CONTRASTING THE first and last episodes of David Heffernan s new TV series From A Whisper To A Scream, one is tempted to conclude that Irish popular music has lapped itself. As suggested in the Hot Press Yearbook recently by Niall Stokes the project s consultant and author of the (soon-to-be!) accompanying book the parallels between the current Paddypop bonanza and the showband boom of the 50s and 60s can t be ignored.
Both are largely imitative forms of variety/light entertainment, passionately performed but bereft of an original spirit, and if Ireland can t come up with a Motown-like back-up team of local producers and songwriters, then the Louis Walsh generation might just go the way of the Capitol and the Miami.
But that s just a hack s opening hook for the most part, From A Whisper . . . casts a loving and curious eye over half a century of Irish pop.
Balance is crucial. Endeavours of this nature are often a pretext for backslapping and plawmawsing, focusing on the furrowed-browed triumphs, rather than the funny travesties, of Irish music history. Indeed, David Heffernan freely admits that a demolition derby treatment of tourist board perceptions of domestic rock n roll might make a compelling series in itself. But here, his first priority was to shine a light on the ongoing drive and talents of people like Van Morrison and U2. There is that body of integrity and talent that continues to shine through.
And true enough, From A Whisper To A Scream often leaves you thinking of Van as Dylan, Rory as Neil Young, Philo as Keef, U2 as the Fab Four and The Project as Warhol s Factory. But all myth-making aside, the inevitable constraints of time, space and money also factored heavily into the programme s content.
I realised fairly quickly that we couldn t have launched a series of six one-hour programmes, the director explains, we just wouldn t have got it financed. And with half-hours there s a certain narrative drive that you don t have with one-hours, where you can open up stories and slightly take a more iconoclastic look. But I do think that s there s sufficient depth and quality over the last 40 years that it doesn t appear to be too rosy-tinted.
Certainly, a constant see-sawing between the objective and subjective keeps the debate lively. Case in point: Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher defending the showbands as a finishing school for young guitarslingers, contrasted with Bob Geldof maintaining, They were crap! Heffernan, as you d expect of a man who made two films about the reformed Velvet Underground, understands that dialogue is all.
But also, it s important that Whisper does not merely round up the usual gang of scenesters, teamsters and industry suspects. Sure, Van, Siniad, Geldof, Bono and Edge et al are present and correct, but left-of-fielders like Pat McCabe and Jim Sheridan also offer vital observations.
I wanted to get people who were, if you like, of the culture and were musicians in their thinking, but had worked in other areas of artistic endeavour, and McCabe and Sheridan were two obvious candidates for that, Heffernan explains. They bring something to the table other than just a musician s or songwriter s or music industry person s perspective, and can say things in a very direct way, they have no personal or career agendas to adhere to.

Bearing that in mind, From A Whisper To A Scream functions best as a ribbon of yarns. There are rare treats, like Van actually discussing Astral Weeks, maintaining that it came not from the Irish literary tradition, but an oral one (which, you could argue, is precisely the same source Behan and Joyce drew from). You get Siniad O Connor and Gavin Friday united on the significance of Dana s All Kinds Of Everything . You get Pat McCabe chuckling about dressing like Rory and trying to talk like Lynott. Or Bono comparing punk to the cultural revolution in China and recalling the sheer level of violence inspired by Lypton Village Dadaists in the Ted/skinhead age.
Other insights? How about that punk might ve been an intrinsically Irish construct, far more a force for social and societal change here than the lifestyle statement it was in the US or UK. In this timespace continuum, the 50s, 60s and 70s all hit Ireland with a resounding whack in 1977, to the tune of Rat Trap (the Paddy Anarchy In the UK ?), and the sight of Geldof televising the revolution on the Late Late Show.
Or how about that Horslips greatest service might ve been bringing their Darby O Fellini trad-glam surrealist circus into the heart of rural Ireland, catalysing redneck freak culture and galvanising a generation of Lisdoonvarna-ites, Slane pilgims and Fiile regulars? Or that 90s landmarks like Zoo TV and In The Name Of The Father can all be traced back to a gutted Project Arts Centre in the late 70s?
All this, plus some choice archive footage. According to Heffernan, It s probably the biggest music production that s ever been done here in terms of clearances and copyright and so on.
FAWTAS can t answer any queries or quell any doubts as to the future of local rock n roll, but it does ask some important questions of its history. Don t miss it. n

From A Whisper To A Scream begins on RTE 1, Tuesday, Feb. 29th at 8.30pm