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Early Cork series: First full day on Radio City

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Early Cork series: First full day on Radio City
Pete Andrews with Lilian McCarthy (O’Donoghue) in 1980 (courtesy of Lilian).

A new Cork pirate, Radio City, was launched on 31st August 1980. This recording is of the first full day of the station and begins with station co-founder Pete Andrews (O’Neill) with his Spinning Disc lunchtime show. The show includes a repeat of part of the launch the previous day. News headlines are delayed by technical problems but it is clear that Radio City had big plans, including daily sponsored programmes. Pete is followed by Karl Johnson (Dan Noonan) with Afternoon Delight, including various features such as a quiz and entertainment diary. Next up is Noel Evans (Welch) with Home Run, including traffic news and racing reports. Co-author of the history of the Cork Pirates, The Jolly Roger, Noel had a day job with the Evening Echo newspaper but worked in the pirates on the side, first CBC and then Radio City. He also played music in several nightclubs like many pirate DJs. The final DJ is Paul Cassidy with part of an evening show.  

Early Cork series: First full day on Radio City
Noel Evans (Welch) at Radio City in September 1980 (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue).

This airchecked recording of Radio City was made from around 1200 on 1st September 1980 from 1512 kHz AM, announcing 199 metres. Only one advert is heard but the commercial breaks may have been edited out. Audio quality is fair to poor as the recording was made by placing a tape recorder beside a radio, rather than using a cassette recorder. Thanks to Lilian O’Donoghue for the donation.

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‘It was fresh, very risky and a bit of novelty’: the early days of CBC.

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'It was fresh, very risky and a bit of novelty': the early days of CBC.
Alan Edwards of CBC in May 1979 (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).

Brothers Noel and Trevor Welch were both DJs with the Cork Broadcasting Company (CBC) and remained involved with radio in Cork during the pirate era and beyond. They co-authored The Jolly Roger: Pirate Radio Days in Cork, which was published in 2015. In that book, Noel remembers that pirate radio ‘struck a blow for pioneering DJs everywhere when stations first hit the airwaves in Cork in the late 1970s. It was fresh, very risky and a bit of a novelty. We hadn’t heard anything like it before. The pirates of the airwaves set the tone for pop radio in this country’.

'It was fresh, very risky and a bit of novelty': the early days of CBC.
Noel Evans (Welch) of CBC in January 1979 (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).

Noel responded to an advert seeking DJs placed by CBC in The Evening Echo. He was working with the Echo at the time and remembers how the advert almost jumped off the page at him. Noel had worked previously in nightclubs but had no radio experience and even lacked the basic equipment to record a demo tape. He had to borrow his uncle’s radio-cassette player and recorded a demo spinning his favourite vinyl singles. Once offered a slot at CBC he had to keep his radio hobby a secret at work because of the suspicion between local press and pirate stations.

This recording of CBC features Noel Welch (known as Noel Evans on air) and Alan Edwards. The recording starts at around 1925 on 15th June 1979 and is partially airchecked. Audio quality is poor due to the age of the cassette and the fact that this was recorded on a tape recorder held up to an AM radio. Thanks to Lillian O’Donoghue for the recording and photos.