Kiss FM
Norman Jay [...]
It was around this time, inspired by that New York trip, that Jay decided to take his DJing more seriously. He teamed up with his brother, Joey, and built the now famous Good Times sound system playing out at the Notting Hill Carnival to much acclaim. By now his reputation as an underground DJ was beginning to steadily rise, attracting crowds of up to a thousand people whenever he played out. This led to an invitation from on of his old DJ friends, Gordon Mac, to start up their own pirate radio station which they called Kiss after its New York forerunner. Completely untrained in any aspects of broadcasting, he presented his first show in October 1985. The rest, as they say, is history. --http://www.mynottinghill.co.uk/nottinghilltv/Normanjay.htm [Jul 2004]
Tony Humphries [...]
In 1981, Tony Humphries gained radio access on New York's Kiss FM, after Shep Pettibone heard his demo cassette. His break as a live DJ was offered in the same year by Larry Patterson. Previously he had been a mobile jock and worked for the New York Daily newspaper. Patterson gave him his opportunity at the Zanzibar club which became New Jersey's premier nightspot.
New York
By 1981, 99X changed to 98.7 KISS-FM, an urban station hoping to chip away at WBLS' stronghold on New York's African American audience. In 1983, WHTZ (Z100) went on the air to take on WPLJ for the mainstream, primarily white audience abandoned by WKTU. Through all these format changes, one demographic - the huge Hispanic audience in New York went - overlooked. Most Latins opted for KISS-FM and WBLS, who did play the occasional club record, but other Latins found an alternative to hear new music. They went underground. -- http://music.hyperreal.org/library/history_of_freestyle.html, accessed June 2003
London
In 1985 Norman founded Kiss FM with Gordon Mac which would go on to be London's most famous and popular pirate station. Jay's reputation meant that he could charm the likes of Giles Peterson, Danny Rampling, Trevor Nelson, Jazzie B and Judge Jules to DJ on the station. --http://www.dublinks.com/index.cfm/loc/12/pt/0/spid/3D0A923F-D83D-403D-B9B60E4D978CACA4.htm [Jul 2004]
Jamiroquai
Since Jamiroquai started, one radio station, Kiss 100 FM, have been fully behind them giving them huge support in London. This section of the site will give an insight into the station behind the music.
"Kiss FM have to be the most talked about pirate in recent years. After nearly three years of illegal broadcasting they closed down on New Year's Eve 1988 to apply for a license. The first time they were narrowly beaten by Jazz FM. They campaigned for more licenses, got them and then won one! Unfortunately, no-one bothered to tell Kiss MD Gordon Mac who eventually heard second-hand from a journalist!
The new, legal Kiss is split into two halves. Daytime during the week is designed to bring in the listeners and features what Kiss describe as `the most exciting playlist anywhere on radio'. Evenings and weekends are more like the old Kiss, with more specialist shows hand-crafted by individual presenters.
Kiss look likely to be the biggest competition for Capital and Radio One in the nineties. There have been rumours that recent tinkering with the format by Capital is in preparation for the arrival of Kiss. The hardest thing for Kiss now is trying to live up to the expectations." AMFM Newsletter, Spring 1990 --http://funkin.com/features/kissfm/ [Jul 2004]
your Amazon recommendations
-
Jahsonic -
early adopter products