Radio Nova; 40 today.

Losty Dublin · 29-06-2021 9:41am #1

Get out the anorak cake!! Laurence John informs us that today is the 40th anniversary of the official launch of Radio Nova. If nothing else but we should at least acknowledge the occassion with a jingle rally :pac::D

https://youtu.be/T5gXI_lf4rs

PS, this is what it sounded like in the run up........

https://www.mixcloud.com/radiowaves_fm/radio-nova-june-1981-test-transmissions/

Losty Dublin · 29-06-2021 9:44am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5gXI_lf4rs

XLR 8 · 29-06-2021 9:47am

Does anyone remember Nova Park ?? It was a nightclub on the grounds of the old Green Acres hotel in Rathfarnm.

Declan A Walsh · 29-06-2021 10:36am

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Get out the anorak cake!! Laurence John informs us that today is the 40th anniversary of the official launch of Radio Nova. If nothing else but we should at least acknowledge the occassion with a jingle rally :pac::D

https://youtu.be/T5gXI_lf4rs

PS, this is what it sounded like in the run up........

https://www.mixcloud.com/radiowaves_fm/radio-nova-june-1981-test-transmissions/

I was just reading that information about Chris Cary. It left out the fact that he came over to Dublin in 1980 to help Robbie Robinson, another ex-Caroline Radio presenter, set up Sunshine Radio. On the other hand, I had not realised he did a brief stint with Radio Luxembourg. That was good to know.

twinklerunner · 20-07-2021 4:47pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117540342#Comment_117540342

Did you ever get the Boogie Bus from Town? 😁

California Dreamer · 21-07-2021 6:18am

Did they cover Carys criminal convictions and his dodgy sky card scam?

Ger Roe · 22-07-2021 10:32am

There is a good interview with Robbie Robinson (Dale) on radiotoday.ie where he speaks about the early days of Sunshine and Nova. It's worth a read : https://radiotoday.ie/2016/05/interview-radio-maverick-robbie-robinson/

PS. 40 YEARS !!!😲 makes me feel very old, but also very glad to have felt the excitement of hearing the french jingles in perfect stereo, at the time. It was amazing to find out that some of the offshore radio household names were now operating in Dublin - In the early days, Sunshine and Nova were basically Radio Caroline and RNI presenters on holiday in Dublin.

Declan A Walsh · 22-07-2021 2:52pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117645864#Comment_117645864

It is true that a number of the names associated with Sunshine and Nova in the early days had come from the offshore pirates, although certainly not all. Names like Chris Cary, Robbie Robinson/Dale, Andy Archer, Tom Hardy and Tony Allen. Some came from the offshores to Nova a bit later, e.g. Tony McKenzie and Ric Harris. Some were with Radio Nova and/or Sunshine prior to their involvement with the offshore pirates, e.g. Trevor James, Richard Jackson, Robin Ross and our own Gareth O'Callaghan.

Ger Roe · 22-07-2021 4:06pm

Also to ad to the general Nova offshore connection list Declan - Jessie Brandon who joined Nova after Laser 558 closed, The Emperor Rosko (Caroline) who did some recorded progs on Nova from his base in LA, Johnny Lewis (Caroline) on early Sunshine and Nova and still with Caroline today.

What about Peter Madison, early Sunshine and Nova?, I could be mistaken,but I think he had some prior offshore experience too, although it might have been on a fort rather than a ship. Not sure though.... the memory is not as good as it used to be.

Declan A Walsh · 22-07-2021 8:10pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117647777#Comment_117647777

I looked Peter up. He was involved with offshore pirate Radio City for three weeks - as you say it was a fort rather than a ship! Still counts!

alzer100 · 23-07-2021 12:16pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117645864#Comment_117645864

I think up to a month beforehand, Carey had no idea as to what the radio station would be called. Apparently AJ Byrnes gave Carey a tape with those French jingles on it. Carey nearly accidentally destroyed the tape while having pints with Brian McKenzie.

I think he got Jam in California to create the original Nova jingles.

It was truly history in the making having people like Ken Harley who was probably Novas first programming adviser and Tony Allen with his incredible voice! and not forgetting Mike Edgar and John Clarke who were probably the first DJ's/presenters to be involved with the station.

Ah, If I could only time travel back to '81 for a while!

