Tony Boland, the former music director on the RTÉ show, on working with Gay Byrne and Bob Geldof, helping create the Self Aid telethon and setting up an annual festival celebrating one of music’s most maligned instruments Tony Boland, former Late Late Show musical director. Photo: Steve Humphreys Gay Byrne and Tony Boland on the Late Late Show set For much of 1979, on a Friday afternoon, Tony Boland received a call from the same young man. Every time, the request was the same: “If you have a cancellation, can we go on?” Tony Boland was the music director of The Late Late Show .
It was he, rather than Gay Byrne, who decided what acts should get to appear. The eager caller was Larry Mullen Jr and, eventually, his band was invited to play the country’s preeminent TV show. U2 made their Late Late Show debut on Saturday, January 5, 1980, delivering a spirited version of Stories for Boys .
It was a leg-up to the superstardom that would soon come their way. Today, Boland, a youthful looking 82-year-old, smiles when recalling the drummer’s persistence. “He was very polite and would phone every single week for about six months.
” Boland had been well aware of the fledgling U2, but there were many local bands at the time who warranted the exposure that the Late Late guaranteed. Mullen’s calls paid off, though. “I began to feel a sense of responsibility,” Boland says, with a chuckle.
“They were really enthusiastic.” Eventually, Boland offered them a slot — for.