Dave Fanning’s scathing assessment of Christy Dignam’s career

Dave Fanning’s scathing assessment of Christy Dignam’s career
by u/VincentBrowne in ireland

38 comments

  3. He’s always come across as tactless. In almost every interview I’ve seen him do, he’s asked at least a few questions or made some statement that’s made me cringe.

  4. Maybe this should have been said before he passed.

    But yeah don’t say things like that after a person has died live on air to the public. Bad taste imo. I have respect for dave as a music journalist but this wasn’t right.

  7. I don’t see what’s wrong with this. Its honest. He says he likes christy and the band and he pays respect but he points out some reality about Asian and christy which the band themselves have often spoke about.

    This is not being a cunt, it’s a fair assessment of the career and life of a man who was not just a black and white character. In my view christy dignam is a man who will be defined and known for all those shades of grey and if any of the interviews I have seen with the guy are genuine, he wouldn’t have wanted any other way.

  8. A fucking hack who can only comment on what actual musicians and artists create. A miserable critic at best.

    Such bad timing. Imagine questioning the veracity of someone’s feelings about being sexually abused as a 6 year old and their subsequent drug abuse!!For fuck sake.

    Overtly nasty in parts. I will gladly listen to Christy’s voice again but Dave Fanning and his annoying, Woody Allenesque voice can fuck off into oblivion!

  10. Hindsights great isn’t it Dave?

    “They didn’t mean anything to anyone outside Ireland” says world renowned music journalist Dave Fanning….. wait

  11. Like he’s not wrong. Think it’s a bit weird to be renting like he is. But then a lot of folks feel like they about Aslan.

    Someone like me feels they are the best Irish band in generations and should have been massive and did blow it.

    Others had beef with even the success they had cause they just considered Christy a dirty junky.

    Have to say I don’t find Aslan a polarizing band unlike U2. And they should be all we need to know.

    Like ther me is definitely Irish bands who have been hugely successful and much more commercially successful than Aslan.

    But there just isn’t any Irish band who have albums that I listen to as frequently as Aslan even after so many years 🤷‍♂️

  12. Tactless,… yes.
    On the head… also yes.
    I found Aslan and Christy especially to be very overrated. But there wasn’t anything special about them.

    But thats down to personal taste.
    His passing will affect a lot who held him dear in their hearts and a certain level of decorum, regardless of how true it may be, should be held

  14. I’ve been annoyed listening over the last few years about Christy Dignam and his cáncer battle. RTE non stop about it

    I mean. It’s like he was popular for one or two songs…..

  15. Jesus …..glad I didn’t tune into his eulogy of his best mate Gerry Ryan….. I’m sure he pointed out a few home truths there…… surely….

  16. Imagine doubling down and being proud of how insensitive you were to an honest man’s plight.

  21. Are we judging ‘made it’ by success outside of Ireland? Great, Dave Fanning is an irrelevant hack who coasted on a career in RTÉ. Nobody’s ever heard of him anywhere else. He blew it.

  24. Not the most sensitive thing to be saying but it’s funny watching the outrage considering the usual attitude towards heroin users on here.

  25. I used to work in a video shop Dave would frequent, he got free videos there. I was playing Aslan’s greatest hits, he asked me why I was playing them, said that they are an awful band.

  26. Fanning is a hypocrite and a tramp. I don’t like to see people made out to be some amazing fictional version of reality when they die but this is utterly tasteless. He said some nice things too, but the wanker in him couldn’t leave it at that. Making light of the abuse too, fucking hell, truly the cunt’s cunt.

  27. In fairness, while maybe Fanning was a bit straight talking for the time that’s in it, he’s right. Aslan were a pretty poor outfit really. They made a career out of a couple of songs. They certainly weren’t a great band at all and much better bands like That Petrol Emotion etc. didn’t really make it either but were far superior.

  29. Cards on the table, I really don’t like Aslan. I will say that many moons ago a friend of mine died from an overdose and Christy agreed to sing at his funeral as he was only 20 at the time he died. No fuss, no hassle. He seemed to me to be a decent sort. However Fanning is right in the mark with his comments. Should he have said nothing l? Probably. Does it make him look like a dick? Yes. Is he wrong? No.

  31. If he was a middle class rte coke head fanning wouldn’t be saying this. Did he say things like this the day after gerry Ryan died? I don’t think so… fuck off fanning you relevance died long before Aslans career

  32. I’m a massive fan of Aslan. I was lucky enough to have met Christy and will forever remember his grace and good humour. A genuine gentleman, who never compromised for anyone. Spoke with his real accent, sung with it, was one of the people and made the people who attended his concerts feel seen.

    Yes, he had his struggles and his demons, as have many talented people. Yes, they never quite made it outside of Ireland. But no one can tell me that his legacy will be tarnished by not having broken America. They toured relentlessly around Ireland and built up a connection with their fans that will last.

    This from Dave Fanning is in poor taste. Why he felt the need to diminish the achievements of someone who will be remembered long after anyone has heard of Dave Fanning is beyond me. An insecure, insensitive man.

    RIP Christy. For anyone who has never “got” Aslan, have a listen to their cover of Wish You Were Here.

  34. Well that’s the grossest thing I’ll read today, and I couldn’t name you one Aslan song.

    Dave will be soon be appearing in an interview near you to clarify that

    (a) sexually abusing a child is actually indeed not good for said child’s development

    (b) Addiction is less about a lifestyle choice and more about a coping mechanism

    (c) He respects those battling with cancer over a prolonged period.

    ​

    But he will still be a vapid narcissistic lizard, like most (not all) people who work in the media and entertainment business.

  35. Really Dave!? Questioning his reasoning for having addiction problems when he was brave enough to say that he had been sexually abused as a child and that was the reason!! Class act!

  36. While having opinions on music is totally fine (there’s plenty of people who would probably call me pretentious for my taste in music), I don’t understand this really common opinion that music is worthless unless you’re a worldwide chart topping artist.

    Aslan were a good, honest, working band, and their music obviously means something to a decent amount of people in this country.

    I’m a musician, I make fairly niche music, I’ve never had any delusions about trying to ‘make it’, I’ve often gotten told ‘you’re never going to get played on the radio playing that sort of stuff’, and when I’d tell people I don’t care about that I’ve been told ‘well then what’s the point’, a lot of people don’t get it.

    It’s a bit like telling a League of Ireland player their achievements are basically worthless because they didn’t win a Champions League.

  38. The lack of empathy for Christy’s abuse and how that triggered his addiction issues is absolutely crazy to me. I have always had massive respect for Christy because he did fight back from heroin addiction and the twenty seven club. When you’ve stared into the jaws of a darkness that terrible, relative normality seems magical. Christy’s success is that he lived, he came back from the darkness, repaired his relationships and he was there as an example to other addicts. I’m sure playing Berlin or New York would have been nice but for a lot of people achieving normality is a huge success.

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