ARD and Big D on New Year’s Eve 1979

ARD and Big D on New Year's Eve 1979
ARD flyer (courtesy DX Archive).

The late 1970s was a key period of growth for pirate radio in Dublin, with hot competition developing between Radio Dublin and rival breakaway stations ARD and the Big D. This recording from the medium wave band on 31st December 1979 gives a flavour of how the pirates rang in the new decade that would prove so crucial for Irish radio. It runs from 2351-0035 and switches between ARD on 273 metres, which was due to close down that night, and the Big D on 273 metres.

Paul Vincent winds down ARD in the company of the late Dave C and financial backer Bernard Llewellyn, who explains that the station is closing down in order to apply for a licence. Optimistically, he predicts that local radio will be legalised by June 1980. The late Don Moore, who invited Llewellyn into ARD, is also heard in the background and one of the DJs to say his goodbyes is none other than Ian Dempsey. ARD left the airwaves just after half past midnight but pretty much everyone involved in it – bar Llewellyn – returned in the form of Radio 257 within a few days.

The recording also includes snippets of the Big D’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, including a scratchy phone connection with Dennis Murray who is in the company of drunker revellers in the city centre. We thank Shay Geoghegan for his donation.

Radio Dublin rings in New Year 1978

Radio Dublin rings in New Year 1978
The Radio Dublin transmitter at Christmas 1977 (photo courtesy of Bill Ebrill).

Radio Dublin was the only Irish station to ring in the New Year at midnight on Saturday 31st December 1977. The Evening Herald reported that RTÉ Radio had to scrap its planned New Year’s Eve special programme, to be presented by Pat Kenny, because of an industrial relations dispute. The state broadcaster would close down at 11.45pm, leaving the airwaves to Radio Dublin. This was an important period for the pirates as it marked the shift from hobby to full-time broadcasting. Radio Dublin stayed on air for 300 hours over the Christmas and New Year period 1977-1978 and began full-time daily broadcasting on 2nd January 1978.

This recording is of Radio Dublin staff saying farewell to 1977 and ringing in 1978. Running from 2312-0040, it features station owner Eamonn Cooke along with DJs John Paul, Shay West, DJ Sylvie, Mike Eastwood and James Dillon. There are plenty of requests from listeners and thanks to businesses for advertising with the station during the year. At midnight a recording of bells is almost scuppered by a faulty cassette tape. This is followed by the DJs singing Auld Land Syne and a message from the Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Michael Collins. Eamonn Cooke urges listeners to lobby the government for a licence for Radio Dublin and also thanks Prince Terry (Roger Lloyd) for relaying the broadcast on the shortwave frequency of Westside Radio International. This recording was made locally but there is some night-time co-channel interference and that characteristic Radio Dublin hum throughout. We thank Ian Biggar for the donation.

Radio Dublin rings in New Year 1978
Early Radio Dublin letterhead (courtesy of Ian Biggar)

However, the exuberance of New Year’s Eve did not last and in April James Dillon led a walk-out of most staff following allegations that Eamonn Cooke was involved in child abuse. Dillon formed a breakaway station, the Big D, which lasted until 1982. Radio Dublin closed down permanently in 2002 following Cooke’s conviction for sexually abusing children. He was jailed in 2003 and again in 2007 and died in 2016 while on temporary release. If you require support with this issue, you can contact the organisation One in Four.

Closedown of Westside Radio International

Closedown of Westside Radio International
Westside Radio International QSL (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This is a recording of the closedown of the long-running shortwave pirate Westside Radio International on December 31st 1988. Westside was set up by the late Dr Don (Don Moore) in 1975 and broadcast on Sunday mornings before Radio Dublin came on the air. It was taken over by Prince Terry (Roger Lloyd) in 1977 and remained a stalwart on the 49-metre band every Sunday for the following eleven years. Westside embodied the pirate spirit and was popular with anoraks because of its regular updates about radio in Ireland and abroad.

