Monitor

Golden oldies, Border Radio, Chart Winners, Irish Pirates

Life at the top

Aren't most polls around Christmas? Yes, well this one started out that way, but you know how things are. So, here we are in Summer `88 with the results.

One name remained top of the station chart throughout the voting. Ladies and gentlemen, for the second year running, London's number one radio station... Kiss FM. 'We're really pleased about it,' Kiss FM's Gordon Mac told us. 'It's good to know radio connoisseurs still appreciate our kind of radio'.

It was a tough fight, though. LWR were close behind all the way, chased by big Time Radio. Among the legits, Radio One beat Capital, with Radio London trailing quite a long way down the chart. The number of votes cast in the lower half of the chart was quite small, with not a great deal in it between the stations.

Second year running, the number one station didn't manage to get the number one DJ. This year that honour went to LWR jock Jasper. The Vinyl Junkie's excellent lunchtime show seems to be more popular than ever, with his wide range of music and talent for spotting new hits. Kiss did, however, get the largest number of jocks in the chart with newcomer Matt Black their top DJ. One point to note, though, not a single female DJ made it to the chart.

Thanks to everyone who voted. As promised we've pulled some names from the hat. £10 record tokens go to Steve Sexton, Paul Sawyer, Sarah Redfern, Richard Blake and Malcolm G.

Steve Hamley

Eirewaves

I don't know where Mr Eric Gotts — chief pirate buster of the DTI — spends his hols, but I bet it's not Ireland! For Ireland, unlike Britain, has a `free' system (or non-system) of radio. That might change soon as the government there is again making noises about `outlawing' the pirates, but at present virtually anyone can start their own station without hindrance from the state.

The progress of Irish radio from the days of state monopoly to the present time when, owing to a loophole in the law, there are around 90 independent stations, is charted by Peter Mulryan in this history of Irish broadcasting. History can be boring, but Mulryan brings it alive in the first chapter. Later he shows why Ireland's young people voted with their ears for the pirates, when the buccaneer broadcasters appeared in a big way in the seventies.

The `super pirates' such as Nova and Sunshine are covered, but the smaller ventures, some of them run as a hobby, are remembered as well. We also see that there's more to unregulated broadcasting than music and fun — especially when hard-nosed businessmen get involved.

Unfortunately, Radio Radio shows signs of hasty editing with several errors of fact. Nevertheless, it is attractively laid out with many photographs. I recommend it to any non-technical enthusiast.

Roger Tidy

Radio Radio — The Story of Independent, Local, Community and Pirate Broadcasting in Ireland by Peter Mulryan. Borderline Publications, Dublin. £5.95. Available by mail order from Anoraks UK.

Wrinklies' radio

Listening to pirates in London, you could be forgiven for thinking they were exclusively for young people. But, take a listen to Border Radio and you could be surprised.

Up till recently, the station broadcast on the same frequency as JBC. Geographically, there were about eight miles between the stations; culturally they are light years apart. Border Radio, and in particular its founder Harry Marshall, appeal to an older, 50+ age group living in the suburbs of South West London. Harry's request show, consisting of music from films and shows as well as `standards' from the fifties and sixties, conveys a marvellous sense of friendship and compassion between presenter and listener.

The concept of Border Radio represents a unique approach to community radio, appealing to a group of listeners that are totally neglected by other stations in London. The style of presentation and music probably don't appeal to most Radio Today readers, but do take a listen to the station if you are in their area. It'll open your ears to a completely different aspect of pirate radio.

Ken North

Border Radio broadcasts on 105.3 FM to West London every Sunday night.

Yesterplay

For many years FM has been the poor relation of AM. Despite the superior quality, and easy handling of stereo, radio audiences were weaned on Medium and Long Wave. The first local radio stations came out on FM only, and had virtually no listeners whatsoever. Everybody stuck to AM.

Radio services have correspondingly always broadcast their mainstream programmes on AM, and placed their specialist minority interest programmes on FM. Then, during the 80s the technology got better. Slowly, it had dissolved the problems of flutter and interruption that had previously made FM reception unattractive to listeners on the move or with portables.

It's also easier to broadcast on FM. AM requires 50m long wire aerials, and dozens of earthing rods hammered into the ground. FM only needs a simple aerial, like those used for domestic rooftop reception, and to be high in the air. London is perfect for FM broadcasters with the thousands of Tower Blocks that infest the city. So, that's the band the pirates decided to use during the late 70s, that eventually led to the explosion of the mid-80s, when hundreds of stations filled the FM band and only a handful actually had licences.

Those that did have licences, such as Capital, still carried on thinking their listeners were tuned to the AM frequencies, so continued to use the FM for specialist minority interest services such as the adult oriented rock CFM.

However, urged on by the better technology, and because of the pirate boom, over a very few years the emphasis has changed. Researchers have alarmingly discovered that less than a quarter of London's radio audience are tuned to AM. This panicked the BBC so much that they opened a London FM service for Radio One 18 months ahead of schedule.

At Capital, they immediately axed their yuppie CFM service, and replaced it with more mainstream pop. Research also indicated that it was the youth listening to FM. Capital responded by increasing the dance music content of their service presented by younger DJs.

Across the country, the search was on for something to put on the AM transmitters that didn't require the high quality or stereo of FM.

It was the older generations that were tuned to AM, so they must be the target audience, programmers thought. Since most people over the age of 25 generally become pre-occupied by the `good old days', tending to dislike anything new or innovative, they must be played old music. To still be able to sell advertising, the audience couldn't be too old. Older folk don't buy a lot of the products the commercials have to offer. No, to make money, the target audience had to be under 45.

Twenty years ago, this would have meant playing big bands, swing orchestras, and reminders of the 1930s and 1940s. An audience well catered for by the BBC on the Light Programme of 20 years ago, and Radio Two subsequently. Despite a slight glitch, Radio Two has stuck firmly with the same audience since 1967, and now broadcast to pensioners who wish to continue reliving their `good old days'.

The `good old days' of the 25 to 45 year olds means the pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. Interest in this time also extends to the younger generation, who have had it pushed down their throats by those in the music business who haven't changed since the 1960s. Apart from the many thousands behind the scenes who all started together in the 60s, there are the stars like David Bowie, Paul Macartney, Alan Freeman, and Tony Blackburn. Apart from all having their roots firmly attached to the 60s, they constantly seem to harp back to those days in public. This, of course, rubs off on the youngsters of today, who have all become caught up in the 60s fever.

So, there you have it, an ideal solution is to play `oldies' and get not only the older, but also the younger generation tuned in. The only problem now is: What if the oldies service becomes more popular than the mainstream service?

Chris England