AM Archives - Page 28 of 50 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

22nd March 202125th April 2021

ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) from 1978

ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) was an important station in the history of Irish pirate radio, introducing professionalism and diversity to the Dublin radio scene. It was set up by Mark Story, Declan Meehan and Davitt Kelly (RIP) and made its first test broadcast on July 31^st 1976 on 217 metres. Rivalry grew between the station and the original Radio Dublin but in his book Radio Radio (1988), Peter Mulryan writes that ARD was separated from the rest of the herd by its professionalism. In 1977, Radio Dublin changed its format and began experimenting with round-the-clock broadcasting, upping the ante further. A split at Radio Dublin caused Dr. Don (Moore) to join ARD and the station moved to 1161 kHz (announced as 257 metres), right next to its rival on 253 metres. Although additional advertising revenue was coming to ARD by the end of 1977, a key boost for the station was commercial backing from businessman Bernard Llewellyn who ran an electrical shop in Phibsboro on Dublin’s northside. In January 1978, ARD moved into a Georgian building in Belvedere Place in the city centre and the station held an official launch on January 23^rd.

Following the investment, ARD became more professional and introduced specialist programmes, including a respected news service. According to Peter Mulryan, these shows were expensive and Llewellyn reverted to a more music-based policy in the first half of 1978. Two of the original station founders, Davitt Kelly and Declan Meehan also left around this time. Other frequencies used by ARD were 1152, 1143 and 1134 kHz and the station was an early FM pioneer among the Dublin pirates. It closed down on New Year’s Eve 1979 only to return as Radio 257 on New Year’s Day 1980 from the Crofton Hotel in north Dublin. By autumn that year, the station had reverted to the original ARD name. ARD closed for good in mid-1982 in the face of increased competition in the Dublin radio market.

In addition to the station’s founders, many talented broadcasters were heard on ARD/Radio 257, including John Clarke, Ronan Collins, Gerry Ryan, Mike Moran, Tony Allan, Paul Vincent, Ian Dempsey, Dave Kelly, Cathy Cregan and David Baker. The station also employed journalists such as Gene Kerrigan and Pat Brennan, both of whom went on to become established names. This airchecked recording of ARD was made between 1215 and 1522 on 23^rd April 1978 and features Dave C (Cunningham) and Paul Downey with a lunchtime requests show, followed by Arno St. Jude (Declan Meehan), who announces that the station has to close down temporarily due to technical issues. We thank Eddie Caffrey for the donation of this recording, which was made in Co. Louth.

17th March 202110th March 2024

John Clarke on KELO

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KELO began broadcasting officially on 16^th March 1981 from Swords in north Co. Dublin. This recording is of veteran broadcaster John Clarke from the following day, St. Patrick’s Day. John, who went on to work in Radio Nova and RTÉ, remembers his early involvement in KELO and believes the station’s achievements should be recognised:

‘Pirate radio from the mid-70s was forever evolving, with every station that appeared seeking to be better than the previous one. In the early incarnations, studios were in bedrooms and outhouses, with enthusiasts arriving with whatever records they had and playing them. Some were hobby DJs, others had a passion for music, others had the additional influences of the pirate ships of the 60s, in particular Radio Caroline North during the day and Radio Caroline South at night. In Ireland from 1975 pirate radio (‘unlicensed commercial’ is a better way to describe the stations) was evolving quickly, talent was beginning to shine through, technology was advancing and engineers were creative. In the early 80s the landscape was preparing for the super-pirates (Sunshine and Radio Nova), but in advance of their arrival a new station began broadcasting on 244 metres. It was once said a station is as good as its signal, so it’s worth mentioning Peter Gibney who built a great rig. By 1981 the standard of DJ had vastly improved and likeminded people gravitated to each other. And so it was with KELO. I found a set of jingles (from an American station) and these were used, giving the station a professional sound. All the DJs recruited had worked their way through many of the early pirates. Davitt Kelly, an early pioneer, did the recruiting. Brendan Lawless was the station owner and its studios were located in north Co. Dublin (Swords). The studio was well-equipped and of a high standard in its day’.

‘But what was different and unique about the station was the music: it was Top 40 in format with the addition of quality album tracks. It had a playlist of 40 songs but not necessarily 40 hits of the day, it was the station Top 40. Everyone was in unison in wanting to play these core songs. We all contributed to albums that would sound good on the station. And there was free choice as well, four an hour, but every jock used their own knowledge to mix and match what was played across any given programme. So, there was a quality control to the overall sound. The standard of jock was good, with a few showing signs of real radio talent, some of whom went on the have long careers in the industry. Another piece of the jigsaw at KELO was that the station played records in sweeps of twos and threes and kept the mindless DJ patter to a minimum. It was the humble beginnings of ‘clutter free’, which later became a benchmark for the super-pirate Radio Nova (Nova for 5 years became one of the most successful commercial radio operations in these isles). KELO rightly deserves a chapter in the radio history books, as it did something different and became successful’.

This recording of John Clarke begins at 1454 on 17^th March 1981 and was recorded in Scotland by Ken Baird, hence the DX reception. Thanks to John and Ian Biggar for their assistance. Listen here to an interview with Dave Daly about his memories of KELO.

