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Tony and Declan King on Sunshine Radio

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Tony and Declan King on Sunshine Radio
Tony King (Plunkett) and Declan King in the Sunshine Review from 1985 (courtesy DX Archive).

This is an excerpt from the Saturday afternoon sports programme on Sunshine Radio on 11th September 1982, as recorded by Leon Tipler on one of his regular visits to Dublin to document the Irish scene. It was made from 101 FM from 1550-1626 and features presenters Tony King (Plunkett) and Declan King. Tony had worked previously with other stations such as ARD. News is read by Cathy Cregan, another well-known voice of the time, and still a broadcaster today. The headlines include a story about Declan Flynn, the gay man who was murdered in Fairview Park two days previously. His death was a turning point in the campaign for LGBTQ+ rights in Ireland.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

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More Stevie Dunne on Sunshine Radio

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More Stevie Dunne on Sunshine Radio
Early Sunshine compliments slip (courtesy of Ian Biggar).

This recording is of veteran English DJ Stevie Dunne (Stevie Gordon) on Sunshine Radio from 1410-1456 on 12th February 1981. Stevie did stints with the offshore stations Voice of Peace and Radio Caroline and was the last voice to be heard from the Mi Amigo before it sank in 1980. After coming to Dublin, he used the radio name Stevie Dunne to avoid confusion with another English DJ, Steve Gordon, who worked with Radio Leinster and also presented on Sunshine and Radio Nova on a stand-in basis. Stevie Dunne went on to work at Nova and South Coast Radio in Cork before moving to Scandinavia. He is currently Programme Director of Radio Seagull, which broadcasts on AM in the Netherlands.

There is co-channel interference on this recording, as it was made in Scotland by Ken Baird, some distance from the transmitter on 531 kHz. We thank John Breslin for the donation.

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Declan Meehan and Stevie Dunne on Sunshine Radio

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Declan Meehan and Stevie Dunne on Sunshine Radio
Declan Meehan in the Sunshine studio in 1981 (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).

This early recording of Sunshine Radio features two big names in the radio business since the 1970s, Declan Meehan and Stevie Dunne (Stevie Gordon). Made from 531 kHz AM (announcing 539 metres) from 1323-1410 on 12th February 1981, Declan’s lunchtime programme includes the Call and Collect competition based on a car registration number and various adverts, including one for the Sands Hotel in Portmarnock where Sunshine was based. Declan is followed at 2pm by Stevie, who had previously worked at the offshore station Radio Caroline. He would go on to work in other Irish pirates such as Radio Nova and South Coast Radio in Cork. Listen here to an interview with Declan about his radio career from his time at Sunshine.

There is some co-channel interference on this recording as it was made in Scotland by Ken Baird, outside the core Sunshine AM area. Thanks to John Breslin for the donation.

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Non-stop music on KISS FM 102.7

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Non-stop music on KISS FM 102.7
KISS FM rate card (courtesy of Ian Biggar).

This is another recording of Radio Nova offshoot KISS FM from 102.7 made by British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler during one of his visits to Dublin to document the Irish pirate scene. It was made from 2138-2310 on 12th September 1982 and features continuous music with station IDs. Nova’s news service, read by Siobhán Purcell, is also broadcast by KISS but presented as ‘Independent Radio News’.

The recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

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Early KISS FM programming

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Early KISS FM programming
KISS FM car sticker (courtesy of DX Archive).

This is an early broadcast of KISS FM on 102.7 from 2130-2259 on September 11th 1982, just a few days after the station’s launch. There are a few links by an unidentified DJ, but the style is mostly the clutter-free format for which Nova and its offshoots would gain popularity at various times. Nova’s news service is now known as ‘Independent Radio News’ and is carried by both stations at 10pm. It is read by Bryan Dobson, who retired from RTÉ in 2024. Clearly KISS FM was still experiencing teething problems as the news jingle fires unexpectedly and there is dead air for a few seconds in the final half hour.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.