Joining Mario this week for The Story Behind The Song was award winning composer, musician and sound designer Alma Kelliher. Alma is also known by her stage name "Lux Alma".

Her music is described as sometimes contemplative, sometimes pulsing, concentrating on themes of female strength and Irish mythology, all wrapped in a dreamy electro aesthetic with Alma's soaring vocal at its core.

Alma chose "Cloudbusting" as this weeks song to delve behind, Alma performed this song for years without knowing the full story behind it so today was the day! "Cloudbusting" is a song written, produced and performed by Kate Bush . It was the second single released from her number one 1985 album Hounds of Love. "Cloudbusting" peaked at No. 20 in the UK Singles Chart.

It was based on a book called A Book of Dreams by Peter Reich, about his father who created a Cloudbuster machine to make clouds form and bring rain. His father was unceremoniously arrested when Peter was a child, which the song covers."Orgonon" in the lyrics is the name of the Reich family farm and the video starred Kate Bush as the boy and Donald Sutherland as his father. It was edited by Terry Gilliam and it was noted that Peter Reich absolutely loved the video.

I’ll be on @TodayFM this morning with the wonderful @GiftGrubMario for his Story Behind The Song segment. We’re chatting about one of my favourite ever tunes and a little about my upcoming @dublinfringe show too!☺️ Keep an ear out from 11-1! pic.twitter.com/lr5mR3TFds

— Lux Alma (@theluxalma) August 18, 2019

Catch Lux Alma at the Dublin Fringe Festival on the 14th September, full details here:

https://www.fringefest.com/festival/whats-on/lux-alma

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Joining Mario this week was comedian , one third of comedy group CCCahoots and  editor of Connected and technology correspondent with the Sunday Business Post Emmet Ryan.

Being discussed this morning were mommy friends, female referees and the Hong Kong protests which have shown some violent displays in the past few days. Emmet Ryan was coming back from Hong Kong on Saturday and tells us about his experience of the protests.

Laura is not the kind of Mom who wants to make friends with "Mummers", the moms in the schoolyard, the women she feels judge her at every moment. However it seems Laura has given in! She has now  succumbed to the Mom friends and their Mummer ways! Will this last?

Mario was up next with the topic of female inclusion in sport and particularly the female referee from Uefa Super Cup match between Liverpool and Chelsea earlier in the week. There was much praise for the referee and this historic moment however there was some questioning of her experience in the game by Gramee Souness , when asked by Niall Quinn how does a ref get that experience , he commented:

 

‘You do more than two games in a big league in France.’

‘Two games at the highest level: you’re untested. Sorry, that’s a fact. That’s not my opinion.’

 

Mario thinks he was unfairly targeted online for his comments as being unfair when Mario thinks he was simply raising a valid point and not discrediting her a ref because of her gender merely her experience.

To hear what we mean...press the play button on the image on the top of the screen!

Paul McLoone was in for Mario this week on Mario`s Sunday Roast. Joining him on the panel was barrister and journalist Aileen Hickie and personal trainer and sports scientist Dominic Munnelly.

Going in to the roast this morning Dominic kicked things off with the rise in younger people increasingly trying to defy the aging process. Whether it be from social media influence increasing insecurities - the rise in enhancing, filling, plumping and shaping up is starting younger. Dominic feels there is a healthier way to get that security.

Aileen is defying the onset of winter! She is experiencing the fear of September, the new start of the year seems to have shifted to September and the ending of Summer - Aileen explains September fear.

Paul came to the roast with Vaping - he is wary of the vaping experience and doesn't quite buy that this can be any healthier in the long run and doesn't think there is any clear study of what the outcome of vaping could bring health wise. He`s an ex smoker so know what its like to give them up - so he asks the question is Vaping really any better for you?

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Paul McLoone was in for Mario today on Mario`s Sunday Roast. Joining him to talk TV shows that just take way too long to end was journalist Daragh Keaney.

Kicking things off was the news of the new series of Homeland hitting our screens early next year, from there the list grew including Grey`s Anatomy, The Walking Dead, The Simpsons with listeners sending in their many suggestions including Oireachtas Live!

With much talk of who got it wrong - the ones who got it right included the Office and our very own Love/Hate.

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Paul McLoone was standing in for Mario this week on Mario`s Sunday Roast and joining him for "Story Behind The Song" was Mick Flannery  to tell us the story behind his new single "Star To Star"

The song is taken from from Mick`s sixth self-titled album released this year. Mick notes that this album feels a bit more personal and singing more from the first person.

This is the song that put the album theme in motion. The character is looking back, all his highs are in the past. He's being picked up in an old car by an ex tour buddy, to go out and relive some of his rock-and-roll life. He gets reminded by the drugs they take of how he used to feel on top of the world, in his heyday when his career was exciting and fast.

Mick notes that he felt it isn't healthy  to pour that much expectation into career success and had to change his way of thinking.  He explores a lot of reputation and ego on the new album.

The song explores finding career success , wanting to relive those highs and wanting it to last forever:

You can catch Mick live around Ireland this year - check out the dates below:

Sept 26th –      Cork Opera House, Cork, IRE

Sept 27th -       INEC, Killarney, IRE

Oct  10th -        Lost Lane, Dublin, IRE – SOLD OUT

Oct  11th -         Lost Lane, Dublin, IRE

Oct  12th -         Spiegeltent, Wexford, IRE

Oct 18th -          Lost Lane, Dublin, IRE-

Dec  7th -         Westport Townhall, Westport, IRE

Dec  28th         The Roisin Dubh, Galway, IRE

For full listings see https://www.mickflannery.com/

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Paul McLoone was in the presenting chair this morning for Mario - joining him for this week`s profile interview was TV presenter and entrepreneur Darren Kennedy.

