1982 Archives - Page 4 of 19 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

28th October 202223rd October 2022

South Coast Top 40 with Siobhán Walls

This is Siobhán Walls presenting the South Coast Top 40 on Saturday 9^th October 1982. The recording begins at 1400 and is partially edited. It was recorded from 104 FM in mono and audio quality is fair with some distortion in places.

Siobhán’s radio career spanned both pirates and legal stations. She was involved in the early days of Sunshine Radio in Dublin, reading her first news bulletin on 25^th November 1980. She was appointed Head of News in Sunshine in November 1981 and also did a late-night show at weekends. In August 1982, she moved to South Coast Radio and would later work in another big Cork station, ERI. In the licensed era, Siobhán presented a late night show on the doomed national independent station Century Radio (1989-1991) and worked in television production in the 1990s. She is now a celebrant with the Humanist Association of Ireland. Thanks to Lillian O’Donoghue for background information and the recording.

19th October 202217th October 2022

Cork’s South Coast Radio Top 40

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In its first year on air, Cork’s popular new station South Coast Radio broadcast its own Top 40 on Saturday afternoons with a repeat on Tuesday nights. This show from Saturday 19^th June 1982 is presented by Pete O’Neill, who is standing in for Mark Lawrence. The usual mix of local and agency adverts is heard throughout, evidence of South Coast’s growing success in the Cork radio market. The Top 40 is followed by the favourite records of the station’s DJs that week. There are no timechecks in the recording, presumably because it would be repeated. The final section below also contains snippets of Nick Richards, Tony Allan and Hugh Browne from what seem to be other editions of the Top 40 show.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 and clips of other Top 40 shows

Audio quality is fair to good with some distortion in places. The recording was made from 104 FM and is courtesy of Lillian O’Donoghue.

10th October 202229th September 2022

Dr Don’s final show on ARD

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This is a recording of the final show by the late Don Moore on ARD in September 1982, towards the end of the station’s run. Dr Don, as he was known on air, was credited with developing ARD into a serious player in the Dublin radio market at the end of the 1970s and start of the 1980s.

The lunchtime show features Don’s trademark zaniness with comic inserts and jokes, some of which would be off-colour by today’s standards. Don was an irreverant broadcaster, but the fact that ARD was coming to an end probably meant that he was even less concerned about ruffling feathers. Although Don makes no farewell announcement at the end of the show, he doesn’t commit to returning the following day. Taking over at 2pm, the next DJ Seán Hannon hopes that Don will be back sometime in the future. The label on the cassette itself refers to ‘Dr Don final’ so it seems likely that this was his last show.

The recording was made on Wednesday 1^st September 1982 from 99.9 FM between 1301-1413. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. ARD closed just over two weeks later on 15^th September.

5th September 20224th September 2022

Gerard Roe on Radio Dublin Channel 2 (15 December 1982)

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Gerard Roe presented the Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show on Radio Dublin Channel 2 from 1982-1984. The FRC quickly became popular with watchers of the Irish radio scene at home and abroad. It was broadcast on a Wednesday evening from 2000-2100 on Channel 2 and repeated on Sunday morning from 1100-1200 on the shortwave station Westside Radio International.

This edition of the FRC begins with Gerard’s usual recap of news items from a year before, when many Dublin stations were off the air due to a snow storm. Gerard notes that Big D is back on AM after a break and plays a recording of a discussion about local radio between James Dillon of Big D and Jim Kemmy of Radio 257 on 1st January 1980. There is news about the offshore Radio Caroline and Dublin pirates using the same name and KELO is said to be behind the relay of Radio Nova on 298 metres. The start of Christmas station Radio Snowflake on 199 metres is also noted.

Channel 2 was established in April 1982 on FM only as a specialist opt-out service from Radio Dublin. It began on FM only but later added AM. There were technical problems due to lack of investment and poor audio quality because of bleedthrough from the powerful transmiters in close proximity. The signal was often weak on AM and FM was limited to the Inchicore area. Interference from Radio Dublin Channel 1 can be heard clearly on this recording, which was made from 98.8 FM from 2001-2110 on 15^th December 1982.

This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. Listen here to Pirate.ie Podcast #10 featuring our interview with Gerard Roe about his memories of pirate radio.

8th July 20228th July 2022

Album tracks with Nick Richards on South Coast Radio

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This is a recording of Nick Richards on South Coast Radio from the summer of 1982. Nick is sitting in for Keith York on his Saturday evening slot and plays tracks from the station’s albums of the week. South Coast was on the air for almost three months at this stage, so it is surprising that no adverts are broadcast, although a promo encouraging businesses to advertise is aired a few times.

The recording was made from 104 FM on 23rd May 1982 and runs from 1843-1928. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation.