Sybil Fennell in the Nova newsroom during the raid of 1983 (courtesy Joe King).
This recording of Dublin pirate station Radio Nova was made in the winter of 1984, a day after a serious air accident involving a plane flying from Dublin to Paris. Eight passengers and the pilot were killed on 13th November 1984 when the light aircraft in which they were travelling crashed near Eastbourne on the southeast coast of England.
The recording of the 1400 Nova news bulletin was made from 738 kHz AM on 14th November, when the extent of the tragedy was apparent. The newsreader is Sybil Fennell and the tape was made in Kidderminster near Birmingham. It is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
Declan Meehan at Nova during the raid of 1983 (courtesy Joe King).
The big Dublin pirate Radio Nova made various attempts to break into the British market during its 5 years on air. This recording features part of the breakfast show presented by Declan Meehan and Bob Gallico (RIP) and was made by English radio enthusiast Leon Tipler, presumably at his home in Kidderminster near Birmingham. It includes plenty of fading as is typical for AM propagation at the time of day and year. Although the weather forecast includes northwest England and Nova attempted to gain listeners in that region, clearly the signal was not commercially viable further south at Tipler’s home.
The recording was made from 819 kHz AM on 8th October 1982 between 0648-0718 and is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
Nova sticker from the 846 days (courtesy Ian Biggar).
The American Country Countdown was a syndicated country music show from the US presented by Bob Kingsley, aired by Dublin station Radio Nova in its early days. This recording from summer 1982 is of an early morning broadcast of the show, as heard on AM in Britain. It starts with night-time fading and some interference but the signal improves as dawn arrives. There are adverts for businesses around Dublin, including for brands, and mention of a Nova event at Maxine’s nightclub. The American Country Countdown is followed at 0600 by Colm Hayes with the first few minutes of his breakfast show.
The recording was made on Thursday 24th June 1982 from 846 kHz AM from 0407-0610. There are no details on the label but as the tape is from the Leon Tipler Collection, we presume that it was recorded at Leon’s home in Kidderminster near Birmingham. Thanks to Steve England for donating the Tipler Collection to us.
Nova car sticker from the 819 AM period (courtesy Ian Biggar).
This short recording of the successful Dublin station Radio Nova is from the run-up to Christmas 1982. It features Dave Harvey with plenty of requests on a cold Sunday night and news with Siobhán Purcell. The usual high-level adverts for brands and larger businesses are heard, reflecting Nova’s commercial success particularly in the busy pre-Christmas period. There’s also an advert for the Nova Park nightclub featuring musical events and gigs with Nova DJs.
The airchecked recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 88 FM on Sunday 12th December 1982. Radio Nova also broadcast on 819 kHz AM at this time.
Exterior of Energy Power 103 in 1988 (courtesy Andy Carter). The auctioneer’s sign indicates this was taken after the station’s closure in April.
This is a snippet from the Breakfast Club on the short-lived Nova Power 103 FM, a merger of the ‘new’ Radio Nova and existing Dublin pirate Energy 103 in late 1987. Sounding crisp and professional are Cassidy Jones, Lisa Moore (Fionnuala Sweeney) and Bob Gallico (RIP) with a mixture of music, chat, papers, sports and news. On a freezing Friday morning in Dublin, Bob Gallico presents the review of the papers and shares his racing tips for the day, while Lisa reads news. The familiar high-level adverts are heard, including for brands, and the classic Nova jingles are played, creating something of an identity problem as they differ from the station’s name. Although Nova founder Chris Cary had promised new jingles on the day the merger was announced (25th November), there was not enough time to complete the imaging of the new station as it was promptly prevented by an interlocutory injunction from using the valuable Nova name, and eventually reverted to Energy Power 103, as in the image above.
This recording was made by Kieran Murray between 0728-0748 on 27th November 1987 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. It is not clear if it was made from 99.9 or 103 FM.
