Capital 604

[TirNaNog]

Up on the wild coast... 6-0-4
Better than 5fm if you lived near enough to pick it up. About the time of David Blood and Tony Sanderson's show on 5fm... Or just before - that was the era I recall. Used to play some cool pop and reggae in the 80s.

What was that show on 5fm? I think it was the chuckle and chat show. Who were the 604 DJs again?

[greg0205]

Let's see if you recognise any of these names... John Berks, Darren Scott, Kevin Savage, Tony Blewitt, Brian Oxley, Kenny Maistry or Martin Bailie. There were plenty more, but those are the ones I remember.
Used to be able to pick 604 up in Johannesburg every now and then but only late at night for some reason.

Oh, and you sir, are correct... Tony and David did indeed host the Chuckle and Chat Show on Radio 5.

[TirNaNog]

Wow... yes... Johannesburg? Didn't realise you could get it that far. We also only got good signal at night - it was on AM 604 if I recall, all the AM stations were difficult to get sometimes. Hifi equipment did it best usually.
http://www.capital604.com/Capital604/Home.html

In South Africa back in the seventies and eighties, radio was terrible (to put it mildly). It was controlled by the government and no private stations were allowed. This was so that the government could censor the news and music and all other content. Even though the rest of the world was already watching television from the 1940's, South Africa still had no television because, according to the government, it was "evil".
So, it was radio until 1976, when finally, television arrived. Still, in the seventies, television in South Africa was boring, so most people still listened to the radio, and growing teenagers in South Africa were forced to listen to the only music station, Radio 5 (now called 5 FM). Censorship of music was in place. No way could South Africans listen to Pink Floyd or even The Police.
Boring radio ended in 1979 though when Capital Radio 604 came along. Plagued from the start by engineering problems and (as many claim) the South African government continually trying to shut them down or block their signal, etc., but WOW! What a great station! This station single handedly changed radio in South Africa forever by introducing South Africans to great music, slick DJ's and a great attitude (not to mention Bill Mitchell)! Plus, no news or music censorship!
Sadly, in 1996, Capital Radio 604 was forcefully shut down by the South African government in a move that most believe to be orchestrated by East Coast Radio and the IBA, to disallow 604 an FM license and then to close them because of "financial concerns" when everyone knew that without an FM license, advertises would pull out.
Thanks to generous Capital Radio 604 fans, this site exists and is full of 604 memories.

[TirNaNog]

List of presenters
http://www.capital604.com/Capital604/Presenters.html

Had no idea some of those were there...

Gary Andrews
Jeff Ayliffe
Martin Bailie
Paul Banter
Travis Baxter
John Berks
Steve Bishop
Tony Blewitt
Peter Chamberlain
Steve Crozier
Jim Ellery
Dave Guselli
Mike Hanna
Paul Harper
Len Heine
Mervyn John
Rich Jones
Barry Lambert
Charlotte Lavine
Stuart Lee
Michael Letelier
Louis Karpas
Ian Logan
Tony Newman
Alan Mann
Jeremy Mansfield
Rick May
Martin McHale
Phil Miles
Tony Murrell
Brian Oxley
Manu Padayachee
Oscar Renzi
Gene Rockwell
Allan Pierce
Kevin Savage
Darren Scott
Dave Simons
Steve Smith
Mahamed Surtee
Treasure Tshabalala
Rob Vega
Garth Whittaker

See if you can recognize these presenters:

[greg0205]

Wow... yes... Johannesburg? Didn't realise you could get it that far. We also only got good signal at night - it was on AM 604 if I recall, all the AM stations were difficult to get sometimes. Hifi equipment did it best usually.
http://www.capital604.com/Capital604/Home.html

Hehehe... Used to have to tune the receiver and make tiny adjustments all the time to keep listening. 702 started up and I started listening to that instead 'cos it was a better music station than 5 IMO, but those were really you only choices if you wanted to listen to music.

[IceQB]

Used to listen to Capital 604 way back in my school days.
Oscar Renzi was on back then, played some great dance tunes!