Episode 6. Closing The Fader on BLB

There were tears in the studio at the end of December 1988 when the faders were finally closed on the BLB mixing desk and the transmitter was silenced for good. In this final episode of the series, Mark Quinn muses over the lasting legacy of the radio station. In its nearly ten year life, what did it achieve, what was its legacy and what lasting impression did it make on those who were involved?

Credits: 

Sound recording by Mike Quinn 

Sound mixing by Luke Conlon 

High Wire Post Production, Dublin, Ireland 

www.highwire.ie  

Artwork by Jody Hogg Design 

www.jodyhogg.com  

Produced and presented by Mark Quinn 

The copyright for this podcast series is owned by Mark Quinn and is hereby reserved.

Bray Talking Heads – Stories from a Seaside Town. A podcast celebrating the stories, history, and people of Bray, past and present. Whether you're a lifelong Brayite or just discovering this special town, join us for conversations that connect, inspire, and bring our community to life - wherever you are in the world. Hosted by Mark Quinn, Leah Kinsella, and Pat Hannon. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky @braytalkingheads, or email us at braytalkingheads@gmail.com

https://blb.buzzsprout.com

Transcript

A Radiogenic production.



BLB, Sounds from the Past, memories of pirate radio and stories of Bray local broadcasting. Episode 6.



They were the authentic voices of the people of Bray.

 Yesterday afternoon on the seafront.

 I would like to wish BLB a very happy and successful future.

 I don't think any community is truly that without having its own radio station.

 The request is starting to flow in at the moment and if you would like...

 Bray needs communication and I think communication

 will open things up for everyone.

 Welcome to another Boghall Community Council programme. There was the Meath Road listeners, there was the Wolfe Tone Square listeners, there was the Boghall Road... Hey, ah, Glenn Curtin.

 A sad little ditty. A bad salad. Sorry, a sad ballad.

 Sitting on a dart coming home and someone said, "I liked your programme this morning." Oh, what on earth was that rubbish you played? It was wonderful.

 BLB, the magnificent service that it provided at the time. There really was the voice, the glue that made us what we are today. I think the town rediscovered its vibrant identity.



 Good morning and welcome to another day's broadcasting. It's BLB Community Radio on 657 kHz AM and 97.8 FM. Your local radio to keep you company throughout the day.



 So we reached the final episode in this series as we draw closer to December 1988... ...when the faders were finally closed in the BLB studios and the transmitter was silenced.



 Whenever I talk to anyone who is involved with or listened to BLB, they all share the same sentiment. Ah, Mark, BLB was great. Now, I know that BLB didn't always sound perfect, but it was a moment in time... ...a time before the many communications channels that we now have. And it was the voice of Bray.



 In this episode, we're going to hear a random selection of clips from various contributors... ...which I think sum up the BLB experience.



 First up, Vincent Kerwin.

 Very proud of what we did in BLB and some of the marvellous memories...



 ...of what happened during that time and the great fringe of it. People you never met before, you met them in studio or you met them out in OBS... ...and they've been friends ever since, which is great. And there's nothing to beat memories for me anyway.

 It was like joining the BBC without joining the BBC. We were the BLB, but we were our own entity. Liam DeShoon. You know, you think globally, but you act locally... ...and local radio was a way of acting locally, of harnessing local energies. But it was such a community thing and it was fantastic.

 Hilda Hennessy.

 I think it was a feeling of being part of something, you know? And as I said, every second person that I knew anyway listened to BLB... ...at some stage or another, you know? Not everybody was into jazz, not everybody was into classical music... ...but everything was catered for, you know? And then, of course, oh, I heard such and such on the news... ...and all the local stuff that was covered as well. You know, it was... I think it was... You know, it was great. I miss going down every Friday night and playing jazz for two hours.



 (Laughs)

 Basically, you know? And of course, my dad always listened, you know? And he was thrilled with it, I'd mention his name, you know? Because he still had a kind of small circle of friends... ...that he used to kind of play with, you know? And the big dance bands. Yeah, it was wonderful.



