Where's Wally on Radio Luxembourg? Ireland is on the Hunt.

 

Recently while I was researching the historical significance of Radio Luxembourg’s broadcasts in the 1950’s on Irish listeners. The Irish public had their radio tuners firmly on Radio Eireann for a quarter of a century but as Radio Luxembourg changed their focus to become a dedicated pop and rock and roll station in the early 1950’s, the Irish youth had found a new listen. As I researched, I found this unusual advert in the ‘personals’ of the Irish Independent on September 8^th 1955,

‘George, please come home on Saturday night and listen to Wally Petersen in ‘By Candleglow’ on Radio Luxembourg at 10pm, Janet.’

It seemed very random, who were George and Janet? In keeping with the era, was this a cold war secret message aimed at spies in Ireland? Where was Wally? Lots of questions with very few answers.

 

The following day, Friday September 9^th, in the Derry Journal in the ‘Personal’ section the same advert appeared. Was it inserted both North and South of the border to ensure that a spy saw it? Meanwhile the following weekend in the Belfast Telegraph personals the following wording,

‘Babs, I heard Wally Petersen on Radio Luxembourg last Saturday at 10pm. He’s great! Don’t miss him next Saturday at 10, 208 metres, Alan.’

One week later, once again in the ‘Personal’ section of the Irish Independent was

‘Ronald, come around and listen to Wally Petersen’s wonderful programme next Saturday from Radio Luxembourg at 10pm, signed Margaret’

 

If this was a spy ring, there were a lot of random people involved. While we complain today about clickbait on social media, and even ads as you swipe left or right on dating apps, these were ads for a radio programme dressed up in personal ads, lending a certain humanity to an invitation to listen. In the 1950s the personal ads section in the newspapers were often used to seek out pen pals or even a bachelor seeking a spinster for the prospect of marriage.

 

There was probably never any Ronald or Babs or George but there was a Wally and he was easily found. Wally Petersen was an American born actor, writer, singer and musician who in 1955 joined the staff at Radio Luxembourg in the Grand Duchy. His show ‘By Candlelight’ aired at 10pm directly as the Irish Requests Show that was hosted then by David Gell. Strangely when the Irish show ended on Luxembourg, the personal ads ended. It appeared to be an expensive way to advertise a show that was only fifteen minutes in length.

 

In a career that began in the 1930s and occupied seven decades, Wally Peterson filled an extraordinary number of roles in the theatre and on radio — actor, singer, musician, writer and stage manager. Born in Boston in 1917, his first broadcast was for a local radio station at the age of 15 when he sang Blue Moon. In the 1930s, he was a member of the famous Barter Theatre in Virginia, a collective created in the depression that paid its company in food received from the audience.

He continued broadcasting on radio until he joined the Army in 1943, and produced a number of variety performances for the USO, showing his versatility by also singing, playing piano, writing songs and sketches and acting. By 1944, he was in Europe presenting shows and displaying a talent for improvisation by draping curtain material over trees and setting up pianos and music stands in clearings.

 

After the war, Peterson auditioned for a role in the London company of Oklahoma, which opened in 1947. He would five years in the show at the Drury Lane Theatre. In 1948 Peterson met the Australian singer and actress, Joy Nichols, who was the female star of the new hit radio programme, Take it From Here on Radio Luxembourg. They married in 1949 and Peterson moved into radio, writing and performing shows for the BBC and Radio Luxembourg, where at the time he was the only American presenter. His show on Luxembourg was a massive hit but television beckoned where initially he worked as a producer of the independent television company Associated Broadcasting but following the success of his wife’s role in the West End’s ‘Pyjama Game’, the Petersen family now with daughter Roberta moved to New York. While working at the commercial Luxembourg, he was presenting a weekend show on the BBC’s Light service ‘Down Memory Lane’ aired at the same time as his weekday Luxembourg show.

 

There was some confusion in the entertainment pages of newspapers and magazines in 1955 as there was another Wally Petersen. According to the BBC obituary to Betty Driver, famous to many viewers as Betty Turpin the landlady of the Rovers Return on Coronation Street,

‘In 1953 Driver married Wally Petersen, a South African singer who had guested on one of her shows, but the union was not a success, Peterson was a serial womaniser and made free with Driver's money. The couple parted in 1960’.

An In Depth Analysis of Radio Luxembourg's Impact on Irish Radio

 Review

This is a highly well-researched and insightful piece of historical writing. It goes beyond a simple "history of radio" and functions as a socio-economic analysis of 20th-century Ireland. It is an excellent piece of historical journalism. It provides a clear "cause and effect" chain: RTÉ’s conservatism + Luxembourg’s technical power + the invention of the transistor = the inevitable rise of the pirates and the eventual birth of 2FM. It treats the subject with the seriousness of a political history while maintaining the energy of a pop-culture retrospective.

For many years, RTE held a monopoly as the Republic of Ireland’s sole state broadcaster and the only authorised source of radio programming for the general public. This dominance faced its first major challenge with the introduction of a legal framework that paved the way for independent and commercial radio stations. The move toward legalising independent broadcasting was a direct response to the widespread popularity of pirate radio throughout the 1980s, which had demonstrated a substantial demand among listeners for alternatives to RTE. However, RTE’s position as the exclusive provider of entertainment for Irish audiences had already started to erode much earlier. The process of dismantling RTE’s monopoly began in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the Irish public grew increasingly eager for new programming options especially for music listening. This period marked a significant shift in listener preferences, leading to a strong appetite for alternatives to Radio Eireann, which, despite its efforts, struggled to meet the diverse and growing demands of audiences across the country.

