I think it would have been ID’d as “101.9 Triple M” which isn’t much different to “105.1 Triple M”.
Though they wouldn’t then have had all East Coast metro stations neatly in a row on 104.5, 104.7, 104.9 and 105.1
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there was that period, which I actually didn’t hate, but the time i am thinking of was a few years earlier, about 1993 or 94. They had a ratings spike in the last few surveys in 1994 and 1/95 including rating #1 for 6 surveys in a row, which I think was attributed to the pop/dance playlist. And 3MMM has never been #1 ever since AFAIK.
Just looking at my notes, 3MMM adopted a fully-networked line-up from the start of 96 so that might have been the JJJ-type revamp. After ratings of 9s to 13s during 1995, they were now down to 7s and 8s in 1996.
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Though there was the Jack FM inspired “You’ll Never Know What We’ll Play Next” format in 2005/06 and then the more edgier “All New Triple M” around 2009 where they mixed newer pop/dance like The Potbellez with rock.
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Why have I never realised this?? Brilliant! Surely not planned?
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That’s why 92.3 EON become 105.1 Triple M, rather than 92.3 Triple M, when Hoyts acquired 2MMM and 3EON. That way both Melbourne and Sydney could be FM105
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I read that the move from 92.3 to 105.1 was purely for “dial effect”… apparently EON FM didn’t like being down the opposite end of the dial from 3FOX, 3RRR, 3PBS etc.
Though as we found out years later that never seemed to be an issue for Smooth 91.5.
Pure luck and coincidence I think!
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also didn’t bother them when EON FM at 92.3 was #1 
But 105 was also convenient as it fit in with re-stack of the FM band that also saw MBS, PBS and ABC FM moved. (in PBS’ case it was to permit them to upgrade their signal power and expand to 24/7)
I think it was luck that when they bought KAFM that they got 104.7 in Adelaide, and in Brisbane 4MMM had long had 104.x positions. So it was not a strategic shift in those regards, it was what they were landed with.
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They could have done what they do in the UK and advertise stations in a frequency “range”.
E.g. Triple M - 104 to 105 FM
In the UK for example they advertise BBC Radio 2 as “88 to 91FM” and Radio 1 is “97 to 99FM”.
Triple M could have also included Canberra’s 104.7 and put the Hit station on on 106.3
And getting really carried away but one of the new FM frequencies planned for Perth is 104.9 
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And they could swap licences with NEW FM Newcastle and move Triple M to 105.3 there!
And similarly with Star 104.5 at Gosford!
And with Triple J in Townsville!
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Yep I had thought about New and Star frequencies too 
. How good would that be driving from Sydney to Newcastle. The only other one I could think of is 2MW on 104.1 on the Gold Coast.
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I have long been aware of the clustering of Ms between 104.5 and 105.1, and at first I thought it was deliberate. But more a happy accident I agree.
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Unless they are talking about the tongue of Gene Simmons or Crash Bandicoot
Although 3XY did play a lot of pop music in the 80’s, they didn’t play nearly as much as other stations overseas would play, and there were some pop songs which even they didn’t play. Country stations like 3CS would play these songs. This was the case in the late 80’s, and early 1985, and even in 1979 I remember hearing a poop song on 3CS that I didn’t hear on 3XY. 2SM would have been similar I presume.
That all changed in 1988 when 3XY adopted an more adult oriented music format. When BAY FM started in Geelong and 3XY simulcast with them, it got better, but it was still they only played a few pop/dance songs.
When Triple J launched in Melbourne in 1989, and again when they launched in other cities, they started playing a few pop songs in their playlist. But this was only for the first few days to a week, presumably to reel listeners in. After that they went back to their more alternative music. Before that (i.e. when they were only in Sydney) they did play some pop/Dance songs e.g. Big Fun by Inner Circle, but only occasionally.
What I remember was that in early 1993 FOX FM dropped pop music completely out of their playlist, and these songs even disappeared from their nightly countdown show, and they axed Chart Attack (a UK chart show on Sunday night that played some of this music). They may have even ditched American Top 40 and the Party Hard Club show on Saturday night but I can’t remember. Some time in April-June they started playing pop/dance music again in the weeknight countdown.
Then one week in late February Triple M had a weekend when they included some songs in their playlist like Rappers Delight by Grandmaster Flash. The week after that they launched Radio Free Melbourne which did play some pop and dance music. They launched similar shows in other cities e.g. Radio Free Brisbane. I don’t remember how long this lasted but not that long.
Surprisingly B105 didn’t do what FOX FM did. They kept their Top 30 weeknight countdown with pop and dance music, American Top 40 and even Chart Attack (or if they took them off they were back by late March). I don’t know what other stations like SAFM or 2DAYFM did back then.
I went to the US in May 1981 and they had hit music stations on FM, though they played a mixture of pop and rock but that was normal even here. From what I read, in the 60’s and 70’s, FM stations there tended to focus on niche formats not played by AM stations, e.g. album oriented rock. This changed in the mid to late 70’s when pop stations appeared on FM there.
If anyone remembers when EON-FM and FOX-FM started, they were like that for the first year or so, with EON-FM more an album oriented station and FOX-FM an upmarket easier listening station. After a year they both ditched these formats and become more like commercial AM stations.
Over the 80’s, more pop oriented formats developed there.
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Tbh we were just grateful for what we could get 
From what I remember, in January or February 1989, UK radio stations completely stopped playing Stock Aitken and Waterman music (and maybe similar pop/dance music, not sure about this), and such songs dropped out of the UK top 10 altogether (but they remained lower down in the top 40). This didn’t last long though, as I remember the songs re-appearing in the top 10 soon after, so I assumed that the ban ended within a few weeks. This was based on the charts published in Smash Hits Magazine.
There was definitely opposition to this music in the UK, and even in the US to similar bands. I even remember seeing a US sitcom episode on the subject where the message was that music by bands like 9W and Kylie Minogue’s Locomotion weren’t real music. However American Top 40 played these songs without going into a tirade about this music, as did the BBC World Service on their Multitrack 1 UK countdown show.
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The answer can be found on the ABT 1991-92 annual report below.
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I have a soft spot for 8DN from a family holiday to the Top End in July 1987. It was a good station to listen to.
Sadly that was the only time I got to hear it.
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Thanks for that, @TV-Expert. Some more light reading for me.
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APO is a goldmine of information!
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July is the best time to go up there, that’s for sure.
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