Sunshine sticker from 1986 (courtesy Pat Herbert RIP).
This recording of Dublin’s super-pirate Sunshine Radio was made in the early hours of the October bank holiday Monday 1985. Non-stop music is heard for the first twenty minutes or so, possibly from the Tamango’s nightclub at the Sands Hotel in Portmarnock where Sunshine was based. The Sunshine Radio Review of 1985 lists live music from Tamango’s from midnight to 2am every Saturday morning. This may have been the case also on the Sunday of the bank holiday weekend, although there is no mention of the club during the music sweep. News at 2am is read by Joyce Jackson, who would go on to work as a journalist in RTÉ.
The recording was donated kindly to us by Shay Geoghegan.
Big Tree Radio was a shortlived station broadcasting from above a pub in Swords in north Co. Dublin in 1983. Called after the Big Tree pub (now the Estuary Bar) on North Main Street, some of the station’s DJs sounded very young and inexperienced, a reminder that everyone had access to the airwaves during the freewheeling pirate era. In this recording, Angie plays an easy listening format until 10pm and is followed by ‘Jeremy James’ until midnight who probably borrowed the name of the Voice of Peace DJ. Audio quality is fair with crackly vinyl and a bad hum on the microphone and there are no adverts to be heard. An address care of the pub is given for listeners to write in and request songs.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The tape was made from 94 FM on 4th March 1983. Part 1 above runs from 2137 and part 2 below from 2229.
Part 2 from 2229.
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
One of the many stations called KISS FM during the pirate era was based in Foley Street in the north inner city of Dublin and broadcast from May 1985 until October 1986. This KISS FM was owned by two German businessmen based in Cavan and managed by well-known broadcaster David Baker. The station had promise and many professional DJs, including Eamonn Kelly who is heard in this recording presenting the drivetime show on 19th December 1985. Eamonn was heard previously on other big stations such as ERI in Cork and Q102 in Dublin. In recent years, he has worked with Smooth Radio in the UK. KISS FM closed following a raid in October 1986, an event documented in detail in the book Radio Radio by Peter Mulryan (1988).
The show includes a competition for jewellery from Cut Price Gold who were heavily advertising on KISS FM at the time. Another interesting feature is the impressive range of adverts including local shops, larger businesses including McDonald’s, Penney’s, Philips audio, Cadbury’s, drinks companies and various record releases. Traffic news is courtesy of a courier company and ‘Associated Network News’ is read by Noelle Hayes.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Audio quality on the recording is fair. It sounds more like AM but the station’s 1116 kHz AM transmitter was shortlived and probably off-air at this time. The cassette label mentions 104.1 FM in mono (94 and 104.7 are announced on air). The times logged are incorrect: Part 1 above runs from 1616-1701 and Part 2 below from 1710-1755.
Part 2 from 1710
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Don Moore (left) and ARD backer Bernard Llewellyn after a raid on 31.01.78 (photo Eric Luke/Irish Press).
This is a recording of the final show by the late Don Moore on ARD in September 1982, towards the end of the station’s run. Dr Don, as he was known on air, was credited with developing ARD into a serious player in the Dublin radio market at the end of the 1970s and start of the 1980s.
The lunchtime show features Don’s trademark zaniness with comic inserts and jokes, some of which would be off-colour by today’s standards. Don was an irreverant broadcaster, but the fact that ARD was coming to an end probably meant that he was even less concerned about ruffling feathers. Although Don makes no farewell announcement at the end of the show, he doesn’t commit to returning the following day. Taking over at 2pm, the next DJ Seán Hannon hopes that Don will be back sometime in the future. The label on the cassette itself refers to ‘Dr Don final’ so it seems likely that this was his last show.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The recording was made on Wednesday 1st September 1982 from 99.9 FM between 1301-1413. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. ARD closed just over two weeks later on 15th September.
ARD’s aerial at the Crofton Hotel in 1981 (courtesy Noel Hiney).
This recording of Alternative Radio Dublin (ARD) was made on a Saturday afternoon in 1981. Hugh O’Brien is on air with mostly oldies and is joined by David Dennehy with sports news. Both would be heard on other pirates throughout the 1980s and on licensed radio thereafter. The recording includes a news flash about the highjacking of an Aer Lingus plane in Paris.
There are plenty of adverts including one for Channel 3 television, later to be known as Channel D. Channel 3 was one of a handful of short-lived pirate television stations broadcasting in the 1980s. It was set up by Don Moore of ARD and Michael Tiernan of the National Independent Broadcasting Organisation, a grouping of commercial pirate stations. Other voices heard on adverts are Paul Vincent, Dave C. and Tony Allan. The cassette has become degraded over time and there is some audio distortion.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The recording was made from 99.9 FM from 1659-1745 on 2nd May 1981. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