In 1953, Radio Luxembourg, based in the Grand Duchy, relaunched when its medium wave and long wave services[1] were merged on 208 metres medium wave. It was a truly commercial station with purchased airtime[2] and sponsored programming. The English language part of the station opened at 6pm and closed at midnight and its powerful 300KW transmitter was clearly heard throughout the British Isles especially during nighttime hours.[3] In 1953 its popularity in Ireland was recognised by the station when the Irish Hour was broadcast with requests once a week, with host Pete Murray.[4] The programme was an instant hit with the younger generation in Ireland who not only heard their own names and towns but the latest music emanating from the new rock and roll scene in London and the United States.

 

There was no escaping Luxembourg as in 1953, the Irish national newspapers were printing the stations daily schedule. On November 11^th, 1953, during a Dail debate on the allocation of funds to cover Radio Eireann, Oliver Flanagan TD said,

“No matter what praise we may have here for Radio Éireann, very few of our listeners listen to Radio Éireann while Radio Luxembourg is on the air. They usually listen to Radio Éireann when they have nothing else to listen to.”

This was the issue for the state broadcaster. The station had no competition during its daytime and evening programming[5] but as soon as Luxembourg opened at 6pm[6], the radios were retuned to 208. Ireland of the early 1950s was slowly emerging from itself imposition international isolation created by the De Valera government. It was still a deeply Catholic country and the national radio service reflected that, plus as a single channel it was attempting to cater to all needs and tastes but the ever growing youth demographic was ignored as conservative Irish listeners and legislators saw the emergence of the new Rock n Roll music with the same disdain they did when American jazz waved across the Atlantic in the 1930’s.[7] For the clergy there was also the emergence of American evangelism on this side of the Atlantic and perceived it as a threat. When a ‘paid for’ religious programme aired on Radio Luxembourg nightly at 11pm, just before closedown, with a significant audience carried over from its earlier more popular shows, the Catholic media in Ireland were upset. The Christian Broadcasting Fellowship aired nightly and promoted its show with advertisements in the Irish newspapers with a contact address of D’Olier Street in the centre of Dublin city, near O’Connell Bridge.

 

By January 1954, Irish advertisers were purchasing airtime on the station, a loss to Radio Eireann. The Bray Holiday Bureau[8] purchased a fifteen-minute slot once a week for three months advertising the town featuring the popular Irish tenor Joseph Locke on its first programme. The pressure on Radio Eireann, which was already cash starved by the Department of Finance continued throughout the 1950’s. Weekly Independent’s radio Supplement gave weekly schedule for Radio Eireann, AFN and Radio Luxembourg side by side. Luxembourg was broadcasting a mix of music along with serials like Dan Dare, Dr, Kildare and Perry Mason.

When an Irish reporter questioned the stations content, gives the answer, " What makes Radio Luxembourg tick?" It's quite simple, he replied, " When the people ask for oranges, we give them oranges. We don't give them bananas." By providing "oranges" (popular music and rock and roll) when the state insisted on "bananas" (traditional and conservative programming), Luxembourg successfully commercialized the Irish airwaves from abroad.

In August 1954, the station cemented its connection to Ireland with the unveiling of their first ever Miss Radio Luxembourg pageant competition. The winner was announced as Miss Phil Tubridy from Monkstown. Not only did she represent the station at various events including the Radio Review ball in the Hibernian Hotel on Dawson Street but also had a weekly fifteen-minute show on the station that ran until Christmas 1954.

By 1955 in a listener survey[9] Radio Luxembourg was the second most listened to station in Ireland. It reported that 85% listened to Radio Eireann and that 56% listened to Luxembourg, with smaller listenership’s to the BBC light Service and the American Forces Network. The poll also showed that Radio Eireann’s listenership was dominated by those listening before 8pm and in rural areas. This reinforced a survey a year earlier reported by the Catholic Standard Newspaper[10]

‘About one in three of the population over 16 tune into Luxembourg at same time during the evening and although there is less listening to radio in Ireland, listening to Luxembourg is at a higher level than in Great Britain. On an average evening less than two in three of the Irish listens in and of these more than half tune to Luxembourg.’

For a national station these were startling statistics as it leaked a growing number of listeners yearly. 

By 1958 The Irish Requests Show was being sponsored by Jacobs Ireland with quarter page daily ads in the Irish national newspapers on the day of their shows.  In 1960 the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes returned to sponsoring programmes on Luxembourg. With no access to advertising into the UK via radio for their lottery, Luxembourg provided that avenue. In 1935 the Sweepstakes were sponsoring programmes on the pre-war Luxembourg.[11]

After almost a decade of dominance by Radio Luxembourg over Irish radio audiences, its relationship with Ireland featured in numerous debates in the Dail. On February 24th 1960, Dr Noel Browne informed the sitting that,

“One of the sad truths about our society is that one of our favourite stations, outside Radio Éireann, is Radio Luxembourg, which is unparalleled in any society for unadulterated rubbish. Their sponsored programmes are under the control of advertisers and private enterprise products, the standard being the lowest common denominator.”

