Ray Foley
Encyclopedia
Raymond 'Ray' Foley is an Irish
radio presenter. He currently presents The Ray Foley Show on Today FM
at weekday lunch times. Having worked at 98FM
and Spin 1038
early in his career, Foley moved to Today FM in 2004, presenting the night time show The Blast with, "JP" Gilbourne. In 2006, he moved to midday and now presents The Ray Foley Show, with sidekick JP Nugent and Adelle McDonnell. He hosts a fashion show on Thursday nights and a Singles Night on Valentine's day
.
(on Tony Fenton
's Hotline show) in 1997, Foley got a taste for broadcasting. This led to him beginning his studies as a journalist in Dublin Institute of Technology
, from which he graduated in October 2004 While there he started working at East Coast FM
, and thence moved to 98FM
and as a newsreader on Lite FM
, before moving to Spin 1038
, "to get re-acquainted with presenting again". While there, he presented The Zoo Crew with Clionadh O'Leary week nights.
. Foley and JP regularly filled-in for Ray D'Arcy
, Tony Fenton
and Tom Dunne
during this time. When the radio schedule was changed in 2006, Foley moved to his current time-slot, which was vacated by Tony Fenton who had to make do with a later time-slot. He was disciplined by Irish authorities when he broadcast the Lily Allen
song "Fuck You Very Much" on lunchtime radio in 2008.
and followed by Tony Fenton. The tagline
for the show is "Just a bit of fun for your lunchtime, nothing too serious". The show consists of taking calls from listeners on random topics, chart music, and some regular spots, along with the Daily Lunchtime News from 12:45 to 13:00. Sometimes contributors include Ann Gleeson
, Alan Metcalfe (AKA Funky Phone Boy Al) and reviewer Eoghan Doherty (aka Nordy Eoghan).
, Therapy?
, Pixies, Thin Lizzy
, Whitesnake
, Motörhead, Placebo
, Blondie
, Radiohead
, The Knack
, Status Quo, The Jam
and Journey
.
by presenting Take Me Out. Sean Munsanje
from Xposé
took him shopping to style him for the job. He was also mentioned in relation to The Apprentice
.
for Best National DJ in 2008
, 2009 and again in 2010
. Foley celebrated winning the 2008 award by singing a version of Journey
's "Don't Stop Believin'
", and in 2009 with the theme tune to TV's Home and Away
as part of his acceptance speech. In 2008 he launched a successful daily campaign to dethrone namesake Ray D'Arcy
.
Foley achieved the prestigious PPI Radio Awards Music Broadcaster of the Year Award in 2009 and 2010. Also in 2009 Foley and JP won the award for Best Specialist Music Programme for their Sunday evening show, The Essential Rock Anthems with Ray & JP.
|-
| 2008
|| Ray Foley || Best Irish DJ at the Meteor Awards ||
|-
| 2009 || Ray Foley || Best Irish DJ at the Meteor Awards ||
|-
| 2009 || Ray Foley || Music Broadcaster of the Year Award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards ||
|-
| 2009 || Ray and JP Foley || Best Specialist Music Programme Award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards ||
|-
| 2010
|| Ray Foley || Best Irish DJ at the Meteor Awards ||
|-
newsreader
, Kate Carolan
in 2007. They met while they both worked on Spin 1038. He proposed to Kate on O'Connell Street in Dublin City Centre and spent their honeymoon attending the Oxegen Music Festival.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
radio presenter. He currently presents The Ray Foley Show on Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...
at weekday lunch times. Having worked at 98FM
98FM
98FM may refer to these radio stations using 98MHz:* 98FM * WKCQ* WDZH, also known as "98-7 Amp Radio"....
and Spin 1038
Spin 1038
Spin 1038 is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Despite their name, they do not broadcast on the medium wave band , but on 103.8 FM...
early in his career, Foley moved to Today FM in 2004, presenting the night time show The Blast with, "JP" Gilbourne. In 2006, he moved to midday and now presents The Ray Foley Show, with sidekick JP Nugent and Adelle McDonnell. He hosts a fashion show on Thursday nights and a Singles Night on Valentine's day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
.
Early career
Following an entry in the DJ For a Day competition on 2FMRTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...
(on Tony Fenton
Tony fenton
Anthony James Fagan , known professionally as Tony Fenton, is an Irish radio presenter and DJ, currently working with Today FM. He has been with Today FM since 2004, having previously presented a show on RTÉ 2fm, which he left in 2003. Fenton is "one of Ireland's favourite pop DJs". Louis Walsh has...
's Hotline show) in 1997, Foley got a taste for broadcasting. This led to him beginning his studies as a journalist in Dublin Institute of Technology
Dublin Institute of Technology
Dublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...
, from which he graduated in October 2004 While there he started working at East Coast FM
East Coast FM
East Coast FM is an Irish local radio station broadcasting from Bray, County Wicklow under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland...
