Most obscure radio program you remember

Ballycommon Mast

I remember when Ireland had a mass influx of immigrants in the late 90 to early 00s, 2fm had a service for asylum seekers and immigrants called "one world radio" nightly 7 to 10pm on their Medium wave transmitters.

TheBMG

Not an obscure show but some obscure radio stations ..Dublin Weekend Radio out of DCU every weekend in the mid 1990s. It was licenced by the IRTC as a ‘college’ station and broadcast for about 5 hours a day.

Travel FM on 106.8. Automated traffic reports for Dublin interspersed with some hilarious yacht rock and hideous jingles. Licensed as a trial project by the IRTC in the mid 1990s.

padd b1975

Des Cahill in the Gaybo slot was pretty grim.

Red Fred

In the 80s a guy called Pat Jennings (not the goalkeeper!) presented what was supposed to be a current affairs show on Radio Dublin. He was on air from midnight to 3 a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning and 6 to 7 p.m. on Mondays. He was always banging on about the fact that he was a member of NUJ and his knowledge of how to operate the controls was similar to Ray D'arcy. He'd take calls on air and often would get abuse/sworn at. Was entertaining in a car crash way.

Dempo1

Live line 1.45 to 3pm Monday to Friday 😁

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118393438#Comment_118393438

Travel FM was memorable for the fact that its traffic reports were computer generated from a voice bank of streets and associated travel/weather phrases. It was funny when it went wrong .... 'Traffic is ..snowing ..on Dame Street'. Anna Livia/Dublin City FM did and do a much better job with their 'Live Drive' programme - excellent service with good music thrown in too.

Most obscure radio programme I remember was the 90's pirate Urban FM - If I remember correctly, it operated from Dublin flatland (Ranelagh?), and featured evenings of open mic discussions and arguments between random individuals living in or visiting the flat. Then there was the time Coast FM (Ballybrack) used to broadcast an outside open mic attached to the studio (shed) to relay the street sounds of the suburb, when there were no live programmes on air. Birdsong, traffic noise and partial conversation from pedestrians passing by, were all component parts of the background ambient mix.

dxhound2005

Bit of nostalgia here from Henry Kelly. He mentions Michael Dillon's cattle mart reports, which from memory followed the evening news bulletin on Radio Eireann.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-1.908725

Radio Ulster still does that as part of Good Morning Ulster, example here at 24:50. I often thought that along with the death notices, it would be a service appreciated by some local radio listeners. Maybe some local stations do mart reports?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001285k

corks finest

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058225071/most-obscure-radio-program-you-remember

Guy on Highland radio ( Letterkenny)

maxwell vv entertaining when you could understand him in the wee hours

Red Fred

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118395475#Comment_118395475

Some local station have farming news, usually as part of their main evening news bulletins. They don't include Mart reports AFAIK.

Happyhouse22

Seascapes!

No particular interest in maritime affairs, but my grandad used to listen to it - so I did too.

corks finest

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118395652#Comment_118395652

We all used listen aswell

Declan A Walsh

Nikki Moss had a new wave show in the late seventies on Capitol Radio, a city centre-based Dublin pirate around from the mid 1970s to the early 80s.

That's just off the top of my head. There are no shortage of obscure radio programs in past pirates.

DavyD_83

The Two Pete's Talk Rubbish - on Phantom, with Pete Reid and Sinister Pete and in particular their "nuts of the world" (can't remember the exact title) segment.

Glad to see it has an obscure Boards mention back in 2010 - https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055898642/2-petes-talk-rubbish

ford fiesta

The Goon Show and Scrap Saturday, comedy on RTE 2FM 30 years ago !!.

Also The Great Giveaway Show I found was obscure in a way, ran for around 10 years on RTE 2FM, where they just gave away prizes.

Presented by various names, some who already had weekday shows, including Ian Dempsey, Gareth O'Callaghan, Ruth Scott, Suzanne Duffy ....... and Ray D'Arcy used to fill in too in the late 90s !!.

Strumms

The Openline with Greg Merriman in the late ‘90’s….

it was on around midnight or 1am. You could listen in on a good night and wake up the next morning in pain from laughing… not always brilliant but when they got it right…it was unscripted genius.

