Hitz FM Melbourne memories, photos, and recordings.
Hitz FM’s fifth broadcast featured “Dribble” hosted by Paul Dowsley and Adele Cookson. It was a listener-powered weeknight countdown show. And on Sunday nights Hitz would complile the lot into the Hot 30 countdown, hosted by yours truly.
What’s that? You wanna hear one?
I’ve got an almost-complete FOUR HOUR show to share with you! (streaming link at the bottom of this post)
Continue reading “STREAMING NOW: the Hottest 30 Hitz of April 1995”This week marks 30 years since Hitz FM’s equivalent of “the difficult second album“. Yes, it’s the week when Hitz broadcast 4 began. It was the first time the station had been onair since the history-making Summer 93/94 transmission. And so much had changed.
Continue reading “Stream it now – 30 years since Hitz broadcast 4 began!”OK, we’re halfway through the 4.5 hour mix – time to find some more Easter eggs (surprise audio) inside. More secrets from the Hitz Reunion Mix
Continue reading “EVEN MORE: Secrets from the Hitz Reunion Mix – part 2”OK, it’s been three weeks. Time to reveal our first batch of secrets in the Hitz Reunion Mix. Every rare remix. Every little Easter egg.
Let’s do this.
Continue reading “EXPOSED: Secrets in the Hitz Reunion Mix – part 1”At last it’s finished. A four-and-a-half hour audio tribute to Hitz FM. First played at our staff reunion in August. And now completely re-edited for your audio enjoyment. Scroll on to see what’s in the mix, and most importantly – HIT THE PLAY BUTTON to listen.
Continue reading “Streaming now! The 4.5 hour Hitz FM Reunion Mix”My calendar can’t be right. It can’t be 30 years since Hitz FM’s biggest broadcast. It can’t be three decades since Hitz FM’s final hour at Moorabbin.
But it is.
And now for the first time ever, you can listen to it, online.
(If you’re super-keen, just flick to the bottom of this post.)
After the many challenges of Hitz’s 4th broadcast, the return of Hitz FM in April 1995 was a less stressful affair. Much less to prove, new toys to try out, and only 3 weeks onair, rather than six.
But don’t just take my word for it – click on the streaming link and have a listen!
Continue reading “LISTEN: Awesome Easter holidays with Hitz FM in April 1995”Some of my favourite Hitz broadcasts were the Summer ones. Number 1 (from John Gardner), number 3 (the famous one) and of course, the 7th Hitz FM Broadcast – when I actually got to host the breakfast show! But we’ll get to that later.
Oh, and I’ve got a recording for you from that time too.
Continue reading “The lucky 7th Hitz FM Broadcast signed off tonight”Tonight was the night – 26 years ago exactly – when the Hitz gang gathered at their favourite King Street nightclub. It was the end of Hitz broadcast 10.
And I’ve got a 90 minute tape for you to stream.
Continue reading “LISTEN: Messy at Inflation – Hitz broadcast 10 wraps up”July 26, 1999. Humberto ‘Humpy’ Texeria opened Hitz Melbourne Broadcast 16 at 9am with Hey Boy, Hey Girl by The Chemical Brothers. He kept playing hit after hit, great new music – but something was wrong. Hitz FM had returned, but there weren’t any requests coming in.
The phones were dead.
Continue reading “Stream: The first 2 hours of Hitz Melbourne Broadcast 16”Back in 1998, it was a pretty awesome Queens Birthday Sunday night. In fact, the whole weekend on Hitz was big. They were giving away prize packs every hour to new members.
And you’ll find a TWO HOUR recording to stream below, including an hour of The Warmup with Shannon Yates “playing some of the harder sounds”.
But first, let’s jump into our time machine…
Continue reading “STREAM THE PARTY: Queens Birthday Sunday night (in 98)”Let’s jump back to April 1998. It wasn’t just the time of Hitz FM’s 14th Broadcast. It was the era of It’s Like That (Run DMC/Jason Nevins), You make me Wanna (Usher) and Frozen (Madonna). At the movies Titanic was finally ending its mammoth run, to be replaced by Good Will Hunting and The Wedding Singer.