Darren is known as one of the UK and Ireland's most stylish men and infleuncers so Paul and Darren got straight into fashion talk! Apparently Paul is more dapper than the average man according to Darren! We all agree here!

@PMcLoone is in for @GiftGrubMario now on Mario`s Sunday Roast!Paul chats to @Darrenken for this week`s profile interview!Listen now:https://t.co/4Cpq5lBBwS pic.twitter.com/ZArfnOpbyW

— Today FM (@TodayFM) August 11, 2019

Darren spoke to Paul about his favourite speech, comedy and his personal hero.

Darren picked Panti Bliss Noble Call for his favourite speech, adding that he has often felt what was being expressed in that speech and feels it can still happen to this day.

Darren`s new documentary Buyers Bootcamp which airs on Virgin Media Player is exploring what its like to be a first time buyer in Ireland. Darren is joined by buyers agent Liz O’Kane on the show which aims to help first time buyers get their head around that stressful experience of trying to buy your first home!

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Actress Norma Sheehan and Head of Social for Joe.ie Michael Fry joined Mario this weeks to throw many items into the roast! Norma kicked things off with the subject of reunions as she recently has had to attend a few. Can we avoid them, are they forced and isn't everything now online for everyone to see so do we even need those classic school reunions anymore?

Up next was Michael Fry who thinks too much CGI in movies is ruining the movie experience..noting a particular childhood favourite of his now being the latest to get the CGI treatment - "The Lion King". Michael thinks the whole reason that this film was so enjoyable is because it wasn't realistic and if it was - the lions would mainly be sleeping and hunting.  He wants movies to back off the CGI!

 

Tune in - Mario’s Sunday Roast with @BigDirtyFry @GiftGrubMario today Sunday 11am @TodayFM

Former Irish rugby player turned rugby pundit Neil Francis joined Mario for this week`s profile interview.  Neil has often been noted for his outspoken opinions and spoke to Mario about some of his controversial moments in his career. Despite this however Neil does not regard himself as someone who is a "provocateur".

Neil also expressed his concern about women's professional sports and the issue of transgender people competing as women. A controversial issue ,however Neil feels that it is simply unfair.

"Nobody seems to be in a position to say look this is absolutely ridiculous - I don`t think it`s fair and I don`t think women have stood up to it as well. "

An opinion expressed by other sports people in recent months, Neil shares his thoughts and his opinion of unfairness in professional sport in what he describes as a"world gone mad".

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Emmet Ryan, editor of Connected and technology correspondent with the Sunday Business Post joined Mario this week to discuss the world of gaming and the battle game of the moment Fortnite and its phenomenal success. 

Fortnite is the immensely popular video battle game from Epic Games has now been at the forefront of video games since it emerged in 2017 . It is set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world.

Its maker Epic looks to have made approximately $3 billion in profit over the course of last year. It has just had it`s first “World Cup last weekend,” which saw the company give away $30 million in prizes. The winner was 16-year-old Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, who won $3 million for beating out the competition in the solo tournament. It is also noted that Giersdorf’s prize pool is only $850,000 smaller than the pot for the winner of the U.S. Open, which is set to begin in a few weeks at the same stadium.

Congrats to all of our winners this weekend at the #FortniteWorldCup FinalsSolo Champion: @bughaDuos Champions: @nyhrox @aquaaProAM: @Airwaks @RLGRIMECreative: #FishFam @cizzorz @hiimtylerh @suezhoo @zandOfficial pic.twitter.com/ilBs7RTeTv

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) July 28, 2019

Mario talks to Emmet about the business of the industry , who are the big players and the future of gaming.

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Cormac Cashman founder of the Love Sensation Festival joined Mario this week for the Story Behind The Song.  Cormac picked a disco classic by Loleatta Holloway - it`s Love Sensation. 

Cormac describes Love Sensation as an absolute disco banger taken from Loletta Holloways album, of the same name.

For me, Love Sensation has been one of the 4 or 5 seminal tunes the Mother DJs play at the end of the night or closing a festival stage, its a song that brings a crowd together and for us, its created a magical family vibe on stage as the set is closing, and we’re all dancing around like a daft sequinned family.  

It was noted to have been a nightmare for Loleatta to record, describing it  as the  “hardest song she ever worked on” . Cormac tells us this was most likely down to producer Daniel Hartiman who looked for a particular rasp on the song, 30 takes later she could hardly speak but the track was recorded. 

There was also...Drama! Black Box used a sample from the song for their belter "Ride on time". They Used Holloways vocal,and if you listen to that song it is the vocal that makes it...but they didn`t credit her!

Cormac tells us there seems to be conflicting stories about the aftermath. One story is that Hartiman and Holloway sued, in the other Holloways media people launched a press campaign and didn’t go legal, but was settled with an undisclosed sum.  

One thing is for sure - we are dancing to this tune and you may well very well hear it at the Love Sensation Festival 17th and 18th August at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham!

Details of the festival here!

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