Nick Richards at South Coast in 1982 (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
This is a selection of short recordings of Cork’s South Coast Radio from a week in June 1982. First up is Nick Richards from just after midnight on Tuesday 15th June, who includes a request for number one South Coast fan, Lillian McCarthy (O’Donoghue). Then we hear extracts from Pete O’Neill’s mid-morning show from Thursday 17th June. Pete says that the schedule will be different the following day because breakfast DJ Alan Reid (Henry Condon, also known as Henry Owens, RIP) will be celebrating his birthday that night. At the end we hear a snippet of the late Hugh Browne from his afternoon show on the same day.
These recordings were made from 104 FM and are courtesy of Lillian O’Donoghue.
Nick Richards in studio (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
Nick Richards, who had a background in British and offshore pirates, was heard on a number of Irish stations in the 1980s. This recording of Nick is from South Coast Radio in Cork not long after the station launched in spring 1982. At this time, Nick presented the Nightline programme in the early hours and in this recording, which starts around 2340, the musical choice is mellow. There’s a request for South Coast’s number one fan, Lillian McCarthy (O’Donoghue) who meticulously recorded programmes and took photos of the DJs and studios. Nick closes the station at 0100 and says that the next DJ will be Alan Reid (Henry Condon) with the breakfast show from 0700. There’s no date for this recording but we estimate it to be from late April 1982. It is partially edited and was made from 104 FM, although audio quality is fair as it seems the station wasn’t properly tuned in.
Nick Richards at South Coast in 1982 (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
Nick Richards was born in London and worked in land-based UK pirates and the offshore Radio Caroline, only leaving the boat just before it sank on 20th March 1980. After coming to Ireland, he worked at Southside Radio in Dublin before moving to Cork, doing his first show on South Coast on 16th April 1982. Nick was later heard on the short-lived but highly successful KISS FM (1988), a ‘border blaster’ pirate based in Monaghan Town. These days he is a presenter on Cork’s C103.
This is a recording of Nick presenting his ‘Nightline’ show on South Coast from just after midnight on Wednesday 9th June 1982. There’s no chance of falling asleep with plenty of loud rock in the first hour. Part 1 above runs from 0008-0053 and Part 2 below from 0053-0136.
Part 2 from 0053
With so much evening and overnight radio automated these days, it’s refreshing to hear a live DJ reading out requests from listeners. Some of the listeners on that night back in 1982 had impeccable pirate radio credentials: Barry and Ruth Johnson of Anoraks UK in Blackpool, Gary Hogg in Leeds, Stuart Clarke of ABC Radio in Tramore and Prince Terry of shortwave station Westside Radio in Dublin.
Cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated by Paul Davidson. You can find more material from the collection on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.
Listen here to an interview with Nick about his time at KISS FM in Monaghan.
Another big Cork station from the early 1980s was South Coast Radio of which there were three incarnations between 1982 to 1988. The original South Coast (1982-1984) broadcast from above a pub in St. Luke’s in Cork on 1557 kHz (announced as 194 metres) and also 104 FM. During its existence the station had many high-profile broadcasters including Tony Allan, Nick Richards, John Kenny, Peter Madison, Henry Owens and Hugh Browne. Here are some of the South Coast jingles.
You can hear an interview with Nick Richards here about his involvement in other stations.
In this interview from Wireless on Flirt FM, Nick Richards spoke to John Walsh about his pirate radio past, especially KISS FM in Monaghan. Before the interview we hear a recording of Nick on KISS in March 1988.
