Man Friday - Radio Gaga
Friday, 23 November 2007
Our Man Friday today graced our screens for many years and now has a den in the radio waves!
Today's Man Friday is Ray D'Arcy!
Ray D'Arcy (edited from the Today FM Website with permission)
Ray who is from Kildare and was born in September in 1964 - he is a Virgo (always known for their striking faces!)
Ray's first radio broadcast was from a shed with a fertilizer bag keeping out the rain and ag caint as gaeilge.he was 15 and barely shaving.
In the 21 years since then he has become a regular on the box and all the time trying to re-live that radio magic. Ray has encountered everything from aliens on the Zig and Zag show on the Den, blue dogs, sock monsters and a dangerously sharp turkey.
Ray moved to Today FM in xxx and this has allowed him to consummate his relationship with radio.
Ray did his first disco at the age of 15 and his first broadcast not long after that.
1988 - He started on Jo Maxi on Network 2.
1990's - After two seasons on Jo Maxi the teen magazine programme he moved to The Den, formerly Dempsey's Den. Ray lasted eight years with various permutations of aliens (Zig and Zag), a turkey (Dustin), a blue dog (Zuppy) and a sock monster (Soky). Yes.eight years!!!
During this time he also managed to present over 600 episodes of Blackboard Jungle and one series of Bon Voyage.
1998 Ray departed the Den and rejoined his old mates Zig and Zag for a sort of game show called 2Phat and coined the phrase. . . GET OFF THE BIKE!
More recently, Ray has been tempted back onto our screens to host You're A Star, a marathon journey around Ireland to find the next Irish Eurovision entrant.
2004 - Ray joined Today FM and The Ray D'Arcy Show has gone from strength to strength and with thousands of loyal listeners and a human co-presenter and now partner Jenny Kelly who is the mother of his child Kate.
2005 - US book came out from the radio show - book with images from people around Ireland on a particular day.
2005 - Ray presented the Rose Of Tralee and Test The Nation and You're a Star
2006 - Baby Kate was born to Jenny Kelly and Ray
2007 - The Ray D'ARCY show goes from strength to strength with a 7% audience share and 3,000 more listeners.
The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM
The show is on air from 9am - 12pm on weekdays with a great mix of music, banter about all sorts of topics ranging from j cup bra sizes on Ray' head to 10 foot snakes at the Zoo, Tassel Club girls, Gerry Adams, Sean Og, Hula Hoop Competitions, The Top Ten Pre Natal Songs, Jonathan Ryes Myers!!!!
The ratings have just been released and the show is doing better than ever with an increase of 3,000 listeners. The ratings are fantastic on this show with an increase of 3,000 from 246,000 - 249,000
Ray, Jenny and their baby Kate
Ray met Jenny while working on the show.. Love over the airwaves blossomed and in November 2006 they had a little girl called Kate whose birthday is over the next few days!!
Jenny has had a good career in radio and previously did the morning show on East Coast Radio. She joined Today FM in 2000 initially on the Phil Cawley show and then to the Ray D'Arcy Show 2004 where she is now the producer and Friday presenter on the Fix It Friday show.
Mr. Construction Calendar 2008
It all started when Mr. Ireland was on the show, People suggested he was not a real man, so Ray made a call out to the nation to show us the real men of Ireland.
In early 2007 a competition ran around Ireland to find the sexiest construction man. Tiernan O Hanlon won the competition and the other 11 men chosen out of hundreds made up this years calendar in Aid of Focus Ireland. Costs €12.99 and €7 will go to the charity.