Anoraks Ireland Collection Archives - Page 26 of 44 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

23rd February 202323rd February 2023

Dublin super-pirate Q102 marks one month on air

Irish-owned Q102 rocked the Dublin market when it came on the air on 23^rd January 1985. In these recordings from one month later, it’s clear that the new station has found its feet and is beginning to make a mark on listeners and advertisers. In the first recording above from 1038-1126 on 23^rd February 1985, John O’Hara presents the final 20 minutes of his Saturday morning breakfast show before handing over to Jason Maine. The sound is tight and slick, with agency adverts and professional station imaging. There’s also a promo for cash giveaways for listeners spotted wearing Q102 badges. The second recording below is from 2304-2352 on 24^th February and features Martin Block with the laid-back ‘bedtime Q’ show.

Eddie West from 24.02.85

Both tapes were made from 102 FM and are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

20th February 202311th February 2023

Night-time rock on AMS from Kilkenny

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AMS (Astra Media Services) was a Kilkenny station broadcasting from 1987 until the end of 1988. Daytime programming was aimed at a mainstream audience, with more specialist shows in the evenings, including this rock show presented by Michael Porter. The programme includes a small number of adverts and a promo seeking sales reps for counties Kilkenny, Carlow and Tipperary.

The recording was made on 25^th May 1988 from 98.6 FM between 2040-2126. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

15th February 202312th February 2023

Nova offshoot KISS FM nears end of run in 1984

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KISS FM was set up by Chris Cary as an offshoot of Radio Nova in September 1982, and offered specialist programming aimed at listeners in Dublin, in contrast to Nova’s more mainstream service and wider reception area. It also had the function of absorbing additional advertising for the main station but as it entered 1984, KISS FM was in trouble. Jamming by RTÉ and growing industrial unrest with the National Union of Journalists was threatening the entire Radio Nova operation and KISS FM closed down at midnight on 15^th January.

This recording was made a fortnight earlier and includes the afternoon show with John Clarke from 2pm. The emphasis is on the music with limited talk and from 3pm John presents the Top 40 most played easy listening songs on KISS in 1983. News on the hour is read by Ken Hammond, who went on to work as a journalist with RTÉ. The bulletins contain reference to the new state telecommunications board Telecom Éireann, which was set up to deal with the dire state of the Irish telephone system in the early 1980s.

The tape was made from 102.7 FM from 1341-1521 on 2^nd January 1984 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

13th February 202311th February 2023

Evening shows on AMS from Kilkenny

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AMS (Astra Media Services) was a Kilkenny station broadcasting from 18^th October 1987 until 31^st December 1988, when it closed down along with the vast majority of the Irish pirates. AMS broadcast from 0745-2400 daily, offering a mainstream service during the day with specialist programming at night.

This recording was made in November 1987, a few weeks after AMS was launched. In Part 1 above, Paul Madigan refers to the ‘new sound of Kilkenny’ and presents his evening mix of chart music and oldies. There is a healthy number of adverts for local businesses, including several in the Arcade in High Street, where AMS was located. Part 2 below is of station manager Séamaí B. (Séamus Brennan), with the nightly Irish hour. In a reminder of the influence of religion in 1980s Ireland, he tells listeners that they can attend evening Mass in Kilkenny because of the holy day of obligation. Audio quality ranges from fair to poor, with distortion and hum at times.

Irish hour from 1900

Part 1 runs from 1745-1833 and Part 2 from 1900-1946 on 2^nd November 1987. The tape was recorded from 98.6 FM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

8th February 20233rd March 2023

Drivetime on Cork’s WKLR

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WKLR (West Cork Local Radio) broadcast from the town of Bandon from January 1984 until the end of December 1988. Originally aiming primarily at west Cork, by the end of its run WKLR could be heard throughout the county. The station broadcast on 1503 kHz AM, announced as 200 metres, and on various FM frequencies including 100 MHz.

In this recording from winter 1988, John Greene finishes up his Friday afternoon show until 4.30 and he is followed by Tim Coughlan who presents the drivetime show featuring mostly easy listening music. An outside broadcast from Cork City is promised for the following week and the station is identified as ‘WKLR – the new voice of Cork’. News is read by Deirdre O’Reilly. Tim presented a show on Cork commercial station C103 until 2022 and John is still heard on that station.

The recording was made from 95.5 FM on 4^th November 1988. Rather than being a studio link transmitter as stated on the label, this was in fact located on a hill southwest of Bandon and covered a large area in its own right. Part 1 above runs from 1607-1653 and Part 2 below from 1654-1740.

Part 2 from 1654.

The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. WKLR closed at 0130 on December 31^st 1988.