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Heartbeat FM, the love station

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Heartbeat FM, the love station
Heartbeat sticker (courtesy of DX Archive).

Heartbeat FM was a popular love song station in Dublin broadcasting from 1986 until the end of 1988 on 95.5 FM. The station changed its name to Cara 95 for a few months in 1987 but reverted to Heartbeat. It was an example of one of the niche stations of the era and featured a format that would be copied in later years by Radio Dublin. Heartbeat returned as a pirate in the 1990s and was awarded a temporary licence in the 1990s.

These recordings of Heartbeat from the Pirate.ie collection from 30th August 1988 include links by John Keogh and Maurice Nevin (RIP), adverts, jingles and news.

Ads into 6pm news from 30.08.88. The newsreader is Maurice Nevin.
Ads and a jingle from 1988.
Aircheck and ads from 1988. The presenter is Maurice Nevin.
Heartbeat jingle from 1987.
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Signal 106 from south Dublin

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Signal 106 from south Dublin

Signal 106 was a hobby station from the southside of Dublin which broadcast at the end of the pirate era. It was set up at Christmas 1978 by the youthful Kevin Branigan and Mike Ormonde and broadcast from Rathfarnham then and during the following summer holidays, returning for a final run at Christmas 1988. Because its antenna was on a height, Signal got out well despite its low power on 106 FM, as indicated by the good reception across the city in Bayside where these recordings were made.

In the first clip we hear Graham Turner (aka Justin Leonard) and Dave Adams (aka Andrew Mangan). The top of the hour jingle is by Seán Ashmore who did many station idents in the late 1980s. The second and third clips feature Graham Turner. The date is 29th December 1988, the day before Signal closed down. These recordings are from the Pirate.ie collection.

Clip 1
Clips 2 and 3
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Airchecks: CAU FM

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Airchecks: CAU FM

CAU FM was a short-lived station broadcasting on 103.5 FM from Foxrock in south Dublin from the summer of 1987 until the summer of 1988. Although more a hobby than a commercial station, it had a professional sound and slick jingle package and was run by Locky Butler who still works professionally in audio and sound recording. This is an aircheck of a longer recording in our collection from 1988 (unfortunately we have no date) featuring Locky Butler on air.

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Advert: The Red Corner Shop

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Sometimes the ads ran for so long they became famous. The Red Corner Shop on Dorset Street advertised heavily on the Dublin pirates. This recording is from Radio Dublin in 1987.

Advert: The Red Corner Shop
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Aircheck: Capitol Radio/Nitesky 96

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Aircheck: Capitol Radio/Nitesky 96
Clippings from Alan MacSimoin collection.

Capitol Radio/Nitesky 96 specialised in indie and alternative music and was one of the last stations in Dublin on air on New Year’s Eve 1988, broadcasting live from Side’s nightclub. This recording from our collection is from 30th December 1988 and features Conor Brooks promoting the listeners’ all-time Alternative Top 30 that was to be broadcast the following day, the final day. The suggested bands and songs give a good indication of Capitol’s unique musical style. The Alternative Top 10 based on listeners’ votes was a popular weekly feature on the station.