There were also complaints that the Dundalk based Carrolls firm were advertising their Sweet Afton cigarette brand on Luxembourg rather than Radio Eireann

In a debate of Broadcasting Authority Bill which would eventually lead to the launch of television and the creation of Radio Telifis Eireann, John Belton TD (FG) on March 16th, 1960, told the debate,

“The most popular station for radio listeners in the city of Dublin is Radio Luxembourg because it is producing modern programmes that have a greater interest for radio audiences than other programmes.” 

In May 1960, James Dillon (FG) added,

“I am sorry to have to tell the Deputy that that is not the reason recommended to me. It is usually a passionate desire to listen to "Elvis the Pelvis", and I cannot pretend to enjoy that buck. I recognise freely that there are others who do, and every man is entitled to enjoy what he likes best in the form of music, whether it be Elvis or Ludwig von Beethoven. Certain it is, however, that the net result is that Radio Luxembourg gets immense advertising revenue. If we could command a tithe of the advertising revenue Radio Luxembourg enjoys, we would be able to achieve what I think is the ideal: we would be able to cater on one wavelength for the fans of "Elvis the Pelvis" and, on another, for the enthusiasts for Mozart and Beethoven. Perhaps the Minister would explain to the uninitiated amongst us.”

Michael Hillard TD[12] replied,

“We would have to put the "Jolly Roger" up.”

James Dillon TD,

“There is something to be said for the "Jolly Roger" in certain circumstances. Great Empires have been built through the profits derived from the "Jolly Roger". In the old days, they were called privateers. If you got caught, you were a pirate; if you came home successfully with the loot, you were a privateer.”

This created a paradox in the Dáil, where politicians simultaneously decried the "unadulterated rubbish" of commercial radio while admitting the state could not afford to compete without adopting the "Jolly Roger" tactics of its competitors.

 

In June 1960, as the debate on the future of Irish broadcasting continued in the public domain, Maurice Kennedy writing in the Irish Independent,

“The rural cinemas, the Rock n Roll output of Radio Luxembourg and the car, on the family farm, all mean that rural teenagers are subject to the same influences as their city cousins.”

In the early sixties the new music of the increasing number of showbands were breaking through but with so many bands travelling around the ballrooms of Ireland and many of them recording tracks, an outlet domestically was lacking, and Radio Luxembourg was ready to fill the void. One of the most popular showbands in Ireland was the Capitol Showband, led by singer Butch Moore had their own show beginning in October 1963[13].  Their success was created by an enterprising manager, who himself would go onto a stellar career in broadcasting.  The Capitol’s manager was County Louth born Jimmy Magee who would dominate sports commentating on both RTE radio and television for decades. In December 1963 just as the Capitol’s run of programmes was coming to an end, The Cadets Showband took over with the Marlowe Dry Cleaners sponsoring their fifteen-minute show.

But in the sixties the strength and power of Radio Luxembourg and ergo their advertisers weakened not because RTE began addressing the younger listener, but the arrival in 1964 of Radio Caroline, the pirate-based radio ship. Caroline by 1967 had two ships, one operating off the coast of Essex on England’s east coast and a second ship anchored off the Isle of Man covering the west coast of the UK and all of Ireland. By the late 1960’s hobby weekend pirates were appearing on the Irish airwaves from Dublin to Cork to Wexford and Newry.

The younger listener, who by the end of the sixties had access to cheaper transistor radios, had been acclimatised to hearing the music they liked, not what their peers listened to. The new music of rock and roll, led by Elvis coming from America and the rise of the Beatles music in the UK, sidelined the Irish traditional music and even the showbands, consigning them to the older generation and Radio Eireann. While Radio Eireann and later RTE Radio had, like Luxembourg, sponsored programming, it was the type of music that was being played on the commercial stations that encouraged listeners to return time and time again. The commercial stations also attempted to replicate American broadcasting styles which offered a tantalising taste of other possibilities.  It was the ease of access to listen to Radio Luxembourg and later Radio Caroline that made them attractive to the young listener and therefore to the advertisers who were purchasing their sponsorship of the stations.

 

The growing demand for pop and rock music in Ireland, coupled with limited access for musicians and bands to Radio Eireann, led Irish artists and voices to seek alternative platforms. This quest for exposure resulted in many finding a place on the newly developing pirate radio scene. While pirate radio in Ireland during the 1950s primarily consisted of paramilitary style political broadcasts[14], the landscape began to shift. Hobbyists and amateur engineers started constructing their own medium wave homemade transmitters and basic, affordable studio equipment. This movement sparked a new era of pirate radio, paving the way for further growth in the following decades. As the influence of stations like Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg waned in the seventies, the reach and popularity of Irish pirate radio expanded. The impact of Radio Luxembourg on Irish listeners was substantial, significantly affecting RTE's audience and advertising revenue. In response to this shift, some of the lost revenue to RTE was redirected, with advertisers opting to place ads in Irish newspapers promoting Radio Luxembourg's programmes. While Luxembourg started the erosion, the arrival of Radio Caroline in 1964 and the subsequent rise of Irish pirate ships ensured that the monopoly could never be fully restored to its pre-1950s state.

