AM Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

13th September 20245th September 2024

Sunshine Radio protests against RTÉ jamming

Frustrated by the commercial success of the large Dublin stations Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio and by the failure of politicians to regulate the radio market, RTÉ began jamming the pirates in 1984 by broadcasting on the same frequencies. At the beginning of the year, RTÉ stepped up its jamming campaign against Nova before moving to block the signal of Sunshine Radio at the end of March. The actions caused consternation due to the popularity of the stations and politicians, including the Minister for Communications, expressed their concern in the Dáil. The jamming ended in May, reportedly after intervention from the government.

These airchecked recordings are of Sunshine Radio’s news bulletins about a week into the RTÉ campaign after the station’s FM frequencies were jammed. Managing Director Robbie Robinson is quoted as saying that Sunshine Radio was like a moped being chased by a 10-ton truck. Newsreaders are Cathy Cregan, Stephen Fogarty, Justin McKenna and Gary Miley. The bulletins are from Wednesday 4^th April 1984 at 1200, 1300, 1400, 1600 and 2400 and the tape also includes an excerpt from Robinson’s morning show the following day. The recording was made from 531 kHz AM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

4th September 202429th August 2024

Mid-morning on KLAS Radio

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KLAS Radio was one of the second wave of 1990s pirates to defy the new broadcasting legislation that came into force in the Republic of Ireland at the beginning of 1989. It broadcast from 1991 until 1993 from just south of the border in Co. Monaghan, a short distance from Aughnacloy in Co. Tyrone. This recording was made shortly after KLAS began broadcasting. There are adverts for businesses mostly in Aughnacloy, linked to a local festival that was in full swing at the time. An advertising promo says that KLAS is broadcasting from the deliberately vague ‘North of Ireland’ and gives phone numbers for both sides of the border. KLAS had a good signal locally on AM but reception was hampered further afield by the presence of local radio stations in the north of England on the same or adjacent frequencies. There was no link between KLAS and the easy-listening station of the same name in Dublin (1986-1988), established by the late Hugh Hardy of Radio Carousel.

The recording was made from 828 kHz AM on 19^th July 1991 between 1105-1150 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. The DJ is Michael Barry and he plays a mixture of pop and oldies. Audio quality is good but there is some background signal noise in places and a technical issue with the recording towards the end.

23rd August 202419th August 2024

Radio Dublin rallies support for pirates following 1983 raids

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Radio Dublin was one of the few stations in Dublin to continue broadcasting following the raids on the super-pirates Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio in 1983. As other stations left the airwaves temporarily as a precaution or closed down entirely, DJs flocked to Inchicore Road to rally support for independent radio, using the microphones of Radio Dublin.

This recording is from two days after the first fateful raid on Radio Nova on 18^th May. Finishing up his show is Dónal Clancy, who says that Radio Dublin is broadcasting on behalf of all the other radio stations around Ireland, somewhat of an exaggeration as many pirates outside Dublin stayed on the air. He is followed by the weekly book show presented by Gerry Jones (of Dusty’s Trail fame), who claims that the station’s phone lines have been jammed. Next up is the country and western show with Paul Downey, which is interspersed by chat with DJs from Radio Dublin and other pirate stations. Listeners are reminded to pick up petitions to lobby politicians for independent radio, and a march is be held in Dublin the following Friday.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 1188 kHz AM between 1921-2006 and 2026-2111 on Friday 20^th May 1983.

14th August 20245th August 2024

Evening show on KELO from Swords

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KELO broadcast from Swords in north Co. Dublin for about nine months in 1981. Although short-lived, the station broke the mould by playing chart and album tracks back to back with a minimum of talk and many talented DJs were heard on the air. For most of its existence KELO broadcast on 1233 kHz, announcing 244 metres, and DX Archive reported that a weak signal could be heard in Scotland. However, 1981 was a turning point in Dublin radio due to the arrival of Radio Nova and the growth of the other large pirate Sunshine Radio, causing many smaller stations, including KELO, to go to the wall.

This recording from about a week after KELO began broadcasting on 15^th March features an aircheck of the first show by Marty Moore in his early evening slot from 1700-1900. Branded station jingles and adverts for local businesses are heard and the musical choice is mostly chart and pop. There is a sense of a new station still finding its feet: the DJ slips up once or twice, audio levels are variable and the signal is fair, perhaps because the recording was made outside the core reception area in north Dublin.

The tape was made on Monday 23^rd March 1981 from 1233 kHz and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

2nd August 20242nd August 2024

Peter Madison in the afternoon on Big D

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English DJ Peter Madison (RIP) was a familiar voice on Irish pirates big and small in the 1980s, ranging from Big D and Boyneside Radio to Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova. In this recording of Big D from summer 1981, Aidan Cooney signs off at the end of his lunchtime show before handing over to Peter, who is presenting his final show using the name Skip Cameron although he says that ‘Peter Madison’ is to take over the slot on Monday. There are listeners’ favourites, plenty of requests and the ‘mystery voice’ competition, featuring none other than Chris Cary, who had launched Radio Nova about a month previously.

Peter chats in studio to his producer John Kenny (now with RTÉ Sport), Jason Maine and Tony Allan (RIP) who jokes that many DJs are moving to Portmarnock, referring to the success of Sunshine Radio that was launched the previous autumn. Advertisements include a live-read for Jett’s Nightclub near Dublin Airport, from where Big D broadcast live on Saturday nights.

Big D (1978-1982) broadcast on 1116 kHz AM (announcing 273 metres) and on 98.5 FM at this time. The airchecked recording was made on Friday 26^th June 1981 from AM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.