 I thoroughly

 enjoyed it. And I think the people that were involved with me, like Betty and Bari Nevin... ...and all the other people that had helped out over the years... Louis O'Rourke. I think we all got great track out of it. It was good fun. And not only was it good fun, but we did a good service at that time.



 I thoroughly regret the fact that the station closed down the way it did. We'd hardly got our feet under the table and the microphone set up... ...when the whole thing fell apart.



 And I regret that people like Joe Ballard...



 ...she was a fantastic broadcaster. And he rivaled Gay Bourna one stage with audience figures. And to put the plug in a chap like that was just appalling. And he was only one of a whole series of different programs... ...that came from various different tastes in the town. And it was all gone. And what was it replaced with? As far as I'm concerned, basically wall-to-wall music.



 Very

 happy birthday to Michael Temple. And Michael lives in 5 Old Court Avenue.

 When Freddie Morehan came into chat with us... ...he brought along his old notebook from his Uncle Bob's breakfast show. With so many requests on a children's program such as Uncle Bob's... ...it was vitally important to get all the details correct. So he carefully prepared in advance.



 And special requests from the wife Mary... ...and from all the children. And they go to St. Fergal School. And they're in fifth class. And they're in Mrs Brennan's class. And they are Mary and Maura. And requests also from the auntie. The auntie is at home from Australia. And her name is Josephine. So good luck to them all up there. B.L.B. was a pleasure to work for. Because you felt you were able to go down every Sunday. You presented your program. You went home. There was nobody calling you in to have an inquisition and say... ...you said that bad grammar there. You used that word twice. You said such and such a thing. That person was very upset about that. All you had to please was just yourself. There's people like David Grant. There was people like Amanda Bell. There was Billy Joe Duffy. I felt he was a Trojan. There was no glory in it for him. He mixed the program. And he played the records. But the thing about it, he did it. Because he wanted to do it. Like it was totally local radio.



 Alwyn Dixon and Maura Byrne.

 To me it was like a big family. A big family and friends. And it just completely absorbed you morning and night.

 And it's funny because even now, you know, getting together like this... ...Alwyn and I wouldn't talk to each other on a regular basis. We would from time to time. And usually it's because of radio that we talk. But I know... I only have to see Alwyn from a distance. And it's like as if there's no time in between. We were that close, I think, during all those years.

 Well now we join the man who has two T's in his surname, Mr Mike Suttle. What's going to

 happen after the last war? Now, I don't mean little wars like the Great War or the Second War.

 I was 15 when I started on BLB. That was in 1979. And I finished when I was probably 26. Rock

 and roll fanatic, Jer Hayes.

 So, you know, a good part of my growing up was in that station. I had no interview skills. I went to meet some of these famous Sun Record people. I interviewed people on stage. I went as part of a BLB disco road show. And I popped in and did 20 minutes rock and roll from the stage. So, for me personally, I got to meet a whole range of people a lot. I'm still friends with today. It gave me great life skills, great confidence. And it sent me down avenues that without the radio I never would have gone down. And, you know, when I look back at it, it's all good.

 It's all good. One of the many hats that Peter Carroll donned in BLB was as producer with Jer Hayes. And twice a year they created a program about Buddy Holly, which included input from the Appreciation Society members. On one of these shows, a listener phoned in and mentioned a really special experience.

 We had a competition one night where there was a prize of a great hit, 20 great hits, on vinyl, to the winner. And we got a call in from this man called Tony Ferguson. They lived in Capitino. He says, "I think I was talking to him and he said, do you like Buddy Holly? Oh yeah, I saw him on concert in the 50s." What? It was one of four people in the whole army. They'd never seen him play live. So we called the Appreciation Society. It landed like a swarm of bees on the phone. Obviously wearing what they played in the set. Because in 1958 when this concert happened, in all the places he played, in a short UK tour, not one person filmed them. He was on the BBC ITV and he was on the London, not Sunday night, the London Palladium with Robert Marley. And they filmed that still photographs, not even many. So this stuff would have been invaluable. So the information that got off the man in Capitino was invaluable. One of the guys, the Appreciation Society guy, said to him about this show, where'd they play? He said he played in the Gorman Theatre in London in 1958. And what were the band like? He said, "Well, I was talking to some of the Bobby girls who had the white dresses and the winkle pickers and the proper shoes and what do you think about the group?" And they said, "Oh yeah, they're fantastic, the crickets, but the chap of the glasses has got to go." But really, true story. But they were great all days.



