10 years ago, Northern Ireland lost a legend.
Gerry Anderson (not the guy that created "Thunderbirds", "Stingray", "Captain Scarlet", etc.) was the presenter of the mid-morning show on BBC Radio Ulster for many years. I grew up listening to him. As he used to say himself, he wasn't like the others.
Gerry was a real people's person, always enjoying talking to the listeners. And annoying them! He was always telling stories, and you never knew which ones were true and which were made up. Boys, but he could talk some nonsense! Gerry and his sidekick Seán Coyle were like an old married couple, always bickering! He played a wide range of music, some of which was brilliant, and some of which was so bad that you couldn't help but smile!
Before going into broadcasting, he was a musician, playing the bass guitar in a number of bands. This included a spell in Canada, where he played with Ronnie Hawkins' band. Gerry generally didn't play any of his own music on his show. There was one song of his own that he played just a few times, but I can't find it online.
Here is the music that he used as his programme's theme tune:
Jerome Moross - "
The Big Country"
As ever with Gerry, he had his tongue firmly in his cheek with this choice. Because Northern Ireland is not a big country by any means. We are tiny!
Gerry would play music that you wouldn't hear anywhere else. He once got his hands on a promotional CD put up by a French brand of water where children were singing pop songs, and all the songs he played were absolutely brilliant! Somebody has uploaded the whole CD to YouTube as a playlist, so here it is:
Forever Young
My favourite is probably the title track "Forever Young", originally by German band Alphaville.
Another thing he played a lot was a CD by Finnish band the Leningrad Cowboys, with the Red Army Choir. Here is the song that I remember him playing the most:
Leningrad Cowboys - "
Happy Together"
Gerry was very mischievious, and enjoyed playing things that he knew would annoy people. One such example was this song:
Laurie Anderson - "
O Superman"
As he kept having to tell people, no she was not his daughter! (A bit difficult considering she was less than 3 years younger than him!) But I remember one time Gerry played that song when I was sitting in the back seat of the car going down the motorway to visit my grandparents, and my Dad thought there was something wrong with the car!
And some of the songs he played were just plain strange:
Tom Waits - "
What's He Building?"
At the same time, Gerry was also great at championing local acts.
Here is a beautiful song that he played by a singer who is from less than 20 miles from me:
Niamh McGlinchey - "
Caledonia"
Another was a journalist who turned to writing music after he became editor of his newspaper, because he missed writing things. Here is one of his songs that I particularly liked:
Anthony Toner - "
Sailortown"
One time, I plucked up the courage to contact the show and make a request for a song I liked by a band from Gerry's hometown that he had been championing:
Wonder Villains - "
Ferrari"
It wasn't just music - there was poetry too! By far the most popular was a recording of American actor Jimmy Stewart reading a poem he had written about his dog. The version Gerry played had it set to this beautiful backing music, but I can't find that exact version online. So, here is the original recording:
James Stewart - "
A Dog Named Beau"
Here is Gerry reading a poem that was very popular by a guy from my county (it is very funny, but some may consider it NSFW):
JP McMenamin - "
The Rubber Man"
There was also a guy who wrote strange poetry. Here he is reciting what is probably his most famous poem:
Dan Eggs - "
Sweet Stella Of Stranocum"
Oh, there were some great characters that phoned in. The conversations that Gerry had with a farmer called Geordie Tuft have gone into legend! I'm sure they're up there having great craic.
And that is before we even get to the caller that reckoned he had been abducted by aliens, and was telling us all about being probed...
Some clips from Gerry's radio show were turned into a series of cartoons on TV. Here is a playlist of them:
"
On The Air"
I didn't intend this post to be so long, but that it is kinda says a lot about the man. And I have only managed to scratch the surface.
If you want to find out more, his family has recently created a
website and accompanying
YouTube channel. And there is a tribute
channel on YouTube that has been uploading clips and full episodes of his radio show for quite a few years.
Gerald Michael Anderson was one of a kind, and is sorely missed.
CaroLiza_fan
www.instagram.com
(I suspect that was planned, because the patriotic nature of the songs wouldn't go down well with everybody).
And when I went back to check, I was really kicking myself for not recognising her! Because, apart from her hair being red rather than black, it was plain to see that it was Toni!
. Other music genres weren't registering with me, except on the ice where a series of partners and I stuck to film scores and Broadway shows. Not eclectic enough, I guess.
youtu.be
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