, but my Dad wanted me to get a real job.”

FIRST DJ JOBS

“My first gig as a DJ was in the Scout Hall in Ballygall. I was in the first Irish mixed gender scouts troop with Barry Lang. I didn’t get paid for that gig, but I got £1.50 for the second one, also for the Scouts. I thought it was amazing, getting paid for doing something I loved.”

FIRST RADIO WORK

“Myself and Barry Lang went together to ARD, a pirate station then operating in Dublin, to see if they had any vacancies. We were full of cocky confidence which lasted until Mike Moloney, later to work alongside both of us in 2FM, opened the door and told us to fuck off! But about six months later he ran a competition for new voices and I entered it. Here was my big chance. Unfortunately, the first time I tried to play a record I broke the needle. I tried to do it again but missed the record. For some reason Moloney still wouldn’t give me a job!

But some time around 1978 I managed to get the overnight shift on ARD. My pay was £10 per show.”

BIGGEST MISTAKE ON AIR

“I don’t think I’ve made too many. Maybe I’m too careful! I said “bollox” once when an ad break failed to operate, and I think I said “tits’ during a broadcast from Slane, but nobody heard it, not even the producer Pat Morley. It was wrongly claimed in the tabloids that I’d asked the Carter Twins how they first met, but somebody made that up.”

RADIO RIVALRY

“It used to be so competitive in radio, both in Ireland and in Britain, that you’d be afraid to take a holiday in case somebody else had your spot when you got back! But now I’ve got more confidence I don’t really think of rivals in that way. I believe if I do my own job to the best of my ability then everything will be OK. You can worry too much about what other people are doing and take your eye off the ball.”

RADIO ROMPS

“I remember a story about one DJ on a pirate station who was doing a gig in the afternoon. His colleagues locked him in the studio with just one record, one newspaper and no tapes for ad breaks. He spent the afternoon playing both sides of the record and reading bits from the paper. I think he even read out the death notices!

But it wasn’t all fun and games in those days. I can remember Robbie Robinson, the owner at Sunshine Radio, who could give you a ferocious bollocking off air in the middle of a show and then you’d have to pick yourself up in time to introduce the next record.”

FOOD

“I love eating out, especially Chinese. I’ve even learned to say ‘thank you’ in Chinese. It sounds like ‘um guy’ to us.”

PRESSURES OF THE JOB

“I get an endless stream of calls from PR people and from record company pluggers. They all have my mobile number, but I turn it off when I get home. I suppose it goes with the gig, but sometimes I get calls from people who are trying to get me to play records that are absolute shite and you have to find a nice way of telling them to fuck off. It annoys me when they don’t even have the most basic idea of what my programme is about.”

CURRENT FAVOURITES

“I’ve always admired Ian Dempsey. He’s a natural for radio. But I also like talk radio programmes, and I think Ryan Tubridy on RTE Radio 1 is a great find. Then there’s Mark McCabe and John Power on 2FM. They’ve got great energy and enthusiasm.”

FAVOURITE RECORDS

“My favourite singles would be ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ by Aretha Franklin and ‘The Long And Winding Road’ by The Beatles.”

BEST LIVE GIG

“There have been so many great gigs over the years, but U2 and Simple Minds at Croker both stand out, as do The Waterboys at the Olympic Ballroom and Robbie at Slane.”

IRRITATIONS

“I found watching Celebrity Big Brother really depressing. There was this sense that some of these people were so hungry for any kind of attention that they would do anything to be on the telly. It was sad, really. I also get irritated when I meet people who turn out to be false.”

BIGGEST BUZZES

“When you have such a busy job it’s hard to isolate the big moments, but I enjoyed the time I broadcast from a hot air balloon (no jokes, please!). I also did a series of chopper rides around the country so that I could broadcast from every county in under 800 minutes. That was hard work but great fun. I get off on the idea of doing something different.”

10 YEARS ON THE HOTLINE

“I loved every second of it. The best moment of my life was getting the job on 2FM and the next was getting to do the Hotline five nights a week following Ian Dempsey and Barry Lang and going on just before Dave Fanning.”

THE NIGHT LIFE

“I suppose I’m really a night person. I love going out to clubs and feeling the buzz of music and talk. I love Reynards and Lillies and I like house parties too.”

BEST JUNKET

“I went to Florence as part of a 2FM promotion with Roma Foods. It was luxury all the way, stretch limo, five-star hotel, tours of the city, the Full Monty. During my time on the Hotline we had a few trips to New York too which I really enjoyed, you know the usual stuff, the limos and the chopper rides. It doesn’t get any better, does it?”

BRIBES

“I have never been offered any bribe to play a record. But when Barry Lang was with 2FM he was stopped while driving out of the RTE car park and offered a single with £25. He didn’t play the record, which was shite anyway, and as far as I know he didn’t take the money. I heard that Larry Gogan was offered a packet of cigarettes in the early days.”

HOBBIES

“I love my Harley Davidson and I like to get out on it whenever I can. It gets me away from the mobile phone and you can drive through scenery as if you’re part of it rather than looking at it from inside a car.”

LAST RECORD PURCHASED

“I bought What’s Goin On by Marvin Gaye on CD to replace a vinyl copy I’d lost. It’s a genuine classic and Marvin is one of the greatest crossover acts of our generation.”

PERSONAL AMBITIONS

“Like many DJs I used to want to own my own radio station but I’ve lost the interest in that. I’m still very happy doing what I do. I love going to work every day and when that stops maybe then I’ll start thinking about an alternative. I suppose I’d love to do one, just one, big voice trailer for a big blockbuster movie, you know, the big fuck-off movie trailer!”

FAVOURITE INTERVIEWS

“I was delighted that the only radio interview Robbie Williams did before his Point gig was with me. We did it live in the Merrion Inn. I also enjoyed talking to Craig David, Tom Jones, Kylie and Jon Bon Jovi.”

FIRST RECORD

“The first record I played on the radio was the 12” version of ‘Blame It On The Boogie” by The Jacksons.

NEW DJs

“We’ve got some great new people at 2FM, like Ruth Scott and Damien McCall, for example. I love their passion for their work. I’ve always believed that if you have a passion for whatever job you do in life then you won’t go far wrong.”

Tony Fenton On The Radio goes out Monday-Friday on 2FM 5-7 pm