 My recruitment of Karen Shields to join up with BLB and be a broadcaster was a little unorthodox.

 I just remember sitting in a harbour bar and Mark Quinn coming in and saying, "Right, we need a female for the radio. You're coming to do radio." And that was it, and it was okay. I'd never thought of doing radio, ever.



 Being involved with BLB from those early days, what had left for me personally was it created a family for me. And it also kept my bond so strong with Bray that I can't imagine never coming home to Bray, no matter where I live.

 Barry Nevan identifies some of the magic that made BLB what it was.



 There's something about when people volunteer, they're there for the love of it, and they're not there for... Well, there was probably a lot of egos. Egos go with the business, but they're there for a different reason than finance. And therefore, it's a different thing. It's a different thing that you're broadcasting or presenting. And I think the listening public then recognize... It's like the Credit Union movement. People are involved in that because of the nature of it. It's a voluntary element apart from the staff that get paid. BLB was very similar. All volunteers there for the purpose of community radio and access radio to deal with local issues. And that's what's lost, I think. When BLB closed, I think that's what went with it.



 A lot of people have asked me over the years about a lot of jobs, a lot of work you've had and what would be the best job you ever had, or what did you really enjoy most?

 Here's Bach McCann on the educational qualities of being involved with the station.

 Without a shadow of it, there would have to be years of spending on BLB because it was the greatest educational centre. If you learn nothing out of BLB, then you shouldn't have been there. You dealt with every type of human being. And today's World PC characters, gender equality and blah, blah, blah, that was fine. We had no problems back in the 80s. If you could do the job, your personality was second to most. Learning how to deal with the good, the bad and the ugly in a soup pot like that, you couldn't teach that in college today. It's a life experience. And what I've learned dealing with human beings of all stature, I'll give BLB probably the biggest star I can give. There's no education I ever got after that would actually compete with that. What a diversity of people.



 John J.J. Matthews.

 At the time, it was very important to me. It was a very big part of my life. Looking back on it now, I felt, and I still do, I feel privileged, that I had that opportunity.



 As a gay man growing up in Ireland in those times, people respected me or dealt with me as me. They didn't respect me as being the gay person in the station. I was not the gay voice in the station. I was just another voice in the station. So looking back on it, I think I was very happy with that, the way people treated me.

 15 minutes past 7 o'clock. It's BLB easing you into a Wednesday morning.

 Daphne Mitchell knew that she divided opinion as a broadcaster.



 Years later, I was with my husband one day. We were looking for a place in England,



 in Hounslow, and we couldn't find this place. We went into this pub and I spoke to this girl. I said, "Do you know where such and such a lane is?" And she said, "No, I don't know." She said, "But my boyfriend might. He's the chef upstairs." So she said, "I'll get him." She brought him downstairs and I started saying, "Look, we're here. We're looking for such and such a place and we can't seem to find it. Could you point us in the right direction?" He said, "Oh, my God," he said, "You're Daphne Mitchell." And he had an Irish accent, obviously. And I said, "I'm sorry? How do you know me?" And he said, "My mother had you on every single day." Every day he said, "It was so bad. I hated you. I left Ireland and came here in England and here you are standing in front of me." So that was another person who didn't like me.

 Well, I suppose there's only one thing worse than being talked about.

 Looking back on the days of working with BLB, great days, great fondness, great love, we were a family affair and even my own daughters, they used to come into the studio and sit there.



