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Rick Dees with the Weekly Top 40 on Radio Nova

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Rick Dees with the Weekly Top 40 on Radio Nova
Rick Dees in 1986 at KIIS-FM. By Larry Bessel, Los Angeles Times – https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz0002w1c0, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=130241684

The American DJ Rick Dees was a familiar voice to Irish radio listeners in the 1980s thanks to the syndication of his Weekly Top 40 show on Radio Nova in Dublin. Dees worked at KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, a station that strongly influenced the original format of Radio Nova, and the Weekly Top 40 was launched in 1983 with an initial syndication on 18 stations. It continues to be produced and has since aired on over 200 stations around the world.

This recording of the Weekly Top 40 is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. It was made on Saturday 1st December 1984 from Radio Nova on 102.7 FM between 1157-1235 and 1240-1328. The familiar high-level agency adverts generated by Nova are heard in commercial breaks. News is read on the hour by David Johnson (Andrew Hanlon), who went on to a career in licensed independent media in Ireland.

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Barry Falvey on All-Night Sunshine

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Barry Falvey on All-Night Sunshine
Feature on Barry Falvey from Sunshine Review 1985 (courtesy DX Archive).

Live overnight radio is rare these days, so a historical recording of a DJ made in the early hours is always of interest. This tape features Barry Falvey on All-Night Sunshine from 1984, during a sustained jamming campaign against the station by RTÉ. Along with the usual requests and dedications, there is a look-back at 1970 and a mixture of chart music and oldies. The voice of Sunshine’s owner and director Robbie Dale is heard on some adverts. News on the hours is read by Justin McKenna, who refers to RTÉ’s jamming on AM and FM, going on for 6 weeks at that stage although this broadcast isn’t affected. After the pirates in the 1990s, Barry Falvey went on to work as a journalist in RTÉ under his real name Éamon Falvey.

This recording was made from 531 kHz AM on Friday 4th May 1984 from 0030-0205 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Sunshine Radio also broadcast on 100.5 and 101.5 FM at this time.

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Sunshine Radio protests against RTÉ jamming

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Sunshine Radio protests against RTÉ jamming
Sunshine Radio sticker (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Frustrated by the commercial success of the large Dublin stations Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio and by the failure of politicians to regulate the radio market, RTÉ began jamming the pirates in 1984 by broadcasting on the same frequencies. At the beginning of the year, RTÉ stepped up its jamming campaign against Nova before moving to block the signal of Sunshine Radio at the end of March. The actions caused consternation due to the popularity of the stations and politicians, including the Minister for Communications, expressed their concern in the Dáil. The jamming ended in May, reportedly after intervention from the government.

These airchecked recordings are of Sunshine Radio’s news bulletins about a week into the RTÉ campaign after the station’s FM frequencies were jammed. Managing Director Robbie Robinson is quoted as saying that Sunshine Radio was like a moped being chased by a 10-ton truck. Newsreaders are Cathy Cregan, Stephen Fogarty, Justin McKenna and Gary Miley. The bulletins are from Wednesday 4th April 1984 at 1200, 1300, 1400, 1600 and 2400 and the tape also includes an excerpt from Robinson’s morning show the following day. The recording was made from 531 kHz AM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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Colm Hayes on Radio Nova breakfast

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Colm Hayes on Radio Nova breakfast
Colm Hayes during the raid on Nova in 1983 (courtesy Joe King).

By the summer of 1984, Dublin super-pirate Radio Nova was benefiting from the end of the RTÉ jamming campaign that had plagued it during the first few months of the year. Pumping out 50 kW on 738 kHz AM and a strong signal on 102.7 MHz FM, Nova was reaching the northwest of England and had opened an advertising office in London. However, a bitter strike with the National Union of Journalists dragged on over the summer and damaged the station’s reputation with advertisers in Ireland. The protracted dispute would eventually contribute to Nova’s closure in March 1986.

This recording features Colm Hayes on the breakfast show the day after Bob Dylan’s concert at Slane Castle in Co. Meath. Reflecting the wide coverage area, weather forecasts are read out for ‘the Bay Area’ and for Wales, northwest England and Scotland. There is also some UK advertising, a postal address in London and audio bumpers for areas around Liverpool. Other features are the Nova Radio Bingo, the daily Job Spot and a sweep of oldies. News headlines are read by the late Bob Gallico.

The tape was made from 102.7 FM on Monday 9th July 1984 from 0903-0952 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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Lawrence John on overnight Radio Nova

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Lawrence John on overnight Radio Nova
Nova car sticker from the 738 days (courtesy Ian Biggar)

This recording of Dublin super-pirate Radio Nova is of an overnight show presented by Lawrence John, who was involved in a range of 1980s Irish pirates including Radio Leinster, KISS AM/FM (Dublin), Q102 and KISS FM (Monaghan, where he was known as John Friday). Given the time of night, the music is laidback and talk is limited to occasional requests, including one for veteran offshore DJ Don Allen of Radio West in Mullingar. There are no adverts, although a promotion for a £10,000 cash giveaway is heard at the top of the hour.

The tape was made from 102.7 FM between 0036-0125 on Monday 9th July 1984 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.