1985 Archives - Page 12 of 20 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

10th April 202210th April 2023

Dublin’s Favourite 50 on Q102

Q102 logo from 1987 (Alan MacSimoin collection).

Q102 was one of the largest and most successful 1980s ‘super-pirates’ in Dublin. Priding itself as Irish-owned in contrast with other big stations Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio, it launched on January 23^rd 1985 and quickly established a foothold in the Dublin market. In March 1988, Q102 took over the transmitters and equipment of Energy 103 after its sudden closure, given it a range of AM and FM frequencies in the capital. It was relaunched as ‘Super Q 102’ in summer 1988 and closed down on December 30^th in line with new broadcasting legislation.

Dublin's Favourite 50 on Q102 — Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording was made on Easter Monday, 8^th April 1985 and features Dublin’s Favourite 50 with Scott Williams, still a familiar name on the Dublin radio scene. News on the hour is read by Gary Hamill. Part 1 above runs from 1238-1326 and Part 2 below from 1326-1414.

Part 2 from 1326

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

10th February 202214th February 2022

Morning shows on Boyneside Radio in 1985

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This is a selection of clips from morning programmes on Boyneside Radio in 1985, recorded from its Drogheda FM transmitter on 98.1 MHz in stereo. First up is the 7am bulletin, seemingly pre-recorded and featuring news from Northern Ireland. This is followed by the Dara Nelson breakfast show, which includes an interesting promo covering all Boyneside’s frequencies, a Pause for Thought, news headlines at 8am with Áine Ní Ghuidhir and the Top 30 countdown. Next up is the mid-morning show presented by Dave C., including news at 10am, which reports a car bomb blast in Newry just a short time before.

This airchecked recording was made on 6^th March 1985 between 0700 and 1000. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. It was recorded originally by Kieran Murray. Further material from this collection can be found on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

21st August 202117th August 2021

Alternative listening with the Sunshine Cake

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The Sunshine Cake was a specialist programme broadcast by Sunshine Radio on Sunday mornings from 1985 on its FM frequency only, as an alternative to the station’s regular output on AM. It was a good example of the creativity of some of the pirates in using the existing technology to serve a broader audience, and also a reminder that niche programming was not only done by RTÉ.

In a feature in the Sunshine Review of 1985, presenter Justin McKenna wrote: ‘The idea for the Sunshine Cake was hatched when it became obvious that there was not one single programme on Irish radio which catered for the over 30 listener who enjoyed a wide range of music’. The Sunshine Cake included classical, jazz, blues and comedy slots and gained a regular audience around Dublin. In an interesting commentary on the continued dominance of AM radio in 1985, McCarthy wrote: ‘It’s been gratifying to note that a lot of the younger audience, who I would have expected to move down to the medium wave band, have stayed with FM and listened to the Cake’.

This recording was made from 101 FM from 1025-1122 on Sunday 31^st March 1985. It includes the comedy slot and a diverse musical mix, a cinema review with Paul Vincent and a voice competition.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

26th June 20211st May 2022

Weekend sport on Waterford Local Radio

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WLR logo (courtesy of Colin Kennedy).

This is another recording of Waterford Local Radio (WLR) made on Saturday 18^th March 1985 from 1205-1250. It begins with the end of the Weekend Sport programme presented by Martin Harte with sports headlines read by Eleanor Kirby. At 1230 Jeff Harris takes over with the WLR Top 30, promising an interview with the band The Blades and prizes of LPs in a listeners’ competition. Of interest again is the large number of ads featuring businesses from Waterford City, Tipperary and Wexford, giving a sense of WLR’s coverage in the southeast. There is a short break in audio at around 09:30 but we don’t know if this was a problem in the transmission or a fault with the recording itself.

The recording was made from 100 FM, the link frequency to the main 88.8 FM transmitter. WLR also broadcast on 1197 kHz AM. We thank John Breslin for his donation.

25th June 202125th June 2021

Saturday breakfast on WLR

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This is a recording of Waterford Local Radio (WLR) on Saturday 18^th March 1985 from 0805-0850. Tommy O’Keeffe is on air with the weekend breakfast show.

The long commercial breaks are evidence of the station’s success locally, with a wide range of local businesses advertising with WLR. Our vote for the best ad is for the plant and pet shop selling budgies for £5 each! The sound is slick and professional and is a good indication of the high standard reached by many pirates.

The recording was made from 100 FM and was kindly donated to us by John Breslin.