This recording starts with a some of the ten minute "warmup" which Thameside Radio used to broadcast before the official 7pm start.

The warmup originally formed part of the early broadcasts because the entire  transmission setup was portable and needed setting up afresh every week. The 10 minutes of music before the 7pm start time provided a few moments to verify that everything was working perfectly. It would be used to align the link aerial, check power supplies, make sure the leads were  plugged in properly and to check the tape player if the show was prerecorded.

After a few months there was a  permanent transmitter installation in Trellick Tower and fixed studios in Kew, Chiswick and Ealing so you could be sure that everything would come to life at the flick of a switch. But by then  warmup had proven itself useful in catching listeners tuning over from Radio 1 charts just after (or before) the Number 1 record was played (lets face it - there are only so many times that you want to listen to "Mull of Kintyre" and 9 weeks at number 1 was just too much and 9 weeks of You're the One that I Want " is pushing it a bit too. Oh and don't get me started on "Bright Eyes" please!

So the warmup stayed and the music was carefully chosen  to catch people tuning away from the Radio 1

First half of a 3 hour show.

If you have any other Thameside Radio recordings please get in touch or leave a comment.