Treble ‘T’ R was launched on June 1st 1981 by
Jimmy Smith broadcasting a brand of country and western and Irish music. The
station was an instant success with an older demographic not being catered for
by many of the other commercial pirate radio stations in Dublin. TTTR stood for
Tallaght, Templeogue, Ternure Rathfarnham, the local areas it broadcast to. The
station was initially located at the Green Acres Country Club until the venue
was bought by Radio Nova and renamed Nova Park. In September 1982 the station
was briefly off air when its new base in the Apollo Cinema, Walkinstown was
damaged by fire. Having broadcast on medium wave for its first couple of years
they added a stereo FM frequency on 96mhz in January 1983.
At 2.30am on May 19th 1983 as a precaution the
station went off air following the raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio. A
week later the station returned to the airwaves. The station stayed on air
until December 1988 when it closed in accordance with the WTA 88. One of the
great voices of Irish pirate radio was on TTTR when it closed, Bob Gallico.
Gallico, an American by birth, made his name on Radio Nova as a double act with
Declan Meehan. Their breakfast show ‘Deckie Weckie’s Brekkie Trekkie’ was a ratings
winner for the Herbert Street super pirate.
A Sample of
the weekly TTTR schedule from the station.
MONDAY-FRIDAY
7.30am Jim's Breakfast Show
Sneaky Pet BJ & various presenters
Midday Miss Elli
3pm The Grace Porter Show
MONDAY 6pm Mostly Country - Tony Forrest
8pm Jim Harte Traditional & Ballads
10pm Noel Casey
TUESDAY 6pm Mostly Country - Tony Forrest
8pm Nashville Country Giants with Jack Green
10pm Big C Show with Connie Lee
WEDNESDAY 6pm Mostly Country - Tony Forrest
8pm Jim Harte Traditional & Ballads
10pm Noel Casey
THURSDAY 6pm Con O’Mahony
FRIDAY Mostly Country - Tony Forrest
8pm Jim Harte Traditional & Ballads
Midnight every night: Close
SATURDAY
9am Rock n Roll Golden Oldies with Alan Walsh
Midday The Doc's Country Clinic with Mick
O'Doherty
2pm Ballads with Derek Walsh
3pm Saturday Spin-Off with PJ Lynch featuring Pop,
Country and ballads
5pm The Bob Stevens Show
7pm Music for Everyone with Catherine Doyle
10pm Late Show with BJ
SUNDAY:
9am Country & Blue Grass with Brendan Whelan
11am Tony Forrest
1pm The Jim'll Mix It Show
3pm Country International with Louis Lumsden
5pm Laid Back with Karen Field
7pm A Little bit of Religion
9pm Relax with Ann Byrne
11pm God's Country with Bob Stevens
The
station even gained praise on the floor of the Dail[1], when Michael Keating TD in a parliamentary debate on new
radio legislation said,
‘I also believe it is right that I should state unequivocally my admiration and respect for the professionalism, entrepreneurial flair and enthusiasm of many people associated with the present stations — KLAS, TTTR, Sunshine and others who are giving an excellent service in the Dublin area.’
In 1989 Jimmy spearheaded a consortium to apply for one
of the Dublin franchise licenses eventually secured by Capital Radio (now
FM104) and 98FM. According to the Irish Independent in February 1989,
`Easy listening' Jimmy
Smith, for Irish Country 104/106 has a 30-year connection with the music
business. A former musician, his broadcasting experience span eight years with
TTTR Radio. He identified easy listening as the best route for the franchise’.
Station owner Jimmy Smith attempted a TTTR comeback in
May 1995 broadcasting on 100.2mhz but the attempt floundered when the transmitter
was stolen.
In an obituary in the Anglo Celt newspaper
‘Jimmy was the founder, leader and manager of the Mighty
Avons, back in the heyday when showbands ruled the Irish music scene. Three of
the Smith brothers from Keelagh, Ballyhaise, were central to the formation of
the Mighty Avons. Paddy, Peter and Jimmy were highly accomplished musicians and
soon stamped their style on the Mighty Avons sound. In conjunction with the
late Larry Cunningham, they achieved international fame.
Jimmy Smith
late of Ballyhaise and Oranmore, Galway, was born to James and Mary Smith in
1938 in Keelagh, Ballyhaise. Jimmy’s foray into show business started with St
Bridget’s Ceili Band, while brothers Paddy and Peter were members of a local
brass band. This grounding in performance led to the formation of The Mighty
Avons in the late 50s.
The Smith brothers and Larry Cunningham’s showmanship was augmented by the musicianship of Mickey Brady, Brian Finlay, Gerry Walsh and Ronnie Griffiths. The Avons were ready to take on the world, and take it on they did - being one of the first Irish bands to conquer the British Charts with the song ‘A tribute to Jim Reeves’ (also number one in Ireland)[2] which received airplay on offshore pirate station Radio Caroline broadcasting from the North Sea.The chart topper brought fame and fortune and they went on to play everywhere in the world from The Albert Hall in London, The Palladium, Carnegie Hall in New York and even playing for Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco, in Powerscourt Wicklow.
According to the radiowaves.fm website
Radio West was the original name for Galway Bay FM. The station launched on August 18th 1989. Jimmy Smith of Treble TR, the Dublin pirate radio station which had closed at the end of 1988, was hired to set up Radio West. Due to a delay in acquiring the purchased studio equipment, Radio West went on air through a 250 Watt CTE transmitter with the old TTTR studio brought over from Dublin.
He was also involved in ‘Club Setanta’
in Galway City. Following his move West to Galway he even managed to write a
novel ‘Ned The Bed’ which was published in 2009. This was a fictional story
based on his many years in the showband business.
Jimmy Smith, founder of TTTR, Ar dheis Dé go
raibh a anam
Sources:
The Century of Irish Radio 1900-2000
Radio Radio
radiowaves.fm
DX Archive
pirate.ie
Irish Newspaper Archives
Sunday World Archives
The Anglo Celt Newspaper
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