Peter Madison Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

8th April 202212th April 2022

Peter Madison on South Coast breakfast

The late Peter Madison was a familiar voice on Irish pirate stations of the 1980s, including South Coast Radio in Cork, Boyneside Radio in Drogheda and Radio Nova, Magic 103 and Sunshine Radio in Dublin. In this recording, Peter can be heard presenting various editions of the South Coast breakfast show in early 1982 not long after the station’s launch.

Peter was a real professional and clearly put a lot of work into his shows. It’s all very up-beat and there are plenty of zany sound effects and corny jokes, some of which are a bit off-colour by the standards of today. Adverts are cut, but the voice of the other late great radio legend Tony Allan can be heard on some of them.

The first part of the recording dates from 13^th April but it is clear that a few editions of the show are included. Although the label refers to June, Peter Madison left South Coast in late April 1982 so this is a mistake. The recording was made from 104 FM in mono and audio quality is fair with some wobble in places. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. You can find more material from the collection on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

20th October 202118th October 2021

Peter Madison and non-stop Capitol 98 FM

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Capitol Radio on 98 FM was a short-lived radio experiment launched in the summer of 1982, aiming to provide an adult-oriented rock service to the greater Dublin area. Although some big names were involved including Tony Allan, Peter Madison, Steve Marshall, Scott Williams, Paul Allen, Eddie West and Lawrence John, Capitol ran into financial difficulties after a few months and closed down in September. Although Capitol proposed to also broadcast on 999 kHz AM, it was an FM-only station, a relatively rare choice in the early 1980s when medium wave was still an important platform.

This recording begins with a link from the late Peter Madison and is followed by non-stop music. There is no date but we estimate it to be from July 1982. Thanks to Shay Geoghegan for the donation.

14th May 202113th May 2021

Peter Madison on Capitol 98 FM

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Capitol Radio on 98 FM was a short-lived station specialising in adult-oriented music that broadcast to Dublin on 98.3 FM in 1982. Despite having many big names involved, a good studios and powerful transmitter, the station ran into financial difficulties and closed down after only a few months.

Recordings of the station are rare, so we are delighted to bring you this 45 minutes from Tuesday 20^th July 1982 from 1358-1443. Scott Williams signs off and hands over to offshore veteran DJ Peter Madison (RIP), who was heard on many Irish pirates in the 1980s. Peter is clearly in anorak mood and plays songs by the Fortunes associated with the British offshore pirates Radio City and Radio Caroline. Despite Capitol’s promise to provide a news service, there are no headlines at the top of the hour although a news flash is heard about the infamous London bombings that day.

We thank Paul Buckle for this donation.

12th December 20206th August 2021

Peter Madison and Tony Allan on Sunshine Radio

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Sunshine Radio was the first Dublin station to earn the label of ‘super-pirate’ when it launched in September 1980. With massive investment, professional equipment and a powerful transmitter, it shook up the Dublin radio market and the pirate scene would never be the same again.

Peter Madison (RIP) was another talented broadcaster who joined Sunshine in the early days and would later broadcast on other pirates such as Boyneside Radio and Radio Nova. He is heard here at the end of his shift from 1442-1500 on Sunday 19^th October 1980 and is then followed by another broadcasting giant, Tony Allan (RIP) from 1500-1525.

The short recording below is of Peter Madison a few days earlier, 16^th October 1980, from 1206-1227. Quality is poor due to electrical interference but Peter can be heard telling listeners that he has cycled 10 miles to the studio in Portmarnock!

These recordings from 531 kHz AM were made in Ayrshire, Scotland by Ken Baird. We thank Ian Biggar for sharing them with us.

25th September 20207th August 2021

Northeast series: Boyneside Radio

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The English DJ Peter Madison (RIP) was a familiar voice on the Irish pirates in the 1980s and spent a period at Boyneside Radio in its early days. Here he is on Boyneside on 10^th October 1980 from 1200-1230 presenting the John Collins sponsored programme. John Collins’s hardware and general store on Shop Street was an iconic Drogheda institution. Peter invites listeners to spot a mistake in Collins’s window to be in with a chance of winning a £5 voucher! With plenty of interest from listeners, it’s clear this was a popular programme.

There is some audio leakage on the recording which may be linked to the age of the cassette. Otherwise sound quality is good so this may have been recorded from the local FM transmitter or be a studio copy.

Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation of this recording.