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Power House Radio
Paul H was a fan of reggae music and used listen to PCRL. Through that influence he decided to start his own station. So with a 10 Watt transmitter and some help from his mate HMV (aka Johnny B), on the 7th February 1988 Power House Radio was born (complete with The Thunderbirds theme tune).

This was to be the start of a new era in West Midland pirate radio. Up until then, most pirates broadcast recorded programmes from hills or were only on live on Sundays or bank holidays. None the less, these stations were still hounded by the authorities.

Power House were to change that. Not only were they live, but also they were coming on every day. This hadn't been done before and strangely they were left alone by the authorities. This meant they could settle into a routine of broadcasting from 6pm till the early hours every day. As 1988 progressed the hours gradually increased as more presenters joined the station.

Power House were pioneering in other ways too. They broadcast all kinds of music including reggae, rock, oldies and a run down of the Top 40 every Monday. On bonfire night 1988 they broadcast live from a bonfire in Paul H's garden using a spare transmitter to link to the studio. When a phone line was introduced, there were people calling in for requests all day long, the station was becoming extremely popular.

Transmitter power was increased to 25 Watts and then later to 50 Watts with Stereo being added as well. By October they started to take advertising. By late 1988 the station was broadcasting 24 Hrs a day and HMV (Johnny B) appeared on an edition of the regional discussion programme Central Weekend to talk about pirate radio.

By this time it was obvious a raid was imminent. DTI officials had been spotted on the stations CCTV cameras more then once. The raid came on 26th January 1989. They were back on by the same evening but another raid soon followed with another in April.

The station continued through 1989 but as well as people appearing in court and getting hassle from the DTI they now had to deal with competition from other pirates, most notably Freedom 102. Not just competition for audience but also for staff. Some DJs left PHR for Freedom, whilst others started their own stations.

The station was raided again in February of 1990 and after they were raided for a 5th time in May of 1990, they decided to call it a day.

The pirate stations that came on after PHR may have been bigger, slicker and stayed around for longer, but if PHR hadn't done it first would those other stations have existed? We at The Pirate Archive very much doubt it.
And for that PHR, we salute you.
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Newspaper Cuttings and Artwork

Card 1
Poster 1
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Audio
Paul H & John Bee (3rd day on air) 10/2/88 91 mins
Paul H - 27/3/88 31 mins
Paul H - 2/4/88 Part 1 46 mins
Paul H - 2/4/88 Part 2 32 mins
Tony James - Elvis Show - 3/6/88 46 mins
Griswell Part 1 46 mins
Griswell Part 2 38 mins
Dave W & Mr. T - 14/12/88 92 mins
Cally - 1988 42 mins
Cally New Years Eve 1988 5 mins
Paul H Top 40 Of 1988 Part 1 47 mins
Paul H Top 40 Of 1988 Part 2 46 mins
PHR Return After First Raid - 26/1/89 Part 1 20 mins
PHR Return After First Raid (Playing tape of Cally) Part 2 41 mins
Andy M & Mr. T 1989 25 mins
PHR Tests After Raid With HMV 1989 26 mins
Andy S & Ollie Brooks 1989 59 mins
PHR Adverts 1988 5 mins
PHR Advert Out-takes 3 mins
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