Ger Roe · 23-07-2021 1:40pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117651464#Comment_117651464

Me too (go back to 1981)... I remember the excitement of hearing the early tests very well. The power and quality was amazing considering that all we had before was Radio Dublin and Big D testing/playing about, on 'VHF'. Cary introduced the term 'FM' and convinced people to change to the upper frequency band, through sheer reputation and without any advance marketing or awareness campaign. A real case of meet the need and the market will develop itself. Having Tony Allen was a big plus too ... his voice and his production skills helped build the foundation for what Nova was to become. Ordinary listeners may not have known his name or reputation, but they certainly knew the voice. (N......O......V......A)

John Clarke was a rare find, a Dublin DJ that got what radio was about right from the start - most other pirate dj's at the time were still in nightclub DJ mode, but John knew the difference and to my mind he is the best radio DJ we ever had. I remember interviewing him for a special Anorak Hour edition on one of Phantom's temp licences - he was head of 2FM at the time and still doing the weekly juke box programme. When I asked him why, he said it was because he might not always be a manager, but he will always be a DJ.

Interesting that you mentioned AJ Beirens, I had heard that story before and remember he was involved with the MV Lieve that was fitted out as a pirate station on north wall quay. I remember seeing the mast go up one afternoon and by the time I went home to get my camera and got back to the Liffey, she had sailed. It seems she sailed too hastily and the mast suffered damage shortly after. The tests carried out when she eventually anchored off the Dutch Coast consisted of tapes of Nova (including those jingles) recorded while it was being fitted out in Dublin.

AJ was an anorak legend with his RNI 'Nordsee goes DX' programme - he died last year.

https://www.offshoreechos.com/Tribute%20to%20AJ%20Beirens.html

alzer100 · 23-07-2021 2:46pm

Response to Get Roe regarding Jon Clarke.

Carey auditioned Jon live on air for 3 hours which must have been tough for Jon as Carey just gave him a few cards with phrases such as 'Nova playing your favourites" and "Clutter free Nova" but being the professional that Jon is, it must have been tough but no problem.

Regarding AJ, that is sad news. So many people from the era of Irish pirate radio from the late 70's to the late 80's are no longer wish us and I believe Irish independent radio and particularly the listener has suffered from their loss.

I think Robinson and Carey sorted out their differences to some degree prior to Carey's death. Carey had always implied that as much as he would like to p**s off Robinson during the time of Sunshine and Nova, the whole 539MW to 88FM manual radio receiver switching debacle was purely a technical coincidence.

It would of being a great nod and a tribute if the present Radio Nova had brought in as many former original Nova presenters and flipped their format to the original Nova format for one day (and playing only the original Nova's playlist) to mark the 40th anniversary of the birth of Chris Carey's Nova. I am curious as to know what the reaction would have been.

It would have gotten me listening (for one day anyway)

radiowaves · 06-08-2021 2:53pm

For the record Radio Nova never really had an official launch. By the time June 29th 1981 came round it had already been on air for a month and John Clarke had been serving up Breakfast for a few weeks. When medium wave was switched on on September 11th it really started to ramp into gear.

LJ needed a focus date on which he hoped to have a live launch of his tribute station but Covid put paid to that. For convenience he picked the date on which Nova announced their first birthday in 1982.

I cannot post links but pop over to Radiowaves.fm and navigate your way to 'The Radio Nova Story', which was launched for the anniversary of the station's appearance in Dublin back in May.

radiowaves · 06-08-2021 2:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117647777#Comment_117647777

Ger, if you go to Radiowaves.fm and navigate to the Radio Retro section and choose the Capitol Radio incarnation from 1982, you can listen to a programme called 'The Anorak Hour' in which Peter talks through his own experiences of the 60s.

I think somebody else stole the programme name a few years later 😁😁

radiowaves · 06-08-2021 3:09pm

I apologise in advance for the extra post but it seems I am now able to post links so for convenience here's the two I mentioned.

The Radio Nova Story

http://radiowaves.fm/ire/database/radio-nova-88/

Peter Madison

http://radiowaves.fm/ire/blog/1982/08/14/capitol-radio-august-14th-1982/

Thank you

Ger Roe · 06-08-2021 3:46pm

Wow Mr. Radiowaves .... that Nova Story is an excellent piece of work. It would make a great souvenir booklet if produced in printed form. It brought me right back to listening in on so many key events... so many memories and some pics that I had never seen before.

Well done, someone had to do it and its great that it was a superfan who did ... it tells the story from a unique perspective, looking from the outside in.

Well done.

TheBMG · 06-08-2021 4:48pm

Great work on the Nova story! What a death spiral though .. that NUJ vs Nova battle ended up with everyone losing.

radiowaves · 06-08-2021 5:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117716370#Comment_117716370

Thank you Ger, they are extremely kind words. Personally, I think, given much of the station's history, it needed to be done from the outside looking in although I tried to include as much of the internal perspective on events as I could with both quotes from the time and more recent contributions. More gets added all the time too.

radiowaves · 06-08-2021 5:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117716680#Comment_117716680

Thank you! I agree, I get Cary's stubbornness but it put the station at risk, ultimately leading to its closure (technically that might be disputed). All for the sake of what would've been pocket money to him.

Radio Nova; 40 today.

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