On Dec 1, 1985, “A Good Heart” by Feargal Sharkey was enjoying its second week at No. 1 single in Ireland. Meanwhile, BP was playing “Rockin’ at Midnight,” from Robert Plant and The Honeydrippers show in Dallas in June of the same year, Lloyd Cole, Talking Heads, The Staples Singers, Sir Douglas Quintet, The Beatles, Nick Lowe, Gene Vincent and the Blue Cats, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Jesus and Mary Chain, Kirsty MacColl, Grace Jones and Artists Against Apartheid.
Throughout the course of the show, BP mentioned Lloyd Cole and The Commotions playing Dublin that week, and the ongoing anti-apartheid marches taking place throughout Ireland at the time.

Dec 1, '85: BP Fallon's Nothing Special [AGFA, Side A]

PT 1 of 2.
A Sinéad O’Connor world exclusive, as BP plays host to 19-year-old Sinéad O’Connor and unveils a never-released track. 

Yes, it was funny week in music, but a momentous week on BPFNS; while Bowie’s Absolute Beginners was departing the #1 spot in Ireland (displaced by Living Doll by Cliff Richard and The Young Ones), BP was seeing the future…19-year-old Sinéad O’Connor. 

Keep in mind, this was 18 months before Sinéad’s first album, The Lion and the Cobra, and four years before the world “discovered” her with Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U. 

On this particular Sunday evening, BP played “a world exclusive” of Sinéad’s The Last One Alive, with the host declaring “A star is born!”. Sinead was also in studio with him and did a portion of the intro to the show. There seems to be no trace of this song anywhere else, at least not that I’ve found. I’ve also checked with BP and he has no knowledge of any other version. Perhaps this is a long-lost treasure.

That same show, BP featured Little Richard’s Great God Almighty (his “brand new single”),  Bob Dylan’s Forever Young from the new boxset, Biograph. Also noteworthy was the playing of You Get What You Want from Julian Lennon (who was to be the guest on The BPFO the following Saturday). 

Another shout out that raised a smile evening was one Shane MacGowan who was recovering in St. Charles’ Hospital in London at the time, as BP provided the full address of the hospital for anyone who wanted to send get well wishes to Shane.

NOTE: I’ve split this show into two, so as not to play the full Sinéad O’Connor track. In the event that this track is “important,” I don’t want anyone exploiting it, so I’m not posting the full track at the moment.

All audio recordings posted here are owned and copyrighted by Richard Roche. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution without written consent is strictly prohibited. Respect the copyright and intellectual property rights. ©Richard Roche 1986-2024

Mar 30, 1986 PART 1 of 2 BP Fallon's Nothing Special [Memorex Side A].MP3

PT 2 of 2. 

A Sinéad O’Connor world exclusive, as BP plays host to 19-year-old Sinéad O’Connor and unveils a never-released track. 

Yes, it was funny week in music, but a momentous week on BPFNS; while Bowie’s Absolute Beginners was departing the #1 spot in Ireland (displaced by Living Doll by Cliff Richard and The Young Ones), BP was seeing the future…19-year-old Sinéad O’Connor. 

Keep in mind, this was 18 months before Sinéad’s first album, The Lion and the Cobra, and four years before the world “discovered” her with Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U. 

On this particular Sunday evening, BP played “a world exclusive” of Sinéad’s The Last One Alive, with the host declaring “A star is born!”. Sinead was also in studio with him and did a portion of the intro to the show. There seems to be no trace of this song anywhere else, at least not that I’ve found. I’ve also checked with BP and he has no knowledge of any other version. Perhaps this is a long-lost treasure.

That same show, BP featured Little Richard’s Great God Almighty (his “brand new single”),  Bob Dylan’s Forever Young from the new boxset, Biograph. Also noteworthy was the playing of You Get What You Want from Julian Lennon (who was to be the guest on The BPFO the following Saturday), Another shout out that raised a smile evening was one Shane MacGowan who was recovering in St. Charles’ Hospital in London at the time, as BP provided the full address of the hospital for anyone who wanted to send get well wishes to Shane.

NOTE: I’ve split this show into two, so as not to play the full Sinéad O’Connor track. In the event that this track is “important,” I don’t want anyone exploiting it, so I’m not posting the full track at the moment.

NOTE 2: I've edited out the last three minutes of the show, because it included a track that Sound Cloud asked me to remove. As a result the outro was also edited out. But, for the record, it was BP reminding listeners that "In the BPFO next Saturday, we have Julian Lennon. So 'til then, from me BP, God bless ya, L U V." 

All audio recordings posted here are owned and copyrighted by Richard Roche. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution without written consent is strictly prohibited. Respect the copyright and intellectual property rights. ©Richard Roche 1986-2024

Mar 30, 1986, PART 2 of 2 (excerpt) BP Fallon's Nothing Special [Memorex Side A].MP3

Excerpt of Sinead O'Connor's very first appearance on radio, a guest of the legendary BP Fallon in his BP Fallon's Nothing Special" weekly radio show on Ireland's 2FM March 30, 1986.

I have given BP a copy of the full track, and we've discussed it over the course of the past few months; he clearly recalls the show and when he handed her the tape of the demo. Since he didn't have a copy of the show or song, I have given him a copy of the full track and show. 

This recording copyright (c) Richard Roche 2024.

Sinead O'Connor "The Last One Alive" EXCERPT 7 15 2024 recording copyright Richard Roche 2024

A collection of sun-kissed favourites, to help that good weather just turn itself up to 11...

MiXTAPE

MIXTAPE sun is shining SUMMER MIX

Peel Me A Grape - Composed by Dave Frishberg

Performed by Jennifer O'Hara accompanied by Charlie Moon on guitar

Produced by Charlie Moon at the JVW Studios

Peel Me A Grape - Jennifer O'Hara

BP Fallon is a legend in the music world. A storied manager, publicist and friend of some of the world's best-known artists, he also hosted radio shows in the 1980's on Ireland's RTE 2FM. 
On Saturday nights, he hosted the BP Fallon Orchestra (BPFO), an interview-and-listen format. 
On Sunday nights, 9-10pm, it was BP Fallon's Nothing Special (BPFN), a music show where BP often dug into the past, introducing new audiences to musical dynamite that was often dismissed by the mainstream. 

The recordings here are from a batch of cassette tape recordings I made live from the radio from approximately 1984-1986. The one-hour format of the show wasn't very conducive to tapes, which were 45 minutes per side. So, I would record them, skip the ads, and sometimes skip tracks I already had captured, and occasionally edited BP's commentary, all of which I regret today, as it would have completed the time capsule.

Posted with gratitude to BP Fallon, who taught me a lot about music and has influenced my musical taste ever since.

About Rochey: "Sunday nights in the mid-80's were the highlight of my week. Whatever I was doing, I had to be home before 9pm so I could position myself the family's stereo system in our back room, fingers on the record+play buttons, ready to "BP Fallon's Nothing Special" on RTE 2FM. I recorded almost every show during that period, all the way up to BP’s very last one. 

After keeping those cassettes with me for almost 40 years, I finally bought a tape-to-USB converter, and will be posting the digitized shows over the coming months.”

Dec 1, '85: BP Fallon's Nothing Special [AGFA, Side A]

Rochey's Box of Cassettes

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