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.
Capitol rate card from September 1982 near the end of the station’s run (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
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 20th 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.
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 on Radio Nova (photo courtesy of DX Archive).
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 19th October 1980 and is then followed by another broadcasting giant, Tony Allan (RIP) from 1500-1525.
The original Sunshine studio in 1981 (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).
The short recording below is of Peter Madison a few days earlier, 16th 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.
Boyneside’s FM mast at owner Eobain McDonnell’s home at Tullyesker near Drogheda (photo courtesy Ian Biggar/DX Archive).
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 10th 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.
Peter Madison at Radio Nova (courtesy DX Archive).
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.
Early Boyneside Radio sticker, courtesy of Ian Biggar/DX Archive.
Today we resume our series on the pirates of the northeast from the late 1970s to the end of 1988, beginning with a series of recordings of Boyneside Radio from Drogheda. We thank Ian Biggar for writing a history of the station and both Ian and Eddie Caffrey for donating recordings.
After the success of Radio Carousel in Dundalk from 1978 it was no surprise when a radio station started in the busy town of Drogheda in the south of Co. Louth. Local businessman Eobain McDonnell along with other investors like Frank Buckley made plans to start Local Radio Drogheda (LRD) in the town. The location was on top of the imposing Donaghy’s Mill sitting on the banks of the River Boyne. Studios were set up and a low power transmitter of only 9 watts was installed.
The station came on air in late November 1978 and was an immediate success with the local population. Initial transmissions were logged around 1310 kHz, but the station soon settled on its mainstay frequency of 1305 kHz, always announced as 225 metres.
In January 1979, LRD increased power to 50 watts and a couple of weeks later to 160 watts using an ex-IBA 2Kw rig, although it was not properly loaded into the aerial. However, in May the station suffered some technical problems along with an attempted raid. Despite this and the arrival of RTÉ Radio 2, listeners remained loyal to their local station. Another power increase in July 1979 to 400 watts eliminated some of the technical problems and the station was being heard well within a 45-mile radius of Drogheda.
By now LRD was employing 10 full time DJs covering the daily schedule from 0730-2100, along with two newsreaders and an NUJ news editor. Gavin Duffy and ‘Heady’ Eddie Caffrey joined the station from Radio Dundalk, as well as Eric Vaughan from Radio Carousel and Daire Nelson from NER. Later in 1980 Peter Madison, who was working as a chef in the Boyne Valley Hotel joined, initially presenting a weekly oldies show before going full time on breakfast.
Compliments slip for Eobain McDonnell who was also a builder and estate agent (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
As the station coverage grew beyond Drogheda, the station began to identify as Boyneside Radio, before dropping the LRD call sign all together by late summer 1979. The station was now well established and seen as one of the pioneers of local radio in Ireland. Despite Radio Carousel moving into the town in early 1980, Boyneside Radio was now established as the local station in Drogheda and was not impacted by the new arrival. It is likely that Carousel was viewed as a Dundalk station and therefore not particularly accepted in Drogheda.
In the latter half of 1980 listeners were surprised to hear a loop tape on 1071 kHz identifying as Boyneside Radio 2. This was heard far and wide during the night. Eddie Caffrey has said that this was really just to hold the frequency as he had heard that Carousel might be planning to put a transmitter on there. Boyneside entered 1981 broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1305 kHz with around 1.5kW, as well as an FM frequency for the town on 99.2 MHz and another on 98.1 MHz. The latter was located on high ground to the north of Drogheda and gave good reception as far as south Co. Dublin.
In July 1981 Eobain McDonnell made an offer to Gavin Duffy and Eddie Caffrey that they could run the station for a weekly fee and that he would take no part in the operations of Boyneside. This was agreed and implemented, but very shortly Eobain had a change of heart and wanted to withdraw the offer. This was unacceptable for the team and resulted in a split in the station. Gavin, Eddie, Richard Crowley and others broke away with the intention of starting their own station. They took the high power transmitter, leaving Boyneside Radio only on FM. The studio equipment and records remained at Mill Lane, along with staff like Eric Vaughan, Dara Nelson and Áine Ní Ghuidhir (Ní Chairbre). What happened next was an interesting time for radio in Drogheda.
This recording is of Heady Eddie presenting the Top 30 on Boyneside on a Sunday afternoon from 1503-1600 in August 1979. Many thanks to Ian Biggar for the recording.
