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Archiving pirate radio station Kool FM

87 points by rdmuser 12d ago

petecooper 11d ago
Long-time Kool London listener here. The acquisition by Rinse was a real shock. I'd spent years listening to a proper pirate station over the internet (I was too far from the actual transmitters in London) and being part of a chatroom…and it was all taken away without warning. From memory, it really upset me. This station and its ethos was such a part of my life for so long, and it just…went away. As I understand it, Rinse cherry-picked the Kool London DJs they wanted to continue, and a notable number of the remaining talent went on to form / join Underground Bass[1], get a stream online[2], and get on with things. A lot of the behind-the-scenes folks also went to UB, and the DIY spirit lives on. I recognise around 10 of the current Rinse Kool roster from the Kool London era, and around 20 of the current Underground Bass roster are from the Kool London era. [1] https://www.undergroundbass.uk https://www.undergroundbass.uk [2] https://listen.undergroundbass.com:8804/stream https://listen.undergroundbass.com:8804/stream
ilvez 11d ago
Thank you for sharing this. Touches the heart in two different aspects. Recording radio shows on tapes and listening them with players and shitty earphones before CDs/mp3 players were a thing. Still thankful to my young self for the amount of weird and awesome music.. And then obviously junglist massive. Big up!
- ethagnawl 11d ago
  It's a funny quirk of history and circumstance that I'll always associate the station bumper or a DJ's intro with certain songs that I taped off the radio on the 80s and 90s. Similarly, I've heard from friends that they have associated skips, scratches, pops and static with certain songs based on their medium of choice back in the day.
  - ilvez 11d ago
    Yeah. Relative scarcity of the music really burned it all in and became part of it.
ljf 11d ago
I came from Northern England, and could get 5 or maybe 7 pirate stations on a good day from my room - only 1 or 2 of which would be my sort of music. In 1999 I moved to London, and bought a really really good (1970s) radio receiver, and couldn't believe the number (and quality) of pirate stations - every bit of the spectrum seemed to be covered. I had a mini-disk player, and used to record some of my favourite shows - but years later sold the player and labelled all the disks as 'blank'. It felt such an exciting time to hear about new tracks, artists and club nights all across London - but then again I was 20 and had the time and money to go out.
gregsadetsky 11d ago
The stream is properly great!! https://radio.originalkoolarchives.com/listen/original_kool_archives/radio.mp3 https://radio.originalkoolarchives.com/listen/original_kool_...
here_to_learn 11d ago
Awesome. I think this is the radio browser pointer: https://www.radio-browser.info/history/973c30a5-a178-4daf-89c7-272ec6c47456 https://www.radio-browser.info/history/973c30a5-a178-4daf-89...
Dwedit 11d ago
Not to be confused with the actual radio station in Arizona called KOOL-FM.
mc32 11d ago
Off topic but how were pirate radios able to operate while people with sets would have vans going around and fining people for not having a TV license? In the US sometimes you’d have pirate radio off the coast so as to avoid “jurisdiction” though I’m not sure how effective that was.
- 98Windows 11d ago
  The transmitters would get seized often but the pirates would just buy more equipment and setup elsewhere
- reticulates 11d ago
  I’m not sure if you’re joking or not but TV license detection vans are a joke, a scare tactic, a meme, they don’t exist. TV license “inspectors” just showed up at houses and asked if they were watching broadcast TV. Pirate radio would broadcast from the top of buildings and did often get caught. https://youtu.be/7hvF7mbNs50 https://youtu.be/7hvF7mbNs50 a BBC documentary from 2004
  - BoxOfRain 10d ago
    To be fair TV detector vans actually did exist in the early days of TV, there were just barely any of them because they were expensive and they were just as effective as psychological tactic. The idea was that old televisions would radiate the local oscillator frequency used in the superheterodyne circuit strongly enough it was detectable from the street, where it could be direction-found from the van outside. Ringway Manchester has a decent video on the subject. This wouldn't work nowadays for obvious reasons, but they still pretend the vans are a thing as far as I know.
