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AMS (Astra Media Services) was a Kilkenny station broadcasting from 18th October 1987 until 31st December 1988, when it closed down along with the vast majority of the Irish pirates. AMS broadcast from 0745-2400 daily, offering a mainstream service during the day with specialist programming at night.
This recording was made in November 1987, a few weeks after AMS was launched. In Part 1 above, Paul Madigan refers to the ‘new sound of Kilkenny’ and presents his evening mix of chart music and oldies. There is a healthy number of adverts for local businesses, including several in the Arcade in High Street, where AMS was located. Part 2 below is of station manager Séamaí B. (Séamus Brennan), with the nightly Irish hour. In a reminder of the influence of religion in 1980s Ireland, he tells listeners that they can attend evening Mass in Kilkenny because of the holy day of obligation. Audio quality ranges from fair to poor, with distortion and hum at times.
Part 1 runs from 1745-1833 and Part 2 from 1900-1946 on 2nd November 1987. The tape was recorded from 98.6 FM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.