You can see Radio Caroline’s playlist here: http://onlineradiobox.com/uk/radiocaroline/playlist/
Don’t get me wrong - there are some great songs on Radio Caroline and Absolute Radio, but what kills it for me is a distinct shortage of Aussie music.
And I prefer music on the radio to be interspersed with local news and weather info.
So it will pretty much FM or DAB for me. If I want pure music and at high quality I will reach for my iPod or phone.
2 Likes
I will certainly give Radio Caroline a go. I’ve been meaning to for a while.
That Triple M aircheck from 1982 quite surprises me. People forget that in 1982 MMM was playing The Go Go’s and Culture Club. No wonder Sydney had started flicking the switch to FM in 1982.
Mind you - 2SM in 1982 was fighting back with its high energy “More Music” format.
4 Likes
Yes I liked the variety of music they played in 1982.
1 Like
and still today MMM plays the Go Go’s and Culture Club! The regional MMMs that is!
3 Likes
Anyone interested in radio history might like to listen to 3DB The First 60 Years which was produced in 1987 and presented by Bert Newton. Heaps of archival material from what was one of Melbourne’s most successful radio stations in the 1930s through to the 1950s. It never really kept up with the introduction of television and found the later decades a lot harder, so when it was sold off after News Limited took over the Herald and Weekly Times in 1987, and after it had lost the horse racing rights, it was revamped as 3TT.
I remember listening to this program when it first aired, and then again on the early morning of 2 April 1988 as it the last program to go to air on 3DB before it changed its name to 3TT at 5am.
This is Part 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6ASP_0iFZI So far 4 parts have been uploaded to YouTube but I would say there is more to come.
YouTube: Alex Hehr OAM
1 Like
That’s very interesting. Do you know why they picked TT as the new call sign? Seems a bit random for a Melbourne station name.
1 Like
No significance to the letters as far as i know.
The station frequency was ten 26 but this had no connection to the TT letters.
They were reportedly considering other options like 3BB and 3MM but settled on TT.
2 Likes
Double (and triple) letter callsigns were the cool thing back then- at least that’s how Wayne Mac (Dont Touch That Dial) sees it. One of the more interesting callsigns is 2XL Cooma- literally, “to excel”. It’s unfortunate that this Monaro broadcaster couldn’t use the initials of the Snowy Mountains to describe itself.
3 Likes
They were quite the trend… just some of the new or revamped stations to spring up from the 1970s onwards… 2JJ, 3ZZ, 2CC, 2XX, 2OO, 4RR, 2MMM, 4MMM. Later there was 3MMM, and I’m sure there were plenty of community FM stations doing similar. 5MMM in Adelaide (later picked up by 104.7), 3CCC in Castlemaine etc…
3 Likes
And even into the 80s/90s, callsigns that were a word or phrase (particularly on FM) were popping up everywhere
2ME
2DAY
2HOT
2WAY
2YOU
3WAY
4YOU
4US
4OUR
6IX
7WAY
5 Likes
I’m thinking that 4GG was the trend setter for double letters, starting in 1967 (50th anniversary next month) known on air as just “Double G”. As far as FM goes, 4ZZZ would probably have been the first triple letter FM call sign.
3 Likes
In Canberra there is 1WAY meaning there’s only One Way. Artsound is 1ART.
3 Likes
Yes I think 4GG set the trend. They were originally going to be 4GC but it was felt that would cause confusion with nearby 4BC.
4CD became 4CC in the 80s I think, following the trend. 4NA became 4SS. But at least the letters had significance, unlike 3TT who just seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon 
Among the ‘triples’ I think 4ZZZ was first in 1975 before 3RRR in 1976.
1 Like
isn’t there a 4GC in Charters Towers or wasn’t that in existence back then?
Just a few more:
3FOX (although I think at first they actually ID’d the station as “3.F.O.X.”? Not sure if that is correct?)
3EON
3SUN
8SUN
2ROX
6NOW
3BAY
3CAT
4SEA (the first “SEA FM”)
4MIX
8HOT
3JOY
4RUM (Bundaberg RUM!)
But there’s a call-sign that’s not a word but I’ve no idea what the letters mean:
2PTV and 3PTV – the Smooth FM stations
We know that the Nova callsigns were based on the airport codes for each city (SYD, MEL, ADL, etc) but what on earth did PTV mean?
And I thought WSFM’s 2UUS was a fairly clever call-sign as it was pronounced “2WS”
2 Likes
I think I’ve seen it explained as Paul Thompson Vega.
3 Likes
I think 2UUL (2WL) made it to FM first, I suspect 2WS may have copied them?
1 Like
Yes, 2WL converted to FM in July 1992, nearly a year before 2WS did the same.
1 Like
Yes I can’t find the date but 4GC Charters Towers went to air later than 4GG. And also Charters Towers is over 1,000km from 4BC so no problem.
With the overlap of Brisbane and Gold Coast I think even the broadcasting authority had concerns over 4BC/4GC so close.