Laser 558

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Does anyone remember this pirate radio station, circa 84-85, which broadcast somewhere between England and France ? For a while, it was the only antidote to the endless 'wunnerful' Fab FM-style nonsense on both Radio 1 and the commercial stations. I like to think that Laser 558 was the first step towards Matthew Bannister's de-Fabing of Radio 1.

― Darren, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Do I take this day-long silence as a no ? Oh blimey, I should have known this was a vote-loser of a thread. Let's try again... blah blah Zappa yada yada MBV beep beep Beefheart... any better ?

― Darren, Sunday, 14 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Woohoo! I'd love to say something to this thread if I was there and listened to said station, but I didn't...anyone?

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 14 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I remember Laser 558 but did not actively seek it out at the time. The only time I remember listening to it is when I got an un-sought lift into town from a former neighbour at my university Halls of Residence, who was heavily into Genesis. His car radio was tuned in, which was enough to encourage me to tune out permanently. That said, hardly any pop radio was worth listening to at the time.

I tried googling just now for a sample playlist for 558. There are some sites out there celebrating 558 and the other offshore stations, but not having RealAudio on my PC I couldn't "tune in". Anyway, the consensus seems to be that it was a US-style Top 40 playlist-based station. I also found this article whilst searching, and I broadly agree with the analysis here. If the offshore stations did in part encourage the de-fabbing of R1, they certainly didn't inspire the changes in the MUSIC played by R1 that occurred in the 90s.

― Jeff W, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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