Robbie Robinson as pictured in the Sunshine Review 1985.
The death of Robbie Robinson (aka Dale) yesterday at the age of 81 marked the passing of one of the giants of pirate radio since the 1960s and of Irish pirate radio in the 1980s. The owner of Sunshine Radio, one of the country’s most successful and popular stations, Robbie was widely tipped to get one of the Dublin licences in 1989 but it was not to be. Many former pirates lost out in the lean new era of independent radio but the rejection of Sunshine’s application was arguably the biggest shock of all.
‘Desiderata’, the title track of a 1971 album by Les Crane, is a poem deeply associated with Sunshine Radio because it was used as a reflection at the end of broadcasting every night. A generation of radio listeners in Dublin and beyond will remember listening to ‘Desiderata’ under the covers as their favourite station bade them good night. We present it here as a poignant tribute to a man whose dedication and imagination changed the direction of Irish radio.
Click here to listen to all of our recordings of Robbie Robinson. May he rest in peace.
Atlantic Sound advert from the second half of 1984 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Atlantic Sound broadcast from Galway City from December 1983 until June 1985. It was set up by Alan Russell who had run previous stations in Dublin. Test transmissions were heard before Christmas on 1107 kHz (announcing 273 metres) with a full schedule starting in January 1984. Atlantic had a daytime Top 40 and oldies format and hosted interviews with local personalities, musicians etc. Specialist music interests were catered for in evening programme segments, for instance an Irish traditional programme presented by musician Gary Shannon. As part of news and current affairs coverage the station ran the Time World News series, organised by the late Robbie Robinson.
Alan Russell said: ‘From my background in steering Capitol Radio through a plethora of stations in Dublin, I knew there was little point in providing a “poor man’s RTÉ Radio2” as a local radio choice in Galway city and county. The choice had to be real with local musicians, bands and cultural interests reflected in the overall station content’.
The station was taken over in mid-1984 by former offshore DJs Keith York (RIP) and Don Stevens who moved from South Coast Radio in Cork after it closed down. Steve Marshall, who had worked for WKLR in west Cork, later became involved. Alan recalls that Keith was hired to check over an ex-BBC transmitter to ensure it was fully operational: ‘I recall it had Mercury valves and the transformers had to be removed to lighten the weight before hauling it up to the first floor where the station was based’.
Following the change of management, Atlantic changed its format to a formula of chart music and giveaways, the first of several Galway stations of the 1980s to do so. It also moved to 1026 kHz and added 95.4 FM and 99.1 FM. This recording features Seán Costello playing hits and taking requests. The voice of Don Stevens is heard on promos but there are very few ads. The recording was made from 99.1 FM and runs from 1753-1836 but we don’t have a more precise date than the August bank holiday weekend 1984. Atlantic Sound faded away after the Cork trio set up another station, WLS Music Radio, across the road.
We thank Shay Geoghegan for this donation and Alan Russell for background information.
The newsroom in Radio Nova, 19 Herbert Street (photo courtesy of Sybil Fennell).
Dublin Today was a daily half-hour current affairs programme broadcast on Radio Nova after the 7pm evening news. This untimed recording was made from 819 kHz AM on Friday 10th September 1982 and features presenters Linda Conway and Michael O’Brien with a range of items including a wine review, a preview of motor racing and an interview with a band.
Although part of Nova’s quest for respectability, Dublin Today was a key part of its eventual closure in 1986. The programme was at the heart of the bitter dispute between Nova boss Chris Cary and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which began in 1984 after presenters of the programme were sacked without proper notice or redundancy payments.
Peter Mulryan’s book Radio Radio (1988) claims that Chris Cary was still concerned about Dublin Today in 1985, describing it as ‘claptrap’ and ‘dangerous and subversive’. However, when the merger of Radio Nova and Energy 103 was announced in November 1987, an hour-long Dublin Today from 6-7pm was introduced, with an eye to the new broadcasting legislation. For a detailed account of Radio Nova’s history, including the NUJ dispute, see the Radiowaves website.
This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
A feature on the Sunshine Cake in the Sunshine Review of 1985 (courtesy of DX Archive).
The Sunshine Cake was a specialist programme broadcast by Sunshine Radio on Sunday mornings from 1985 on its FM frequency only, as an alternative to the station’s regular output on AM. It was a good example of the creativity of some of the pirates in using the existing technology to serve a broader audience, and also a reminder that niche programming was not only done by RTÉ.
In a feature in the Sunshine Review of 1985, presenter Justin McKenna wrote: ‘The idea for the Sunshine Cake was hatched when it became obvious that there was not one single programme on Irish radio which catered for the over 30 listener who enjoyed a wide range of music’. The Sunshine Cake included classical, jazz, blues and comedy slots and gained a regular audience around Dublin. In an interesting commentary on the continued dominance of AM radio in 1985, McCarthy wrote: ‘It’s been gratifying to note that a lot of the younger audience, who I would have expected to move down to the medium wave band, have stayed with FM and listened to the Cake’.
The White Sands Hotel today, known as the Sands Hotel in Sunshine’s time (photo by John Walsh).
This recording was made from 101 FM from 1025-1122 on Sunday 31st March 1985. It includes the comedy slot and a diverse musical mix, a cinema review with Paul Vincent and a voice competition.
This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.
Robbie Dale as pictured in the Sunshine Review, 1985 (courtesy of DX Archive).
There was a complex relationship between the political class and pirate radio: on the one hand, politicians did not want to be seen to legitimise unlicensed stations but on the other, they needed local publicity at election time. Political instability during this period was a contributing factor to the free-for-all on the airwaves and two general elections were held in 1982, in February and November. Sunshine Radio went as far as to endorse Fianna Fáil, then in opposition, in the February election because of that party’s support for broadcasting legislation. However, Sunshine quickly found itself in hot water over interviews it broadcast with politicians before the November election.
A few weeks previously, in an attempt to weaken the influence of the pirates, RTÉ said it would ban politicians who were interviewed on unlicensed stations. On 22nd November, two days before the election, interviews with TDs Albert Reynolds of Fianna Fáil and Michael Keating of Fine Gael were aired by Sunshine, causing consternation in political circles and making the front pages of all the daily newspapers. Station boss Robbie Dale (Robinson) took to the air the following day to explain that the interviews had in fact been recored in February before the RTÉ ban came into effect, and apologised to the politicians involved.
In this recording, Robbie Dale explains the background to the case and criticises the media coverage of the story. He also takes several callers live on air, who give their views about the controversy. The recording was made from 100.5 FM from 1130-1200 on 23rd November 1982 and was donated by Shay Geoghegan.