Tony the monkeychild and Mary Schocolattes were two hilarious contributors… I think Jim Nugent aka Jim-Jim played both but I’m open to correction…

Ballycommon Mast

Gerry Wilson's late night phone show on 2fm was also rather obscure, it's kinda strange that they launched a 3 hour nightly talk show when they already had G ryan doing 3 hours of chat in the morning, its meant to be a music station after all 😕

cute geoge

I did a night shift back in 1999 and along with obscure music there was fascinating details and discussion of various internet sites from the newly discovered 'world wide web' .I think it might have being Gerry Wilson presenting mad to think of it at 3 and 4 am

Ballycommon Mast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118397514#Comment_118397514

Nowadays 2fm is in presenterless automation mode from midnight

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118397514#Comment_118397514

Gerry Wilson’s World Web Radio. I always remember someone called in to say “I’m the one who sent you 8 megabytes of WAVs” (sound files). My brother was listening in one night when someone sent him an MP3 and he had no software to play it!

Wheety

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118397361#Comment_118397361

Was going to say this. Used to love listening to it. I was in school at the time and shouldn't have been up so late but found it hilarious. Found a cassette tape at home where I had recorded it one night. Think I started doing that and listening to it on the way to school. Maybe I invented podcasts?

Strumms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWLGODjXjr0

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118397514#Comment_118397514

World Web Radio was mostly not live. That was the start of automated overnights on 2FM. Prior to this Overnights were live since 1988.

vince

Tthe Rambling House sunday nights in early 90s on Radio Kerry was great fun.

vince

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118398521#Comment_118398521

'Round the house and mind the dresser Maura ' how could you ever forget it .I wonder I suppose they are all dead now from that era!!

HazeDoll

I have a vague memory of Bill Meek doing a spot for children on Radio 1 when I was a tot in the early eighties. I have no idea what the format was (Stories? Jokes? Singalongs?) but I used to leap up to run to the kitchen when I heard it coming on. I'm not even certain I have the name right.

Ger Roe

Back around 1980 Radio Dublin had a second service 'Channel 2' broadcasting on FM only. At the time, the medium wave stations had a far bigger audience (until Chris Cary arrived and set up Nova). Channel 2 started as an alternative service with specialised programmes such as a heavy metal show, my own radio anoraks programme, and 'Live Jive'.

Live Jive was a programme of bootleg gig recordings, many recorded at Dublin venues using a state of the art walkman discretely worn by the programme presenter, with a left and right microphone wired down each sleeve of his jacket. He also operated a bootleg shop on Mary Street where a vast range of concert recordings could be purchased (mostly on cassette, but also some vinyl). It became so well known that often reps of bands that had played in Dublin a few days before, would call in and ask if there was a recording made that they could purchase.

I remember the programme produced a world exclusive copy of the U2 live album 'Under a blood red sky' , before it was released. The album consisted of tracks recorded on an American tour and the track list was reported on before it was released. As it happened, a gig in Red Rock Colorado was broadcast on radio by a local FM station and Live Jive obtained a copy, so the album was produced on cassette using the official track listing. The vast collection of material available also included vinyl copies of outtake tracks and alternative versions from various artists, that didn't make it on to official albums. In the days long before the internet, it took good personal connections in the recording industry to get hold of a lot of the recorded material that was used on the programme.

It was certainly one of the more unusual programmes I ever heard, presented by I think, Paul Richards?

zoobizoo

I used to be able to tune my old clock radio to Harcourt Street Garda station's communications to and from. the Garda cars when I lived behind the station.

zoobizoo

So i heard a Garda car being sent to a petrol station on the quays while a robbery was taking place...... which turned out to be just someone using the ATM.

Another night I listened as they prepared to raid a brothel.....

zoobizoo

.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409571#Comment_118409571

It's incredible when you think how unbelievable insecure police radio used to be. Considering, even without any kind of specialist equipment you could end up hearing it. I remember some random utilities on the air in Dublin, I think at the top the FM dial too. Sounded like possibly Bord Gais or something.

Why was that on broadcast FM frequencies?

Ballycommon Mast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118406358#Comment_118406358

Yep, radios made for the Japanese market could do that, the Gardai frequencies were around 84mhz, the Gardai are probably gone digital/encrypted by now. you got listen to mobile phone conversations on the 088 network too if you had a radio that went below 87kz on FM

tayto lover

“The Kennedys of Castleross” was on every weekday at lunchtime.

Bet not too many remember that.

Red Fred

In the early 80s Bord Gais and some taxi companies operated around 87mhz. In the mid 90s I had an airband scanner which used to pick up Harcourt Street garda control and cars on around 465mhz and the local garda stations operated around 165mhz. Made interesting listening especially during the 90s when joyriding was big. I remember one chase that started in southside Dublin, went through the city centre and out by Fairview and ended in Howth. One garda commented on the radio that someone should inform Hollyhead police that they were coming their way!! It also was able to pick up portable house telephones, which used to make for mostly boring listening, apart from discovering that a neighbour was having an affair with a member of some club that she was involved in!! I also heard one or two calls from people enquiring about escort services.