Appendix 1: Some of the various programme sponsors on Radio Eireann and Luxembourg in the 1960’s

Luxembourg

EMI, Decca & Capitol Records, later Phillips (In 1968 all replaced by individual commerical brand sponsors)

Frys Chocolate

Elida Shampoo

Silvikrin Shampoo

Brunitex Shampoo

Racing Blue (Sports Newspaper)

Curry’s Limited

Raleigh Industries

Pye

Top Rank Bingo

Irish Hospital Sweepstakes

Beechams

Sweet afton

 

Radio Eireann

ESB (1950s – 1960s)

Lyons Tea

Associated Ballrooms

Knocknagram Chicks (Jan 1962)

VG Shops

Bulmers Cidona (6am Saturdays Only 1960)

Irish Hospital Sweepstakes

Hygeia

Andrews Liver Salts

Loxene Hair Cream (Men)

Waltons

---

[1] Radio Luxembourg One on longwave was aimed at British audiences while Luxembourg 2 was aimed domestically on 208m medium wave.

[2] North American Evangelists

[3] Marnach transmitter was a broadcasting facility of RTL near Marnach in the commune of Clervaux, in northern Luxembourg.

[4] Murray joined Luxembourg in 1950 and was based in the Grand Duchy unlike many presenters who recorded their programmes in London and despatched to Luxembourg.

[5] There were a small percentage of daytime urban listeners who tuned into the BBC

[6] The station broadcasting in 5.30am – Noon, German Noon to 5.30pm, Luxembourgish 5.30pm to 6pm

[7] That led to the anti-jazz movement of the 1930s led by Father Confrey from Mohill Co. Leitrim

[8] A seaside resort on the border of Dublin and Wicklow

[9] A Poll of 7,000

[10] January 22^nd 1954 by Social Surveys Limited

[11] The Radio Pictorial magazine

[12] The then Minister for Posts & Telegraphs with responsibility for broadcasting

[13] First show 7.45pm October 9^th 1963

[14] Several incarnations of ‘Irish Freedom Radio’ were based in Dublin and along the Northern Ireland border

When Listening to Radio Caroline Brought You To An Irish Court

When Mrs. Kathleen Durnin from Dunleer in County Louth tuned into the offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline in February 1965 little did she know she would appear in an Irish court just weeks later, and she wouldn’t be the only one. When the MV Caroline travelled from the North Sea to a new anchorage off Ramsey in the Isle of Man, Radio Caroline’s popularity across Ireland soared to new heights.

As she listened, she heard the ‘Ognib Show’ hosted by the comic actor Charlie Drake. ‘Ognib’ was the reversal of the word Bingo. Bingo via the radio became a new and popular phenomenon and Irish listeners like Mrs. Durnin were hooked.

One of the most popular radio bingo programmes, also heard loud and clear in Ireland was Radio Luxembourg’s, ‘Postal Bingo Show’ that was linked to the Durham Postal Bingo operated by Derek Killingsworth Armstrong. The Bingo had at its height in early 1965, 100,000 people playing every week, posting in a postal order for 3/6 to participate.

Irish fans of Radio Luxembourg’s show included Katherine Hickey from Waterford, James Byrne in Camolin, Patrick Corless in Clare, Maura Delaney in Ardee and Robert Thornton in County Leitrim. But despite the popularity of Radio Caroline and Luxembourg, troubled waters lay ahead for the Irish listeners.

 

In March 1964, James Byrne posted an envelope to Durham containing a 3/6 postal order to take part in the airwaves game but his letter was intercepted by the Irish postal authorities in Dublin Castle, opened and he then received the dreaded knock to his front door. The Gardai were there. He failed to realize that under Section 34 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, ‘It is illegal to send money to a lottery outside the jurisdiction’.

The visit of the Garda meant a trip to court where the Judge took into account that he did not know it was illegal to send money abroad to participate in lotteries such as ‘Bingo’. Byrne was given the probation act but in a strange piece of Irish legislation, the State were not allowed to hold onto the evidence and the postal order was retuned to Mr. Byrne. In April 1964 Patrick Corless from Ruan, Co. Clare another listener to Radio Luxembourg told the court that he could win up to £ 8,500 on a full house. There were postal bingo games in Ireland but the prize fund was little more than a couple of hundred pounds and not the thousands that could be won on radio bingo. Patrick Corless too ended up in court in Ennis and was handed the Probation Act.

 

In August 1964 Katherine Hickey from Waterford had her 3/6 postal order intercepted by the Post Office which was being sent to Durham Postal Bingo Listening to Radio Luxembourg. In Court the judge gave her the Probation Act at Dungarvan Court and sentenced to listen to Radio Eireann. Maura Delaney from Ardee was the recipient of the Probation Act from Justice Rochford in December 1964

On February 20^th 1965, Mrs Kathleen Durnin from Dunleer who had also been caught posting a 3/6 postal order to Durham Postal Bingo told the court that,

‘It was the result of listening to a commercial on Radio Caroline’

She too had the Probation Act applied and had her postal order returned

It was not just the East coast listeners that were listening and attempting to participate, in April 1965 Robert Thornton from Dromod appeared at Rooskey Court before Mr Justice PJ Loftus. Once again, the probation act was applied and his two Postal orders returned.

But it was not just in the Irish courts that radio bingo games were about to suffer setbacks. In June 1965 the British House of Lords ruled that under the 1934 Betting Act, the Durham Postal Bingo contravened that act. According to the University of Kent’s Bingo Report the House of Lords,

‘Upheld the conviction of the proprietor of a postal bingo club for running an illegal lottery, on the grounds that buying a ticket in this form of bingo was not participation in a game. The postal bingo involved 300,000 players. Results were announced in a dedicated bingo programme on the pirate radio station Radio Luxembourg and published in the cult magazine Tit Bits. Again winners were contacted and notified without having to claim; again the court held that there was no gaming, since there was no participation in a game and no assembly of players.’

