I’m the same with my first boombox from 1984!
Pic below - still in my cupboard, haven’t tried it for years.
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I got one of these babies for Christmas 1983. So many hours of listening from this (and tape recording from the radio) and got me through my high school years!
YouTube: Vidtech
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Given that all these older type radios - radio cassettes or Walkmans could record radio on the go. What is the best option for that now? IS there a convenient battery operated device that records local radio?
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There are actually a couple out there, though choice is depleting.
The most well known is the Retekess V115 which records local AM/FM radio direct to a TF card (sold seperately). The only downer is that FM recordings are in mono but if you aren’t an audiophile then you probably won’t care. Not the best for DXing but very strong for reception of local and semi-local stations.
The next is a GTMEDIA D1 DAB+/FM which actually records DAB+ radio direct to a TF card (sold seperately). There aren’t really any DAB+/FM radios that let you do that so it’s an interesting find, and the one to get. It gets better, as it also records FM radio too, and in crystal clear Stereo (only works if there’s an OK enough to very strong signal, otherwise very weak signals disable the Stereo sound - re-enables once the signal is strong again or there’s minimal static).
Now this one can handle really good DXing, so much so that this was the very radio I used to receive 100.9 ZZZ FM Lismore via E-Skip late last year. You just need the aerial on it fully extended up.
The only thing about the DAB+ recordings is when you want to listen to them on other devices other than the radio itself it spits out as a .dabp file, which is rendered unplayable on most devices and is probably locked to the radio itself. Is there any way .dabp files can be converted to audio formats or no? Thanks.
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I had I similar one in the early 80s,it was a Sanyo ,the first one I bought with my own money
My first radio was an MW/SM - 4 bands small Sharp radio cassette.
My third one was :
I had a Sony cassette walkman with built in AM/FM radio. It was very easy to use and as the antenna was the headphone cable also very unobtrusive and flexible.
And later -
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Coodabeen Champions first 3AW footy program has been found, and digitised
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From what I can work out via the online copies of The Age and SMH, Take 40 Australia premiered on Australian radio on the weekend of 2-3 June 1984.. FOX FM Melbourne debuted it on at 7pm on a Saturday night, interestingly up against 3XY’s Top 40 Countdown with Kevin Hillier (guide below)
The SMH radio guides didn’t seem to list Take 40 as a separate program on 2SM for the most part, but I did see a few interesting entries in late 1986, where it was hosted by a Julie Brodksy (2pm Sundays as per usual timeslot on 2SM)… I don’t remember her at all, or ever hearing the show hosted by a female, at least not in the mid-late 80s? (guide below)
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A Croissant Affair
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I’d much prefer that over a ‘A Currant Affair’ 
Mine with ham and cheese please.
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Very hammy and very cheesy in your case. Much like your jokes. 
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From the Telegraph, May 1981. Very early days of the great FM104. Gives a bit of a flavour of the sound of the station in those early FM days.
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Good find!
When did they transition from 4MMM to FM104 in terms of on air IDs?
I always thought 4MMM was only used for a very short period.
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They used to say ‘FM104 the home of 4 Triple M’ a bit, at least that’s what’s on an aircheck or two that I’ve heard.
Another question…were FM104 ultra experimental when they first started, like Fox FM/EON FM Melbourne and to a lesser extent 2DAY/2MMM?
Fox FM used to play classical music at times, whilst EON FM played plenty of deep album tracks like ‘Damned If I Do’ by the Alan Parsons Project.
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Should’ve started as 4REX - as in XXXX. Geddit?
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If you look at the bottom of the ad in @Brianc68’s post, that wavy line traces out 4MMM.
UPDATE: And also at the top.
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IIRC it was about 1983 or even late '82 when they started ID’ing predominantly as FM104. So yes 4MMM was only used for a short time.
As @dxnerd points out they used to occasionally say “FM104, the home of 4MMM”, perhaps a few of times a week, but from '83 it was nearly always just FM104.
In terms of being experimental in the early days they were definitely album-oriented at times and used to play complete albums. I recall them doing that even in '86 or '87. But no, I wouldn’t say eclectic, they didn’t play classical music or other types. They had a very consistent sound. I’ve heard it described as a “smooth rock” sound that leaned towards album rock at times.
They had a definite uncluttered “sound” that I had never heard before or since. Low key presenters and music that seemed to flow. They were definitely on the softer rock side overall, but at the same time included a lot of deep tracks, both past and current. What particularly fascinated me was which new songs they played and which songs they didn’t. They were very choosy, but usually the new music they played was just right for their sound. Of course there was a good dose of softer classic rock. Don’t get me wrong they would play the more mainstream/harder rock too, but it wasn’t the core playlist.
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But not much pop or Top 40, so you’d almost never hear the likes of ABBA, Culture Club or Wham! on FM104 though?
But I do recall them playing a bit of new wave eg Howard Jones in 1985 when I was on a family holiday to the Gold Coast.
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They played quite a bit of new wave yes. They even played a bit of Kids In The Kitchen - Change In Mood, Current Stand and Bitter Desire.
They did play songs in the Top 40 but definitely only those that fitted the format. They really liked Howard Jones, Suzanne Vega, Simply Red, Heart, Stevie Nicks, Pat Benatar and Peter Gabriel, to name just a few. They definitely didn’t play Culture Club or Wham!. Sometimes they surprised though. I recall they didn’t play much Madonna at all, but they did play Live To Tell, for example. Another example was Cindy Lauper - they would NEVER play Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, but they did play Money Changes Everything.
To this day when I hear certain songs I immediately get transported back to FM104.
Talk To Me / Stevie Nicks
Holding Back The Years / Simply Red
So Much For Love / Venetians
No One Is To Blame / Howard Jones
Anything by Pat Benatar, but particularly Shadows Of The Night
To name just a few.
Sometimes they played some random indie type stuff as well. There was a song called Anchorage Alaska by Michelle Shocked. It was such a random song but it got huge airplay on FM104 in about 1986. I never heard it anywhere else or since. And in fact you can’t even buy or stream it anywhere (the artist has pulled it from everything as some sort of protest), but for some reason it was on high rotation.
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No you had to listen to Radio/Stereo 10 to hear songs by them,luckily I listened to both back then
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