Today we live in a multi-media, almost fully-connected world. Somebody can have a thought, post it online and, within seconds, that thought might have spread across the globe. Within minutes, if it is interesting enough, a sizeable proportion of the planet's population will have been exposed to it, whether on a mobile phone, a work PC, a laptop, IPad or … well, you get the idea.
The start of the decade we find ourselves reimagining is one where even landline housephones were yet to be a feature in every household. VHS recorders were still largely the preserve of the middle to upper classes, colour televisions remained a luxury, and legislators believed that the radio listeners should be satisfied with RTÉ’s Radio 1.
RTÉ Radio 2 was still a baby, having arrived amid a blaze of publicity in May 1979. Its launch was a direct response to the new breed of pirates broadcasting full-time, as opposed to the hobbyist, irregular broadcasters that had characterised the scene until the mid-to-late 1970s.
In today’s world, news of a station making the impact Radio Nova did would spread across Dublin within minutes. In 1981, it took slightly longer — but not by much..
The reason? Any or all of: crystal - clear FM, audio quality honed and finely tuned by the meticulous perfectionist that Chris Cary was; slick, professional radio unlike anything previously heard on these shores; clutter-free programming where the presenters spoke only when they had something to say; and the station played the music Dubliners — and listeners beyond the city — wanted to hear.
Other Irish stations had possessed some of those ingredients. None had brought them all together quite like Nova.
Almost overnight — and take it from somebody who was there — Radio Nova was blasting from every shop doorway. Factory floors rocked to its sound, while listeners at home sought advice on retuning their sets to FM so they could enjoy the full experience.
It was an extraordinary phenomenon and one that is difficult to imagine today. In modern parlance, Radio Nova went viral.
So, tasked as we are with telling the story of Radio Nova, where do we begin?
[At the beginning? Ed]
Here’s a thought, why not start at the beginning. The difficulty is that Radio Nova has a history unmatched by almost any other radio station in the world — with the possible exception of one or two offshore pirates, perhaps.
Telling that story decades later means drawing upon far more than personal memories. There are accounts from those who were involved, those who wished they had been, listeners and rivals — all bringing their own perspective to events ranging from the mundane to the monumental.
As much as is possible, our references come from material produced at the time. That may protect them from the ravages of fading memory, but it does not keep them immune from bias.
Radio Nova closed — or was forced to close, or was switched off — a total of six times in Dublin. Some closures came with a bang; others passed with barely a whimper.
The various incarnations of Nova spanned ten years, with a couple of lengthy breaks along the way. The first of those years was 1981. To understand how the story began, however, we must go back a little further.
One name is synonymous with the name Radio Nova. It’s hard to mention one without using the same breath to mention the other. Chris Cary – or Spangles Muldoon whenever he was at sea – was the driving force behind the success of the station. But it could have been so very different...
It should also be noted that Radio Nova's many sister and offshoot stations are an integral part of the story; they all intertwine with one man usually pulling the strings.
Best way to enjoy the history
On the following pages, the station’s history is narrated, in tandem, side by side in a couple of ways. In the main section of the pages, it is told chapter by chapter, in which the story is presented organically, with the help of photographs and contributions from a number of people; and in the sidebar, Nova's history is presented chronologically, with the help of press cuttings and recordings (this originally ran as a social media special feature in March 2021).
They should complement each other and we hope you enjoy both.
The pages were intended to be consumed via a computer screen and for this reason, in order to get the full benefit, it is best to view this section via that method. If a computer or a tablet is not an option, switching to landscape mode on your mobile phone will display the pages as intended.
If none of these options are available to you, reading in portrait mode displays the main content first and then the chronological timeline relating to that section follows.
Recordings stop playing if you navigate away from the page. To contune listening whilst advancing browsing browsing, right click on the navigation aid and select 'open in new tab', leaving the present window open.
Acknowledgments
Before we begin we must give thanks to a number of people for their help and input:-
Gary Hogg from DXArchive.com, who went above and beyond digging out recordings and materials;
Kevin Branigan for extra research and contributions (and the many late-night theories and anecdotes!!!);
To Richie Wild, Joseph King, Mike Mahon, Paul Davidson (Anoraks Ireland); Paul Buckle, George Talbot, Barry Flynn, Jess Codd, Dave O'Connor and also all at DXArchive for the excellent photographs and other materials;
To Declan Meehan, John Clarke, Seán McCarthy and Henry O'Donovan for their contributions, anecdotes and help with clarification;
Mike Mahon for extra research and input;
Tom Colgan for extra research and technical advice;
To all who took the time to message or post extra background information or materials – very special mention to Ronan Segrave and Ger Roe;
To Barrie & Ruth (Anoraks UK) and Paul Davidson (Anoraks Ireland), without whom so much of the Radio Nova story would have been lost;
To everyone else who contributed, thank you again.
Last word
The Radio Nova Story was researched and compiled from a vast array of sources and written by John Fleming (and Kevin Branigan where credited)…if you have any additions, materials, memories, anecdotes, comments or corrections please send to john@radiowavesfm.com.
A vast amount of material from many sources was gathered/sent to us for this project. If any material has been included that is copyright restricted and/or should receive accreditation, please let us know.
Also to note that some of the station logos on the right have been created for presentation purposes.