David Baker Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

13th November 20207th August 2021

Pop-up community radio: Radio Ringsend

Radio Ringsend was another popular temporary community station set up by Dave Reddy’s Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) in the 1980s. The model for all CBC stations was to come on air to coincide with a summer festival, get local people on air and report on events and competitions. The first time Radio Ringsend broadcast was during the Ringsend and District Community Festival in 1982 and the station continued each year until the summer of 1988.

This recording is of Mick Nugent from 1630-1715 on 17^th July 1984. Promos and ads feature the voices of David Baker and Bryan Lambert who were well-known names on the Dublin pirate scene and would go on to work on licensed radio. There are plenty of requests of the ‘madly in love’ type with some running to several pages and featuring lots of interesting nicknames. Clearly this was the station of choice for the local kids! Dave Reddy remembers one competition generating 68 calls in one minute on the station’s sole phone line which would often be borrowed from a neighbouring business.

In 1982, Radio Ringsend was located in the premises of what is now ABEC Glass. They then moved to Con O’Donoghue’s shop, now the local Spar and subsequently to Sally O’Brien’s pub which is now known as the Shipwright Guesthouse. The station’s final venue was the Irishtown Foodstore beside the Irishtown Pharmacy.

In 1984, Radio Ringsend broadcast on 257 metres (1161 kHz) and 103.4 FM. The original transmitter was stolen that year but a new one was built by John Thewlis and operated on either 1512 or 1530 kHz from summer 1985 onwards. Output was about 100 watts but the signal travelled well by day given the frequency. In later years when FM coverage improved, the AM rig was left in Sandymount and linked to the FM signals of the various CBC stations. Mick Nugent would operate another pop-up station, Glasnevin North Community Radio, in 1986.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin. Thanks to Dave Reddy for additional information.

11th November 20207th August 2021

Pop-up community radio: Radio Donnybrook

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Radio Donnybrook was one of a number of ‘pop-up’ community radio stations which broadcast in various parts of Dublin in the mid-1980s under the umbrella of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC). The first was Radio Sandymount which went on the air as part of a local festival in 1982. According to station founder Dave Reddy, the idea proved popular and was requested by community groups else, including in Ringsend and Donnybrook. Many successful broadcasters cut their teeth in these stations including Brendan O’Carroll (aka Mrs Brown) who was known as Uncle Bren the Kiddies’ Friend, a show which began its life on ARD. Others who went on to RTÉ were Doug Murray (aka Electric Eddie), Aidan Leonard and Suzanne Duffy. David Baker, a well-known voice on Irish radio in the 1980s, was also heavily involved.

This recording is of Radio Donnybrook from 10^th June 1984 from approximately 1010-1050. There is continuous music for the first 20 minutes or so and then presenter Conor McHugh announces that the station will be testing from 1000-2000 on that day. The station is to broadcast officially from 20^th June to 1^st July 1984 to coincide with the Donnybrook Fair and advertisers and those wishing to be interviewed are advised to get in contact. Radio Donnybrook was located in the petrol station opposite the Old Wesley Rugby Club and was probably the closest ever pirate to RTÉ!

The recording was made from 259 metres (1161 kHz). FM is also announced but in mono due to technical issues. As well as pop-up stations in Donnybrook, Sandymount, Ringsend, Mount Merrion, Glasnevin, Ráth Cairn (Co. Meath) and Wicklow Town, Dave Reddy also set up the first Christmas-themed station, Radio Snowflake.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

9th November 20203rd March 2024

Pop-up community radio: Radio Sandymount

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Radio Sandymount was the first of several pop-up community radio stations run by the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) in different parts of Dublin between 1982 and 1988. Set up by Dave Reddy who had been involved with the earlier ARD, it and other stations such as Radio Donnybrook and Radio Ringsend were regular summer features on the Dublin airwaves during that period. In an interview with Pirate.ie, Dave said that the first such station was in Sandymount in 1982 but proved so popular that other community groups wanted their own version.

