Radio Radio: The Story of the Irish Radio Pirates

Acknowledgements

In a book that has consumed such a large and important period of my life, I feel I must take time out to thank all those who have helped me over the years.

Since the bulk of this text is built around interviews I have personally conducted, I would like to thank those who let themselves be interviewed (some several times). They were, Roger and Ann Lloyd, Eamon Cooke, James Dillon, Robbie Robinson, Mick Doyle, Declan Meehan, Billy Wall, Mike Hogan, Andrew Hanlon, Chris Cary, Eddie Ryan, Tony Allan, Eric Graham, Eamon Brookes, Tony Boylan, Jimmy Smith, Tom Hardy, Adrian Kennedy, Sally Reynolds, David Harvey and Paul Vincent. My thanks too to Mary C. Thomas for access to her taped interviews and thesis.

Two people who granted me interviews must be singled out for a special mention. Firstly Kieran Murray who graciously gave me access to his Free Radio Campaign Ireland files and his wealth of knowledge in the area. Secondly Ken Sheehan, the original founder of Radio Dublin. Without his help this book could never have been as accurate as it is. For the proofing, wisdom and cups of tea, many thanks! I would also like to thank Bernard Evans for tracking down some of the graphics.

There were others too who assisted me in my background research. I am grateful to Bernard Llewellyn, Dennis Murray, Dion Breen, Martin Block, Margaret Nelson, Dave Fanning, Neil O' Shea, Gerard Roe, Gary Wild, Tony Donlon, and to Ruth and Barrie Johnson. I'd also like to formally thank the staff of The National Library of Ireland, BBC Northern Ireland, RTE library, the IBA in London, the NIHE Dublin library, the ITU in Geneva, the DIHE in Bournemouth, the State Paper Office Dublin, and the Department of Communications.

On a more personal level I must thank my mother for proofing the early drafts, my father for the free biros and everyone else for putting up with me.

A special debt of gratitude is owed To Fiona Sweeney, who suffered me and my various projects for so long. A 'thank you' seems hardly enough so I'll try 'sorry'. Without a shadow of a doubt the most influential person behind this book is Prof. T.J. Wheeler (Tim to his friends!). Even though Tim moved house and college, his commitment and interest in this project never wavered. For his personal kindness, his micro, his time and friendship and his lessons in how to liberate white A4 from other people's photocopiers, I will be eternally grateful! Finally I'd like to thank all at Borderline for their enthusiasm and commitment to this book.

PM

Author's Preface 1988

Radio Radio is the result of six years research into unlicensed radio in Ireland. It takes the subject from the very birth of the Irish Republic in 1916, right up to the present day. Pirate stations by their very nature tend to be secretive. Like the outlaws of the wild west, station operators see themselves engaged in a battle for survival against the powers that be. These latter-day cowboys are individuals who distrust bureaucracy and conformity and indeed anything or anyone who threatens their freewheeling and therefore glamorous lifestyle.

In such a covert industry records are rarely kept, and anything documented by stations tends to be grossly biased. Facts cease to exist and are replaced by opinions. Getting to the truth then was like making a huge jigsaw puzzle on a trampoline.

In boiling down the mountain of material I have accumulated over the years, I have tried to keep the text as accessible as possible. I have avoided in-jokes, buzz words, lists of people and boring details about technical equipment. This book is aimed at anyone who listens to the radio or has had their curiosity aroused by the pirate stations.

Writing is selective and what is recorded becomes fact - whatever the reality. Memory fades, the written word doesn't. The official story of Irish broadcasting revolves around RTE. It records the organisation's successes and failures and presents them in isolation as the truth. As Orwell's Winston Smith found, Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past. Pirate radio and the influence it has had on Irish society have been ignored. Contrary to the official story, unlicensed radio has been a lot more than an irritation on the backside of State monopoly broadcasting.

Because pirate stations were not bound hand and foot by legislation, during the 1970s and 80s they anticipated all the major innovations in Irish radio, like Irish language broadcasting, music radio, and twenty four hour broadcasting. While RTE was first to introduce experimental community radio, it stayed as just that - experimental. Pirate stations under the guidance of the NACB matured to meet a real public demand.

On the commercial front, successful stations invested heavily in quality mixers, optimods, transmitters and jingle packages. Professionally this put them ahead of RTE, who were struggling with the hairshirt reality of a semi-State existence. In relation to broadcast talent, many of the present and future 'names' began life on pirate radio. Those stations were setting the trends, not only with their musical formats, but with outside broadcasting, big-money competitions, and additions to the very grammar of radio - so that MW and VHF became respectively AM and FM, while in tune with the pirate vogue Radio 2 took a second name, 2FM. With RTE following initiatives set by pirates, the organisation lost its dominance. Unlicenced stations then grew in power and influenced the development of broadcasting in Ireland to as great, if not a greater extent than RTE.

This then is that story.

Peter Mulryan

Foreword 1988 Edition

It seems to me there were 3 kinds of people involved in pirate radio in the late 70s. There were those who loved the technical side of broadcasting and the excitement of trying to use the airwaves to provide a local Luxemburg/Caroline style service. Then there were those who saw it as a way to make money. Finally there were those who loved music and playing records.