 It just spread. It was like a love that spread all around. I loved it. I wish it was there now. Here's

 the marathon man, Nick Ugin.

 I have friends today that I have stayed friends with since the BLB days, presenters and producers and people like that. It's absolutely fantastic. I can't speak highly enough of my time in BLB. I don't play football. I don't play golf. That was my outlet.



 I got huge, huge pleasure out of it. And I just hope that the people who listened to me over the years while I was there, got as much pleasure as I did out of it. It was just incredible. It changed my life.



 Being involved in BLB had a big impact on my life.

 Doug McGuire still laughs about me one minute asking him if he'd like to get involved in local radio and the next minute saying, "Right, you're on air next Saturday."

 I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in it. The legacy stayed with me. It gave me an ability to talk to and with people.



 The skills I have and I learned were as a direct result of being involved with BLB. I still have the love for radio. I still listen to radio. I occasionally hanker to go back on air or maybe get involved in doing a documentary or doing something. It stays with you. It's something you don't forget. And I enjoyed my years with the station and working with all of those other men and women that were involved in the station.



 Jimmy Byrne, who's being interviewed here with his wife Sally, recalls his sadness and that of many others on the last night of broadcasting.

 I played me last record and I said,



 "Epic!"



 And somebody came in and said, "You can't say that in air." I said, "Well, I did."



 And that's the one thing I can remember too.



 I can remember tears in the studio. I can remember people crying.



 My friends, we were losing something that we were after working hard for. And it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that 30 or 40 or 50 people gave off their time to give a radio station. And it was being taken away from us by these mechanism. Just because we were unlicensed. It was just so unfair of all the work that people put into it. And there was people who actually would spend the whole day doing whatever they could in the studio. Maybe it was mixing programs, maybe it was presenting, maybe it was making tea for guests that were coming in. And it was such a diverse group of people that got together. All spectrums of life were there. It was just pure magic that these people got together and created magic.



 I absolutely adored every moment I spent in BLB. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. John Ryan. There's nothing like BLB nowadays.



 There's nothing like the community radio spirit that we had. As I said, the radio airways in Ireland are just bland.



 It's all play listed. There's no creativity. That was another great thing about BLB was the fact that we were completely non-format radio.



 But that was the joy of BLB. There was no pattern to it. It was anarchy, but it was controlled anarchy.



 And I think that's really what fitted my personality best. Controlled anarchy.



 If we were to try and do it today, I'm not sure we'd be successful.



 It doesn't matter who it is when BLB, if you bump into the street, you'll stop and you'll have a ten minute chat. And that's the lovely thing about it. That's community.



 For some, BLB was an escape from a more troubled place. Here's Adrian Kennedy.

 The personal impact it has had on me is immeasurable. So I was in a school where I was badly bullied from the time I started secondary school. I couldn't stand the place. And when I got involved in BLB, it was a complete release for me. It was just, wow, there's actually nice people in the world. I met some amazing people that I'm still friends with. I learned everything I know about radio, which I still work at. So I do pride myself on the fact that that little radio station in Bray gave me the training to sustain a fairly decent career in radio. I'm still managing to bullshit my way through it.

 In its latter years, Bray Local Broadcasting had grown so big that it almost became a sort of community drop in center. And I suppose looking back, we shouldn't underestimate that aspect of the station, which clearly was of value to younger volunteers who got involved, like Tim Hannigan.

 I was actually recruited by a guy called Darren Drysdale and his mate Stephen Grant. Every single bit of it was an experience, every person. It was a personality that you would learn about. But you've got to remember, I was 13, 14 years old when I went in there first. But it was great to see these personalities who were quite extreme and some odd people from odd places that I would never have come across. Hearing Guy Fountain talk about being in Korea and Vietnam, speaking to this guy and big influence with his music and stuff, but just the personalities.



 Being straightened out by Bach, because I had no aspirations to become a presenter. I didn't care about that. I wanted to play with machines. But when I got asked to do the chart show, I think after a while on a Saturday, I was in at the deep end because it was a very serious listenership.



