Radio Veronica was first heard in the Autumn of 1986. They broadcast from Bradford, but their strong signal could be heard over a wide area.
Initially, their broadcasts took place on Sunday evenings from 8pm into the night. They were mainly on 105.5 FM, but occasionally 104.9 FM was used. By late summer 1987, Veronica was broadcasting on both Sunday and Wednesday nights.
A very broad variety of music was played, from classical to heavy metal, including cheesy instrumentals by Apollo 100 and the Brighouse and Raistrick Brass Band with the Floral Dance. The main DJs heard were Stephen and Christine, with occasional programmes from Ken Crescendo of Radio Britannia.
Their free-form mixture of music and sometimes uninhibited chat made them immediately stand out from other stations. Indeed, the on air chat could sometimes be quite controversial, often discussing things of a sexual or politically incorrect nature. This made them unpopular with other operators, thinking they gave free radio a bad name. Veronica’s reaction to take the mickey out of the other stations as well!
They got steadily more controversial in early 1988, maybe pushing things too far. They abandoned a broadcast due to a near DTI raid, so apart from the odd broadcast later in 1988, Veronica disappeared.
Although no longer on air, the operators were still involved in free radio by continuing to sell transmitters, much as they had been while broadcasting.
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