Hitz FM Melbourne memories, photos, and recordings.
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”