- windowliker 11d ago
  A lot of the infrastructure of pirates in the UK is intimately linked to the urban environment of high-rise residential tower blocks, which housed the studios (often in abandoned flats), with the height of the building providing excellent coverage for transmitter aerials which would be mounted on the roof. The pirates got very advanced over the years, and one of the most important tactics was to separate the studio and the transmitter, using separate tower blocks for each connected via microwave linkup. It got to the point where they would have multiple transmitters available so that if the DTI (UK government body responsible for finding and prosectuing illegal radio transmissions) found the transmitter currently in use, they could then switch quickly to a different one and carry on broadcasting. There would be people monitoring the frequency to check that it hadn't been taken down, and once mobile phones were more common it made it quite easy to quickly abandon a transmitter or studio if necessary. The tactics of the DTI are actually quite fascinating in themselves, involving triangulation and all sorts of interesting gizmos. If you're interested in learning more, the YouTube channel Ringway Manchester[1] has been documenting the techniques used over the years, and is an excellent channel for info on radio in general, especially with regards to the UK, including some brilliant interviews with the people involved in running the pirates, with stories of the crazy things they got up to in those days. There are also a couple of excellent documentaries from the 90s on the topic, one of which, specifically about Kool FM, is featured on this channel about Jungle & Drum n Bass Documentaries[2] (First Sight Pirate Radio). [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC67TJP9i84zbCi2h1aaSO6Q https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC67TJP9i84zbCi2h1aaSO6Q [2] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfR5Ng7DuOjRYsVOOtgodPg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfR5Ng7DuOjRYsVOOtgodPg
deleted 11d ago
[deleted]
thatmf 11d ago
*Mandem
- windowliker 11d ago
  Big up the massive!
ynac 11d ago
This is a timely intersection for a search I've been doing for archives of the Quiet Storm shows of the 90s from Power 99 FM in Philly. At the start of my search I didn't realize how ephemeral radio was treated. Growing up I listened to tapes of Abbott and Costello, The Shadow, and dozens of other shows. I just assumed there were recordings of everything. I found hundreds of KCMU and WFMU shows I recorded from live streams, when I wasn't living near enough to get the terrestrial signal. And the odd LPFM / pirate broadcasts. It might be time to build an archival WARK.fm
- toomuchtodo 11d ago
  Please consider uploading to the Internet Archive as a collection.
- AirMax98 11d ago
  I thought Quiet Storm was on 105.3. Man I miss Philly rnb... SF radio doesn't even come close.
  - ynac 11d ago
    No kidding. Seattle has almost nothing left, except an AM station and a few shows on mixed format stations. Chicago's top shelf if you're hunting for online. They have lots of choices, just depending on your particular need / mood. Power 99 was 98.9 WUSL (I looked it up to be sure). All I could recall for sure was "Power 99...FM". Heh.
- CalRobert 11d ago
  I still miss college radio from my teen years. KDVS had a great Commodore 64 music show…
  - ynac 11d ago
    This? https://www.transbyte.org/SID/KDVS.html https://www.transbyte.org/SID/KDVS.html
    - 10d ago
robin_reala 11d ago
If you’re interested in the history of Kool and the wider London pirate radio scene I can warmly recommend Fracture’s 0860 project: https://0860.fm/ https://0860.fm/
- ablation 10d ago
  Wow, fantastic. Thank you. Just started listening to the podcast.
theragra 10d ago
I did something similar with Russian music broadcasts Muzprosvet and FM Dostoevsky. Here: https://radar.lv https://radar.lv These were cult broadcasts for the new music, each with its own flavor. Later, more broadcasts were uploaded to the website. Now, 95% downloads are bots. Still, chezch broadcasts Seance with ambient music is still uploaded. If you like to discover music, welcome. Its in Russian, but easily translated by Google etc.
br0ceph 9d ago
big up all massive flacs on archive.org would be nice

