1988 Archives - Page 5 of 24 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

23rd October 202322nd October 2023

Nails Mahoney on Sunshine 101

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.

16th October 20238th October 2023

Late night shows on Dublin’s Super Q

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Dublin super-pirate Q102 was relaunched as ‘Super Q’ in the summer of 1988, just a few months before the vast majority of pirates left the airwaves for good. The new format was introduced by US radio consultant Bill Cunningham, who had previously revamped Sunshine Radio as ‘Sunshine Hot Hits 101’ in 1986. Following the closure of Energy 103 in March 1988, Q102 and Sunshine became the largest and most successful Dublin pirates, capitalising on advertising revenue before the radio sector was legalised. Q102 closed down on 30^th December.

This recording is from the last autumn of Q102’s four-year stint and features a flavour of late-night programing. First up is Tom Brown ending his show before midnight. He is followed by Mike Duggan on the overnight slot until 0600. Given the time of night, there is little talk and no adverts, but arguably the sound is less engaging than Q102 before the rebranding, when the station had an iconic jingle package and friendly on-air style.

The tape runs from 2345-0115 on 16^th and 17^th October 1988 and was made from 102 FM. Thanks to John Breslin for the donation.

11th June 202312th June 2023

Ballincollig Community Radio from 1988

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Ballincollig Community Radio broadcast to the large Cork suburb of Ballincollig for the latter part of 1988 at the end of the pirate era. The station operated on FM only and in this recording from November 1988, station manager Margaret Mahon is heard with a mixture of country, ballads and classical music. There are community announcements, a competition for tickets to attend a local céilí and an interview with showband singer Laurie Hartz after a concert in Bandon.

The recording was made from 103.6 FM, announced as 104 on air, on 4^th November 1988. An Anoraks Ireland log from the same date recorded the address as 2, The Arcade, The Square, Ballincollig. Part 1 above runs from 1244-1330 and Part 2 below from 1331-1417.

Part 2 from 1331

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

1st June 202314th August 2023

Border series: Radio Star Country heard near and far

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One of the joys of AM broadcasting is its propagation that allows radio waves to travel long distances beyond the core listening area during the hours of darkness. In our focus on border station Radio Star Country, today we begin a series of posts showing how the Irish pirate sounded on the west coast of Norway in the late 1980s and 1990s. Recorded over 1,200 km from the transmission site on the Monaghan/Tyrone border, these tapes capture the unique audio quality of skywave reception of distant radio signals at dawn and dusk between October and March.

The first such recording begins before 0900 on 17^th November 1988, a few months after Radio Star Country began broadcasting from the Swan Lake Hotel in Monaghan Town. On air is station founder and owner Gerry Byrne with a promo for the forthcoming Radio Star Country Music Awards in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. The recording was made in Bud, western Norway from 891 kHz on a Hammarlund SP-600 JX1 receiver with a 500-metre Beverage antenna aimed towards the southwest. The antenna ran behind the barn to the left of the large white house (the rectory) on the right in the photo and received stations from Ireland, the UK, southwest Europe, Brazil and Argentina.

We thank Svenn Martinsen for his donation of these unique recordings.