I never knew much about transmitters, frequencies or modulators, and looking back on the two years I spent (between August 77 and May '79 on Radio Dublin and Big D) I never made a penny. In fact, the only way to get home from town four nights a week at 5 or 6 in the morning was by taxi (sticking 50 albums on the back carrier is no t recommended!) and I was able to pay for that by working as a DJ in McGonagle's in South Anne Street at the weekends.

Radio Dublin, where we broadcast from the front room of a terraced house in Inchicore, was good fun; but my best memories of the 70s all revolve around late night Big D in '78, in Chapel Lane near Parnell Square. All we wanted was to be left alone after midnight, free of hypocritical station jingles, non-stop ads and the relentless 9-5 pursuit of profit through pop.

Myself and Smiley Bolger were in charge after midnight and nothing mattered but the music. Smiley used to arrive down from McGonagle's and start his programme at 3.33am. He'd plug in his ghettoblaster which acted as a thumping studio monitor and he'd change the light bulb from normal to red. The result? Great music, great fun.

From the midnight hour onwards the 'studios' in Chapel Lane acted as a regular visiting place for local bands who'd come along to be interviewed and get their demos played. One of those bands was U2.

In this excellently researched book, Peter states that Big D was based in an old closed up factory with a hole in the roof. The station was always cold and damp. Factually he is right, but it was never like that when Smilev was around.

Peter has done an excellent job at making, to quote his own phrase, a huge jigsaw puzzle on a trampoline. This is the story of the Irish pirates. Even if you weren't there, it's a great read.

Dave Fanning

Dublin, March 1988.

Foreword 2011 Edition

It was how I imagined the Beatles store on Baker St. in London during the 60’s. That was my answer when asked, what was it like in Radio Nova in the 80s? The mayhem, unpredictability and most of all amazing creativity, which was generated by a collection of the eccentric, the artistic and thankfully the sane… It was all delivered with passion and it was extraordinarily successful.

The 1970’s were a mixture of hobby-DJs, almost pretending they were on a pirate ship (me!), potential entrepreneurs, and technical geeks. There were music fans too who came in a variety of ego sizes and varying degrees of naivety. My motivation, like so many others, was to have fun, live a dream and to contribute to creating an independent sector. I wanted to get a job and be like my heroes on Radio Caroline, others like Dave Fanning wanted to spread the word on interesting music. I suppose we all loved the glamour of being illegal. From the early 1980’s to 1989, the growth of an independent sector really took shape and many enthusiasts were hopeful they could earn a living from radio.

Almost anyone could be on radio, most presenters would be given a spot and an opportunity to prove themselves like the day I brought John Clarke from a radio station called KELO in Swords to meet Chris Cary in Radio Nova and recommended him for a slot. Chris said, nice to meet you John, you're on in 10 minutes. Sink or swim!

Some even set up their own stations. This often led to unlikely local heroes. 'John the Man' on Radio Luimnigh is a great example of this. The word 'unique' is to understate John, with his fun, his singing and his relationship with his listeners. And up to that time what station would have employed a 'Double Glazing Salesman' with an American accent? Radio Nova did and Bob Gallico became one of the era's most memorable stars. There was no ban on British-sounding announcers either. Offshore stars like Tony Allen, Robbie Dale and Andy Archer all joined the revolution, or as Chris Cary named it, The Great Irish Radio Experiment. It later led to a legal Independent sector in late 1989, over 20 years ago.

Today's stations, mostly on FM, are also available on the internet. Local stations are now an integral part of our lives. In ‘Radio Radio’ Peter explores the different philosophies of those pioneering times, including the debate between 'commercial' and 'community'. Today, Radio Kerry in particular, epitomises the successful amalgamation of these outlooks. Quality programmes reflecting their area, giving a platform to the community and at the same time being commercially profitable. In the 70s and 80s many DJs contributed to stations as 'volunteers', feeling they were part of a movement to further the development of radio and at the same time have fun and gain experience. There was of course exploitation of the idealistic by the greedy, but it was considered a trade off, a sort of 'learning for the future'. These days there is payment, but often staff work on local radio for low pay and did so, in many cases, even during the so-called 'boom times'; the downturn in the economy has only served to amplify this. Finances are tight as local businesses close or cut back on advertising. There are more weekend programmes pre-recorded by midweek staff and unlike the pirate era, a 'live' overnight-service is an exception. There are also over 20 Community Radio/Special Interest stations across the country operated primarily on a voluntary basis.

As regards the two National licences; we lost Century Radio in 1991 replaced by Radio Ireland in 1997, now Today FM. The other, Newstalk, initially started as a 'Dublin-Only' station, but now offers countrywide speech programming as an alternative to RTE. Both of these are owned by businessman Denis O'Brien's Communicorp. Who would have thought the pirate revolution for free, non-State-owned broadcasting would be bought by a corporate conglomerate that owns a multiplicity of stations. UTV owns two Dublin stations and others across the country, while Bay Broadcasting has an interest in three stations. What does this mean to the broadcasting staff? If you fall foul of one station within a group are you excluded from their other stations? Another worrying aspect could be the perception of interference in editorial independence should an unfavourable story emerge about the owners. Of course it can be argued that concentrated ownership makes commercial sense. There is a review of this by Government expected in early 2012.

