In this episode it is Dara’s great pleasure to sit down and have a long overdue chat with his great friend and former college buddy, Aengus Devine. Aengus is a gifted musician, singer and songwriter, and has sustained a long career as a professional musician. At the end of their long and winding conversation, Aengus plays his lovely new Christmas single ‘God Save Christmas’.
Before that, the conversation stays firmly in the world of music, with thoughts on 50s rock and roll and its influence on The Beatles and The Rolling Stones; the dubious impression of being seen in public carrying a Barry Manilow album; why Pet Sounds is no Sgt. Pepper’s; actors who were also singers; separating art from the artist; favourite Christmas songs and much more.
Dara takes a quiet moment at the start of the episode to briefly share his thoughts on two shocking incidents that occurred over the weekend – the terror attack on a Jewish Hanukkah gathering in Bondi Beach in Sydney, and the killing in their home of the American film director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele.