Pete Andrews with Lilian McCarthy (O’Donoghue) in 1980 (courtesy of Lilian).
A new Cork pirate, Radio City, was launched on 31st August 1980. This recording is of the first full day of the station and begins with station co-founder Pete Andrews (O’Neill) with his Spinning Disc lunchtime show. The show includes a repeat of part of the launch the previous day. News headlines are delayed by technical problems but it is clear that Radio City had big plans, including daily sponsored programmes. Pete is followed by Karl Johnson (Dan Noonan) with Afternoon Delight, including various features such as a quiz and entertainment diary. Next up is Noel Evans (Welch) with Home Run, including traffic news and racing reports. Co-author of the history of the Cork Pirates, The Jolly Roger, Noel had a day job with the Evening Echo newspaper but worked in the pirates on the side, first CBC and then Radio City. He also played music in several nightclubs like many pirate DJs. The final DJ is Paul Cassidy with part of an evening show.
Noel Evans (Welch) at Radio City in September 1980 (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue).
This airchecked recording of Radio City was made from around 1200 on 1st September 1980 from 1512 kHz AM, announcing 199 metres. Only one advert is heard but the commercial breaks may have been edited out. Audio quality is fair to poor as the recording was made by placing a tape recorder beside a radio, rather than using a cassette recorder. Thanks to Lilian O’Donoghue for the donation.
Radio City was an early pioneering Cork station founded in the summer of 1980 by two young radio anoraks in the city, Pete O’Neill (Pete Andrews on air) and Dan Noonan (Carl Johnston on air). The station broadcast on 1512 kHz AM and soon added FM, an innovation at the time. It lasted until 1982, by which time the larger and more professional stations ERI and South Coast Radio were making inroads in Cork city and county.
Pete O’Neill at Radio City in 1980 (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
Pete O’Neill recalls the background to the establishment of Radio City:
I had just collected my Leaving Certificate Examination results and Dan was waiting outside in his Hiace van ready to look for a suitable premises. I had worked with Dan at CBC and did many regular discos for him. The premises were located at 27 Parnell Place and consisted of three floors above a sweet shop, which we called Broadcasting House. The station originally broadcast on 199 metres medium wave with the horizontal aerial running over several nearby buildings. The transmitter was supplied and installed by Con McParland who had previously done work for another early Cork pirate CBC.
Radio City was the first pirate in cork to broadcast on FM stereo on 95.5 MHz. The transmitter was built by Waterford engineer Egidio Giani and was in a biscuit tin! The Radio City logo, featuring two cathedrals, City Hall and the Shandon bells, was designed by the late Henry Condon (Alan Reid, later known as Henry Owens on air). Henry was also resident voice-over artist for commercials and I used to have to bribe him with a few pints each time before he would agree to voice them!
The station had many DJs, some from the previous stations CBC, CCLR and others. Apart from ourselves, these included Noel Evans, Tony Allan (a Cork guy, not the other Tony Allan of Radio Nova etc), Susan James, Pat O’Rourke (Smurf), Alan Reid, Paul Cassidy, Derry O’Callaghan, Mark Malone and a host of weekend presenters including John Ashford, Luke Ward and Steve Douglas. The station broadcast news every hour and had a strong local flavour, popular with a Cork audience.
I also remember donating my entire record collection to create a music library for the station and running through the city on a Friday with sales rep Peter Maher to collect advertising checks. These needed to be lodged by 3pm in order to pay the DJs their weekly wage! I also purchased a giant helium balloon and attached an earth wire, filled it and let it go out the rooftop Velux window with Chris Tyler, our then engineer! I thought it would increase our medium wave signal and it did but the following morning I arrived to find the balloon hanging off the roof tiles and earth wire all over Parnell Place. We also brought out a calendar with a group photograph of the DJs and each month displayed a local advertiser’s name – I’m not sure if a copy still exists! The Arcadia on the Lower Road used to run monthly Ska Nights at the time and Luke Ward interviewed many of the visiting bands. I remember meeting members of The Beat and Selector at the studios. The station was briefly taken over one Sunday afternoon by Ógra Shinn Féin members and a recording was played on air before they left peacefully!