Despite that setback and the disappearance from Luxembourg’s schedule offshore pirate Radio Scotland revived the game with significantly lower prize money.

Sources

Offshore Echos Magazine

DX Archive

The University of Kent

The Irish Newspaper Archives

The British Newspaper Archives

Hansard, The House of Lords

The National Archives of Ireland

Radio Luxembourg 208 Archives

(c) The Irish Pirate Radio Archive

Supporting Pirate Radio Through the Decades

There were a number of umbrella groups formed to support and lobby for free radio in Ireland. One of the earliest was an Irish branch of the Free Radio Association that opened in 1968. The Irish branch gave an address at Library Road, Shankill, County Dublin. Next in 1970 was the United Stations Network which oversaw publicity for four stations Radio Eamo, Radio Galaxy, Radio Caroline and Radio Baile Atha Cliath. Their spokesman was Cork born Hugo Riordan. A former Arts student he was heavily involved in the occupation of 45 St Stephens Green to protect it from demolition.

The Irish Radio Movement (IRM) was founded in 1973 to support the growing number of pirate radio stations and to lobby for alternative radio. When letters to the newspapers began to appear, they were signed by Ken Sheehan with an address on Mourne Road. The club secretary would become one of the most well know broadcasters in Dublin, Mark Storey. In January 1976, the AGM of the organisation was held, and Paddy Brennan was elected as President, Mark Storey continued as Secretary and Ken Sheehan appointed Press Officer. The IRM’s also appointed John Dowling as editor of the group newsletter ‘Medium 6’. The group was disbanded in late 1976 to be replaced by the Free Radio Campaign.

The Free Radio Campaign was run by Kieran Murray from his home in Ranelagh. The FRC began in 1976, initially publishing the ‘FRC Newsletter’ in 1976 and 1977 before it was renamed ‘Sounds Alternative’ in August 1977. The FRC continued until mid 1981.

Anoraks Ireland was based on Collins Avenue West on Dublin’s northside and was run by Paul Davidson (real name Tony Donlon). He produced a newsletter, station lists and supplied tapes and mechandise from the many stations across Ireland. In 1983, in his newsletter Mr. Davidson reported that he was having issues,

“Anoraks Ireland have recently been experiencing a number of problems. We are pleased to report that these have been sorted out. On October 31st the following statement was issued.

‘Dear Friends, We regret that Anoraks Ireland has been unable to reply to your many letters in the last four months as we have had serious problems with the continued operation of Anoraks Ireland. 'Certain people' who do not wish us well have endeavoured since August 1983 to silence Irelands one and only Free Radio Organisation. These people have attempted at various times to persuade, discredit and threaten the existence of Anoraks Ireland by personal visits, the use of a PO Box number purposely in our postal district area and their latest ploy was to report Anoraks Ireland to the income tax authorities in Dublin. The inspectorate have investigated Anoraks Ireland in depth and are satisfied that Anoraks Ireland is a non-profit organisation run by Radio enthusiasts promoting independent radio in Ireland.

We have resisted all threats from these people who claim a genuine interest in Irish Free Radio, but who are instead motivated by Self Greed and commercial profit.’”

RTE Created the Irish Pirate Radio Phenomenon

There were many reasons for the explosion of pirate radio in Ireland in the 1970's and 1980’s. One of the main reasons was the increased younger population, the children born in the sixties whose musical tastes were not being catered for by the State broadcaster RTE Radio. For listeners it was hard to listen to radio when it wasn’t there. In the 1970’s RTE was hit by a number of workers strikes putting both radio and television off the air. From 1970 to 1978, there had been more than a half dozen strikes that either curtained its transmissions or on two occasions blacked out both radio and television for three weeks each. This was particularly hard felt as there was only one radio and one television channel.  

Mary Kenny writing in the Irish Press February 2nd, 1970 articulated

‘I knew there was a strike on at R.T.E. because I found myself listening to The Jimmy Young Show on B.B.C. Radio 2 in the mornings, smiling at his chuckly quips and cuddly, presence and painstakingly taking down the abominable recipes and wishing we had something as inoffensively yet cleverly cheerful.’

For the younger generation desperate to hear some modern music were relegated to 45 minutes from Larry Gogan from 11pm, Monday to Friday, nothing at the weekends. This was yet another opening for the advance of pirate radio to deliver the content that the youth of Ireland wanted to hear. But a huge amount of credit must be delivered to the corridors of Montrose itself for the growth of pirate radio. Dublin and the East Coast of Ireland was well served by radio broadcasts especially from Britain’s BBC Radio 1 and Radio Luxembourg but as you travelled across the country these signals faded as did the choice for pop broadcasts. Much of rural Ireland had no other choice other than RTE Radio (previously known as 2RN) but in stepped RTE itself. Originally conceived as an attempt to illustrate their ability to deliver local radio, RTE Community Radio would launch in 1975 with Radio Liberties in the heart of Dublin their first port of call.

The concept, originally credited to the then Director General of RTE George Waters, was to take a mobile studio and a low powered transmitter to towns and villages across Ireland, teach locals how to present and produce local programmes for its limited transmission times and all powered through a low powered transmitter on a frequency allocated to RTE by the European Broadcasting Union, 202m medium wave. This medium wave frequency would later be augmented by a FM outlet.

