{"id":3619,"date":"2023-01-21T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?p=3619"},"modified":"2023-05-17T21:26:56","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T20:26:56","slug":"radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/","title":{"rendered":"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_7792\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3619-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/19890123_Radio_Star_Country_0832-0917_891am_Isobel_IB.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/19890123_Radio_Star_Country_0832-0917_891am_Isobel_IB.mp3\">https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/19890123_Radio_Star_Country_0832-0917_891am_Isobel_IB.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/19890123_Radio_Star_Country_0832-0917_891am_Isobel_IB.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?powerpress_pinw=3619-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/19890123_Radio_Star_Country_0832-0917_891am_Isobel_IB.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"19890123_Radio_Star_Country_0832-0917_891am_Isobel_IB.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"730\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2.jpg\" alt=\"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989\" class=\"wp-image-7727\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2-768x561.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>Isobel Byrne (RIP) in the Radio Star studios in 1988 (courtesy Andy Carter). <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Having defied the new broadcasting laws that came into effect at the end of the 1988, Radio Star Country entered 1989 on a high. The Anoraks UK <em>Weekly Report<\/em> of 7<sup>th<\/sup> January commented that \u2018Star Country carried many adverts and it was as if news of the legislation had not yet reached that quarter!\u2019 On Friday 27<sup>th<\/sup> January, the station announced on-air that it was going to move AM frequency, from 891 kHz to 981 kHz. This latter frequency had been used by Hometown Radio in Castleblayney, County Monaghan until Saturday 31<sup>st<\/sup> December 1988. Radio Star Country moved frequency on Friday 3<sup>rd<\/sup> February 1989 at 3.37pm and station owner Gerry Byrne was heard on air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar to Radio Dublin which also defied the new laws, Radio Star Country was issued with notices that its telephones and electricity supply would be cut off after 14 days. In possible anticipation of a raid, Anoraks UK reported on 21<sup>st<\/sup> January that the station had introduced a new sales number in Armagh where it was not illegal to take advertising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"665\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1988-Andy-Carter-2-1024x665.jpg\" alt=\"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989\" class=\"wp-image-7743\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1988-Andy-Carter-2-1024x665.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1988-Andy-Carter-2-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1988-Andy-Carter-2-768x499.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1988-Andy-Carter-2-1536x997.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1988-Andy-Carter-2.jpg 1650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>Isobel Byrne (RIP) in the Radio Star Country studio in 1988 (courtesy Andy Carter). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the increased risks of pirate broadcasting, 1989 was a bumper year for Radio Star Country. In February, the veteran pirate DJ Don Allen (RIP) joined the station with his popular \u2018Country and Western Jamboree\u2019, taking over the breakfast slot. Station owner Gerry Byrne was heard at lunchtime and there were live shows all day with tapes overnight. Advertising revenue was strong and the verdict of Anoraks UK on 11<sup>th<\/sup> February was: \u2018The station gets ten out of ten for its fighting spirit\u2019. In March, Radio Star Country even advertised for additional sales staff, such was the demand from businesses wishing to buy time on the station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This recording was made from 0832-1002 on 23<sup>rd<\/sup> January from the old frequency of 891 kHz. On air is Isobel Byrne (RIP), late wife of former station owner Gerry Byrne. There are long ad breaks featuring mostly Northern businesses but the Swan Lake Hotel has a spot also. Part 1 above runs from 0832 and Part 2 below from 0917. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/19890123_Radio_Star_Country_0917-1002_891am_Isobel_IB.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Part 2 from 0917. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Reception is fair as the recording was made in Scotland. We thank Ian Biggar for the donation and Se\u00e1n Brady for assistance with the text. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having defied the new broadcasting laws that came into effect at the end of the 1988, Radio Star Country entered 1989 on a high. The Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 7th January commented that \u2018Star Country carried many adverts and it was as if news of the legislation had not yet reached that quarter!\u2019 On &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[535,46,260,282,625,259,477],"class_list":["post-3619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-full-recordings","tag-535","tag-am","tag-border","tag-country-music","tag-isobel-byrne","tag-monaghan","tag-radio-star-country"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Having defied the new broadcasting laws that came into effect at the end of the 1988, Radio Star Country entered 1989 on a high. The Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 7th January commented that \u2018Star Country carried many adverts and it was as if news of the legislation had not yet reached that quarter!\u2019 On &hellip; Continue reading &quot;Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-21T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-17T20:26:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Walsh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Walsh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/\",\"name\":\"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-21T08:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-17T20:26:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/a6eb579c7ad730e14f91e6455b207f00\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RadioStar-Isobel-Byrne-in-the-Swan-Lake-Hotel-in-Monaghan-Town-2.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":730},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/\",\"name\":\"Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\",\"description\":\"Open Free Radio Archive\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/a6eb579c7ad730e14f91e6455b207f00\",\"name\":\"John Walsh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a5b6baea2fd739c3be046233f2ad61?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a5b6baea2fd739c3be046233f2ad61?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Walsh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/author\/john\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-star-country-thrives-in-1989\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Border series: Radio Star Country thrives in 1989 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","og_description":"Having defied the new broadcasting laws that came into effect at the end of the 1988, Radio Star Country entered 1989 on a high. 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