Hi this is a message I am sending out to all my friends and contacts into free radio, writes Gary Drew.
I would like to invite you to listen to Laser Soul Hits broadcasting on the internet 24 hours a day and
on 87.8 FM on very low power to a small part of the eastern home counties.
Let me make it clear from the start that Laser Soul Hits is not in competition with Laser Hot Hits, it is a sister station to LHH in the same way as Laser Dance Hits (also known as laser hot hits dance). All our stations support each other in our own special way.
Laser Soul Hits was set up by me as a hobby station to share some of the music I enjoy and to rebroadcast archive material I have collected over many years and have lovingly restored with enhanced audio quality to share once again on LSH as a 'tribute to radio'.
When I do shows for LHH they will sometimes be live with LSH at the same time and sometimes I will more specialised live shows soley for LSH only. All my shows from LHH past and present will be repeated on rotation on LSH and the playout system is changed regularly once per week.
Here's the format for Laser Soul Hits.
6am - midnight (approx) everyday on rotation - ultimately Soul, funk, rare groove music with a tiny splash of reggae and dance. Gary Shows shows past and present on repeat but sometimes live in sync with Laser Hot Hits and original 80's landbased soul pirate radio station shows lovingly restored for repeat all these years later. Plus other new shows and sponsored daytime shows.
Midnight - 6am every night - offshore and pirate radio documentaries, original restored shows from offshore radio, sponsored radio related programmes. A hint of jazz, other radio enthusiastic type material for the SWL and DXer.
Go to http://lasersoulhits.bravesites.com for links to listen to Laser Soul Hits
Streaming music over the internet hardly constitutes a bona fide free radio operation. Another predictable snoozefest; a far cry from the revered risk-takers of the 90's when UK free radio was at its pinnacle.
ReplyDeleteBut surely the radio landscape has changed since the 1990's? The legalization of community radio stations by the Blair government (something campaigned for by many landbased FM pirates for decades) has shifted the playing field significantly. My home city has had dozens of pirates over the years, but we're down to an occasional bank holiday station now, running only a couple of watts. All the guys that used to be on FM pirates are now on community radio stations and/or the dozen or so internet streaming stations that are local to the area.
ReplyDeleteOFCOM has been a very different regulator to the IBA - on the one hand licenses for stations like Rinse FM in London and even Radio Caroline; on the other hand, they apparently can monitor hundreds of frequencies in thousands of locations by remote computer link and are said to be more than aware of the regular free radio operations nationwide.
I agree with you in some ways, free radio was great during the 80's and 90's, on FM, MW and shortwave. I used to love tuning in every day to local stations, Irish stations, and shortwavers like Radio East Coast Commercial, WMR, Radio Atlantis, Pamela, and so on. But the laws have become tighter and more draconian, OFCOM have tech on their side, and the youth cultures that led to the explosion of stations in the 80s and 90s (especially in urban areas) are catered for online.
As for Laser Soul Hits, I think you are being a bit harsh. The Laser organization continues to provide a near daily service on 6205 kHz, and is one of the most prolific of the British pirates on shortwave at the present time.
Nice to know Gary from the 80's. Nice to see he's still doing radio
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