Autobiography 11 - Radio Luxembourg!

When I was a boarding student at Coláiste Chiaráin, I loved the holidays, because I got to live at home again, enjoying all the benefits that came with that – delicious meals, a comfortable bed and privacy. I also got to spend time with my own family and friends. And I got to go out by myself or with my friends, play games and do all the things that young people like to do. I had time to read books and watch TV at night, and I didn’t have to go to bed too early. In a word – I had freedom!

Of the many holidays we had, the summer holidays were the best. I had a three-month break, the weather was mostly fine, and the sun didn’t set until nine or ten o’clock. It seemed like the summer holidays would never end, but eventually they would come to an end and I would have to move back to school.

I had a close friend called Tomás, who was a few years younger than me. We spent every summer together and we were able to play hurling and football, because we were at the same level, and we didn’t play them as contact sports. That way, we had access to the skills and pleasures of the sport. We would go out into the field behind my house, with sliotars and hurling clubs and play in the All-Ireland championship. Or we would play soccer in the back garden, with jerseys as goals. Whenever my parents saw us out in the garden kicking a ball, they would bang on the window and scream “Get out of the garden, you’ll ruin our roses!” But we wouldn’t stop, because wasn’t the World Cup wasn’t on and I was about to score a penalty. Often, our brothers and sisters would play with us and we would all have a lot of fun.

Sometimes, Tomás and I would go on adventures together, and we had plenty of imagination. There was an old harvester that was in poor shape sitting in the field behind Tomás' house. We spent a lot of time there every summer. For us, it wasn't a harvester, but a spaceship exploring the galaxy. We would get our inspiration from 'The Invaders' and 'Star Trek', science fiction series that were broadcast on RTÉ at the time. Everything else would disappear and we would be in space, fighting alien spaceships – and we would always win! We would visit new planets and meet aliens, both friends and enemies. Eventually, we would hear Tomás' mother calling us and we would wake up from our dreams for that day. But we were back on the spaceship the next chance we got.

Bhí teach iargúlta suas an bóthar amuigh faoin tuath, agus cé go raibh daoine ina gcónaí ann, ní bhíodh duine ar bith le feiceáil riamh ann. Bhí rud éigin mícheart, agus b’éigean dúinn spiaireacht a dhéanamh ar na comharsana sin, chun a fháil amach cad a bhí ar siúl acu. Bhí coill bheag in aice leis an teach, agus bhíodh Tomás agus mé féin inár bhfolach ann, ag iarraidh muintir an tí a fheiceáil. Is cosúil nach spiairí maithe muid mar, in ainneoin an t-uafás ama a chaithimis ag spiaireacht, ní fhacamar muintir an tí fiú uair amháin. Nó b’fhéidir go raibh siadsan ina spiairí proifisiúnta, agus ag déanamh monatóireacht orainn. Tar éis tamaill, d’d’éiríomar neirbhíseach agus tuirseach den obair sin, agus tháinig deireadh luath leis ár ngairmeacha bheatha mar bhleachtairí.

We both loved pop music, and we loved listening to the music of the day on Radio Luxembourg on 208 FM. We had a transistor radio at home, and every Sunday evening when the weather was nice, I would borrow it. We would take a walk up the road to a quiet, secluded spot, across the road from the aforementioned house, as it happened. We would sit down and turn the radio on to 208FM, and we would listen to Kid Jensen’s ‘Top 20’. We were in heaven listening to the 20 songs that were the most popular that week. I remember musicians and bands like: Don McClean, Slade, Gary Glitter, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Diana Ross, The Who, Winds, David Bowie, Mott the Hoople and T-Rex to name just a few. We loved hearing the new, fresh, modern sounds on that radio, many of which were earworms. Even still, to this day, when I hear tunes from that time, they take me back to the days of my youth – the sounds, the smells, the sights and the feelings from a time long gone. In particular, when I hear 'Get it on (bang a gong)' by T-Rex, I feel like a teenager on the side of the road with my friend Tomás, listening to the song on that transistor radio. How well I remember those days. I haven’t told you the funniest thing that happened to us while listening to the ‘Top 20’. We weren’t alone as an audience. When we turned around, there would be a herd of cows standing by the fence, entranced by the music – just like Tomás and I!