Thameside Radio

Thameside Radio was a pirate radio station launched in the winter of 1977 [1] which offered[2] "very slick pop rock with competitions", according to Time Out magazine. According to the Richmond and Twickenham Times, they broadcast from "a certain Notting Hill tower block" [3] – a reference to Trellick Tower.[4]

The station received "30-40 letters each week"[5] and the Richmond and Twickenham Times estimated listenership at "some 20,000 listeners".[3] It pioneered new music and is noted by the New Musical Express for giving airplay to "Win a Night Out with a Well-Known Paranoiac" by Barry Andrews which was subsequently picked up by BBC Radio 1.[6]

Increasing numbers of raids resulted in the station "losing 5 transmitters in 6 months" [7] and Thameside "ceased live transmissions, taping its shows shortly before broadcast".[7]

Recordings of a number of Thameside Radio shows are held by the British Library.[8] Many shows are available for download from fmthen.com

In late 1984, Thameside set up the first London pirate TV station for a one-off event, which received coverage in the national press [9]

References

  1. ↑ "The Thameside Radio Story: Early Days".
  2. ↑ Time Out (449). 23 March 1979. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Frances Welch (28 November 1981). "Secret superbeam – Pirate radio defies Post Office". Richmond and Twickenham Times.
  4. ↑ "The Thameside Radio Story: Technology".
  5. ↑ "Sounds", "Touch That Dial", 15 January 1983
  6. ↑ "NME: Barry Andrews".
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Time Out magazine (606). 2 April 1982. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Thameside Radio", Sound and Moving Image Catalogue (British Library), retrieved 17 July 2012
  9. ↑ Clive Edwards (9 October 1984). "TV Pirates Ahoy!". Daily Mail. p. 3.

See also

] Coordinates: 51°31′25″N 0°12′19″W / 51.5237°N 0.2054°W