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Radio Valleri was one of the pioneering early Irish pirates, broadcasting first on medium wave and then on shortwave. Its first broadcast was on Sunday 23rd July 1972 on 196 metres (1525 kHz) from a garden shed on the northside of Dublin, with taped programmes presented by the station’s founders Derek Jones and Mike Anderson. Sunday broadcasts continued on medium wave until September of that year and were augmented by additional programmes with Arno St Jude (Declan Meehan) and Edward LeRoy. Radio Valleri moved to shortwave in 1973, appearing on 6317 kHz on October 21st and then using 6260 and later 6210 each Sunday morning for a year. It closed on 7th December 1975 due to increased interest by the Irish authorities but returned on May 16th 1976 and continued into 1977 for 3 hours every Sunday. In a report in the magazine Free Radio Waves in February 1977, Mike Anderson wrote that in the previous 5 years, Radio Valleri had received over 500 reception reports from around Europe and as far away as the Soviet Union.
This recording of Radio Valleri was made on 19th October 1975 and is a repeat of a programme broadcast a year earlier featuring the history of Irish free radio. It kicks off with Mike Anderson who gives a potted history of early Irish stations such as Radio Santa Monica (1965), Radio Caroline Dublin (1969), Radio Eamo (1970), Radio Vanessa (1970) and Radio Melinda (1972). Mike is followed by Derek Jones who plays crackly recordings of the early stations, including Radio Melinda (featuring Arno St Jude), Radio Caroline Dublin and Radio Dublin. Other stations mentioned are Radio North Dublin, Radio Galaxy and Radio Jacqueline, which later became Channel 70. Derek also shares a musical history of Radio Valleri from its launch in 1972. This programme appears to be a studio copy rather than recorded from shortwave and is courtesy of Ian Biggar.
