Nick Richards at South Coast Radio in December 1982 (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
This is a recording of the 100th programme presented by popular South Coast Radio DJ Nick Richards in August 1982. At this stage of South Coast’s run, Nick’s Nightline show was heard on the Cork station in the late evening and early hours. Nick mentions August 14th 1967, when offshore pirate radio ships were closed down under new UK legislation, and plays music to make the occasion.
This partially airchecked recording begins just after midnight on Friday 13th August 1982 and is from 104 FM. Thanks to Lillian O’Donoghue for the donation.
Keith York in the South Coast studio (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
On the October bank holiday 1982, South Coast Radio broadcast the Top 100 love songs of all time for seven hours from 12 noon. Presented by Pete O’Neill and Keith York, the programme was produced by Hugh Browne. This recording is of the final hour of the show from 1800 on Monday 25th October and includes the full countdown from 100 to 1, read by Hugh and Keith. There are some edits and although recorded from 104 FM, audio quality is only fair in places due to either issues with recording or cassette degradation.
Both Hugh and Keith went on to work in many other pirate and licensed stations. Keith died in 2010 and Hugh in 2013. Thanks for Lillian O’Donoghue for the recording and photo.
South Coast compliments slip (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
This is Siobhán Walls presenting the South Coast Top 40 on Saturday 9th 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 25th 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.
Pete O’Neill in the South Coast studio (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
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 19th 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 2Part 3Part 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.
Don Moore (left) and ARD backer Bernard Llewellyn after a raid on 31.01.78 (photo Eric Luke/Irish Press).
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.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The recording was made on Wednesday 1st 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 15th September.