, and thence moved to 98FM
98FM
98FM may refer to these radio stations using 98MHz:* 98FM * WKCQ* WDZH, also known as "98-7 Amp Radio"....
and as a newsreader on Lite FM
Lite FM
In 1999 Radio Otago was sold to The RadioWorks and the Invercargill and Dunedin stations were replaced with network station Solid Gold. Lite FM continued to broadcast in Christchuch and became part of Radioworks collection of local stations known as LocalWorks....
, before moving to Spin 1038
Spin 1038
Spin 1038 is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Despite their name, they do not broadcast on the medium wave band , but on 103.8 FM...
, "to get re-acquainted with presenting again". While there, he presented The Zoo Crew with Clionadh O'Leary week nights.
Today FM career
In 2004, at the age of 23, Foley moved to Today FM and began presenting late night show, The Blast, from 22:00 to 00:00, Monday to Thursday, with his college friend, JP Gilbourne, from DundalkDundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
. Foley and JP regularly filled-in for Ray D'Arcy
Ray D'Arcy
Raymond 'Ray' D'Arcy is an Irish television and radio presenter. He currently presents a weekday morning radio programme, The Ray D'Arcy Show, on Today FM...
, Tony Fenton
Tony fenton
Anthony James Fagan , known professionally as Tony Fenton, is an Irish radio presenter and DJ, currently working with Today FM. He has been with Today FM since 2004, having previously presented a show on RTÉ 2fm, which he left in 2003. Fenton is "one of Ireland's favourite pop DJs". Louis Walsh has...
and Tom Dunne
Tom Dunne
Thomas 'Tom' Dunne is an Irish radio broadcaster with Newstalk. He presents The Tom Dunne Show on weekday mornings between 10:00am and midday. He used to have a show called Pet Sounds on Today FM but gave it up...
during this time. When the radio schedule was changed in 2006, Foley moved to his current time-slot, which was vacated by Tony Fenton who had to make do with a later time-slot. He was disciplined by Irish authorities when he broadcast the Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
song "Fuck You Very Much" on lunchtime radio in 2008.
Current show
Foley currently broadcasts under the 12:00 to 14:30 time slot on Today FM, directly after The Ray D'Arcy ShowThe Ray D'Arcy Show
The Ray D'Arcy Show is Today FM's weekday mid-morning radio show presented by Ray D'Arcy. It is on air from 09:00–12:00 midday, competing with RTÉ 2fm's Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ Radio 1's Pat Kenny and Newstalk's Tom Dunne .The production team of Jenny Kelly, Will Hanafin and Mairead Farrell and...
and followed by Tony Fenton. The tagline
Tagline
A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...
for the show is "Just a bit of fun for your lunchtime, nothing too serious". The show consists of taking calls from listeners on random topics, chart music, and some regular spots, along with the Daily Lunchtime News from 12:45 to 13:00. Sometimes contributors include Ann Gleeson
Ann Gleeson
Ann Gleeson is an Irish radio personality who has presented, produced and featured on numerous Today FM shows. Today FM is a national radio station. She has gained cult status for her slots on Tom Dunne's Pet Sounds and her current position on The Ray Foley Show...
, Alan Metcalfe (AKA Funky Phone Boy Al) and reviewer Eoghan Doherty (aka Nordy Eoghan).
Roll Call
At the start of every show, Ray reads a "roll-call", in which listeners text or e-mail in with excuses as to why they will not be able to listen to the show that day.Newsbusters
Every day just before the 14:00 news break, a "funny" news story is read, and the listeners are asked to text in the names of songs which could best portray the story. The "winning" song is played after the news.Lazy Radio
On Fridays, the show generally started with Lazy Radio, in which TV theme tunes, usually for children's programmes from the 1980s and 1990s were played. Ray, JP and Adelle constantly "complain" throughout that it's a sign of a lazy radio DJ to play these. This is a reference to other radio shows which would occasionally play theme tunes, making them out to be lazy. This feature became so popular that the Lazy Radio Show Tour began in 2009, with Ray, JP and Adelle playing Lazy Radio tunes in nightclubs shows around the country. Lazy Radio no longer occurs as it was felt it was time to become more mature.Feedback with JP
Every Friday, just after the 13:00 news, This slot has JP reading "fake" e-mails from listeners, who have discovered mistakes made on Today FM during the week. It normally includes a replay of something a DJ or newsreader has said, but amended or edited in some way to make it funny.Foley's Friday Face-off
Each Friday, a caller is given the opportunity to challenge Foley in a 5 question general knowledge quiz. Adelle is the quizmistress, and Foley must write his answers down. These are then taken by JP, and the caller is asked to answer the questions one at a time, with Foley's answer been given by JP. Even if Foley wins, the caller is usually given the prizes anyway.So much we didn't get to do today ...
At the end of each show, Ray calls out some items that were not able to be covered on the show that day, due to insufficient time. These generally involve puns and plays on the names of well-known people such as Silly Aul Willy, Angry Aul Wasp, Friendly AUl Bum.Essential Rock Anthems
In 2009, Foley and JP presented The Essential Rock Anthems in "The Essential..." slot on Sunday Nights 19:00 - 20:00. This was so popular, that they presented two further shows, which then became a regular almost monthly feature of the slot. In November 2009, Ray Foley and JP's Essential Rock Anthems CD was launched, a two-CD collection, including tracks from artists such as Meat LoafMeat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Therapy?
Therapy?
Therapy? is an alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. The band was formed in 1989 by guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns from Ballyclare and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing from Larne, Northern Ireland. The band initially recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar...
, Pixies, Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
, Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
, Motörhead, Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
, Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, The Knack
The Knack
The Knack was an American New Wave rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international number one hit in 1979.-Founding :...
, Status Quo, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
and Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
.
TV3 career
Foley eventually broke into television. He became the Irish Cilla BlackCilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
by presenting Take Me Out. Sean Munsanje
Sean Munsanje
Seán Munsanje is an Irish television presenter from Dublin. He has presented shows for several channels in his native country, including Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Channel 6 and, most recently, TV3....
from Xposé
Xposé
Xposé is an Irish entertainment/celebrity gossip programme, broadcast weekday evenings at 6pm on TV3, with a repeat the following day at 12:50pm on TV3 and again at 6.30pm on 3e .-History and format:...
took him shopping to style him for the job. He was also mentioned in relation to The Apprentice
The Apprentice (Irish TV series)
The Apprentice is an Irish reality television series, in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a job as "apprentice" to business magnate Bill Cullen....
.
Awards
Foley won a Meteor Music AwardMeteor Music Awards
The Meteor Ireland Music Awards are a group of music awards in Ireland...
for Best National DJ in 2008
2008 Meteor Awards
The 2008 Meteor Music Awards ceremony was held in the RDS, Dublin on Friday, 15 February 2008. Nineteen awards were presented. It was the eighth edition of Ireland's national music awards. The event was later broadcast on RTÉ Two on Saturday, 16 February at 21:00...
, 2009 and again in 2010
2010 Meteor Awards
The 2010 Meteor Music Awards ceremony took place on Friday February 19, 2010 in Dublin. They were presented by Amanda Byram. The launch took place in La Stampa on January 7, 2010 and was attended by The Coronas and Danny O'Donoghue from The Script....
. Foley celebrated winning the 2008 award by singing a version of Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
's "Don't Stop Believin'
Don't Stop Believin'
"Don't Stop Believin is a popular song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape, which became a #9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on its original release. It re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2009 as a result of increased prominence of digital...
", and in 2009 with the theme tune to TV's Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
as part of his acceptance speech. In 2008 he launched a successful daily campaign to dethrone namesake Ray D'Arcy
Ray D'Arcy
Raymond 'Ray' D'Arcy is an Irish television and radio presenter. He currently presents a weekday morning radio programme, The Ray D'Arcy Show, on Today FM...
.
Foley achieved the prestigious PPI Radio Awards Music Broadcaster of the Year Award in 2009 and 2010. Also in 2009 Foley and JP won the award for Best Specialist Music Programme for their Sunday evening show, The Essential Rock Anthems with Ray & JP.
|-
| 2008
2008 Meteor Awards
The 2008 Meteor Music Awards ceremony was held in the RDS, Dublin on Friday, 15 February 2008. Nineteen awards were presented. It was the eighth edition of Ireland's national music awards. The event was later broadcast on RTÉ Two on Saturday, 16 February at 21:00...
|| Ray Foley || Best Irish DJ at the Meteor Awards ||
|-
| 2009 || Ray Foley || Best Irish DJ at the Meteor Awards ||
|-
| 2009 || Ray Foley || Music Broadcaster of the Year Award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards ||
|-
| 2009 || Ray and JP Foley || Best Specialist Music Programme Award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards ||
|-
| 2010
2010 Meteor Awards
The 2010 Meteor Music Awards ceremony took place on Friday February 19, 2010 in Dublin. They were presented by Amanda Byram. The launch took place in La Stampa on January 7, 2010 and was attended by The Coronas and Danny O'Donoghue from The Script....
|| Ray Foley || Best Irish DJ at the Meteor Awards ||
|-
Personal life
Foley married his girlfriend, RTÉ 2fmRTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...
newsreader
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
, Kate Carolan
Kate Carolan
Kate Carolan is an Irish-American news reporter and radio presenter employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann . Having lived in Lansing, Michigan, she reported for the Greater Lansing Business Monthly. In the past she has been dispatched by RTÉ Television to a number of remote locations such as Ethiopia,...
in 2007. They met while they both worked on Spin 1038. He proposed to Kate on O'Connell Street in Dublin City Centre and spent their honeymoon attending the Oxegen Music Festival.