And now you can stream 5 hours from that era – as Hitz FM’s 14th Broadcast began…
Each year, ten pieces of ‘important sound’ are inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive’s (NFSA) Sounds of Australia. But which recordings of Hitz Melbourne audio would I save? How would I decide?
Last year’s Sounds of Australia included Somebody That I Used to Know (Gotye ft. Kimbra) and the Stolen Generation Apology by Kevin Rudd.
But how do I narrow down 17,543 hours of youth radio (yes, that’s the true number) into ten essential bits of Hitz Melbourne audio? At the risk of starting a big debate, I’m going to try.
And many of them are here, ready to stream!
Continue reading “TEN amazing bits of Hitz Melbourne audio worth preserving”Forget the DeLorean. Don’t try to build your own time machine. I’m transporting you back 27 years RIGHT NOW – to January 28th 1995.
….and I have an 8 HOUR (!) recording to share.
Continue reading “Today’s Time Travel Simulcast: January 28th 1995”It was Melbourne Cup Day – this week in 2001. The day we heard the final hour of Hitz FM.
Not that the Hitz crew – or their listeners – were particularly interested in horseracing. But for such an important part of Melbourne culture in the 90s, its probably fitting for one of the station’s anniversaries to coincide with a public holiday.
Continue reading “The final hour of Hitz FM”It was this week, back in 1996 when Hitz’s 9th broadcast wraps up. Songs like On the Bible (Deuce), Passion (A-Man), Born Slippy (Underworld) and Keep Pushin’ (Boris Dlugosh) battled it out for the end of broadcast countdown.
And a LOT had happened since the broadcast began on September 14.
Continue reading “Out with a bang: Hitz’s 9th Broadcast wraps up”Just like today, it was the second Sunday in October, back in 1997. Time for Paul Dowsley’s Weekend Siesta – the Dance Classics edition. For a couple of years it had been one of Hitz FM’s most well-loved programs. But this week in 1997, was its final one. Paul was about to hit 25 – and Hitz FM’s famous age ceiling for presenters was non-negotiable.
Before I jump into the streaming audio, a quick look at Paul’s wonderful career at Hitz might be in order…
Continue reading “STREAM: The FINAL Weekend Siesta Dance Classics”September 22. Not today – I mean September 22 in 1995. When the defence team for the OJ Simpson case was just wrapping up. When the real life battles of the film “Black Hawk Down” were happening in Somalia. And Hitz FM returned for Hitz Broadcast 6.
All morning, a recording of “test tone” (a long ‘beep’) played onair, with the occasional announcement by Adele Cookson – asking for listener requests and sponsorship enquiries.
And most excitingly, I’ve found a recording.
Continue reading “Today: OJ’s defence finished and Hitz broadcast 6 began”One of the most exciting things to bring you on this blog has been recordings of Hitz FM. Often they’re 60-90 minute cassettes recorded by the announcers themselves. Sometimes they’re 8 hour “logger tapes” which were recorded in the station (to be kept in case of legal issues).
But even more exciting – are the recordings that were made back in the 90s by Hitz FM fans themselves. They’d listen to them over and over when the station was offair. Listen to them as they got ready to go out – or when driving.
And today’s mystery surrounds a fan’s cassette.
Continue reading “The mysterious story of the Essendon tape”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.
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”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”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”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”Today’s the day. December 10. The day back in 1993 when something pretty amazing started. Hitz Broadcast 3. The 3rd broadcast of a little youth-run radio station that soon caused a BIG fuss.
Over the next 90 days the request phone line went from 1 phone to 2 phones, to 4. The media went crazy. Radio ratings showed Melbourne kids were tuning in – in their thousands. And a near riot occured when we invited a popstar to visit.
Continue reading “STREAM: 1st HOUR of Hitz Broadcast 3 – Summer 93/94”