KaneToad

There was a talk show on 98FM hosted by that paragon of virtue, Fr Michael Cleary. I think it was on every night during the week. I remember two things about it

1) they must have been using a delayed broadcast as there would be frequent occasions where a caller would be interrupted mid sentence by the station jingle. The broadcast would resume with apologies and the caller no longer there. This seemed to happen on every broadcast!

2) Astronomer Patrick Moore was a guest. The priest kept asking him where God fitted in to the cosmos and was pissed off when Moore consistently dismissed him.

Littlehorny

Remember Billy Connolly making a joke that when he was a young lad he remembers the family sitting around the radio listening to the snooker! 😄

Those two-way radios were on FM much later than the early 1980s. I remember them in the 1990s.

I remember my grandmother listening to 'Fr Cleary' mostly to laugh at the nonsense being spouted, but she preferred the FM104 phone show for proper late night radio.

She was a very religious woman lol, hadn't been to Mass since the mid-1930s... and took a dim view of nuns, priests, the clergy, religious types and religion generally...

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409803#Comment_118409803

Haha yes I do

It's amazing though how religious Irish local radio was back in the late 80s/90s. Hard to imagine a big urban radio station carrying a late night 'Priest Chat' type show these days.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409803#Comment_118409803

Dear Frankie

Apogee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409948#Comment_118409948

Irish dancing on the radio...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmzlDzBHEhg

ford fiesta

radio stations used to broadcast LIVE night clubs back in the 80s / 90s - the Dublin Superpirates such as Sunshine and some of the post 1988 local stations

Declan A Walsh

Tony Gahan used to present an alternative music show on Sunday evenings on *Capitol Radio in the mid 1980s called The 20th Century Promised Land, where many of the acts were just as obscure then as the show! He played the likes of Half Man Half Biscuit, Gaye Bykers on Acid and The Butthole Surfers!

*This is not to be confused with another pirate with the same name that I mentioned in my previous post!

Joe_ Public

I remember bout 20 years ago or maybe more there was a show on Radio One called something like the Mackey and Murray show. The Mackey was Liam Mackey of hot press and football writing, Murray not quite sure but from one of the papers anyway I think. Was an entertaining magazine type show, Mackey in particular was very good and better than at least 80% of the people I've heard in broadcasting through the years.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118412884#Comment_118412884

It was Murray and Mackey and it was on Radio Ireland (not Radio One) from 1997 to 1998 - now Today FM. The Murray was Paddy Murray, a then journalist with The Sunday World. It was on Saturdays around lunchtime and very entertaining it was!

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118394730#Comment_118394730

I remember this show well. Eamon Dunphy rang up on a number of occasions. The theme tune was Richard Claydermans (how 80s!) version of Rhapsody in Blue.

You’d often hear phones ringing in the background and although it was quite ramshackle at times they never seemed stuck for callers (and this being 2am on a Friday night/Saturday morning).

A few years back I enquired about the whereabouts of Pat Jennings on the sadly now defunct radiowavesforum site and got a rather cryptic ‘why do you want to know this information’ response from a punter who did go on to say that Pat lives in London now.

For what’s it’s worth I have fond memories of the show which I think wrapped up in late 1987.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118394861#Comment_118394861

Hi Ger.

I think the Urban FM story are probably like the State Papers; the story can’t be told until after 30 years! I suspect the operators of the station have some hazy memories about it too.

It was almost like a cross between The Young Ones and a reality tv show as the operators were all living and hanging out in a flat in Ranelagh. The station would be on air when they were in good form, high spirits or having a session.

Some of its highlights (as a punter) was the night they hosted a phone in to rate the best looking birds behind the counters of all the local chippers around Flatland.

They announced the sad news that DLR 106 had gone off the air after a fire, then clarified that in fact the arson attack was due to happen the next night.

I did have one recording where (an alleged) family of drug dealers rang up to complain about the local vigilantes marching on their flat as you could hear the sound of windows being smashed .. sadly the tape is long since lost.

It was certainly a unique station and I’d love to hear more recordings of it someday

(Deleted by poster)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409903#Comment_118409903

I was on that show, got a lift home from Fr Cleary after it too. It was indeed a delayed broadcast, as he advised before going on air, where they could cut out anything offensive that might be uttered 😂

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118414014#Comment_118414014

And there was I with an 088 frantically worrying about who had tuned into my private conversations 🤣🤣