Tommy Tiernan Show review: Roger Daltrey on proving his headmaster wrong
Roger Daltrey on the Tommy Tiernan Show
“You’ll never make anything of your life, Daltrey.” Those were the words spoken to music legend Roger Daltrey by his headmaster as he was kicked out of school on his 15th birthday.
Daltrey, who went on to become the co-founder and lead singer of the rock band The Who, told about how that moment motivated him to make something of his life.
“I got kicked out of school on my 15th birthday. I was a bit of a rebel. I always was a rebel,” he said, explaining he found school difficult as he couldn’t relate to any of the lessons.
“They were never teaching me anything I could relate to in my out-of-school life. I wasn't stupid, I just wanted to be a singer," Mr Daltrey said.
"I always wanted to be a singer; I sang in the church choir. When we went into music lessons, they were showing us dots on pieces of paper. It didn't make any sense in the way my brain works.
"When we talk about music, to me it's about making the noises, singing, playing a guitar.
“I got very frustrated at school and I ended up causing all kinds of havoc. I was an unruly part of the class."
Daltrey said he was inspired to prove his headmaster wrong as he was expelled.
“As I was leaving his office, he said: ‘You'll never make anything of your life, Daltrey.’ I just thought, I'll show you. I thank him now.
"That's always stuck with me. I wrote my biography which is called . I really mean that. If he hadn't said that, I could have gone very wrong.”
“He said, you’ll never make anything of your life Daltrey.”
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) January 22, 2022
Roger Daltrey explains why he’s grateful for the motivation his former head master gave him as he threw him out of school aged 15#TommyTiernanShow @Tommedian pic.twitter.com/QigrIqk5gH
Also on the show, Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght told the comedian about their character Aisling, star of the series of books. They also explained how female friendship can be very supportive.
“I feel like my friendships sustain me and that was very evident during lockdown. I would go for walks, and I've got a very small circle of friends, Emer is one of them,” Ms Breen said.
“We would just go for the walk during lockdown and just talk about everything, process everything. I would have been so lost without my friends and it's really nice.
"A lot of space has been given over to romantic relationships, whereas friendships, like between women, which is what I know, are so important.”
McLysaght agreed, adding: “I'm not in a romantic relationship at the moment, but I know that my friends, like Sarah, who's married, or friends who are in relationships, would often say the men in their lives are often bad at meeting up.
"Men can be bad at cultivating or keeping their friendships going and saying ‘Do you want to meet up’.”
Finally, comedian Des Bishop spoke to Tiernan about why he wrote a show about his mother after she died and how it differed from the show he wrote about his late father.
“My relationship with my mother was way more complicated," Mr Bishop said. "Myself and my mother were way more involved. That's not to say that it was the same loving, affectionate, nurturing relationship.
“Just in case there is a heaven, I had to do a show for my mother because it would be the first thing she’d bring up that my Dad got one.”@Desbishop tells @Tommedian why he has written a show for his late mother#TommyTiernanShow pic.twitter.com/qrXr7gMBDk
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) January 22, 2022
“My mother was tough, a complicated lady. She was an amazing woman and I always try to make it very clear that I'm not speaking ill of my mother as a human.
"She was an amazing human, she had an amazing life and she gave us a great life."
Bishop said his mother was quite anxious when he was growing up, which caused much stress.
“She was kind of cold. She was very chill, had a lot of anxiety, but we didn't know about anxiety.
"We didn't talk about anxiety in the '80s. So we grew up with a lot of stress and a toughness.”