Radio Sandymount broadcast to coincide with the Sandymount and Merrion Community Week in late May or early June. This recording is of a test transmission on 29^th April 1984 made from 270 metres/1116 kHz from 1135-1220. Among the presenters mentioned are David Baker, a well-known name on the Dublin pirate scene, John Murray and Charlie Sheehan who was a postman in Sandymount.

The recording also includes part of a simulcast of the 78s Show on Radio Galaxy, presented by the veteran pirate broadcaster Tony Boylan and his wife Fran. In 1945, Tony had set up one of Ireland’s earliest pirate stations, the Killeen Home Service, from his bedroom and continued to experiment with transmitters after the war. In 1955, he set up Radio Galaxy and specialised in playing his large collection of 78s records every Sunday for a few hours.

The 78s Show was very different to most of what was offered by pirate radio at the time and Tony and Fran’s engaging style and deep passion for the music earned them a loyal following. In 1986, they retired to the Isle of Man and became involved in setting up community radio there. Fran Boylan died in 2007 and Tony passed away in 2010.

Peter Mulryan paid tribute to Tony Boylan in his 1988 book, Radio Radio: ‘Tony Boylan’s pioneering broadcasts were amazing feats of personal and electronic achievement, and they were well ahead of their day. While Tony proved that pirate radio was technically possible, it would take younger men another ten years to prove its economic feasibility, and they were still at school’. Broadcast historian Eddie Bohan inducted Tony into his Alternative Irish Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2015.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

24th April 20206th August 2021

Aircheck: Radio Donnybrook (Dublin)

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Radio Donnybrook was one of three temporary community stations which broadcast in the 1980s to celebrate local festivals in Dublin. Radio Sandymount, Radio Ringsend and Radio Donnybrook were all set up by Dave Reddy under the banner of the Community Broadcasting Cooperative and broadcast on various frequencies such as 981, 1116 or 1134 kHz as well as low power FM. This is a loop recording from 981 kHz on the 10th of June 1984 of David Baker announcing the imminent opening of Radio Donnybrook.

There’s another short recording of Radio Donnybrook here and you can listen to an interview with Dave Reddy about Radio Sandymount here.

12th April 202020th June 2023

‘Summer sounds you want to hear’: KISS FM from Foley Street

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There were so many pirates called KISS FM that it’s hard to untangle all their stories. We’ve done our homework on this one but as ever we welcome corrections and additional information. The origins of this KISS FM were in Dublin Community Radio which began in 1979. KISS started testing in May 1985 and eventually settled on 1116 kHz AM and 94.8 and 104.1 FM. The station was owned by two German businessmen based in Cavan and located in the impressive sounding ‘Kiss Broadcasting Centre’ in Dublin 1. Well-known Dublin radio presenter David Baker was the manager but remembers how run-down Foley Street was at the time. Over St. Patrick’s weekend 1986, KISS organised a Disco Dance Marathon in the nearby North Star Hotel in aid of the Irish Association for Autistic Children with the help of the Radio West outside broadcast unit. Later that year the station introduced an easy listening format using former presenters from Radio Leinster. On the 3rd of October 1986, KISS was the first pirate to be raided for years when officials from the Department of Communications arrived in Foley Street complaining about interference. There’s a detailed account of the raid in Peter Mulryan’s book Radio Radio (1988). KISS never recovered and is not listed in an Anoraks Ireland report from November 1986.

We visited KISS in Foley Street in 1986 and remember a studio on a mezzanine level with a window in front of the DJ’s console looking down on an empty factory. This recording is from the 24th of June 1985 (6.35-7.20pm) and features continuous music with one announcement by an unidentified DJ that KISS had just returned to 105 FM. There are ads and professional jingles and the music sounds great after all those years!

Thanks to David Baker for help with details and to Ian Biggar for the image. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.