Towns would organise a ‘radio committee’ and ask RTE to choose their town for the arrival of the mobile station. For many years the man tasked with being the go between with RTE and the committee was Paddy O’Neill. Paddy was born near Skibbereen in County Cork and after a brief career as a national schoolteacher he became involved in the Abbey theatre from where in 1951 he joined Radio Eireann. At the station he became a producer, one of his most influential roles as producer of the popular Din Joe’s ‘Take the Floor’. Paddy was also a greyhound enthusiastic both racing them and being involved in the organising of races. Under the alias ‘Paddy O’Brien’ he became Radio Eireann’s greyhound racing commentator later taking up the role of Chairman of Bord na gCon in 1983.

Paddy’s role with advancing community radio meant that he travelled Ireland to make initial contact with the radio committees, offer advice, training and technical know-how. The interest created in these towns and villages showed that there was a demand for a local voice on the airwaves. The committees did not always run smoothly as in 1991 the Ballina Community Radio Committee were been branded 'a snob job' by the Urban Council Chairman, Gerry Moore who led a high-powered campaign to have the Committee broadened to one representing all the people of Ballina. When the Committee input into the Local Radio experiment, planned for Mayo during June, was set-up, the Urban Council, Trades Council and many other leading community groups were "snubbed", said Cllr. Moore.

For younger people in these rural areas, they were often excluded from these daily four-hour broadcasts and there was certainly rarely little room for modern music. In 1978 the service was advertised as ‘carrying programmes will go out on the medium wave and items dealing with matters of health, sport, history, music/drama, education, art, agriculture, planning and development, family finance, youth, poetry/essays, Irish, quiz, as well as news, will be covered’ no music for the youth of the community. They wanted to be involved, they wanted to hear their voices, their concerns and their music and while the ‘committees’ set about organising for the arrival of RTE’s mobile unit, the more astute set about piggy backing on the interest created by the arrival.

While there was an official committee, they were also a ‘unofficial committee’ working in the background. Transmitters were procured, equipment sourced and DJ’s readied. In many towns and villages they waited patiently for the RTE van to arrive, do their thing and leave and then within hours or days of that departure the new pirate transmitter was turned on, often on a frequency not far from RTE’s 202m location so that listeners could find them easily. Financial considerations also played a role. For RTE’s Community Radio service carried no ads, it was funded by local donations and business subscriptions, pirate radio would not have the same constraints and the commercialism of radio would make money for those organising the swash buckling operations to the detriment of revenue generation for Montrose. RTE had created a monster.

Further Information

https://radioeireann101.blogspot.com/

The Irish Legacy of Ronan O'Rahilly and Radio Caroline

In The Beginning, the Irish Dimension

With the passing of Ronan O’Rahilly in April 2020, a colossus of radio broadcasting has left a legacy that will stand the test of time and has made a massive impression on radio broadcasting in Ireland. While his beloved Radio Caroline was a familiar sight off the South East of England, its influence on both radio and music in 1960’s Britain cannot be underestimated. It forced the British Government to enact new legislation outlawing the almost a dozen pirate radio ships that blasted pop music into Britain and it forced the BBC to reorganise and compete with the opening of a dedicated pop channel in 1967, BBC Radio One. In the month when Ronan passed onto the afterlife, both BBC Radio One and Radio Caroline still broadcast today. But while Caroline’s history focusses mainly on its influence on Britain, Ireland has played a key role in that colourful history and this is that story.

At the helm of Radio Caroline was Ronan O’Rahilly. He was born in Clondalkin, Dublin in 1940, his father Aodogan was a well-known and wealthy businessman, regarded as an influential ally of Eamon DeValera, while his grandfather Michael O’Rahilly was better known as The O’Rahilly, sacrificed his life during the 1916 Easter Rising having been shot dead while leading a charge on a British position at the end of Moore Street.

While still a teenager Ronan left Dublin and made his way to the centre of the new music industry, London’s club scene. In Soho, the young Ronan began to manage a music club and saw some of the up and coming artists including the Kinks and the Animals make their first steps into the limelight.  Despite managing several pop acts one of his favourite was Georgie Fame. He recorded a Georgie Fame record on his own independent label, unheard of at the time. He took the record to the BBC to try to get it played. He discovered that the record industry was dominated by EMI and Decca. He then tried to get it played on Radio Luxembourg, the Great 208, who were the commercial pop station most listened to in England at the time and O’Rahilly discovered closed doors and that the shows were 'owned' by labels like EMI, Pye and Decca. They were essentially 'payola' shows and featured only music from the paying label. He said, "I have recorded the guy, so I can't get it played, so we have to start a radio station."

The ship was originally a Baltic ferry the MV Frederica built in 1929 and purchased by Ronan O’Rahilly for the reported £20,000. It was taken to the port of Greenore in early 1964 to be converted into a radio station including a 180-foot aerial and renamed the MV Caroline. He chose the port of Greenore as it was at the time privately owned by his father Aodogan O'Rahilly who died in 2000. At the same time, the Caroline was being fitted out as a radio station a second ship was in the port also being fitted out as a radio station, the MV Mi Amigo which would broadcast as Radio Atlanta. Atlanta planned to be on the air first but technical issues forced into port for repairs and did not get on air until May 1964.

