It’s the fiftieth anniversary of Ireland’s national television broadcaster this year and amidst all the backslapping I’m sure there’ll be one or two shows worth checking out. One of the highlights so far was a tribite to one of Ireland’s first and finest rock stars. The Phil Lynott Archive was produced and directed by David Heffernan and featured already existing footage of the former Thin Lizzy frontman as well as new interviews and film. The near hour long programme didn’t contribute anything too new to his already well-documented story but it was wonderful to relive some of his finest moments again. We got to see clips of Phil’s early days with Taste, Lizzy’s heyday in the seventies and his solo work in the eighties. It was also interesting to compare the less coherent interview of a stoned Lynott backstage with the more gregarious fella on The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne. The interviews with the great and the good were mostly padding but I quite enjoyed the discussion of Lynott’s songwriting abilities by contemporary musicians. Even though Lizzy were lumped in with the hard rock and heavy metal crowds, Phil was equally at home writing a melodic ballad like Sarah or Dancing in the Moonlight. I had a look through my collection to see what if I had any versions of Phil’s songs by other artists and I was pleasantly surprised to find I had a few
