Nova sticker from 1981-2 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
This is a recording of the late Eddie West on the overnight shift on Radio Nova sometime in July 1982. The music ranges from mellow and rock and there is minimal talk in line with the ‘clutter-free’ format. Nova was broadcasting on 846 kHz AM at this time but still used ‘the mighty 890’ jingle from its brief period on 891 kHz in late 1981. The inconsistency didn’t matter to most listeners who didn’t have digital read-outs on their radios!
The recording was made from 88 FM and runs from 0010-0042 but is undated, although we could estimate a date because of references to the forthcoming Rolling Stones concert. Thanks to Shay Geoghegan for the donation.
Radio Nova studio in 1982 (courtesy of DX Archive).
This is a recording of Radio Nova as heard on 88 FM on Sunday morning 12th September 1982 from 0930-1016. It begins at the end of the religious programme ‘Good News Tracks’ and is followed by the late Eddie West, who announces that Nova and KISS FM cars will be racing at the Mondello Park motorsports venue later that day. Ad breaks include regular spots for the Sunday World newspaper and the Red Corner Shop and a request is received from the Isle of Man. News is read by Bryan Dobson, now a well-known RTÉ journalist.
Eddie West worked at many pirates including Capitol and ARD as well as Nova and became Programme Controller at Downtown Radio and Cool FM in Belfast. He died in 2017 after an illness.
This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection donated to us by Steve England.
A Radio Nova envelope from the days on 846 kHz (courtesy of DX Archive).
This recording was made by the British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler at his home in Kidderminster in the English midlands. The tape label states that it was made from 819 kHz from 2217-2305 on the 17th of September 1982, but there is a jingle for ‘the mighty 890’ and the news ident at the top of the hour announces 846 kHz. According to the November 1981 edition of Short Wave News, Nova returned to 846 after briefly trying 891. Based on Anoraks UK logs, it seems the move to 819 kHz happened between the 7th and the 23rd of September 1982. It is possible, therefore, that Nova had very recently moved by the time of this recording but the ident had not yet been updated. Thanks to Ian Biggar for confirming details.
