1989 Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

28th August 20248th September 2024

Border series: Evening requests and hits on Riverside 101

Riverside 101 was one of the second wave of pirates that defied the new legislation in 1988 that was supposed to silence unlicensed radio in Ireland. It was set up by Frankie McLoughlin and managed by Steve Marshall, both of whom had worked at Radio Nova (1986-88) in Fahan on the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal. Previously, Steve had co-founded Galway pirates WLS and Coast 103.

Broadcasting from just over the border in Bridgend, Co. Donegal, Riverside initially focused on Derry City before expanding to cover a larger area of the northwest. It was first noted on 101 FM by Rodney Neil in May 1989 but was broadcasting overnight only from 11pm to 7am at the time. In a letter to Ian Biggar, he said that the station was running quite a few adverts. It was thought that the signal strength was around 100 watts initially. The final edition of Anoraks UK Weekly Report on 9^th September 1989 noted that Riverside could be received in Derry City but not much further afield. Around this time the station began a 24-hour schedule.

In an entry on DX Archive, Steve Marshall said that he formatted Riverside and ran a £500 giveaway in the early days to attract listeners. He recalled that the station received a visit from the Department of Communications in Dublin but that they could not carry out a raid because the transmitter was on a raft in a river straddling the border and the studios were located in Derry.

Riverside 101 took over the transmitter of the other pirate WABC on 101.7 in Shroove, Co. Donegal after it closed down on 1^st April 1991. That gave the station coverage in the likes of Coleraine as far as the Causeway Coast, whereas before that Riverside aimed at Derry. An advertising leaflet published after the expansion of coverage claimed 500,000 potential customers in the northwest. The station had 22 staff at that time and claimed a 42% market share in Derry, Donegal and Tyrone.

Riverside 101 closed just after 1am on 21^st October 1993 after receiving a licence to broadcast to the northwest region. The transmitter on the border on 100.1 was switched off but the station returned the following morning at 6am from the same studio as Q102 and later became part of Northern Ireland’s Q Radio network. Interestingly the former WABC transmitter on 101.7 remained on air relaying Q102 but was eventually moved to 102.9.

This recording of Riverside 101 is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 100.1 FM from 2130-2306 on Thursday 28^th December 1989. The DJ is Mike Henry and there are plenty of requests from listeners on both sides of the border and adverts from the northern side, reflecting the new legislation in the Republic that penalised businesses advertising on pirate radio. There is some distortion in the audio either due to the recording itself or an issue with transmission. Thanks to Ian Biggar for assistance with research.

14th June 20233rd June 2023

Border series: Radio Star Country breakfast show heard in Norway

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This recording of Radio Star Country from western Norway was made almost a year after the Monaghan station defied the new broadcasting laws and stayed on air, one of a handful of Irish pirates to do so. Isobel Byrne (RIP), the wife of station founder and owner Gerry Byrne presents the breakfast programme. There are very long commercial breaks, featuring mostly Northern businesses and releases and concerts by country music stars. The voice of former offshore pirate legend Don Allen (RIP) is heard on adverts and promos remind listeners that Radio Star Country is Ireland’s only country music station.

Audio quality ranges from poor to dire with deep fading and is for serious DXers. There is also wobble on the tape in places due to the passage of time. The recording was made from 981 kHz from 0833-0915 on 5^th November 1989 in Solsvik in western Norway, using a Drake SPR-4 receiver with a 200-metre Beverage antenna aimed towards the southwest. It is kindly donated by Svenn Martinsen.

7th June 20233rd June 2023

Border series: non-stop Radio Star Country as heard in Norway

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This recording of Radio Star Country was made in Solsvik in western Norway, northwest of Bergen and facing the North Sea. It features non-stop music in early 1989, not long after all the Irish pirates were suposed to leave the airwaves in the new era of licensed radio. The automated programme includes a promo voiced by the late Don Allen announcing the frequency of 981 kHz or 305 metres, to which Radio Star Country had moved a few weeks previously. The Swan Lake Hotel in Monaghan Town is referenced as the station’s address and a number in Armagh is given for advertising. After 25 minutes the tape changes to another recording featuring a male DJ and adverts for businesses north and south of the border. It is not clear if this was recorded on the same day or on another occasion.

The press photo is from the newspaper Vestnytt on September 4^th 1996 and shows the donor of this recording, Svenn Martinsen with his receivers ESKA RX33 DX, Drake SPR-4, Hammarlund SP600 JX21 and Autophon E627. The headline translates as ‘Radioactive priest’, reflecting Svenn’s profession. He recalls: ‘I mostly used the Drake SPR-4 for listening to Radio Star Country 981, Radio North 846, North Atlantic 846, 954 and 1116 and other Irish stations’.

Due to the distance between the transmitter and receiver, there is deep fading at various points in the tape, with the Algerian station on the same frequency coming through underneath. The recording was made on 16^th February 1989 from 0745-0813 on a Drake SPR-4 receiver with a 200-metre Beverage antenna aimed towards the southwest from the western Norwegian coast. Many thanks to Svenn for the donation.

10th February 202317th May 2023

Border series: Interview with Don Allen of Radio Star Country

Video recorded by Miles Johnston and donated by Rodney Neill.