L-R: Eric Hansen (John Creedon) and Alan Reid (Henry Condon) at Radio City (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
RTÉ broadcaster John Creedon was among the Radio City DJs, where he was known as Eric Hansen. In the history of Cork pirates, The Jolly Roger, another local DJ Ken Tobin said his first engagement with pirate radio was when he wrote to Eric Hansen in Radio City at the age of 15, saying that he was interested and would love to get involved. ‘I was invited in to the radio station and one of the first records I ever introduced on air – I was only at the station for about an hour – was The Nick Straker Band’s “A Walk in the Park”. It must have been around 1980. I knew then that it was all I wanted to do. Nothing else – I wanted to be part of radio. That guy Eric Hansen, funny enough, people might know him today as John Creedon’.
This is a recording of the launch of Radio City in 1980. It begins with continuous music for 17 minutes interspersed with short links announcing the 199 metres wavelength (1512 kHz). Singer Tony Stevens opens the station (and a bottle of celebratory champagne) and comments that it is up to RTÉ standards both in terms of premises and presenters. He is then interviewed by Pete Andrews, who says that Radio City aims to promote a lot of Irish music and more specialist tastes, rather than just contemporary chart hits. Recorded messages of support from other Irish singers are also aired and Pete is joined in studio later by other DJs including Karl Johnson (Dan Noonan), who was also Radio City’s managing director, and breakfast presenter Mike Cagney. Listeners are invited to write to the station at 27 Parnell Place in Cork.
The untimed recording was made on Sunday 31st August 1980 from 1512 kHz. Despite the passage of time and possible issues with transmission and recording equipment, audio quality is listenable. Thanks to Lilian O’Donoghue for the donation and to Ian Biggar for assistance with research.
Tony Boylan in the Radio Galaxy studio on 28th August 1986 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).
Tony Boylan (RIP) was one of the pioneers of free radio in Ireland, operating one of the country’s first pirate stations in 1945. Set up in his bedroom in Rathmines in Dublin, the Killeen Home Service broadcast on Sunday mornings on 196 metres with a 4-mile radius. The weekly broadcasts continued until 1951 when the family moved to Ballymun, where the station was renamed as Radio 200. There was another move to Santry in 1955, where the station was renamed as Radio Galaxy and a stronger power output and better aerial gave coverage of most of the city. Radio Galaxy continued until 1965 but following pressure from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, the station changed to Saturdays, moved frequency and was renamed Radio Laxey. Radio Galaxy resumed from the late 1960s until 1986, when Tony retired to the Isle of Man. A feature across Tony’s long broadcasting career was his love of 78s vinyl, making his programmes a unique offering in the pirate era. He died in 2010 in the Isle of Man.
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
This recording features an interview with Tony on Alternative Radio Dublin (ARD) in 1980, where he was presenting a 78s show at the time. The first part of the interview covers his early involvement in pirate radio up to Radio Galaxy and ARD. The second part deals with his extensive 78s collection – then about 6,500 vinyl records – and his love of the popular music of the first part of the 20th Century. The interviewer is Eric Peters and the recording was made at the Crofton Hotel on 15th March 1980. No times or frequency are given but it appears the tape was made from medium wave due to the heterodyne whistle. Audio quality is fair at best and there are a number of edits in the recording, which is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Early Sunshine Radio crew from 1980 with Tony Allan in the centre at the top (courtesy Pat Herbert).
Tony Allan (RIP) was one of the most iconic voices of Irish pirate radio in the 1970s and 1980s. He presented on many larger stations and was heard doing voiceovers on countless other pirates throughout the country. In this recording, he is interviewed by Kieran Murray of the Free Radio Campaign Ireland outside the Sands Hotel in Portmarnock in north Co. Dublin, where Sunshine Radio was located. The station had started broadcasting less than two months previously on 29th September 1980, its launch delayed by the sabotaging of its aerial, allegedly by a rival Dublin pirate. Tony refuses to speculate about the incident and instead emphasises the professionalism of Sunshine in contrast to existing Dublin stations. He also talks about his background in the offshore station Radio Caroline.
The interview was conducted on 16th November 1980 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Ian Dempsey in the ARD/Radio 257 studios at the Crofton (courtesy Noel Hiney)
This is a selection of adverts, promos and clips from popular Dublin station ARD in 1979, including part of the station’s final day before relaunching as Radio 257 at the beginning of 1980. Included is a promo for a phone-in show presented by Ronan Collins who went on to become a household name in RTÉ. Part of Ian Dempsey’s final show on ARD is heard on 31st December 1979. There are also clips of Sylvia on the final day and of Dave Cunningham on the new Radio 257.
This recording was made by Kieran Murray from both FM and AM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
