Sunshine sticker from 1986 (courtesy Pat Herbert RIP).
This recording of Dublin’s super-pirate Sunshine Radio was made in the early hours of the October bank holiday Monday 1985. Non-stop music is heard for the first twenty minutes or so, possibly from the Tamango’s nightclub at the Sands Hotel in Portmarnock where Sunshine was based. The Sunshine Radio Review of 1985 lists live music from Tamango’s from midnight to 2am every Saturday morning. This may have been the case also on the Sunday of the bank holiday weekend, although there is no mention of the club during the music sweep. News at 2am is read by Joyce Jackson, who would go on to work as a journalist in RTÉ.
The recording was donated kindly to us by Shay Geoghegan.
One of the many stations called KISS FM during the pirate era was based in Foley Street in the north inner city of Dublin and broadcast from May 1985 until October 1986. This KISS FM was owned by two German businessmen based in Cavan and managed by well-known broadcaster David Baker. The station had promise and many professional DJs, including Eamonn Kelly who is heard in this recording presenting the drivetime show on 19th December 1985. Eamonn was heard previously on other big stations such as ERI in Cork and Q102 in Dublin. In recent years, he has worked with Smooth Radio in the UK. KISS FM closed following a raid in October 1986, an event documented in detail in the book Radio Radio by Peter Mulryan (1988).
The show includes a competition for jewellery from Cut Price Gold who were heavily advertising on KISS FM at the time. Another interesting feature is the impressive range of adverts including local shops, larger businesses including McDonald’s, Penney’s, Philips audio, Cadbury’s, drinks companies and various record releases. Traffic news is courtesy of a courier company and ‘Associated Network News’ is read by Noelle Hayes.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Audio quality on the recording is fair. It sounds more like AM but the station’s 1116 kHz AM transmitter was shortlived and probably off-air at this time. The cassette label mentions 104.1 FM in mono (94 and 104.7 are announced on air). The times logged are incorrect: Part 1 above runs from 1616-1701 and Part 2 below from 1710-1755.
Part 2 from 1710
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
This recording of Gerard Roe’s Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show on Radio Annabel dates from spring 1985. As usual, the FRC kicks of with the news from the same week in the previous year, including RTÉ jamming of Radio Nova. There’s a feature about Irish pirate radio by a US station in 1982, including an interview with Sunshine Radio’s Robbie Robinson. Gerard complains about the crowded FM band in Dublin and criticises irresponsible behaviour and poor technical quality among some pirate operators. There’s also a 1981 recording of an RTÉ spoof on the pirates called ‘Grot Radio’ and recordings from the same year when the radio ship the MV Lieve was being kitted out in Dublin.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The programme was recorded from 1730-1812 on Sunday 3rd February 1985 from 91.8 FM. There was a late start due to technical issues and signal quality is fair. Radio Annabel also broadcast on 1323 kHz, announcing 227 metres. This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes 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.
Current view of Kiltartan House in Galway city centre where WLS was located first (photo J. Walsh).
Automated overnight radio is the norm these days, but many pirate stations broadcast live programmes around the clock. In this recording of Galway station WLS from winter 1985, Mike Hosty finishes his late night show before handing over to JJ (Jeremy James, formerly of the Voice of Peace) from midnight to 0600. The voice of the late Tony Allan is heard on adverts and the station’s AM frequency of 846 kHz is also announced.
This recording was made on 28th and 29th November 1985 from 2340-0025. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Close-up of WLS letterhead, 1986 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
This recording of Galway pirate WLS Music Radio features one of the station founders, Don Stevens, on the breakfast programme. Made on a frosty morning in Galway a month before Christmas, it begins with the ‘coffee break’ easy listening segment aimed at ‘housewives’. The musical choice includes some country and Christmas songs. There’s also a promo for a local charity event.
Cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
This recording was made on 26th November 1985 from 0906-0953. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
