A shot of the WLS mast at Prospect Hill, Galway (Anoraks Ireland Collection).
This recording of Galway pirate WLS Music Radio was made in November 1985. It begins with the final half-hour of the Sunshine Special breakfast show presented by Don Stevens, one of the station’s founders. He is followed at 1000 by Pamela Wilson, formerly of ERI in Cork. News is read by Chris Ashford and there are many adverts for local Galway businesses.
Cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Made on 13th November 1985 from 102.7 FM, part 1 above runs from 0933-1019 and part 2 below from 1020-1106.
Part 2 from 1020.
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
This recording of WLS Music Radio from Galway was made in the autumn of 1985 and features two of the station’s top presenters, Pamela Wilson and Keith York (RIP). It begins with a love songs spot on Pamela’s programme, which is packed with local adverts. There are also shout-outs to listeners in shops and businesses around town. News on the hour is read by Chris Ashford. Pamela is followed at midday by Keith York, who was one of the station’s founders. There’s an indirect reference to the Voice of Peace, the offshore station where Keith worked before coming to Ireland.
Cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Made from 102.7 FM on 4th October 1985, part 1 above runs from 1121-1207 and part 2 below from 1207-1253.
Part 2 from 1253.
The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Exterior of WLS at Prospect Hill in 1986/7 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).
This recording of WLS Music Radio from Galway features lunchtime programmes from autumn 1985, about six months after the station began broadcasting. Pamela Wilson, formerly of ERI in Cork, is on air until 1400. She is followed by one of the station founders, former Voice of Peace DJ Steve Marshall. News with Laura Landers (not Andrews as indicated on the label) includes a reference to the ‘bay area’, a phrase borrowed from Radio Nova in Dublin, then at the peak of its influence on the Irish radio scene.
Cassette label from Anoraks Ireland collection.
The tape was recorded from 102.7 FM on 26th September 1985. Part 1 above runs from 1241-1327 and part 2 below from 1327-1413. Audio quality is fair with some distortion in places.
Part 2 from 1327
The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
A small part of the enormous Anoraks Ireland Collection as photographed by Eddie Bohan.
Anoraks Ireland was a one-stop resource for Irish radio enthusiasts of the 1980s and early 1990s allowing them to buy or swap cassette recordings and other materials relating to the hundreds of pirate radio stations that existed back then. The organisation extensively documented the unique golden era of pirate radio in the form of photographs, magazines, detailed bandscans, station surveys and much more.
Earlier this year, Anoraks Ireland founder Paul Davidson agreed to donate his vast collection of Irish radio materials to the Irish Pirate Radio Archive at Dublin City University. The materials, primarily from the pirate radio era of the 80s, offer a fascinating insight into the Irish broadcasting landscape of the time and consist of thousands of cassette recordings, photos of DJs, studios and transmitter sites, advertising rate cards, newspaper cuttings along with lots of other materials. The Irish Pirate Radio Archive, in association with ourselves at Pirate.ie and with Radiowaves.fm, are in the process of digitising the huge collection and are about to start archiving it across the three websites. We all look forward to making this invaluable collection available to historians, students and visitors to our websites. The digitisation teams are John Walsh and Brian Greene of Pirate.ie, Eddie Bohan of the Irish Pirate Radio Archive and Irish Broadcasting Hall of Fame and John Fleming of Radiowaves.fm.
Original label of this recording in the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
We kick off with recordings of Cork super-pirate ERI from 1456-1542 on Thursday 3rd November 1988. On air are Pamela Wilson, previously of WLS in Galway and Radio West in Mullingar, and Joe Reilly on news. These were recorded from 97.7 FM in stereo and ERI also broadcast on 1305 kHz (announcing 225 metres). The recording above runs from 1456-1542 and the one below from 1543-1629.
2nd part of Pamela Wilson recording.
These recordings are from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