A parent company was registered in Ireland to operate Radio Caroline in 1964. The company Planet Production Limited was dissolved in 1981. A second company was registered to sell advertising for the ship with Planet Sales Limited also registered companies in Ireland. When the ship left the port, it carried out test transmissions as it sailed through the Irish Sea. The authorities were informed that the ship was heading to Spain but as it passed Lands End it took a sharp left and headed up the English Channel, maintaining radio silence, to anchor of Felixstowe on England’s east coast. Their signal would cover most of the south coast of England including the important advertising market of London. On Easter Saturday, 28 March, it began regular broadcasting at noon on 197.3 metres/1520 kHz announced as 199 as it rhymed with Caroline, with the opening conducted by Simon Dee. The first programme was hosted by Chris Moore. Within months the station was boasting audiences of 7 million listeners. The rapid sales of portable transistor radios across Ireland created a wider audience with radio shop advertisements stating that purchasers would easily listen to Radio Luxembourg or Radio Caroline.

In July 1964, Radio Atlanta and Radio Caroline's parent companies merged, with Allan Crawford, an Australian music publisher and Ronan O'Rahilly as joint managing directors. Radio Atlanta closed at 8 p.m. that day. It was renamed Radio Caroline South and MV Mi Amigo remained off the English east coast while MV Caroline broadcast under the name Radio Caroline North. MV Caroline sailed to the Isle of Man and her new anchorage at Ramsey Bay, on 6 July 1964. The two stations were able to cover most of the British Isles.

Radio Caroline North had operated off the coast of the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea from July 1964 until March 1968 and was well received and popular across the West coast of Britain and across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It meant that Caroline’s audience was now in excess of 25 million. The station continued as the new Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force, anchored in international waters outside the 3-mile limit. The two ships were supplied from ‘foreign’ countries namely Holland through Amsterdam supplying fuel and food supplies by tender for Caroline South off Felixstowe and from Dundalk for Caroline North. The Dutch tug ‘Offshore III’ (misidentified in the newspaper as the Foreshore III) was originally used to supply the MV Caroline from the Isle of Man but with the introduction of the new Marine Offences Act, the tender sailed to Dundalk, loaded with supplies and sailed back and forth to the ship. The new Act which put pressure on advertisers meant that some bills to Dutch firms were not being paid and in a co-ordinated operation, Dutch tugboats seized both ships in March 1968 and they were towed to Holland.

Caroline Showband & Musical Interlude

The showband scene was exploding in Irish dancehalls in the early sixties and as with the pop music explosion, for airtime exposure, showbands would have to turn to the pirates. Radio Eireann played little or no modern music on its single channel. The opening of Radio Caroline in 1964, helped showbands reach the top of the charts. To ride that wave, Radio Caroline launched their own showband in Ireland, The Caroline Showband in 1964. The band, a publicity exercise to advertise Radio Caroline around the country, received extensive newspaper coverage especially as their lead singer Earl Jordan was a coloured singer. Jordan, although born in Buffalo, New York, came to England with the US Air Force and following his departure from the USAF, he arrived in Dublin in December, 1963.The band would be managed by Caroline’s representative in Ireland at the time, Kilkenny born Jim Craig. The band made its debut at a reception in Dublin's Gresham Hotel on Tuesday, December 22nd, 1964. The original line-up included: Kevin Brady (RIP-Dublin-drums), Earl Jordan (Buffalo, New York-vocals), Tony Kearns (Drogheda-sax), Reginald Dunne (Dublin-guitar), Kevin Gregan (Dublin-bass), Tony Coffey (Dublin-keyboards), Harry Burrows (Birmingham-sax), and Michael Burns (Sligo-trumpet). The manager was Frank Traynor of Dublin. On stage the band wore dark blue suits with Earl decked out in a white blazer. One of the highlights of their early success was headlining at a gala ball held at the Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow attended by Irish born Princess Grace of Monaco.

While the showbands were hugely popular with a certain generation of music listeners and goers and in rural Ireland, the rural popularity of Radio Caroline and with the showband fans was relatively weak. The Caroline showband were excluded from receiving airplay on Radio Eireann and this seemed to detract from their reach in places like Galway, Kerry and Cork. This need to expand their reach and incidents around a barbeque held in Brittas Bay that led to violence, in July 1965, The Caroline Showband and Jim Craig end their association with Radio Caroline. Shortly after Jordan would leave the band, they would take on a new manager and would be renamed.

The barbeque was a PR disaster for Radio Caroline in Ireland in 1965. In June 1965, Radio Caroline through its subsidiary Club Caroline advertised and sold tickets for a barbeque to be held on Dalkey Island. The club was run by Dennis Binns and Jim Craig. The event was to take place on Saturday June 26th 1965. The tickets were an immediate and popular success. Over one thousand tickets at a guinea each were sold and the plan was to transport guests across to the island by boat from Coliemore Harbour. Several acts promoted by Radio Caroline, including the Caroline Showband, were to appear on the bill. A week before the events the local council stepped in and announced that no permissions had been sought or given for the event to take place within their jurisdiction. The Gardai were placed on standby to prevent the event taking place in the upmarket area of South Dublin. With mounting opposition with the local community, Caroline’s organisation in Ireland decided to change the venue and moved to a privately owned beach at Brittas Bay in County Wicklow. Unfortunately, the event in Wicklow was not all smoothly run, the lighting failed and the grills failed to work. In the early hours of the morning, according to one newspaper report ‘just be before dawn’, frustrations and excess consumption of alcohol led to violence and the intervention of the Gardai riot police.

