Culture That Made Me: 2fm's Tracy Clifford on The Bangles, Pete Tong and John Creedon
Tracy Clifford of 2fm.
Born in 1980, Tracy Clifford grew up on the Navan Road, Dublin. She began her broadcasting career with East Coast FM. In 2006, she worked for a few years as Head of News on Dublin’s Spin 1038, later co-presenting a popular breakfast show on the radio station. In 2015, she joined RTÉ 2fm to present its afternoon programme slot. She presents a weekday show on RTÉ 2fm, 12 noon – 3pm.
I remember watching Wogan with my mom and dad on the telly in the late 80s. I was in primary school. The Bangles were on it. I fell in love. Who is this Susanna Hoff? Who are all these girls playing guitars and drums? My birthday was a week later and I got the Bangles album, Different Light, on tape, my first tape, with a Walkman, with the orange spongy headphones, and I was obsessed. 'Walk Like an Egyptian', 'If She Knew What She Wants' were on it. Real '80s songs. I bought it again recently on CD. It brings back so many memories.
My second tape was Achtung Baby by U2. My dad bought it. He showed me the song Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World where Bono started rapping. He wasn’t too impressed. I was blown away by it. I remember standing at the bus stop with that same Walkman thinking 'The Fly' was the greatest thing I'd heard in my life. I kept rewinding to that song. I went to the Sphere in Las Vegas recently to see Achtung Baby being performed live. That was a crazy, nice moment. Achtung Baby is still there for me as a Top 10 album.
I discovered The Prodigy in the early 90s. I’d never before heard music like the tracks on their debut album, Experience – bits of rock and dance put together in a mad way. Songs like 'Everybody's in the Place' and 'Rough in the Jungle'. The Prodigy’s Experience changed my life because it turned me into a massive fan of electronic and dance music in my teens. That's what I do today.
I had my Britpop era too. I loved Oasis. I always thought Oasis had better music than Blur, but Blur looked cooler – I preferred the fashion of Blur and Damon Albarn. I remember going to an Oasis gig in The Point. We all got split up, but it didn’t matter – losing my friends, not knowing how I was going to get home. Those tickets were gold dust at the time.
I remember my aunt lived in London in the 1990s. She sent me tapes home of Kiss FM, a pirate radio station in London, before it became a legal station. She’d write the names of the songs on the tapes, 'Papua New Guinea'... all those songs. I remember a DJ called Sean Christopher, playing late '90s house music. To have those tapes on my Walkman – that no one else had in Dublin – was pretty cool.
I was obsessed with Pete Tong in the '90s. He was the most amazing voice to listen to on radio, especially the music he played on BBC Radio 1. Voice on radio is super important to me. When you find a DJ you like, you trust them. They become a comfort to you and they're a tastemaker too. Pete Tong was probably the first DJ that showcased music I hadn't heard before. He spoke about it with such passion. His delivery is special. He’s top.
I love John Creedon, never knowing what you’re going to get – you might get Dr Dre next to Lankum. The randomness of the music, the eclectic mix, is great because you're going into the window of somebody's soul on a given day. I love his voice. There’s a talent in being able to connect with somebody when you're not in the room with them, and he does it brilliantly.
I've been to so many amazing gigs. I've been to little tents all over festivals that have blown my mind, but a gig that always comes back to me – and it's not even the sort of music I like – is Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne Tour, in the 3Arena in 2012. I love that album, Watch the Throne. I'd never been to a hip hop gig before like that. I remember going along for the jaunt, not knowing what to expect, and I was wowed. The crowd, the response – how they responded to the crowd. To see two heavyweights come together for that was brilliant. They performed so, so well.
A film that stands out in recent times is Joker. It’s one I’d go back to again. There are so many areas to explore in that movie – how we treat people with mental health, childhood trauma. People think that people are evil, but actually it's what happens to them. Even when Joaquin Phoenix, as the Joker, has his clown makeup on and he's trying to laugh, it's so disturbing, but so powerful, so deep. I loved it. It's a masterpiece.
I love Billions, a series on television. It isn’t given as much love as Succession, but it’s so good. It's about the stock exchange and how corrupt it is. I hate all the characters, but it’s compelling viewing.
I love watching how presenters interview people on television – that live interaction of a person chatting to somebody and how they navigate it. Warmth is the most important thing. The person that has that on radio and television is Miriam O’Callaghan. She listens. It’s not about her, but the person she's interviewing. I love that psychology. That is possibly the greatest skill.
There’s a documentary series on ITV and BBC called Up. It began in 1964. It follows the lives of 14 kids, from different backgrounds, all over England. It’s on every seven years – when they were seven, 14, 21. The last one, a few years ago, was when they were 63. They're not famous people. The difference in everyone's life is so sad, inspiring, heart-breaking – how life just happens to everyone. It's a window into people’s lives, every seven years. I always seek it out. The next one will be in 2026. It's brilliant.
My go-to podcast is How to Fail with Elizabeth Day. She celebrates failures with people who are influential – people in the public eye, sport, politics, journalism, the entertainment industry. She gets them on, not to talk about their successes but to talk about where they failed in life. Through failure is where you learn, not in those moments when you succeed. She’s one of the best interviewers out there, a former journalist with the Observer and an author. When it comes to getting to the heart of a topic, or gently approaching it, she’s phenomenal.
