Undated photo of ERI’s studio at White’s Cross, Cork (Anoraks Ireland Collection).
By 1985, ERI was well-established as the leading pirate station in Cork and claimed coverage of the entire Munster region on AM and FM. This recording is of an afternoon show presented by Liam Quigley, who went on to work in various licensed stations after the closedown of the pirates. Adverts include a mixture of brands and local businesses from Cork to Limerick and there is a job search slot and a promo for the forthcoming ERI Nike road race. News headlines are read by John O’Connor at half-past the hour and three minutes to.
The recording was made on Monday 2nd September 1985 from 97.1 FM between 1413-1543 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Wedding promotion poster from 1988 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).
Class 98.5 FM (formerly KLAS), was an easy-listening station broadcasting from Dublin from 1986-1988. Set up by the founder of Radio Carousel, Hugh Hardy (RIP), it was later sold to television aerials salesman John Maye. Based in the up-market Harcourt Street area for the last part of its existence, Class was popular with older listeners not catered for by the chart music played on many pirate stations.
Class 98.5 FM advert from 1988 (courtesy DX Archive).
This recording of Class was made in the station’s final month and begins with Bryan Lambert presenting an evening show sponsored by Clearvision. Music is a mixture of easy-listening and classical and there are news headlines at the top of the hour. News is followed by station owner John May to announce the winner of a wedding package worth £2,000 sponsored by various Dublin businesses. The voice of Hugh Browne (RIP), who had previously broadcast on pirate radio in Cork, is among those heard on adverts and there is also a promo for a special classical music show in aid of the National Children’s Hospital, presented by Nella Allen. Nella had previously presented classical shows on Radio Leinster (1981-1983), which bore certain similarities to Class in its offering to listeners.
The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 98.5 FM between 1747-1833 on Monday 5th December 1988.
This recording of Donegal pirate WABC was made following the resumption of the twin services Gold and Hot Hits in autumn 1990. Declan Gill presents the mid-morning show on WABC Hot Hits with plenty of good tunes and requests from listeners, mostly in Co. Derry. There are adverts for businesses in Derry and Antrim, including an event in Belfast, and promos for local entertainment venues. The Beg, Steal or Borrow feature is a free small ads service and news on the hour is read by Krissi Carpenter.
The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 101.7 FM on 18th October 1990 between 1112-1244.
Q107 was a part-time hobby pirate station broadcasting in Dublin in the 1980s. Information about the station is scant, but it seems that Q107 appeared sporadically between 1984 and 1988. In common with many other hobby stations, it spent a longer period on air towards the end of 1988 as the deadline for the closure of the pirates approached. Based in Ballyfermot in west Dublin, Q107’s owner was Ray Brennan, reportedly a nephew of the legendary pirate pioneer Don Moore (RIP), who provided studio gear for the hobby station. This recording was made in the final few weeks of 1988 and features Ray Brennan himself, using his on-air name Alan Byrnes. Callers to Q107 include Paul Davidson (Tony Donlon, RIP) of Anoraks Ireland, who says he has plans to record the closedown of every one of the 128 pirates still on air at the end of the year.
This recording was made from 107 FM from 2343-0029 on Sunday and Monday 11th and 12th December 1988 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Alan Byrnes closes down the station for the night and says it will return later that morning at 0700. Thanks to Ian Biggar for additional information.
WABC studio shot in May 1990 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
Returning to 1990 and the story of Donegal pirate WABC, today’s recording is from the autumn of that year following the resumption of the twin services WABC Gold and WABC Hot Hits. Tina James is in the afternoon slot on the Hot Hits station with plenty of chart music interspersed by idents claiming to play 10,000 hits in a row. News on the hour is read by Declan Gill and adverts are heard for businesses in Derry and Antrim, including one from as far away as Belfast.
The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made between 1500-1705 on 17th October 1990 from 101.7 FM.
