Vincent’s story, as it unfolded behind the microphone and cameras, reveals a small town Clonmel boy breaking for freedom and making it in the Big Apple. His family and friends remember Vincent and a very different Ireland.
In 1984 MT USA burst onto Irish TV screens with pop videos from the likes of ZZ Top, Weird Al Yankovich, Talking Heads and Cyndi Lauper. Almost incredibly, this was the first time in Ireland that the viewing public had access to music videos and not just what they could glimpse on “Top of the Pops”. Many bands broke the Irish market simply because their videos played on the show. The Sunday afternoon three hour MT USA show was as important a weekly “much watch” programme in 1980s Ireland as Glenroe – but maybe for a different demographic!
Vincent Hanley was the man in the middle of this music video revolution on RTÉ. Behind the pop music and the glamour of 1980s New York City lies a story of ambition, talent and a life cut short. Vincent died at the age of 33. ‘Fab Vinny’ is his story.
Vincent Hanley grew up in Clonmel , Co Tipperary but this smalltown boy as his colleague & friend Bill Hughes called him was obsessed with TV from a young age. It wasn’t long before he moved to Cork to try and break into the media. And break into it he did.
In 1979 when RTÉ Radio 2 was Comin’atcha Vincent was right there “ i lár an aonaigh!”. In a world before Kardashian-style celebrities Radio 2 superstar DJ’s were the “Celebs du Jour”. They commanded massive crowds (& fees!) for personal appearances around the country at nightclubs. Vincent was a hot property and appeared on RTÉ Television fronting “Summerhouse” with Áine O’Connor before moving to work in Capital Radio in London. However it was his work on MT USA that sealed his legacy forever.
For Vincent moving to New York represented freedom. Coming from an Ireland where being gay was still criminalised, NYC was somewhere he could embrace his sexuality but at the same time it was at the centre of an emerging and little understood disease which was soon at epidemic levels within the gay community.
While MT USA was a massive success at home, the production team began to notice changes in Vincent’s appearance. It soon became clear that all was not well. Vincent was ill. Rumours began that he had an AIDS-related illness, which he denied on RTÉ Radio Gay Byrne Show. Vincent kept on filming. MT USA Producer Bill Hughes recalls putting cardboard down on the freezing NYC pavements, kneeling down on all fours and letting Vincent rest on his back to get through filming.
Eventually Vincent had to acknowledge he was ill and came home to Ireland to his friends and family. Vincent died of AIDS in April 1987. His was one of the first high profile deaths in the country from the syndrome but this was not publicly acknowledged at the time.
Friends and family remember the man, brother, colleague, friend but also the barnstorming media star who was Vincent Hanley or FAB VINNY !
Contributors to the programme:
CONOR McANALLY, ANNE McCABE, CIAN Ó CIOBHÁIN, FERGUS HANLEY, BILL HUGHES, TERRY O’ SULLIVAN, ÁINE HENSEY
Presenter / Reporter : Sinéad Ní Churnáin
Producer/Director : Eimear O’Mahony