87 points by rdmuser 12d ago

Long-time Kool London listener here. The acquisition by Rinse was a real shock. I'd spent years listening to a proper pirate station over the internet (I was too far from the actual transmitters in London) and being part of a chatroom…and it was all taken away without warning. From memory, it really upset me. This station and its ethos was such a part of my life for so long, and it just…went away. As I understand it, Rinse cherry-picked the Kool London DJs they wanted to continue, and a notable number of the remaining talent went on to form / join Underground Bass[1], get a stream online[2], and get on with things. A lot of the behind-the-scenes folks also went to UB, and the DIY spirit lives on. I recognise around 10 of the current Rinse Kool roster from the Kool London era, and around 20 of the current Underground Bass roster are from the Kool London era. [1] https://www.undergroundbass.uk https://www.undergroundbass.uk [2] https://listen.undergroundbass.com:8804/stream https://listen.undergroundbass.com:8804/stream

ilvez 11d ago

Thank you for sharing this. Touches the heart in two different aspects. Recording radio shows on tapes and listening them with players and shitty earphones before CDs/mp3 players were a thing. Still thankful to my young self for the amount of weird and awesome music.. And then obviously junglist massive. Big up!

ethagnawl 11d ago
It's a funny quirk of history and circumstance that I'll always associate the station bumper or a DJ's intro with certain songs that I taped off the radio on the 80s and 90s. Similarly, I've heard from friends that they have associated skips, scratches, pops and static with certain songs based on their medium of choice back in the day.
- ilvez 11d ago
  Yeah. Relative scarcity of the music really burned it all in and became part of it.

ljf 11d ago

I came from Northern England, and could get 5 or maybe 7 pirate stations on a good day from my room - only 1 or 2 of which would be my sort of music. In 1999 I moved to London, and bought a really really good (1970s) radio receiver, and couldn't believe the number (and quality) of pirate stations - every bit of the spectrum seemed to be covered. I had a mini-disk player, and used to record some of my favourite shows - but years later sold the player and labelled all the disks as 'blank'. It felt such an exciting time to hear about new tracks, artists and club nights all across London - but then again I was 20 and had the time and money to go out.

gregsadetsky 11d ago

The stream is properly great!! https://radio.originalkoolarchives.com/listen/original_kool_archives/radio.mp3 https://radio.originalkoolarchives.com/listen/original_kool_...

here_to_learn 11d ago

Awesome. I think this is the radio browser pointer: https://www.radio-browser.info/history/973c30a5-a178-4daf-89c7-272ec6c47456 https://www.radio-browser.info/history/973c30a5-a178-4daf-89...

Dwedit 11d ago

Not to be confused with the actual radio station in Arizona called KOOL-FM.

mc32 11d ago

Off topic but how were pirate radios able to operate while people with sets would have vans going around and fining people for not having a TV license? In the US sometimes you’d have pirate radio off the coast so as to avoid “jurisdiction” though I’m not sure how effective that was.

