Hitz FM’s unforgettable Summer: And your 30th anniversary gift

It was 30 years ago – tonight – that Hitz FM’s unforgettable Summer broadcast of 93-94 began. To celebrate, I’ve researched & created a special 150 song Spotify playlist of tracks Hitz played at that time. It’s at the bottom of this post!

But first, a quick recap.

A bit bigger – then a LOT bigger

December 1993 was the first time Hitz FM had ever gone across the whole of Melbourne. Previous transmissions had only been to a few suburbs, like the 2 weeks from Xavier College and the 9 days from John Gardner College. And this time, we were planning to go for two whole months!

For the first few weeks of December, the phone calls and requests rolled in, as they’d done before. But sometime in January 1994 the calls ‘n’ faxes just started going crazy. The Hitz team kept hearing the station being played in cars and shops. Songs the station played – that nobody else did – started to appear in the charts.

Hits on The Hitz

Tracks like Dreams (Quench), Right in the Night (Jam & Spoon), Light my Fire (Clubhouse feat. Carl) and Can We Talk (Tevin Campbell) were smashed by Hitz FM and soon listeners were demanding them at Melbourne record stores. Placement on the Victorian ARIA chart led to sales interstate, and soon ‘us pesky kids’ were creating stars out of nobodies. (At least that’s what A Current Affair said.)

There were many more big events during Hitz FM’s unforgettable Summer 30 years ago. So.. over the next 90 days, we’ll celebrate them all.

I’ve got Hitz recordings to share with you, home movies, photos – a tonne of stuff you haven’t seen before. But now, let’s get back to that Spotify playlist. Anyone can through one together based on ‘fuzzy memories’. Nah – I thought I’d go one better.

Now – your 30th ANNIVERSARY PLAYLIST!

With some fantastic help from Hitz superfan Matthew Robottom, I’ve gone through the Hitz archives to create a playlist that’s 100% played from that Summer. I went through old recordings. Scoured through original Hitz FM charts. Even watched old TV news stories about Hitz that Summer, and took note of the songs in the background.

Hope you enjoy listening – there’s ELEVEN (11!) HOURS of it!

Just click on the preview below to hear the first 100 songs of the playlist. Better still.. open it in Spotify and you’ll get the full 150 tracks! (just click on the “…”)

PS: don’t forget to “save” it to your Spotify account!

So – any surprises in the list? Drop a comment below and tell me what you discover while listening.

Author: Gabe McGrath

Gabe McGrath is a radio creative and freelance writer. He helped set up 89.9 Hitz FM Melbourne in the 90s. This youth radio station caused a sensation and 30 years later many a 90s kid will smile when 'Hitz' is mentioned. Gabe is working on a book about that era and now blogs about Hitz Melbourne. GabeMcGrath.com includes tonnes of streaming audio recordings, photos, stories and behind-the-scenes info. View all posts by Gabe McGrath