FAIQ # 7 What’s Irish Radio Like?
Well you hardly need to ask me, or to get on a plane, what with the internet and all. I have a non-Irish friend who has been living in Ireland for ten years now and she says we talk way too much on Irish radio. And I have no idea what she means.
Format pop music dominates the airwaves. But there’s enough fragmentation to find most of what you want, even if you have to resort to pirate stations. RTE, Today FM, and then there’s tons of ILRs (Independent Local Radio) and Community Radio Stations. It could be a lot better, but I remember when there was no legal radio beyond RTE.
Now if you’d asked me this question before the internet, well that would have been much more interesting. Or at least easy to answer and the cost of a plane ticket for you to refute.
If say it was 1993, January, for example, and your hand was on the dial somewhere in the Dublin area, it would have sounded something like this:
Drivetime with Tom Brown
16 minutes after 5 o’clock
kicking us off, Fleetwood Mac
Oh no, here I go, again - Wah oh Diane
cos love is like a grain of sanddriving you home
Celbridge is heavy
Leixlip is very heavy starting to tailback
thanks to MCA cabs
story about striker John aldridgemy wife was attacked in the toilets
I saw woman leaving covered in blood
I went over to complain
next thing my nose is broken
bad weekend for the strikerthanks to the Evening Press
Here’s Dire Straits
If you’re driving home watch that heavy fuel
Five twenty five on Monday evening
Good news if you’re baldDorset Street bumper to bumper
Christchurch heavy and a little bit on the slow side
I am a lineman for the county
Superstars of the seventies, eighties, and nineties
lights still stuck on red at Scotts on Navan Roadtickets still available for Chris Rea tonight at the Point
traffic provided by Ireland’s only tyre makers
tonight on the Chris Barry phone-in catch the Northside rapist
Finally on Telecom Community Diary
Star Trek meeting in Seven Oaks hotel in Carlowwaiting for a star to fall
carry your heart into my arms
at the moment it’s eight degrees
Classic rock’n'roll on 98FM
Well bless my soul what’s wrong with mestory from Evening Press and this is a serious one by the way
on a lighter note it’s amazing the trouble one single mouse can cause
still you’re comin’ back
you’re runnin’ back
you’re comin’ back, for more
so put me on a highway and show me a signand take it, to the limit, one more time
take it
85% of Irish families don’t have enough cover to protect their income
We’re back in a moment with Duran Duran
My name is Lukaboth of you now have keys that could open the door to one of those fabulous BMWs
How am I supposed to live without you
making another one thousand-pound cash call
twenty-five?
twenty-two
Not to worryMy heart is low
as only woman’s heart can be
We’ll be back with our final check on the traffic
Rehab radio bingo, the real winner in Leinster
the afternoon driveand the Red Cow roundabout heading towards Naas
standby for jukebox gems
Need a taxi
On the hour news update
has received full support of European CommunitySir Patrick will come to Dublin
the UVF has admitted responsibility
blasting targets in southern and norther Iraq
naked and battered in foothills of Dublin Mountains
two trains should not have been on the bridge at the same timeAldridge goes for surgery on a stomach strain
Ireland’s number one sports drink
Keep listening for that weekend away triple play
A top eight breaker
that’s when my love comes tumbling downof a certain year
and you’ve got your troubles
and I’ve got mine
the fourth and final one from this week’s brand new session, here’s the Mahogany Men
As only a woman’s heart can knowCan you dig it?
Oh yeah
Sinead O’Connor helping out Jah Wabble
I’m not numbed out any more
now I am the key to the doorDon’t forget tomorrow means Wrangler concert
and I’ll tell myself I’m over you
cos I’m the king of wishful thinking
better music and more of it
there is a need for a religious press in the countryI feel the Irish Catholic has something to offer
it’s gonna blow, it’s gonna break
this is more than I can take
have you got your three answers there for me
Phil Collins, Michael Stipes, and MadonnaBaby don’t waste your time
I know what’s on your mind
my focus will be on human rights in the light of the gospel
and Hotel California from the Eagles which is the Win at Work song
well there’s a small boat made of china
it’s going nowhere on a mantlepieceand if your number is 88 D 4913 congratulations
if this is your car ring in for your one hundred pounds
Dublin’s better music mix
Show the world and all its people
all the wonders love can bringWe’ll have another cash total in our next hour
and if you’d like to call from outside the Republic
dieters are advised to avoid red, orange and yellow plates - they can boost your appetite
rain throughout the afternoon with southerly winds
temperatures nine, ten degrees centigradefor a more detailed check call the weather line
Aye
Aye aye aye aye
Aye aye aye aye
should’ve known better
to lie to one as beautiful as youGeorge Formby was an apprentice jockey at the Curragh
Stand by the telephones if you’d like to play the game
Lower Rathmines Road delayed as usual
when you hear that song by the first guy or first girl to get through
and as usual babe I’m the last to knowbecause he’d been involved in beef matters ever since
I’m a little bit dizzy, I’m a little bit scared
I guess I never felt this much aware
They’re justified and they’re ancient and they had a little help from Tammy WynetteWhat country invaded the Falkland Islands?
England
Well they were involved, I’ll give it to you
lots of congestion in Christchurch area
he has told America that there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with AmericaHey now, hey now
Don’t dream it’s over
Old golfers never die, they just lose their liathroidi
they were closer now Fernando
and the Hothouse Flowers will play the showcase gig at HMV Grafton Streetthe delicious and delightful I knew her before she was a virgin Doris Day with Secret Love
Superstars of the Seventies
it’s a livin’ thing, it’s givin’ thing
superstars of the eighties
we’re jammin’superstars of the nineties
it’s just another day in paradise
The music’s great, song after song, Carlsberg, six o’clock rock
Well done to her, she was caller ten with the phrase that pays
So why shop til you drop - shop at home - send for a catalogue nowEvery time I hear this song
Mississippi roll along
And why would you be ringing the winning line today?
I’ll tell you why, because today is Free Video Monday
Ok, it is a dreadful story Tom and thanks for telling it to usPhibsboro Road moderately heavy - it is moving nicely
More Frequently Asked Irish Questions >>
Northside rapist, omg, I lived in Bayside then, RadioActive was on air then, I didnt sound anything like the above, it was the last station I remember that PISSED the Sunday’s off. Right wing broadsheets hated Active as she was a rebel radio that refused to conform.
Yes there is a lot of clutter, listen to the Adverts on Radio1 to get folk to listen to 2FM, does that = clutter or is it empty ad breaks need house ads?