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Border series: ‘the new Radio North’ from 1999

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Border series: 'the new Radio North' from 1999

After the shortlived change to Radio North 2000 in 1998, the Donegal pirate dumped the reference to the millennium and relaunched itself as ‘the new Radio North’ in 1999. Owner Paul Barnett (RIP) maintained the focus on American country music and the station developed a more polished sound and concentrated on FM (103.9 and 104.4), while running a parallel AM service for religious music and programming, Gospel 846.

This recording from summer 1999 gives a flavour of the new Radio North, complete with a slick advertising promo and a huge number of adverts from both sides of the border, many of them voiced by Paul Barnett. The DJ is Steve Marshall, who had been involved in previous Irish pirate stations in the 1980s. Among the straplines used are ‘the northwest’s fasting growing station’ and ‘the only station that’s increasing its audience’. There’s also a syndicated news service from IRN at the top of the hour.

The tape is courtesy of Ian Biggar and was made on Tuesday June 1st 1999 between 1405-1535 from 103.9 FM.

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Border series: Radio North rebranded as Radio North 2000

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Border series: Radio North rebranded as Radio North 2000
Radio North at an outside broadcast from Moville, Co. Donegal in the 1990s (courtesy Francis Callaghan).

Radio North 2000 was a shortlived rebranding of the Donegal pirate Radio North as it approached the millennium. The name change was implemented after the station was taken over by Paul Barnett (RIP), who previously ran another Donegal pirate WABC, and American Mike Dobbins (RIP). The format moved away from the previous Irish country music diet and was replaced by American country, oldies and some contemporary. One DJ, Steven Lynch, recalls being unhappy with the new name as it was not clear what the station would be called once the year 2000 arrived. It later reverted to the original Radio North after the departure of Mike Dobbins.

This recording of Radio North 2000 features an unidentified DJ signing off at the end of her evening show, followed by continuous music interspersed with plenty of station liners and adverts, some of which are voiced by Paul Barnett. The music consists of pop and chart hits with some oldies.

The tape was made in Scotland by Ken Baird from 846 kHz AM on 16th May 1998 from 1942-2112 and is courtesy of Ian Biggar. Thanks to Steven Lynch for background information.

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Border series: Summer sounds on Radio North from 1997

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Border series: Summer sounds on Radio North from 1997
Steven Lynch at Radio North in the 1990s (thanks of Steven for the photo).

This recording of Donegal pirate Radio North was made in the summer of 1997 and shows how the station continued to generate significant advertising revenue many years after the enactment of the new broadcasting laws. Up first is Steven Lynch, who continues to present on the station to this day, with the end of his mid-morning show. He is followed at lunchtime by Norman Dougherty of Derry pirate Riverside 101 and its licensed successor Q102.9. The music is a mixture of country and Irish, oldies and pop or chart. Long commercial breaks feature adverts for businesses almost exclusively from the North, some of which are voiced by Paul Barnett (RIP), who would go on to take over the station in later years.

The tape was made between 1256-1338 on Thursday 17th July 1997 from 104 FM. There is plenty of fading as it was recorded some distance from the transmitter. Thanks to Rodney Neill and Ian Biggar for the donation.

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Border series: plenty of requests and adverts on Radio North

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Border series: plenty of requests and adverts on Radio North
Radio North car sticker from the 1990s (courtesy DX Archive).

By 1997, Radio North was still broadcasting from Inishowen in east Donegal, aiming its diet of country and Irish music at Northern listeners. This tape from summer that year begins with the final part of a show presented by Connie Cooper (RIP), followed by Big Bad Jon (Jon Knox) with more music despite problems with a temperamental CD player. There’s plenty of chat between Jon and another DJ in studio, ranging from hair dye to turkeys! Despite the passage of almost a decade since the new broadcasting legislation, there is no sign of a lack of advertising on Radio North. Copious adverts are heard, mostly from the North, as well as requests from both sides of the border.

The recording was made from 846 kHz AM on 18th May 1997 from 1850-2020 and is courtesy of Ian Biggar.

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Border series: lunchtime on Radio North

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Border series: lunchtime on Radio North
Radio North poster from the early 1990s (courtesy DX Archive).

As was often the case in long-running pirate radio stations, Radio North has seen splits and offshoots in its almost 40 years on air. One such split led to rival station North Atlantic Radio, that went on air in November 1989 and continued for 2 years in direct competition with Radio North. It was not sustainable to keep two similar stations on air in the Inishowen peninsula and Radio North closed down sometime near the end of 1991, leaving North Atlantic unopposed. However, on 31st January 1994, North Atlantic reverted to the original Radio North name and has continued without significant break to the current day.

The recording of a lunchtime show was made in August 1994 and features DJ Wes with requests from both sides of the border and long commercial breaks for businesses in Donegal, Derry and Antrim. The familiar musical diet consists of country and Irish and gospel songs, including one sung by Wes himself and the Radio North anthem with the singing farmer John Watt. The show also includes the Radio North community noticeboard.

The tape was made from 846 kHz on 17th August 1994 between 1400 and 1500. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation.