AM Archives - Page 10 of 57 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

28th February 202425th February 2024

Tony Dixon on early Sunshine Radio

Tony Dixon (RIP) was one of the popular DJs on Sunshine Radio, a large and successful pirate that broke the mould in Irish local radio when it came on the air in September 1980. In this short recording from the station’s early days, he is heard on a Sunday night programme that includes the tagline ‘Dance Radio – Sunshine 539’, highlighting the station’s emphasis on that genre of music after its launch. There’s also mention of Tamango’s nightclub that advertised heavily on Sunshine and was based next door at the Sands Hotel in Portmarnock. The tape ends with the iconic Desiderata that closed down Sunshine every night, followed by the station’s theme song ‘You are my sunshine’. Tony Dixon went on to have a career on licensed radio but died prematurely in 2010.

The airchecked recording was made from between 2000 and 2100 on 12^th January 1981 from 531 kHz AM, announced as 539 metres, and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection.

21st February 202426th February 2024

Morning shows on Echo Community Radio

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Echo Community Radio was a shortlived station broadcasting from west Dublin in the second half of 1985. First up in this recording is Dave Canning with the final part of his breakfast programme. He is followed by Workers’ Playtime presented by Gerry Marsden, a familiar name on 1980s pirates including Radio Dublin, which he went on to manage. Adverts are heard for local businesses, many in the Centrepoint Shopping Centre in Blanchardstown where Echo was located. There’s also a promo seeking DJs, newsreaders and sales representatives for the station.

Both 280 metres (1071 kHz) and 105.5 FM are announced by the DJs. The recording was made from 1071 kHz from 0918-1049 on Wednesday 7^th August 1985 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Audio quality is fair, with some distortion.

14th February 202412th February 2024

DJ Lee on Echo Community Radio

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Echo Community Radio was one of several small Dublin stations that came and went during the 1980s. It broadcast from Blanchardstown in west Dublin and was first logged by DX Archive in July 1985. The station broadcast on AM only initially and was located in the Centrepoint Shopping Centre. According to Anoraks UK Weekly Report, it closed down by January 1986. There is no known connection to the earlier Echo Radio based in Clontarf in 1982.

This recording of Echo Community Radio features DJ Lee, a familiar voice from the 1980s pirates, presenting an afternoon slot. There’s a listeners’ competition for cinema tickets but tellingly, no adverts are heard over 90 minutes of primetime radio listening. The station claimed to broadcast to the Greater Dublin Area but clearly power was low as there is co-channel intereference, likely from Radio Carousel North on the same frequency of 1071 kHz (announced by Echo as 280 metres).

The tape was made from 1555-1737 on Wednesday 26^th June 1985 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection.

16th January 202415th January 2024

Northeast series: Radio Carousel Navan as heard in Donegal

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Radio Carousel Navan was one of four stations in the Carousel network at its height in the early 1980s. The original Dundalk operation was set up by the late Hugh Hardy in 1978 and later expanded to satellite stations for Drogheda (Co. Louth), Navan (Co. Meath) and Newry (Co. Armagh and Co. Down), with a short-lived experiment in Castleblayney (Co. Monaghan). The Navan station had a high-profile location in the middle of the town’s shopping centre. Hugh Hardy began winding down the Carousel network from late 1987 and the Navan station was the last to close in June 1988.

This recording of Radio Carousel Navan was made by from 1386 kHz by station manager Kieran Murray while on holidays in Carrick, Co. Donegal, about 170km to the northwest. As expected, the signal is weak but is nonetheless an interesting example of daytime groundwave reception on a busy pirate frequency, shared with Kilkenny Community Radio and North Cork Community Radio. The Carousel AM transmiter was situated in the Navan shopping centre and ran about 400 watts. On air is Tina Anderson (Christine Reilly) with a requests programme and the voices of Kieran Murray and another DJ Mike Ahern (Richard McCullen) are heard on adverts.

The tape was made from about 1100 on 3^rd July 1984 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

15th November 202315th November 2023

Radio Nova as heard in English midlands

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By the summer of 1984, Radio Nova was riding the crest of a wave. Having endured the storm of the RTÉ jamming, the station was now broadcasting a massive 50kW of power on AM, allowing it greater penetration of the northwest of Britain. After using various FM and AM frequencies to avoid the jamming, in May 1984 Nova switched to 738 kHz and 102.7 FM only, opened an advertising office in Liverpool and began including references to England in news, weather and traffic reports.

This recording was made in the English midlands near Birmingham, south of the area being targetted by Nova in the northwest of England, southern Scotland and the Isle of Man. There is plenty of co-channel interference from the Spanish broadcaster on the same frequency of 738 kHz and deep fading consistent with night-time propagation. Transmitter power would also have been turned down to 10kW at night to minimise interference. On air is Chris Barry, a well-known DJ from the pirate era and later licensed independent radio. News on the hour is read by another familiar Nova voice, Sybil Fennell.

The recording was made on 6^th July 1984 from 2137 to 2307 and is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.