Posted on by John Walsh

Peter Madison in the afternoon on Big D

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Peter Madison in the afternoon on Big D
Peter Madison (right) with John Kenny at South Coast Radio in Cork in 1982 (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue)

English DJ Peter Madison (RIP) was a familiar voice on Irish pirates big and small in the 1980s, ranging from Big D and Boyneside Radio to Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova. In this recording of Big D from summer 1981, Aidan Cooney signs off at the end of his lunchtime show before handing over to Peter, who is presenting his final show using the name Skip Cameron although he says that ‘Peter Madison’ is to take over the slot on Monday. There are listeners’ favourites, plenty of requests and the ‘mystery voice’ competition, featuring none other than Chris Cary, who had launched Radio Nova about a month previously.

Peter Madison in the afternoon on Big D
Big D sticker (courtesy Bill Ebrill)

Peter chats in studio to his producer John Kenny (now with RTÉ Sport), Jason Maine and Tony Allan (RIP) who jokes that many DJs are moving to Portmarnock, referring to the success of Sunshine Radio that was launched the previous autumn. Advertisements include a live-read for Jett’s Nightclub near Dublin Airport, from where Big D broadcast live on Saturday nights.

Big D (1978-1982) broadcast on 1116 kHz AM (announcing 273 metres) and on 98.5 FM at this time. The airchecked recording was made on Friday 26th June 1981 from AM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.