98Windows 11d ago
The transmitters would get seized often but the pirates would just buy more equipment and setup elsewhere
reticulates 11d ago
I’m not sure if you’re joking or not but TV license detection vans are a joke, a scare tactic, a meme, they don’t exist. TV license “inspectors” just showed up at houses and asked if they were watching broadcast TV. Pirate radio would broadcast from the top of buildings and did often get caught. https://youtu.be/7hvF7mbNs50 https://youtu.be/7hvF7mbNs50 a BBC documentary from 2004
- BoxOfRain 10d ago
  To be fair TV detector vans actually did exist in the early days of TV, there were just barely any of them because they were expensive and they were just as effective as psychological tactic. The idea was that old televisions would radiate the local oscillator frequency used in the superheterodyne circuit strongly enough it was detectable from the street, where it could be direction-found from the van outside. Ringway Manchester has a decent video on the subject. This wouldn't work nowadays for obvious reasons, but they still pretend the vans are a thing as far as I know.
windowliker 11d ago
A lot of the infrastructure of pirates in the UK is intimately linked to the urban environment of high-rise residential tower blocks, which housed the studios (often in abandoned flats), with the height of the building providing excellent coverage for transmitter aerials which would be mounted on the roof. The pirates got very advanced over the years, and one of the most important tactics was to separate the studio and the transmitter, using separate tower blocks for each connected via microwave linkup. It got to the point where they would have multiple transmitters available so that if the DTI (UK government body responsible for finding and prosectuing illegal radio transmissions) found the transmitter currently in use, they could then switch quickly to a different one and carry on broadcasting. There would be people monitoring the frequency to check that it hadn't been taken down, and once mobile phones were more common it made it quite easy to quickly abandon a transmitter or studio if necessary. The tactics of the DTI are actually quite fascinating in themselves, involving triangulation and all sorts of interesting gizmos. If you're interested in learning more, the YouTube channel Ringway Manchester[1] has been documenting the techniques used over the years, and is an excellent channel for info on radio in general, especially with regards to the UK, including some brilliant interviews with the people involved in running the pirates, with stories of the crazy things they got up to in those days. There are also a couple of excellent documentaries from the 90s on the topic, one of which, specifically about Kool FM, is featured on this channel about Jungle & Drum n Bass Documentaries[2] (First Sight Pirate Radio). [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC67TJP9i84zbCi2h1aaSO6Q https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC67TJP9i84zbCi2h1aaSO6Q [2] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfR5Ng7DuOjRYsVOOtgodPg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfR5Ng7DuOjRYsVOOtgodPg

deleted 11d ago

[deleted]

thatmf 11d ago

*Mandem

windowliker 11d ago
Big up the massive!

ynac 11d ago

This is a timely intersection for a search I've been doing for archives of the Quiet Storm shows of the 90s from Power 99 FM in Philly. At the start of my search I didn't realize how ephemeral radio was treated. Growing up I listened to tapes of Abbott and Costello, The Shadow, and dozens of other shows. I just assumed there were recordings of everything. I found hundreds of KCMU and WFMU shows I recorded from live streams, when I wasn't living near enough to get the terrestrial signal. And the odd LPFM / pirate broadcasts. It might be time to build an archival WARK.fm

toomuchtodo 11d ago
Please consider uploading to the Internet Archive as a collection.
AirMax98 11d ago
I thought Quiet Storm was on 105.3. Man I miss Philly rnb... SF radio doesn't even come close.
- ynac 11d ago
  No kidding. Seattle has almost nothing left, except an AM station and a few shows on mixed format stations. Chicago's top shelf if you're hunting for online. They have lots of choices, just depending on your particular need / mood. Power 99 was 98.9 WUSL (I looked it up to be sure). All I could recall for sure was "Power 99...FM". Heh.
CalRobert 11d ago
I still miss college radio from my teen years. KDVS had a great Commodore 64 music show…
- ynac 11d ago
  This? https://www.transbyte.org/SID/KDVS.html https://www.transbyte.org/SID/KDVS.html
  - 10d ago

robin_reala 11d ago

If you’re interested in the history of Kool and the wider London pirate radio scene I can warmly recommend Fracture’s 0860 project: https://0860.fm/ https://0860.fm/

ablation 10d ago
Wow, fantastic. Thank you. Just started listening to the podcast.

theragra 10d ago

I did something similar with Russian music broadcasts Muzprosvet and FM Dostoevsky. Here: https://radar.lv https://radar.lv These were cult broadcasts for the new music, each with its own flavor. Later, more broadcasts were uploaded to the website. Now, 95% downloads are bots. Still, chezch broadcasts Seance with ambient music is still uploaded. If you like to discover music, welcome. Its in Russian, but easily translated by Google etc.

br0ceph 9d ago

big up all massive flacs on archive.org would be nice