1988 Archives - Page 8 of 25 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

15th January 202317th May 2023

Border series: early Radio Star Country broadcasts

Welcome to our special series on Monaghan station Radio Star Country, one of the longest-running Irish pirates ever. The country music station has been on the air more or less continuously since 1988 to the present day. It broadcast initially on 927 kHz, then 891 kHz, and finally (and today) 981 kHz.

Radio Star Country’s first test transmission took place on Wednesday 11^th May 1988 at 1.30pm on 927 kHz AM (324 metres medium wave) and 103.2 MHz FM, and consisted of continuous country music. The station was broadcasting from the Swan Lake Hotel in Monaghan Town and the man behind the new venture was Gerry Byrne, who had also worked on Telstar Community Radio (Dundalk), Big M Community Radio (Castleblayney) and Northern Star (Monaghan).

The recording above is the earliest known tape of Radio Star Country shortly before it began broadcasting officially. The test broadcast on 12^th May 1988 (no times were logged) consists of continuous country and Irish music and links every few records by Gerry Byrne, who invites potential DJs to apply for positions at the station. The address of the Swan Lake Hotel is given, as well as a Monaghan phone number. Both 103.3 and 103.5 FM are mentioned at different times in the broadcast. The recording below is of Gerry Byrne’s morning show from 0823-1023 on 9^th June 1988.

Gerry Byrne as heard in Blackpool on 9th June 1988.

Both tapes were made in Blackpool, England and suffer from electrical interference at times. Audio levels are variable in the test broadcast. The recordings are courtesy of DX Archive.

24th December 202214th November 2023

Final Christmas Eve on Heartbeat FM

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This is a recording of the final Christmas Eve on Dublin love song station Heartbeat FM from 1988. John Keogh is on air from an unnamed pub with plenty of festive music and requests. He reminds listeners that there are only six days left before Heartbeat closes down and the iconic ‘final countdown’ promo is aired. Adverts of interest include one for a course in computer keyboard skills and another for ‘Bros-look outfits’.

Heartbeat was launched in November 1986 and quickly gained a strong listenership due to its love song format. It changed its name to Cara 95 FM in 1987 but reverted back to Heartbeat due to popular demand. Heartbeat closed at the end of December 1988 in line with the new legislation.

The tape was recorded from 95.5 FM from 1417-1502 on 24^th December 1988 and is partly airchecked. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

23rd December 202216th December 2022

Kingdom 102 nears the end of its run

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Kingdom 102 broadcast from Killarney in Co. Kerry in 1988 at the end of the pirate era. This recording is of the final edition of the Golden Hour Show with PJ O’Neill. News on the hour is read by John Kiely. PJ was a competent presenter who had broadcast previously on earlier Killarney station WRKY but in his final show, he throws caution to the wind somewhat. John Kiely worked previously for Tralee station Kerry Local Radio. There are plenty of local festive advertisements and professional jingles and station idents. ‘The late, great Rob Orbison’ is compared by PJ to ‘the late, great Kingdom 102’, who says that the history of radio broadcasting in Ireland about to be remade.

Part 1 above runs from 1345-1430 and Part 2 below from 1440-1525. The tape was recorded from 102 FM on 23^rd December 1988. The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Part 2 from 1440.

It is not clear when exactly Kingdom 102 closed down, but it is thought to have continued until the end of the year in line with other pirates.

20th December 20228th December 2022

Limerick’s Sound Channel at Christmas 1988

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Sound Channel logo (courtesy Andy Carter).

Sound Channel broadcast from Limerick City from November 1986 to December 1988 and quickly gained a reputation as a professional operation. A rebranding in summer 1988 introduced the tagline ‘Power 98’ but in this recording both names are used, which seems to dilute the station’s identity. The DJ is Stuart Clark, formerly of the Voice of Peace and ABC in Waterford, who notes that a listener is ‘taping for posterity’, a reference to the fact that the 1980s pirate era was coming to an end. There’s mention of the Radio Nova satellite service from midnight, which was carried by many pirate stations overnight in 1988. News is from Independent Radio News in the UK and a £500 shopping voucher is given away during the show. Sound Channel/Power 98 closed down on 30^th December 1988 in line with new broadcasting legislation.

Limerick's Sound Channel at Christmas 1988 — Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Our tape was made from 98.7 FM on Thursday 20^th December 1988. Part 1 above runs from 1412-1457 and Part 2 below is from 1459-1544.

Part 2 from 1459.

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

4th November 20224th November 2022

Breakfast on Galway’s Coast 103

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Coast 103 was a popular Galway station broadcasting from the middle of 1987 until the end of 1988. Run by Keith York and Steve Marshall who had been involved with previous Galway stations Atlantic Sound and WLS, Coast later merged with Limerick station Hits 954 and eventually claimed to cover a large area from Galway to the outskirts of Cork City. This recording was made towards the end of Coast’s run and features Ger Sweeney’s upbeat breakfast show, sponsored by the Happy Spud. A promo refers to Coast being heard in Limerick, Tipperary, Kerry and Cork but all of the adverts are from Galway. Ger must have been in a rush to leave as there is continuous music at the end of his show before Shane Martin takes over.

The recording was made from 102.95 FM on 8th November 1988 from 0836-0924. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.