TV review: Ballroom Blitz sees U2's Adam Clayton reappraise the showbands

He doesn’t disappoint in Ballroom Blitz (RTÉ One; Wednesday, 9:35pm, and RTÉ Player).

But when a proper musical giant like U2 bass-player Adam Clayton is interested in showband music, it’s worth paying attention.

Clayton is the secret sauce in part one of this two-part documentary. 

Otherwise, Ballroom Blitz would be just another show about the rise and fall of showbands acts in 1960s Ireland. We’ve all seen that before.

But his presence, gliding from interview to interview in his nice car, is more than enough to pique an interest.

Clayton’s polished manner and super-rich tan seem out of place discussing Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep with a guitarist from the Miami Showband. 

But he makes a connection because unlike someone else we could mention in U2, Clayton is an out-and-out musician.

Bob Geldof acknowledges that a lot of the showbands were good musicians, but they were wasted musicians, because they weren’t in the Boomtown Rats. 

OK, he didn’t say that last bit, but he couldn’t hide is disbelief that people liked showband acts.

Maybe it’s because showbands chose to give people a good time, rather than telling them they lived in a Banana Republic.

Look, it takes all sorts. And the all-sorts in the showbands were more interested in making a solid living than changing the world. If that meant compromise, then Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.

The show mixes archive and contemporary footage with the showband stars. There are a few pearls here. 

Dickie Rock comes across focused and ruthless, forming his own band because he was on the same pay as other band members in his original outfit.

Linda Martin is live from her new role in a dog sanctuary. She is still great value, eyes popping as she talked about sweeping the floor of a dressing room in the West of Ireland before going on. 

I enjoyed Eileen Reid, still amazed that she went to Number One in 1964.

And of course the secret law concerning Bob Geldof also decrees you can’t have a documentary about modern Ireland without Diarmuid Ferriter, so he is all over the historical context. (Fintan O’Toole mustn’t have been available.)

But the best bits are the archive footage of Irish people freaking out because it’s the 1960s. 

Set-dancing and ballroom dancing were what your parents did – the showbands were sweaty and sexy. 

There is a great image of Jimmy Swarbrigg lying on stage while a gang of young women pretend to tear the pants off him. It looked like fun.

• Ballroom Blitz airs Wednesday at 9.35pm on RTÉ One