Rinse FM gets a licence

Fantastic news - Rinse FM has been given a legal FM licence. The pirate station has been campaigning for this for three years - hurrah!

London has a rich and important history of pirate radio. I was lucky enough to witness it first hand from about 1997. But Rinse goes before that. Set up in 1994, it was another spearhead of the pirate armada, a consistently brilliant underground station that pioneered and promoted sounds like grime, dubstep and funky.

There's fairly sound evidence that pirates can attract more listeners than some corporate stations' specialist shows. And there's a reason for that - what Rinse calls the 'homogenized radio landscape' of London. They're right - pirate radio caters to a much underestimated market.

Hopefully Rinse won't lose its way like Kiss (a station that I do love, for reasons too long to mention here). It started out as a groundbreaking pirate station in 1985. But listen to Kiss in the daytime now and you might as well switch on your RnB jukebox. Its evening specialist shows are great and feature some top names, but to some extent you feel as if they are kicked into the corner, the ignored, scrawny, ugly child of the family.

I have every faith that Rinse will do well, and I'm really happy at this news. With recent cancellations and closures in the club scene bringing the mood down, it's great to have some sunshine after the rain.

Oh, and according to Wikipedia, in 2005 DJ Slimzee's Rinse antics resulted in an ASBO banning him from every rooftop in Tower Hamlets. That's a pretty funny ASBO.

Gordon Mac and Kiss 100

My mate-off-the-radio Ed Adoo just sent me this link to an interview with Gordon Mac.

Gordon is the dude who started up Kiss FM, London's famous radio station that operated from 1985 as a pirate before landing a legal licence in 1990. He is still big radio cheese. 

The history of the station is fascinating, including the fact that it was the launchpad for the careers of Norman Jay, Tim Westwood and Trevor Nelson.

I'm a big fan of Kiss. Ricky, Melvin and Charlie on the breakfast show are jokes - well worth listening to despite the fact they have an appalling playlist. The station is also home to David Rodigan, DJ Hype, Logan Sama, Sinden and the Loose Cannons. That's quite a bangin' lineup, I think you'll agree.

So ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome...

Jay Cunning leaves Kiss

Tuesday morning heralds the end of Jay Cunning's breakbeat show on Kiss 100.

Jay took over from Tayo (who left for Radio One's In New DJs We Trust stint) in 2006, when the breakbeat scene was still thriving. Sadly it's nosedived lately, mainly down to a lack of exciting producers making exciting new music, and DJs being lured away by other groundbreaking styles.

Jay, who is leaving to focus on his Sub Slayers label, 'wouldn't say it's the end of breakbeat on Kiss FM' but a replacement breaks show hasn't yet been announced.

I was lucky enough to view the DJ in action, as a guest on the show in 2007. I appeared with Swifty B, who promised me he would behave himself when we were on (Swifty's very naughty). Then, when Jay asked how he'd got into producing, Swifty fed him a story about being inspired by Swedish porn films. I was mortified.

Jay is a ridiculously nice guy who created a brilliant show that reached far and wide across the scene, so don't miss the last instalment. Tune in to Kiss at 1am this Tuesday 29 Dec, or go back to it online by clicking here:
www.totalkiss.com/jaycunning