Christmas Eve Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Christmas Eve on Nova sister station KISS FM — KISS FM flyer (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This recording of Radio Nova sister station KISS FM was made on Christmas Eve 1983, not long before the station closed. On air is Dave Harvey with the Airplay Top 40, aired every Saturday on KISS FM at the time. News on the hour is read by Bernie Jameson who continues to broadcast on independent radio today. There’s also a promo for a daily £100 giveaway.

KISS FM was set up in September 1982 as an experimental local station for Dublin and to absorb additional advertising revenue from Radio Nova. While the large number of Christmas adverts on this recording indicates commercial success, behind the scenes Nova was facing enormous challenges due to ongoing jamming by RTÉ. Against this backdrop, KISS closed less than a month later on 15^th January 1984. Dave Harvey was heard on various incarnations of Nova and subsequently on licensed stations including Century Radio, RTÉ and 4FM, now Classic Hits Radio.

Part 1 of the recording above begins at 0945 and Part 2 below at 1020. Towards the end of Part 2, the recording seems to switch to another channel for a few minutes.

Part 2 from 1020.

The recording was made from 102.7 FM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

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Closedown of Raidió Luimní, Christmas Eve 1988 — *Raidió Luimní notepaper, courtesy of Ger Sweeney*.

When it closed just before Christmas in 1988, Raidió Luimní brought ten unique and memorable years of broadcasting to a close. While many Limerick stations came and went, Raidió Luimní was a constant presence in the city throughout the pirate era and had a huge following due largely to the unconventional style of its owner, John ‘the Man’ Frawley. It also had listeners well beyond Limerick city, thanks to an efficient Irish-made transmitter on 1125 kHz.

The station closed down a week earlier than other the pirates at the end of 1988, leaving the air at 0130 on Christmas Eve. This recording is of the final half-hour of the station with Alf de Lacy who says a long goodbye to Raidió Luimní listeners and staff and even thanks local Gardaí for their hard work over Christmas! A few bars of Denis Allen’s song ‘Limerick, You’re a Lady’ are played and then the national anthem brings Raidió Luimní to the end of its colourful life.

The recording was made from 103 FM from 0100-0130 on 24^th December 1988. We thank John Breslin for the donation. You can listen here to John the Man’s final show.

A comprehensive overview of the 1988 closedowns is available on the Radiowaves site.