Like a lot of people I know, I've been listening in to their swansongs over the last few days, remembering where and when I was listening when X happened, the first time I heard Y played and when Z's song convnced me to pick up their new CD.
Rather than mourn the station's death, I'd like to remember the few occasions when I contributed to its life, both in its present and previous incarnations as Phantom FM.
I don't remember the first time I listened to Phantom FM, but I do remember the first time I heard, or rather saw, it. At Witnness one year, a guy in front of me at the bar in the premium section had written "Bring back Phantom" on his tshirt. I might have heard of it before that from friends, but this was definitely the first time the name entered my conscious mind
My First CD
On 30th anniversary of the first CD being sold, the afternoon show was asking people for the memories of their first CD. I sent a text with my first CD, and they asked me to come on the air to discuss it, why I bought it and so on. I was 18 and had just bought my first PC for college, which came with a CD drive. I had browsed the small independent music shop in the shopping centre around the corner from my parents' house on innumberable occasions, and one cover had always caught my eye, so I knew it would be my first purchase to listen on my new (oversized and overpriced) music player. It was The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, I still listen to it on my iPod, and I'm quite proud that it was my first CD.
Pub Juke Boxes
Some time late, on the morning show, pub juke boxes were being discussed. I sent a message to the presenters mentioning the juke box in Quinn's bar in Limerick, where I would meet my friends when we first started going out drinking. The story I had to tell, what made the particular juke box stand out in my memory, was that every week (without fail) somebody would queue up the entire Black album by Metallica, so as soon as you heard the opening bars to Enter Sandman, you knew what you were goign to be listening to for the next hour! The bar has long since closed, along with the majority of the shops on that block in Limerick, but the Limerick Post published a piece a little over a year ago walking through the abandoned bar: Quins of Limerick – the pub with no peer
Soundclub
The final time I contributed to TXFM was just this past Friday when, after pestering them with texts on a faily basis for a week, I was asked to contribute to the Soundclub slot in Cathal Funge's TXFM Breakfast show. Since the slot had started more than two years ago, I had thought long and hard about what track I would like to add, an act that was rarely if ever played on Irish radio, a track that meant something to me, and what I would say if I was asked. The track I chose was Everclear's So Much For The Afterglow, and while I thought I sounded nervous as I explained my choice, the feedback I got from the presemter, the station's social media channels, some other listeners and my friends convinced me to listen back to myself on their site's listenback service, and it's a lot better than I remember!Thanks for allowing me to be part of it all guys, you were always one louder