Another group to receive a significant boost to their careers were The Dubliners. The Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly led group released ‘Seven Drunken Nights’ in March 1967. The single was released on the Major Minor label that was owned by Phil Solomons, see Solomons later involvement in Irish radio’s revolution in 1980 later in this article. The song, despite not receiving any airplay on BBC Radio, reached No. 7 UK charts and led to an appearance on BBC TV’s Top of the Pops and as a result of its chart position was played on the radio. Because of the raunchy lyrics in the last two verses of the song, the track was banned by RTE Radio. Because it was Solomons’ record label who produced the track, Radio Caroline heavily plugged the song and with its reach into Ireland, Seven Drunken Night reached Number One in the Irish charts.

 Radio Caroline and RTE appearing side by side in the one advertisement.

This is Your Life on Board, Noel Andrews

A brother of Eamonn Andrews, who famously presented What’s my Line and This is Your Life on TV, Noel broadcast his first show ‘Andrews Live’ on Radio Caroline on Tuesday December 1st 1964 as Caroline was now averaging a listenership in the British Isles of 28 million every day. The first track he played was fellow Irishmen The Batchelors who were now heading for stardom in Britain. A popular broadcaster with the housewives previously on radio Eireann where he presented ‘Housewives Choice’ programmes and also was extremely popular on sponsored shows, many of them produced by his brother’s production studio. Not only was he appearing on Radio Eireann presenting the Irelands Top Ten show (broadcast on a Monday at 6.45pm for 30minutes) When he returned to Radio Eireann he was relegated to presenting Children’s programmes.

Caroline House, Looks Over the Irish Parliament

With the arrival of Caroline off the Manx coast, their transmissions were heard widely across Ireland and an opportunity to grab some of the lucrative advertising pie. With this in mind, Jim Craig was appointed Caroline’s representative in Ireland and they opened offices in August 1964 at 27 Molesworth Street, dubbed Caroline House. Today that building is incorporated into Buswells Hotel. These offices were directly across the road from the Irish parliament building, Leinster House.

Caroline Racing, Speeds into Print

In a further attempt to keep the Caroline prominently featured in newspapers across the British Isles, Radio Caroline began to sponsor a car racing team. They entered a Brabham Formula Junior car in the Irish championship, their car driven by D Romano. The team entered the Leinster Trophy scratch race at Dunboyne raceway and it warranted the arrival of Ronan O’Rahilly himself, who newspapers reported had flown into Dublin on a private jet to be greeted by his father. Unfortunately for O’Rahilly it was a wasted trip as his car failed to qualify for the starting grid. He flew back to London the following day.

The Caroline Shop, Belfast Sales

Radio Caroline proved extremely popular in Northern Ireland. In order to create a buzz and publicity on Saturday December 12th 1964, Radio Caroline opened a record shop on Andersonstown. The official opening was performed by one of the most popular DJ’s on Caroline Simon Dee. He recounted that his arrival at Belfast was greeted like that of a pop star with hundreds lining the street outside the shop in anticipation of his arrival. Also, on hand for the opening was Jim Craig, the Caroline manager in Ireland.

The Holy Trinity, Solomons, Robinson and Cary

A more important link to Caroline from an Irish legacy point of view is not just that it was an Irishman who built up the station but in 1966 the running and financial input from another music impresario into Caroline was hugely significant, the involvement of Phil Solomons. Solomons in the early sixties was the sole Decca Records distributor in Ireland. Two of Caroline’s most popular DJ’s were Robbie Dale and Spangles Muldoon and these three men would revolutionise Irish radio, all directly linked to Radio Caroline. It was Solomons’ money who financed Robbie Robinson’s (Dale) and Chris Cary’s (Muldoon) opening of Sunshine Radio in 1980 broadcasting from the Sands Hotel in Portmarnock. They three men saw the lax Irish broadcasting regime and while their originally plan was to put Sunshine on a ship, they had bought and berthed in Waterford harbour, why go back on rough seas when you could broadcast from plush surroundings of a hotel with little fear of a raid from the authorities and even if you were, the equipment confiscated had to be returned to you. The early sabotage of Sunshine’s aerial, explosives used by Radio Dublin owner Eamon Cooke, encouraged Solomons and Cary to sell their shares to Robinson. Cary having seen the success of Sunshine returned to the Dublin airwaves with perhaps the greatest and most popular station the capital ever saw, Radio Nova which opened in 1981 and the rest the say is history. (See the Radio Nova History in this Blog) All thanks to the connections made at Caroline.

The Legacy

Radio Caroline revolutionized radio for a generation, shining a light on a dark world. It led to the creation of BBC Radio 1 to compete for the ever-growing audience of young listeners. It provided an outlet for new music and it gave enjoyment to millions. It is still on the air, there is a nostalgia and a reverence for what Caroline was. It was a rebel, it was an influencer, it was a genuine attempt to provide what the listening public wanted.

In Ireland, Caroline opened up the possibility of an alternative to State media, and while we never had a pirate radio ship broadcasting into the country, Caroline’s success created a community of pirate radio pioneers across Ireland (some using the Caroline moniker in homage) and this pirate radio tidal wave eventually created the industry that broadcasts today.