WLIB – London

Hackney’s WLIB were first heard in the summer of 1988. They played mostly reggae/soul 7 days a week, firstly on 90.9, later moving up to 92.4 If anyone has any more information on this station please contact The Pirate Archive. Downloads To save any item from this list then Right Click and ‘Save Target As…’…

Rock 2 Rock – London

Rock 2 Rock were first heard in April 1986. They could be heard on 90.2 FM, initially on Sundays only. They broadcast the usual mix of soul and reggae and by 1987 they had expanded to 7 days a week. They always seemed to be raided more than other stations, and when the new laws…

Radio Floss / 3 Boroughs Radio

In 1979, some members of Celebration Radio wanted to break away and put a station on air with a broader appeal. This was to be Radio Floss, and the first test broadcast was made in September 1979 with the station opening on the 13th January 1980. They broadcast from North London on 1350 kHz, usually…

Centreforce Radio – London

Centreforce Radio started life in May 1989 broadcasting from East London on 88.3 FM. The station was setup with the help of Andy Swallow and a few other people from Echo’s, which was a small night club in East London, by the Bow flyover. The club hosted a couple of nights such as Tony Wilson’s…

Fantasy FM – London

Fantasy FM started broadcasting from North London in August 1989 on 98.6 FM. They played Acid, Rave & Hardcore music, all of which was massive at the time, and was also dominating the mainstream music charts too, during the time Fantasy was on air. During the early part of 1990, Fantasy changed frequency to 98.1…

Power FM – Nottingham

Another of Nottingham’s big dance stations of the 1990s was Power FM. They could be heard on 102.5 FM and featured many DJs who had been on earlier Nottingham pirate stations. Like most dance stations they were also involved in the club scene and used to put on nights at various clubs. If anyone has…

Horizon Radio – London

Horizon Radio was part of a new wave of pirate radio stations that took to the airwaves of the capital in the early 1980s. In the 70s, you would only hear pirates for a few hours on Sundays or bank holidays. Then, following a loop hole discovered in a Radio Jackie court case, a number…

Starlight FM – Birmingham

Starlight FM were first heard in the summer of 1990. They broadcast on 101.5 FM and quickly became a big player in the Birmingham Rave scene. If anyone has any more information on this station please contact The Pirate Archive. Downloads To save any item from the list then right click and ‘Save Target As…’…

Metro FM – Birmingham

Metro FM were first heard with test transmissions in early December 1988 with full programmes following shortly afterwards. They were initially a weekend station, but soon became daily and eventually a 24 hour 7 day operation. They started on 104.9 FM with a format of black music and community information with DJs like Super C,…

Radio Merseywaves

One of the longest running free radio stations on Merseyside was Radio Merseywaves. The station started in late 1984 by Merseyside’s free radio legend Bert Williams.  At first it was only on FM during Sunday evenings on 94.8MHz with just Bert himself.  It then expanded to medium wave on 1179kHz, again only on a Sunday…