15th March 20216th August 2021

40 years since the launch of KELO

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40 years ago today (15^th March 1981) a new pirate called KELO began testing from Swords in north Co. Dublin. KELO was a short-lived but important pirate because its music policy broke the mould: Top 40 and album tracks played back to back with minimal talk. Its frequency of 1233 kHz (244 metres) got out well and in the advertising flyer above, KELO claimed to be audible throughout Leinster and on the northwestern coast of Britain. It changed its frequency to 1566 kHz probably on July 8^th 1981, only to return to 1233 kHz after a few days. When DX Archive visited the station in mid-August, it was definitely on that frequency. Following the arrival of Radio Nova, the Dublin radio scene became more competitive in 1981 and many smaller stations fell by the wayside. According to Airsounds Newsletter from December 1981: ‘KELO Radio from Dublin closed down on 244 metres on November 11^th. Apparently, the rig was reclaimed by Peter Gibney as he was not paid for it, so he just came and took it away! It may have been sold to another station for use from a hotel in the north suburbs of the city’.

This recording features Davitt Kelly (RIP) on 15^th March 1981 starting at 1234, the day before official programming started. It was recorded by Ken Baird in Scotland, hence the DX reception. Thanks to Ian Biggar for assistance with research.

5th March 20216th August 2021

Pirate Pioneers: Radio Empathy from 1973

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Late summer of 1972 was a busy period for pirate radio in Dublin. Kieran Murray remembered one particular day in September in the first edition of his FRC Ireland Newsletter.

Of course, such increased activity prompted a proportionate response from the P&T which culminated in the raid on Radio Milinda on December 17^th. This pretty much silenced all the free radio stations in the city with the exception of one. Radio Empathy commenced broadcasts in early 1973 from the Churchtown area. The station operated on Sunday afternoons as well as some late-night transmissions on 1378 kHz. Station operator was Ed McDowell (Eoin McDonagh) who was also the main presenter on the station. Regular late night Saturday and Sunday afternoon transmissions continued every week with a power of around 100 watts. The station pioneered the use of FM in the city with broadcasts around 98 MHz.

With such a regular service it was only a matter of time before the P&T took action, which they did on April 4^th 1974. The transmitter and studio equipment was confiscated. The resulting court case on October 4^th 1974 was reported in the Irish Radio Movement’s Medium newsletter.

Ed McDowell would go to to found Capitol Radio which broadcast for the latter part of 1975 and again for three years from 1978. The recording above features Radio Empathy signing off one Sunday in 1973 or 1974 with Ed McDowell. 222 metres is announced which corresponds to 1350 kHz although presumably the actual frequency was around 1378 kHz. There were obviously some technical problems that day judging by the audio. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the text, Roger Lloyd for another gem of a recording and John Dowling for the QSL card, which was for daytime reception in County Carlow.

That concludes our mini-series on the pirate pioneers of the Dublin radio scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s, without whom the 1980s boom would never have happened. Thanks again to Ian Biggar for supplying much of the material and to all others who contributed recordings, images and information.

3rd March 20216th August 2021

Pirate Pioneers: trouble brews for Dublin pirate radio in 1972

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Following a brief period as Static Radio on 225 metres in late 1971 or early 1972, Radio Dublin re-established itself as a regular weekend broadcaster. Broadcasts resumed on 253 metres (1183 kHz) with a power of 50 watts fed into a V-antenna. At this point the station was located in Roger Lloyd’s flat in Crumlin. They were very pleased to get a reception report from a listener in Cheshire for a normal Sunday lunchtime broadcast.

Regular broadcasts were made every Sunday from noon until 2pm with Prince Terry (Roger Lloyd) and Mark T. (Mark Story) each doing an hour. The station served the young people of Dublin who had a penchant for heavier music. However, in the latter part of 1972 trouble first appeared on the horizon for the Dublin free radio stations. A white Volkswagen tracker car was spotted in the vicinity of Radio Galaxy, with the operator Tony Boylan quickly informing the other pirates in the city. The car, along with another, duly turned up in the area fairly close to Radio Dublin, which was forced to abruptly terminate its broadcasts one Sunday.

As a result, the operators of Radio Dublin decided to suspend transmissions on medium wave, with a plan to move to short wave which attracted less attention from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. Reluctantly Radio Dublin made its final broadcast for the time being in October 1972, a wise move considering the raid that followed on Radio Milinda just a few weeks later. We will cover the Milinda story in another post.

This recording, which was supplied by Roger Lloyd, features Prince Terry and Mark T. with their goodbye shows. The American jingle package of WDEE ‘the Big D’ is heard throughout. There is also a taped appearance at the end of the transmission from Ken Edwards (Sheehan), the founder of Radio Dublin. We thank Ian Biggar for the text and for sharing this rare recording.

Radio Dublin did make some transmissions on shortwave in 1973 and 1974 as the QSL received by Mike Barraclough in Herfordshire shows, as well as sporadic transmissions on 253 metres as illustrated by the QSL received by John Dowling in Carlow.