One of the major criticisms of the pirate era was how difficult it was to have music of Irish origin played on some stations. Criticism came primarily from Irish Showband promoters. The Broadcast Authority of Ireland now polices a requirement of 20 per cent of Irish music on playlists. Incidentally, the Civil Servants doing this job are paid for by a levy imposed on the stations. Also each Independent station has a 20 per cent 'News and Current Affairs' stipulation. This can be a curse for those in niche markets but those who saw it initially as an imposition are finding they can often get higher advertising rates during their speech shows and often generate much desired 'talk-ability'. There are proposals to review this early in 2012 with specialist music channels possibly getting a derogation Again who would have thought back in the day, as we strove to escape Government interference, that we would have Civil Servants hanging on our every word to calculate speech content?

Radio stations are licensed for a specific period and often 'promises of performance' have evolved over their tenure. Many of the initial worthy aspirations of licencing have proved unworkable and through discussions with the Regulator there has been a whittling down of the early commitments. To balance however, the BAI encourage, through funding, documentary making, drama and diverse programmes which promote creativity. They have instituted ‘Learning Waves’ radio courses to enhance the performance of broadcasters. Mark Story who features heavily in this book, now contributes extensively to Learning Waves. and brings an empathy and continuity from his pirate days to his 2011 consultancy work.

As regards on-air we have our modern day 'mavericks' breaking down the barriers. For example Today FM's Ray Foley and the Off The Ball sports crew from Newstalk. Comedy is much more to the fore too with the likes of Mario Rosenstock. There is also a growing and very welcome number of female presenters on air; and not just in the stereotypical production roles linked to 'News and Current Affairs'.They are presenting entertainment shows, particularly on younger appeal stations

Now in 2011, as I check that wireless dial in Dublin, there are stations using the names of the 80's Pirates -Nova, Sunshine and Q102. Even Radio Milinda is back broadcasting on the web with original DJs. Many presenters from the pages of this book are on our current 'pre-sets'.

Nowadays there are so many fronts to fight for audience on - Digital, Internet and Satellite - and that’s before ipods, streaming and whatever the future brings.

And Radio 2 or 2FM? It struggled to compete during the super pirate days of the 1980s but found its success through the talent of Gerry Ryan from, coincidentally, the end of the era in 1989. Since Gerry's sad and premature passing in 2010 it seems the station is again searching to define its place.

Every year in May, on the anniversary of the raid on Radio Nova the class of 1982/1983 meet for dinner. We salute those who touched and influenced our radio lives who are, like Gerry, gone ahead. We remember Chris Cary, Tony Allen and the other heroes.

On a personal note, I would like to acknowledge Ernie Melia who owned the first station I broadcast on:Radio Vanessa in 1970. Ernie passed away in 2010 RIP.

Declan Meehan

Dublin, November 2011

Radio Radio

by Peter Mulryan

First Published in 1988 by Borderline Publications

Smashwords edition Published in 2011 by Digital Kitchen

© 2011 Copyright Peter Mulryan

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Author's Preface to the 1988 Edition

Foreword to the 1988 Edition by Dave Fanning

Foreword to the 2011 Edition by Declan Meehan

1 The World's First Broadcast

2 Freedom and Choice

3 Fuse-wire, Black Coffee and Grim Determination

4 Fun and Games

5 A Radio Jungle

6 Another Kettle of Fish

7 Hamburger Radio

8 The Plot Thickens

9 A Bolt from the Blue

10 Black Magic and the Five Deadly Sins

11 Bees to Honey

12 Twenty Years Ago Today

Appendix I - Political Party Statements

Endnotes

1 The World's First Broadcast

"The Irish breed rebels where the English

breed gentlemen. The English like to watch the

action, the Irish provide it."

Ronan O'Rahilly, founder of Radio Caroline.

Reis' 'Fancy Goods Warehouse', on the corner of Dublin's Sackville Street and Lower Abbey Street was under heavy attack for the second day running. Over the shop, broadcasting history was in the making, but that history was probably the last thing going through the minds of the Irish rebels that Easter Tuesday, 25th April 1916.

Upstairs at 10-11 Lower Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) was the Irish School of Wireless Telegraphy, and since occupying the building the previous day, the rebels had been repairing an old 1.5 Kw ship's transmitter. From 5.30pm that Easter Tuesday, until they were forced to leave the air at midday the following day, they informed anyone who may have been listening in to their Morse signal that a rebellion had taken place, and that an Irish Republic had been declared in Dublin. Up to this, Wireless Telegraphy had mainly been used in ship to shore communication. Here for the first time radio was used to reach a potential mass audience. The rebels were using the medium in a vain hope