KFM Radio - History

History

KFM originally broadcast on 94.2 MHz FM from a studio on Middle Hillgate, with the transmitter and aerial at Goyt Mill in Marple from November 1983 to February 1985 while it was unlicensed. Its name on the business board was Mersey Valley Electronics. KFM was functional by 1984 with a day-time line-up including DJ's 'Jumpin' Johnny Owen, Dave Starr, Simon Richards, Pete Smith, Big Al Rockwell, dodgy Kevin Webb, Rob Charles and Stevie 'Megamix' King (with Wilf the Weatherman) and Captain Flint to name but a few. The station got raided on quite a few occasions but soon was back on air.

KFM was unusual in that even though it originally launched as a pirate radio station, it broadcast test transmissions for a number of weeks prior to going live and was featured more than once on Granada Television's "Granada Reports" news programme. The original transmissions were in mono only but they rapidly moved to stereo output.

The station was created by Alastair Bates and Charles Turner who both also presented weekend shows. Charles Turner had ben involved in an unlicenced/pirate radio station in the 1970s (Radio Aquarius) and Alastair Bates in the early 1980s in a Manchester station called 'RFM' and they met through this. Charles Turner used a frequency synthesiser transmitter of his own design and a stereo encoder designed by Trevor Brooks (published in 'Wireless World in the early 1980s). Phil Platt sang on the early KFM jingles which were written by Charles Turner with the input of Phil and Steve Ridgeway.

The first broadcasts were test transmissions from pub car parks and the tops of local hills such as Werneth Low and Lantern Wood near Bowstonegate Farm in Higher Disley not done from Higher Hillgate nor were they transmitted from Goyt Mill as stated above, Transmissions from Middle Hillgate and Goyt Mill came much later and the earliest broadcasts preceded 1983, the first broadcasts were actually tranmitted from a radio mast at Bowstonegate Farm in Lyme Park, they were initially 2 hours and were pre recorded at Ride Music Studio's and other secret locations on to a Revox B77 reel to reel then transferred to the boot of a car which was then parked up at a pub car park near Disley, The broadcast of only two hours at a time made it difficult for government departments to track down, much of the above facts were buried by the passage of time.

Some have believed that Charles Turner did a deal with the DTI that if he took the pirate KFM off the air the DTI would give him a licence to run legally once they were handed out, in other words all the other applicants for these new licences to run new local radio stations were dead in the water as Turner already had it all sown up. In reality licences were awarded by the then Independent Broadcasting Authority, not the enforcement arm of the DTI and full reasons for the decision were made public at the time. Arguably though, because of his previous experience, Turner was in a better position than others to demonstrate interest shown in the area for a radio station.

Its following grew rapidly and the station changed its studio location to Goyt Mill with a state-of-the-art studio. It was reputed to be one of the early pioneers of "Community Radio" and was the only station who played local bands. It was the first station in the UK to regularly play the newly available CD's (the only other station at the time was Radio 1). They were eventually raided off the air by the Department of Trade and Industry who enforced the Wireless Telegraphy Act which made it illegal to broadcast without a licence.

One of its early DJs and initial programme controller was Steve Toon, who also used to present live music under the KFM aegis at the Brookfield Hotel. After becoming licenced it was an indie music station of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and featured Terry Christian, Jon Ronson, Caroline Aherne, Neil Cossar, Joe Patricks, Spence MacDonnald and Craig Cash in its line up (although, with the exception of Joe Patricks and Craig Cash, none of these were actually at the station in its halcyon (unlicencd/'pirate'days).

Despite critical acclaim in its legal days it failed commercially and Charles Turner sold the licence to Signal Radio. It became Signal Cheshire, ownership was again transferred to UTV Radio and now broadcasts as Imagine FM.