 So yeah, it got the shakes the first couple of shows. But being told how to do a link, you know, watching Adrian Kennedy, like an octopus firing carts and able to use slip mats and just observing these guys, watching Stephen Grant, all of these things without that experience, I would have, I don't know what I would have done. I certainly wouldn't have lived because a pretty tough life with illness and stuff. And you just lose your ambition to live or to do whatever you want. But music pulls you through and your ability and just being able to do something that makes you feel like you're worth something and it's worth getting up tomorrow and you will fight and you will continue. And having the tools to do that all came from people, places, things, everything that happened then. And some people look back and go on nostalgia with such fun. But there were a handful of us that went on to have a life because of the LB.

 When I chatted with Mark Nevin about the impact of BLB on him, he expressed himself in few words.



 It's

 hard to say, Mark.



 It's hard to say.



 It's hardly a day goes by you don't think about it.

 Seriously.



 Really? Absolutely.



 Hardly enough.



 I'm happy

 that I've done it. I'm happy I succeeded in the ambition. I should leave with that.



 Chris Conway started in BLB way back in the Galtram House days and he, like so many others, was profoundly affected by his involvement in the station.

 The first thing I remember is just the camaraderie that we had. It was your life to a large extent. And the friends I made there, people like Mark Nevin and Bob McCann and Daphne Mitchell, just to name a few.



 Not really wanting to name people and leave other people out, but there are people that are still good friends of mine to this very day.



 It just seemed to me that we were all, I don't know how it happened, but we were all just in the right place at the right time. It all came together. And of course there was the vision of the people who set it up in the first place, which cannot be overlooked because I was into radio and other people I knew were into radio. You needed somebody with that motivation to actually get the thing together, get the transmitter, get the premises, get it all going. And that allowed the rest of us then to sort of express ourselves on air and communicate. And it was a family. And I can't think of a nicer family to have grown up in.

 Before we hear a final thought from Joe Bollard, this is one of my favourite pieces of live radio from BLB.



 It's the superb Joe Bowe thinking on his feet on the streets of Bray and what better way to sum up Bray Local Broadcasting than this combination of cheekiness from Joe, authentic brainness and all round good humour. Great radio.

 We're here at the Super Quinn Shopping Centre here in Bray. It's Bray Local Broadcasting. I have a lady with me now. Could I have your name love please? This is Nellie Shaw. Can I call you Nellie? How are you, love? Thanks, John. Are you well this morning? The rain has held off to see that. Ah, lovely, John. Absolutely. Tell me, do you listen to Bray Local Broadcasting? I always do, John.

 It's very nice and good. I always enjoy it.

 Do you think it serves a good

 purpose? It does. It's a really lovely programme. I always enjoy it. Do you? I do. Do you find it helps you? Lovely. Lovely.

 It gives you lots of information.

 Ah, yes. It's very good. Right. Who would you like to say hello to on the... I'd like to say hello to Mrs Fitzsimons, Camatten, Park, Bray, Antinoli. I hope she's keeping very well. Well, there you are, Nellie. And what about himself? You want to say hello to him as well? Yes. I want to say hello to the husband, the two of us after Butland's... Ha! Oh, yes. ... Uh, I think. I am. ... at one o'clock. Have you got your... No, he wanted for the singing. Oh, he wanted for the singing?

 Yes. Oh, yes, John. That's right. Yes. So you're off to Butland? Yes. Have you packed your bikini? Oh, yes.



 It was

 one of the happiest periods in my life. And it wasn't just the fame. It wasn't just that. It was working out the programs, getting it all right, and all fitting in together, and getting phone calls from people who are at home listening to the show. And be it sitting on a dark, coming home, someone said, "I liked your program this morning." Oh, what on earth was that rubbish you put? It was wonderful because I felt part of the whole town of Bray. I felt I was in there with them. They didn't have this... And people do. Didn't have this sort of idea of, "Oh, there's a poor blind man with a guy dog going along. Here's Joe Bullard." You know? And even today, I meet people and they say, "Oh, God be with the days of BLB, Joe."