The legendary pirate DJ Don Allen (RIP) joined Radio Star Country in March 1989. Canadian by birth, Don cut his teeth with the offshore pirates such as Radio Caroline and Radio Northsea International in the 1960s and 1970s, where he became renowned for his country and western jamboree shows. He came to Ireland in the early 1980s and prior to the closedowns of 1988 worked with pirates such as ERI (Cork), Royal County Radio (Meath), Radio West (Westmeath) and Erneside Radio (Cavan). Don’s last station was the licensed Midlands Radio 103 (now Midlands 103) where he hosted a popular country show until his sudden death in May 1995.

This video from 17^th May 1989 contains shots of Radio Star Country’s transmission equipment and includes part of an interview with Don Allen, who says he remains a pirate to the core and has no interest in working for licensed radio. Don reports that the Irish and American country format is proving very popular with listeners and advertisers and indeed, around this time Radio Star Country was announcing itself as the only all-country music station in Ireland. By mid-June 1989, Radio Star Country was noted with an excellent signal on 981 kHz, along with many adverts. The final edition of Anoraks UK’s Weekly Report, published in September 1989, stated that Radio Star Country could be heard over a wide area from Larne in Co. Antrim to Malin Head in Co. Donegal, with the signal also audible on a simple receiver in Dublin and over a large area of north Leinster.

We thank Rodney Neill for his donation of the video, which was made originally by Miles Johnston. Thanks also to Sean Brady for assistance with the text.

3rd February 202317th May 2023

Border series: ‘305, keeping the country music alive’

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Radio Star Country has always been a champion of country music and during the heady days of early 1989, it used the tagline ‘305, keeping the country music alive’, a reference to its wavelength in metres, roughly equivalent to 981 kHz. On 3^rd March 1989, veteran country music artist Vernon Oxford, who hails from Arkansas, was featured in an edition of ‘Arena’ on BBC2, in which he travelled around Northern Ireland. Vernon Oxford also visited Radio Star Country in the Swan Lake Hotel in Monaghan, where station owner Gerry Byrne interviewed him and offered Vernon the opportunity to sing live on-air. It was at this time, in March 1989, that it was noted that Radio Star Country was enjoying a successful period, with an excellent (daytime) signal on 981 kHz, plenty of advertisements and strongly featured station promos. Around this time also, ex-Kiss FM (Monaghan) DJ John Friday (also known as Lawrence John) was heard voicing adverts on Radio Star Country.

On the morning of Friday 17^th March 1989, Radio Star Country was noted off-air, apparently as a result of a visit from officials from the Department of Communications. The station was warned that it would be raided and closed down if it did not cease transmissions. Radio Star Country did switch off its transmitter for a time, but returned later.

Ian Biggar, who donated many recordings for this series, shares his memories of Radio Star Country:

In late July 1988, myself and Ken Baird were on a flying visit to Monaghan Town but of course made time to visit the radio stations operating at that time. Radio Star Country was one of the four and was located in the Swan Lake Hotel. It was very much typical of the mid-range stations of the time with domestic equipment in the studio, but generally was a nice little set up.

To be honest, after that visit I probably didn’t listen to the station again as country music wasn’t really my thing and tended to tune to such stations just to check they were there. Radio Star Country had a decent signal at home in southwest Scotland initially on 927 kHz, then 891 and finally on 981 kHz where it remains to this day.

That all changed on January 1^st 1989 when the new broadcasting law was introduced in Ireland. I can clearly remember that Sunday morning and tuning across the now deserted medium wave. On 1188 kHz there was just a mess with a distorted relay of World Music Radio. Surprisingly, 846 kHz was silent as it was rumoured that of all the stations, Radio North from Carndonagh was most likely to defy the legislation. However, tuning to 891 kHz I was surprised and pleased to hear that Radio Star Country was on the air. I don’t think I had heard any rumblings about Star remaining on air, but there it was. It was around 10am and a taped programme was running and I can clearly remember one of the commercials wishing the station all the best for its continuation on air. From then on, I probably listened to the station most days whilst driving to work. I would tune between Star, Radio Dublin and Radio North which had returned to the air.

There were times when Radio Star Country was off air and I would always monitor the channel until they returned, which it always did! I remember one occasion in particular after a break that Gerry Byrne announced the station was now broadcasting from County Tyrone. This was for the benefit of the authorities and the station remained located in north Monaghan. I had now developed an affinity for the station. Yes, the music wasn’t to my taste, but the sheer determination to survive appealed to me.

In this recording from March 1989, Gerry Byrne is on air and the ‘305’ tagline is heard. The voice of popular Canadian country DJ Don Allen (RIP), who joined around this time, features on some of the many adverts from both sides of the border. Audio quality is poor on some commercials, possibly due to a dirty cassette deck. There are also community notices, a promo for ‘All-American Country’ coming up at 3pm and information about transport to a country music concert in Dublin.

The recording was made from 981 kHz on 1^st March 1989. Part 1 above runs from 1430-1517 and Part 2 below from 1518-1603.

The recording was made by Rodney Neill and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation and to Sean Brady for assistance with the text.