BEST London Station of 2021

[famefm]

I agree with you about the reggae stations but today's soul stations are not really the same the soul of today is far more bland and I don't really like it the stations of the 80s soul radio was quite a bit different than now and I listen to stations like pointblank house fm and 99.3 digital soul radio

[Ian]

It's clear that most of the people on this forum prefer the drum and bass stations by a long way

Let em talk amongst themselves Fame. We were there in the 80’s,which barely gets mentioned on here, sadly today’s dross does

I got to say the professional presentation in the 80s was way better than even most of todays pirate radio presenters. Most can’t speak in an understandable way.. old tight all da crew dem . Big up bruv.. as these guys get older they still do a show talking on this way.. why ?!

[famefm]

There are a few that sound professional still today especially on digital soul 99.3 and a few on house fm as for the 80s the change between 1985 to 1990 was incredible some as early as 1990 sound every bit as bad as the worst from today's pirates innit bruv?

[Effemm]

Let em talk amongst themselves Fame. We were there in the 80’s,which barely gets mentioned on here, sadly today’s dross does

Could not have put it better myself the change in style and attitude in just a few short years between the mid 80s and early 90s is unbelievable I was watching you tube tonight with horizon and LWR est and they sound so professional in stark contrast to the in fighting and madness that followed

I live in Woolwich and started listening and getting involved in pirate about 1988 when Acid started coming about.
I never used to pay any sttention to the radio before that. I am just wondering were the stations back in London say before 1988 all playing kinda Soul Reggae rap etc or was there any stations which played the more sort of Underground kind of sound?
What I mean is maybe times changed in radio as times moved on with the Underground house music scene coming in maybe late 1987 but well in by 1988. And as things moved along we had all genres come along like Hardcore/Jungle/Garage/DnB etc etc.
There are still plenty of stations on that I can receive playing Reggae soul set so what is so different about today?

Mate. . . . It’s probably cos back then we had no choice. Now there’s 1000’s out there
It was all new & exciting. We had no idea the effort put into these events by all involved & they were hardly 24/7 in the early days, Also getting hold of vinyl material was so hard for many, cost was one as we were only teens back then.
That’s why Mr Khan invented the Streetsounds series !

80’s Electro,Acid, Trance hardly feature on radio platforms now as a 24/7 format anyway, even then it’s the usual tracks played

The USA played a part in my teen era, had a friend sending tapes of the radio master mixes , hardly any talking or pathetic shouts, just music in the mix. Something a DJ won’t even contemplate nowadays, & to me that’s what radio should be

[nrglcb2016]

Voted vision all the way , as this is for 2021 . Station is always on and signal is crisp !!

[Lee2310]

Eruption are legal on DAB. In Bristol and I think Brighton. Haven't been able to pick them up on FM in North Kent. Seems strange they would still broadcast a pirate signal when they are a legit station is the FM broadcast same as DAB?
I would have definitely voted for them if I could get them on FM still. Incredible station.

[SD-E1102]

Only a few more days left to vote!

[Polecat]

Thanks for the reminder. I went for Station (haven't heard them on in a while but when on they're very good), Venture (don't think there are many Reggae lovers on here but I am and these guys are on point) and Playback (UKG tune selection helps me forget they shout out the same people every 5 mins).
Btw, ref the above discussion, proper Soul, Dance and Reggae were underground sounds in the 80s. You'd never hear anything played in a decent club on commercial radio. That's why stations like Kiss and Choice blew up like they did. Acid and other new styles came later.
But who plays today's underground sounds? There's a place for nostalgia of course but an important role for radio is to bring the best new music to the attention of the public. Do you know of anyone doing that today?

[urbanocturnal]

All good stations, I'll second the Venture and Playback nominations. In terms of underground music for 2021 and beyond, I have to hand it to a community-licensed station in this instance. Reprezent 107.3 feature some diverse talent and tracks that don't get much airplay anywhere else. Truly a well-run station who don't seem to be resting on their laurels!

[Polecat]

All good stations, I'll second the Venture and Playback nominations. In terms of underground music for 2021 and beyond, I have to hand it to a community-licensed station in this instance. Reprezent 107.3 feature some diverse talent and tracks that don't get much airplay anywhere else. Truly a well-run station who don't seem to be resting on their laurels!

Good call. I listen to Reprezent and completely agree. In fact new music is central to their licence agreement.
Ironic that a licenced station is doing the job you'd think should be in the Pirate domain.

[Polecat]

@urbannocturnal I just followed your link. Exceptional work my friend. I will be spending time on your site over the coming weeks. Top man.

[famefm]

I also think station and venture fm are the best 2 reggae community stations and station has been on 89.8 for 30 years this month after beginning on 101.5 1 year before

[Polecat]

I also think station and venture fm are the best 2 reggae community stations and station has been on 89.8 for 30 years this month after beginning on 101.5 1 year before

Nice to know at least two other necks share my thoughts on station and venture. Why not give them both a vote like I did.

It's true, Station has outlived many and deserves extra kudos for that.

[famefm]

I tried it said you can vote for 3 station's but it only let me vote once and I used it for the 99.3 digital soul I will try again

[famefm]

I still can't get it to let me vote and lightning 90.8 is also worth a mention and they started in 1989 but because they had a 4 year break between about 1996 and 2000 it's stopped them being counted as longer lasting than station

[fmuser877]

Unity DAB for me

[SD-E1102]

So we have joint winners this year - Kool FM and Vision have won the best station of 2021!

[famefm]

How about a vote for the worst of 21?

[teckniqs]

How about a vote for the worst of 21?

You'd probably need about 10 votes each for that.

.....I am thinking of doing a slightly different poll to see how many people on here actually still listen to pirates on an FM receiver.

[whitenoisedb]

How about a vote for the worst of 21?

I personally don’t see the point in focusing on negatives, if you don’t like a station for a reason then don’t listen. Well done to Kool and Playback