This airchecked recording was made from 6280 kHz between 1200 and 1348 on New Year’s Eve. Prince Terry and Gary Lewis present music and discuss the radio scene as the new legal regime was about to come into effect. There are hints that Westside may return in 1989 and in fact the station was heard again under various guises in 1989 and continued to broadcast as Ozone Radio for many subsequent years.

Reception is poor and is of DX standard in places but but this gives a sense of how many shortwave listeners experienced the closedown of Westside Radio International. We thank John Breslin for his donation.

Hugh Hardy on KLAS 98

Hugh Hardy on KLAS 98
The late Hugh Hardy in the KLAS studios in Sutton in 1987 (courtesy DX Archive).

KLAS 98 (later Class) was an easy listening station which broadcast to Dublin from November 1986 until the closedowns of December 1988. It was set up by the founder of the Radio Carousel network, Hugh Hardy, and based first at a garage behind his home in Sutton in northeast Dublin. News bulletins from KLAS and overnight programming were relayed on occasion from Dublin to the Carousel stations in Navan and Dundalk. After Hardy stepped back in early 1988, KLAS moved to Dame Street in the city centre and was managed by David Baker. It then moved to Harcourt Street where it was taken over by television aerial salesman John J. May and relaunched as Class 98.

Hugh Hardy on KLAS 98
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording from 98.5 FM is of Hugh Hardy presenting on St. Stephen’s Day, 26th December 1986. News on the hour is read by a very young John Walsh, co-founder of Pirate.ie and the voice of the late Bob Gallico is heard on an advert. There are no time checks or references to St. Stephen’s Day in the links so this show could have been recorded for one of the automated 8-hour VHS tapes used by KLAS overnight. John Walsh has written his memories of KLAS here.

Part 1 of the recording above runs from 1637-1725 and Part 2 below from 1740-1828.

Part 2 from 1740.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Christmas on Capitol Radio

Christmas on Capitol Radio
L-R: Chris Barry, Ed McDowell and Alan Russell in December 1978 (courtesy Alan Russell).

Here’s a selection of Christmas jingles from Capitol Radio (226 metres) from 1980. Capitol’s first Christmas on air was in 1978 and Alan Russell has shared his memories of that period with us.

‘I  have some memories of that particular December being our first Capitol Christmas. The founder of ALONE Willie Bermingham was a fireman based in the nearby Pearse Street fire station and I can recall several interviews with Willie in the run-up to Christmas encouraging folks to look out for elderly neighbours. On Christmas Day we had live programmes and presenters. Back in 1978, the buses were off until St. Stephen’s Day and taxis were non-existent. On tuning in after Christmas lunch at my family home, I was horrified to hear the presenter getting progressively drunker! I had forgotten a small bottle of Smirnoff left in the postal boxes for any guests or business associates and the presenter was availing of the Christmas spirit – literally. I was five miles from the city centre and with no immediate transport other than walking or hitching, it was a nightmare (though probably entertaining for some!) that continued for a while, until Chris Barry reached Bachelors Walk and restored normality. The weather was particularly wintry with heavy ice on the ground, so hopping on a cycle or even a motorcycle to reach the station in the city centre was not an option’.

Christmas on Capitol Radio
Copy of cassette of original Capitol jingles supplied by Bryan Lambert (courtesy Alan Russell).

The jingles were a package used by a Capitol Radio in South Africa, and were heard also on the later station of the same name in Dublin (1983-1988). Alan Russell remembers that a few days after they began using the jingles, two men purporting to be from the South African embassy called to Capitol, telling them to cease using them. ‘Although they never gained admittance to the studios and were kept outside the main door – reinforced with a steel plate and a barrier – I spoke to them and they weren’t Irish guys having a laugh. This was around the time of the anti-apartheid movement in Ireland and we had interviewed Kadar Asmal, so they seemed plausible. I noted their complaint and reminded them they were in Ireland not South Africa so the heavy attitude wasn’t going to work’.

These jingles were kindly donated by Alan Russell.