 (Laughter)

 Transmitting from Bray on AM and stereo FM to North Wicklow and South Dublin. This is BLB Community Radio.



 Well, tomorrow, if you try to tune to 456 meters or 657 kilohertz AM or even 97.8 FM stereo, you won't find BLB because tonight, at 11 o'clock, Bray Local Broadcasting closes down. On

 the very last broadcast of BLB, I had the pleasure of hosting that final show, which ran from 7 PM until closed down at 11. Some presenters prepared final taped recordings and others just came in and chatted with me live on air. There were lots of us in the studio for that final farewell, and I think most of us were delighted that the pirate days were over and we would finally have the chance to apply for a legal local radio license, despite having to say goodbye to BLB. Chris Conway again.

 I was there for that final night. It was very sad. I think we were all kind of shell-shocked, really.

 Adrian Kennedy again.

 As I look back on that night, we had a great party and I remember listening to all the other stations closing down on the same night, and it was the end of an era. And it was the end of an era for Bray as well because much in all, as we did get a radio station a couple of months later, that radio station never created what BLB did. And I, to this day, can't really explain what that is or why that is, but it didn't.

 John Ryan. Shooting the station down that night was a hollow feeling.



 I think we all felt that, you know, it was the end of an era and things would never be quite the same again. And I don't think they ever were.



 Pat Hunt. BLB nurtured, cultivated and in many ways sprout that sense of community that in historical terms, I think, will be seen as BLB's single greatest contribution to the town of Bray. Pat Hammond.

 It was innovative. It was challenging. It was bringing something different to the pot. And the people that brought it together deserve to be the accolades put on them at this stage late in the day, though it is to be recognized for what they were trying to do. And it's exceeding them up till it's closed down.

 And Karen Shields.

 It was just as well that I was in the harbour bar in Bray sitting, having a pint, minding my own business and in walks, Mark Quinn and friends, you're going to get into radio, Karen. We need a female presenter.



 Doug Maguire's was the first voice heard on BLB and indeed his was also the last.

 And now to officially close BLB is Councillor Michael Ledwidge, who in 1979, as chairman of Bray Urban District Council, officially opened the station. It

 is with both pleasure and regret that I speak here this evening with pleasure because it is an honour and privilege to be asked to wind up this innovative community radio and with regret because of the need for this group of talented people to dismantle the radio station, which they worked so hard to build up. This statement logically leads me to ask you people of Bray and Northwick.

 I still don't know exactly how we did it, but looking back, I think it's fair to say that we in BLB from the very start created an atmosphere of inclusivity, equality, responsibility, awareness, dignity, authenticity and self-expression. And we use technological innovation for good. Do any of these aspirations sound familiar in today's world?



 In the time that we broadcast from August 1979 to December 1988, we in BLB won Bray Chamber of Commerce Endeavour Award. We produced high quality videos, created many discussion documents and books, all to promote our ideas around community radio and through the talent, scope and quality of the people involved, BLB punched way above its weight.



 Perhaps our greatest achievement was for a few years that we won the hearts of our listeners, the people of Bray.



 It's such a great pity that we don't have community radio in Bray these days, but somehow I know that the spirit of BLB lives on, or at least I hope it does.



 As a final thought, I love the fact that transmitted radio waves leave Earth's atmosphere and travel off into deep space and continue to propagate through space at the speed of light, reaching distant star systems and they will continue potentially travelling for billions of years. So somewhere out there, BLB's output is still available to listen to.



 (Music)



 My sincere thanks to everyone who participated and helps me with this series. Sound recording was by Mike Quinn, additional sound editing was by Charlotte Kunkler and sound mixing was by Luke Conlon, all of High Wire Post-Production Dublin.



 Like and follow this series and watch out for bonus episodes. BLB, Sounds from the Past, was presented and produced by me, Mark Quinn and is a radiogenic production.