July 18, 1993. 28 years ago – TONIGHT! After two fun-filled weeks, Hitz’s 2nd broadcast ends. The station had yet again managed to stay onair 24 hours a day using voluntters and borrowed equipment. And I’ve got 120 minutes of audio to share with you.
Looking back… compared to Hitz FM’s first broadcast – we’d made some great improvements.
Category: History of Hitz
On this day: Hitz FM’s 2nd broadcast fired off
When Hitz FM’s 2nd broadcast kicked off on July 3rd, 1993 – things were a bit different from the first time around. The music was a bit broader; less rock (sorry Guns n Roses), more pop (hello Sub Sub) and hip hop (hello Informer). The announcers sounded a bit more polished too. But the biggest change was the location.
Hitz FM’s 1st broadcast was held at a government school, John Gardner Secondary College. It was chosen for the location (near public transport) and the cost – free. But this time around, the station was a little further north – in the rather fancy Xavier College in Kew. Picture lots of big old buildings in a slightly Harry Potter style.
Continue reading “On this day: Hitz FM’s 2nd broadcast fired off”Stream this from Winter ’96: Hitz FM broadcast 8
June/July 1996 – the time of Hitz FM broadcast 8.
On TV.. fans of hot men and women in uniform had a choice of new shows… Jag or Water Rats. Comedy fans were loving Good News Week on the ABC and 3rd Rock from the Sun on Seven.
In the cinemas we were spotting flying cows in Twister, watching Tom take on Mission Impossible, laughing at The Cable Guy and going Trainspotting.
Meanwhile, on 89.9 – the Hitz returned.
Continue reading “Stream this from Winter ’96: Hitz FM broadcast 8”Thumbs up to two legends: Thankyou Anton and Nick
This week marks a special anniversary for the Hitz team. It’s the week Anton Vanderlely and Nick Karlas won a Tattersall’s ‘Enterprise and Achievement’ award for their groundbreaking idea of creating a youth radio station in Melbourne.
And this time… “that’s enough from me”.
I’m handing this post over to other members of the Hitz crew. They’re all very grateful to Anton and Nick, for creating that ‘Sliding Doors’ moment when their lives changed…
WATCH: The 2021 Hitz FM reZOOMion
March 11th is an important date on the Hitz FM calendar. It’s the anniversary of the final night of the history-making 3rd broadcast. And this year, I wanted to make it special.
So over a number of weeks, I organised a Zoom catchup with many of the original Hitz gang. But I had no idea how much work the entire project would take.
At the end of this post you can watch the full 30 minute documentary.
But how did it happen?
And what did I stuff up?
When Hitz Supersized McHappy Day
Over the years, I did a few McHappy Days in community radio. In 1992, the ECB FM team helped out at Nunawading McDonald’s with Greg Evans (Perfect Match) and Ian McFadyen (Comedy Company). Many of ECB’s Night Crew (under 25s) went on to participate in Hitz FM. So it wasn’t a big surprise, when Hitz did a bit of McHappying of our own.
Continue reading “When Hitz Supersized McHappy Day”LISTEN: Today in history, Hitz FM got hacked
The youth station’s 5th broadcast went quite smoothly until the day Hitz FM got hacked.
And if you scroll to the bottom of this post- you can HEAR the recording!
We’d tweaked the music to add a bit more hiphop and alternative to the mix. We were smashing out the big pop/dance tracks of early ’95 like The Bomb (The Bucketheads), Living in Danger (Ace of Base) and the Hardfloor remix of Yeke Yeke [Mary Kante]. We had fantastic Jeep Renegade vehicles for giving out prizes. And the Hitz team were living on a very healthy (?) diet of Jolt Cola and Kettle Chips.
But one day in the final week of the broadcast, a little “beep” changed everything.
Continue reading “LISTEN: Today in history, Hitz FM got hacked”Remembering Hitz One CD (1998)
On this day in 1998, the Hitz CD series had a ‘reboot’ of sorts. No more ‘Original Hitz’. No more single CD releases. The Hitz One CD modernised the series, going to a two disc format, and adding an exclusive megamix with each release.
Today we look back on this historic CD, and I’ve invited a few of the team who put it together to share some memories.
Continue reading “Remembering Hitz One CD (1998)”LISTEN: On this night: Hitz FM’s 3rd broadcast ends
Right now, it seems a lifetime since I posted about the anniversary of the start of Hitz FM’s 3rd broadcast. And back on this night, March 11 in 1994 – it felt the same. Ninety days felt like ninety weeks.
Our planned 2 month broadcast – had been extended to three months. Our borrowed school classroms had become a proper office. We knew we’d be able to be heard all over Melbourne – but we didn’t realise people would LISTEN all over Melbourne.
Continue reading “LISTEN: On this night: Hitz FM’s 3rd broadcast ends”Madness panic PANDEMONIUM when Peter Andre visited Hitz FM
First of all, happy Valentines Day. The day that Peter Andre visited Hitz FM.
Tonight I bring you news of a February 14 like no other. And for the first time ever on GabeMcGrath.com – I’ve invited a few of my old Hitz friends to help me.
As I noted the other day in our A Current Affair post, early 1994 was a pretty crazy time at Hitz FM. We had tonnes of media coverage. Hundreds of phone calls every day.
Then one night, Peter Andre dropped in…
Continue reading “Madness panic PANDEMONIUM when Peter Andre visited Hitz FM”