Interview: David Baker

Interview: David Baker
David Baker on Radio Sandymount in 1984 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

David Baker was a well-known voice on Irish pirate radio in the 1980s and worked in or managed a large number of stations including ARD, Radio City, Radio Leinster, the Community Broadcasting Co-operative, KISS FM, Heartbeat and KLAS.

In this interview, John Walsh caught up with David Baker and talked about his pirate days, with a particular focus on the easy listening station KLAS. John worked with David in KLAS from 1986-1988.

Interview: David Baker
The garage at the back of 312 Sutton Park, Dublin 13, the location KLAS first broadcast from (photo John Walsh).

Panel: Terry and Dermot Leydon – Northwest Radio

On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era. Terry and Dermot Leydon talk to John Walsh about Northwest Radio, a station in Drumshanbo in Co. Leitrim. Northwest broadcast on about 1602 kHz but as Terry and Dermot explain, their transmitter would drift up and down the band as the evening progressed!

Panel: The Louth Pirates

Panel: The Louth Pirates
John Walsh interviewing (L-R) Eddie Caffrey, Michael Hughes and Richard McCullen in October 2018 (photo courtesy of Eddie Bohan).

Co. Louth was an important county in Irish pirate radio history, with several successful commercial stations often beaming their signals across the border. In this panel discussion on the Louth pirates, Richard McCullen, Michael Hughes and Eddie Caffrey share their memories of the county’s lively pirate scene. Stations featured include Radio Dundalk, Radio Carousel and Boyneside Radio. The interviewer is John Walsh and the discussion was recorded on the 20th of October 2018 at a special event held in Dublin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the closure of the pirates.

Interview: Denis Murray (Big D/KISS FM (102.7)/Radio Nova/KISS FM Monaghan)

Interview: Denis Murray (Big D/KISS FM (102.7)/Radio Nova/KISS FM Monaghan)
A sticker for the KISS FM on 102.7 set up by Chris Cary, where Dennis Murray worked from 1982-84. Courtesy DX Archive.

On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era. 

John Walsh interviewed Denis Murray about his pirate radio past including the early days of Big D, Radio Nova, KISS FM (102.7) in Dublin and another KISS FM (103.7) in Monaghan.