1988 Archives - Page 3 of 23 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

18th December 202317th December 2023

Hits and requests on KITS from Monaghan

KITS car sticker (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Monaghan has long been an important county for pirate radio, with various stations over the years taking advantage of proximity to the Northern market. One late arrival to the 1980s pirate scene was Hot Hits KITS from Monaghan Town, which began test tranmissions at the end of 1987. The Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 20^th December noted non-stop music and idents on 100.9 FM and the following edition reported that live transmissions began during Christmas week. Professional PAMS jingles were to be produced and the station was described as one of Monaghan’s two ‘border blasters’ along with KISS FM which was conducting tests at that time.

Hits and requests on KITS from Monaghan — Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

In this evening show with Simon Dee, adverts and requests are heard from both sides of the border. The recording was made from 100.9 FM (announced as 101) on 27^th April 1988 between 1812-1858. KITS also broadcast on 837 kHz AM and closed down permanently in the afternoon of 31^st December 1988. The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

13th December 20238th December 2023

Late night requests on Radio Vera from Limerick

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Radio Vera was a Limerick station broadcasting towards the end of the 1980s pirate era. Launched in late 1987, it was linked to an existing city station, Radio Munster with which it shared a building in William Street. Radio Vera aimed its programmes at the 15-34 age cohort, featuring pop music, chat, news, sports and local interviews. It claimed to be one of the few Limerick stations available over a 50-mile radius around Limerick City and its advertising brochures included maps covering most of the southwest of Ireland. Radio Vera closed at the end of 1988 along with other pirate stations.

This tape was made from 97.7 FM on 14^th November 1988 from 2230-2307 and features Jeff Graham with a late-night requests show. News at the top of the hour is read by Edwina and adverts cover Limerick and north Kerry. The recording is of fair reception quality as it was made outside the core broadcasting area. We thank John Breslin for the donation.

28th October 202328th October 2023

Paul Barnett (RIP) on WABC

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Paul Barnett (RIP) was involved in pirate radio in Donegal and since the late 1990s was the operator of the long-running AM station Radio North until his death in October 2023. Another station associated with Paul was WABC, which he launched on FM in September 1987. WABC left the airwaves along with the other pirates at the end of 1988 but returned in mid-1989 from the village of Greencastle. The signal was beamed across Northern Ireland and could also be heard in parts of Scotland. The station even had two separate channels for a time, WABC Hot Hits and WABC Gold. Paul left Donegal in 1991 to pursue radio interests in the UK but returned to Ireland in the late 1990s when he revived WABC for a time and took over operation of Radio North.

This recording of WABC from 101.7 FM was made between 1019 and 1105 on 7^th July 1988 and features Paul on air, using the name Paul Bentley. It is courtesy of Ian Biggar.

23rd October 202322nd October 2023

Nails Mahoney on Sunshine 101

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Bee Bop Gold was a hugely popular oldies show broadcast on Dublin super-pirate Sunshine Radio towards the end of its eight-year run on air, by which time the station had been rebranded as Sunshine Hot Hits 101. The presenter was Nails Mahoney, who would go on to have a successful radio and television career in Ireland, the UK and Canada, including on longwave giant Atlantic 252.

This tape features a special late-night bank holiday edition of Bee Bop Gold, featuring hits from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. An animated Nails Mahoney takes requests from listeners on air and promotes a competition. The show is sponsored by health supplements company Seven Seas and commercial breaks contain high-level agency adverts indicating the commercial success of Sunshine 101. There are several references to a radio survey in 1988 that put the station first in Dublin, an achievement that is also centre-stage in the advertisement above.

Our recording was made from 101 FM on 30^th and 31^st October 1988 between 2307 and 0037. It is courtesy of John Breslin.

18th October 202318th October 2023

Late-night love songs on Heartbeat FM

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Heartbeat FM was a popular 1980s Dublin station specialising in love songs. It was launched in November 1986 and was rebranded as Cara FM the following year, before reverting to Heartbeat because its audience preferred the original name. The station closed down at the end of 1988 to comply with new broadcasting legislation. The love song format proved highly popular and was used by some pirates that continued into the 1990s including Radio Dublin.

This recording was made towards the end of the station’s run and features Ian Turner’s evening show with plenty of requests from loyal listeners and a remind that Heartbeat is the most listened to specialist station in Dublin according to the latest radio survey. Ian is followed by Maurice Nevin (RIP) with his Radio Late show until the early hours. The tape was made between 2135 and 2305 on 11^th November 1988 from 95.5 FM and is courtesy of John Breslin.