Northeast series: FRC show #34 on Radio Rainbow International

Northeast series: FRC show #34 on Radio Rainbow International
Radio Rainbow International letterhead (courtesy Kieran Murray).

This is an episode of the weekly Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show on Louth station Radio Rainbow International from autumn 1986. Presented by Kieran Murray, it includes the usual 5-minute sweep of jingles this week featuring British ILR and BBC stations. The featured station is BBC Radio Stoke-on-Trent, which includes an interview with Dave Cash formerly of Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s. The free radio newsdesk includes references to various proposed new stations that did not materialise: a new music station operated by Boyneside Radio covering an area from Dublin to Belfast called Laser FM and three new stations from the stable of Sunshine Radio in Dublin.

The recording of episode #34 of the FRC was made from 1100-1200 on Sunday 5th October 1986. Radio Rainbow International broadcast on 6240 kHz shortwave at this stage, later adding AM and FM. This is a studio copy and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Northeast series: FRC show #9 on Radio Rainbow International

Northeast series: FRC show #9 on Radio Rainbow International
Radio Rainbow letterhead (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This is edition #9 of the Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show on Co. Louth shortwave station Radio Rainbow International. Presenter Kieran Murray announces that the station was off the air the previous Sunday because of poor conditions on shortwave and work on the transmitter. He says that the FRC is being relayed on stations in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Listeners’ letters come from the UK and the Netherlands and the weekly 5 minutes of jingles includes pirates and licensed stations. The station feature comprises an interview with Kenny Everett of Capitol Radio and BBC Radio 1 and excerpts from Capitol Radio in London. The FRC newsdesk covers offshore and Irish pirates and includes a reference to the introduction of compact discs on Q102, sponsored by Sony. Radio Nova is reported to be considering a name change in the next fortnight due to a fall in advertising revenue. On March 19th, Radio Nova would close down, to be replaced by Zoom 103.  

This recording is a studio copy and from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. It was made on Sunday 9th March 1986 from 1100-1200. Radio Rainbow International broadcast on 6240 kHz shortwave.

Northeast series: FRC show #7 on Radio Rainbow International

Northeast series: FRC show #7 on Radio Rainbow International
Radio Rainbow’s transmitter in 1986 (courtesy Andy Carter).

Radio Rainbow International (1985-1988) was a high-powered shortwave station broadcasting from Co. Louth. Set up by Eddie Caffrey of Boyneside Radio, it also involved other Boyneside DJs Jim Agnew and Kieran Murray, who presented a weekly Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show. This recording of edition #7 of the FRC features listeners’ letters from the UK, 5 minutes of jingles from offshore stations, a feature on Sussex station Automatic Radio and promos for Anoraks UK.

This studio copy of the show is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made on Sunday 16th February 1986 from 1100-1200. There is some wobble due to cassette degradation and the show is truncated because the cassette jammed and it was not possible to complete digitisation. Radio Rainbow International broadcast initially on 6240 kHz shortwave in the 48-metre band, before adding medium wave and FM transmitters.

Northeast series: 1st birthday of Radio Rainbow International

Northeast series: 1st birthday of Radio Rainbow International
Radio Rainbow International antenna system in 1986 (courtesy Kieran Murray).

Radio Rainbow International was a high-powered shortwave station broadcasting from Co. Louth between 1985-1988. It was set up by the engineer of Boyneside Radio, Eddie Caffrey and other Boyneside presenters were also involved. Radio Rainbow was the highest powered of the shortwave pirates from Ireland and broadcast every Sunday morning across Europe on 6240 kHz in the 48-metre band, later adding medium wave and FM.

On Sunday 27th July 1986, Radio Rainbow International celebrated a year on the air, complete with cake and champagne in the studio. This recording opens with the final 15 minutes of a special celebratory show from 1145-1200 on that date presented by Eddie Caffrey, who is joined by fellow DJs Jim Agnew and Kieran Murray. They estimate that up to 350 reception reports have been received in the station’s first year, the furthest of which came from Finland. Kieran Murray looks back at the popular weekly Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show, that has been running since January. This is followed by Jim Agnew’s music show on the same date. There are no times, but it seems it was broadcast before the special birthday programme. The recording includes promos for Anoraks UK and a multilingual ident.

Northeast series: 1st birthday of Radio Rainbow International
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

At this time, Radio Rainbow International broadcast on 6240 kHz, but this is a stereo studio copy. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection.

Northeast series: Telstar Community Radio in the evening

Northeast series: Telstar Community Radio in the evening
Early Telstar Community Radio letterhead (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Telstar Community Radio was a long-running station broadcasting from in or around Dundalk between 1980 and 1988. Although Radio Carousel dominated the local market for most of that time, Telstar built up its own audience and advertisers in the north Louth area. This recording features a flavour of evening shows during the period that the station was based in the village of Blackrock south of Dundalk. First up is Eamon Doyle with a mix of tunes, including the Top 3 from the Telstar Top 40. He is followed by Owen Barry (Larkin) with the Night Flight show, including an hour of love songs. There are adverts for businesses in Dundalk and surrounding towns.

The recording was made from 88.5 FM on Monday 26th July 1982 from 1943-2118. Telstar Community Radio also broadcast on 1197 kHz AM, announcing 250 metres. Audio quality is generally good although there is some cassette degradation. The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.