Sunshine 855
Encyclopedia
Sunshine Radio is a local radio station
, based in Ludlow
, Shropshire
. The station serves South Shropshire
, Herefordshire
and Monmouthshire
After a very successful spell on air as a pirate radio
station in the 1980s, the station went on air officially on 1 October 1992, after a company was formed, under the name of South Shropshire Communications Ltd. Before being owned by Laser Broadcasting
, Sunshine Radio 855 was operated by Murfin Media Ltd, who are now once again in ownership of the station. Sunshine 855 is now known as simply Sunshine Radio, more recently forming part of a family of stations broadcasting under the same name with FM services in Hereford and Monmouth.
In 1992, Sunshine 855 boss James Harding purchased an old Wolseley classic car, which was painted up bright yellow with the station's livery. It was aptly named the "Sunshine Radiomobile", and DJ's such as Jeff Brown, and Mark Edwards dared to venture out with it, as it frequently broke down coming back from a gig.
(Jeff Brown is now a voiceover artist alias Jeff Lavoce and lives in Italy)
Keith Holden (Breakfast 2002)
Roy Stevens
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
, based in Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
. The station serves South Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
and Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
History
The original station transmitted on 855 AM in Shropshire, Worcestershire & Herefordshire and played music from the 60s to the present day, along with features, local news, sport, weather, travel information and more.After a very successful spell on air as a pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station in the 1980s, the station went on air officially on 1 October 1992, after a company was formed, under the name of South Shropshire Communications Ltd. Before being owned by Laser Broadcasting
Laser Broadcasting
Laser Broadcasting was a commercial radio operator based in Darlington in County Durham, England.-History:The group was founded in 2002 by Nigel Reeve—one of the launch directors of Classic FM and one time chief executive of London News Radio owners of LBC—and Nick Jordan, a media sales executive...
, Sunshine Radio 855 was operated by Murfin Media Ltd, who are now once again in ownership of the station. Sunshine 855 is now known as simply Sunshine Radio, more recently forming part of a family of stations broadcasting under the same name with FM services in Hereford and Monmouth.
In 1992, Sunshine 855 boss James Harding purchased an old Wolseley classic car, which was painted up bright yellow with the station's livery. It was aptly named the "Sunshine Radiomobile", and DJ's such as Jeff Brown, and Mark Edwards dared to venture out with it, as it frequently broke down coming back from a gig.
Past & Present Presenters
- James Harding (Original Station Manager)
- Martin Kay (later at Radio Maldwyn)
- Carol Barnes (News Reader from the pirate days)
- Colin Lane (News Reader from the pirate days)
- Major Adrian Coles (local council news)
- Dave Dunn (Sunday morning pirate)
- Sue Charles (formally at Radio Wyvern)
- Bill Johnson (another Sunday morning, and formerly Saturday evening, pirate)
- Rev'd Derrik Jenkyns (Sunday on Sunshine)
- Jeff Brown - pirate from the Saturday morning show, with 'Sid the Duck', and later weekend DJ on the legal station
(Jeff Brown is now a voiceover artist alias Jeff Lavoce and lives in Italy)
- Colin Cooke (best known on air as "Cookie" from the pirate days)
- Steve Powell (pirate)
- Neal Bowden 1994-1997 (Now Presenter at 103.2 The Coast Dubai)
- Colin Day (ex Radio Wyvern and Central TV announcer) Now a freelance voiceover artist
- Leon Tipler (ex-Radio City 299, Radio 270Radio 270Radio 270 was a pirate radio station serving Yorkshire and the North East of England from 1966 to 1967. It broadcast from a converted Dutch lugger called Oceaan 7 positioned in international waters off Scarborough, North Yorkshire.-Origins :...
, Radio AtlantisRadio AtlantisRadio Atlantis was a Belgian-owned offshore pirate radio station which operated between 1973 and 1974 from the coast of The Netherlands. Belgium had passed a law outlawing offshore broadcasting in 1962, but because its neighbour The Netherlands had not yet passed a similar law, there was nothing...
- now at Radio Maldwyn) - Matt Edwards (later at 107.7 The Wolf107.7 The Wolf107.7 The Wolf is a British Independent Local Radio station based in Wolverhampton that serves the city and its surrounding area. The studios and transmitter are at Mander House in the centre of Wolverhampton...
, Wolverhampton) - Alan Jones (DJ from the pirate, and later legal days)
- Steve Marshall(worked on loads of stations in Northern and Southern Ireland, now involved in running a radio station in Spain)
- Austin Powell (former managing director of Radio MaldwynRadio MaldwynRadio Maldwyn - The Magic 756 was a local commercial radio station serving Mid Wales and the English border counties. Their transmitter site is currently based a few miles outside of Newtown, Powys.-History:...
) - Tony Paul (Now on Radio CarolineRadio CarolineRadio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
) - Mark Edwards (now at Sunshine Radio Hereford)
- Paul Ellery (now at Sunshine Radio Hereford)
- Trevor Thomas
- Nathan Morley
- Jason KingJason KingJason King may refer to:* Jason King , cultural critic and musician* Jason King , British television programme* Jason King , ice hockey player* Jason King , British radio DJ...
- later at BBC Radio One, Virgin RadioVirgin RadioAbsolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
, Key 103Key 103Key 103 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the city of Manchester and the north west of England. Its output is principally contemporary pop and dance music. Formerly owned by Trans World Communications, EMAP and now by Bauer Radio, Key 103 is part of Bauer's Place Network of...
and now at Radio Aire as part of JK and JoelJK and JoelJason King and Joel Ross , known professionally as JK and Joel, are a radio show presenters and are best known for hosting the official UK chart on BBC Radio 1 between 2004 and 2007 and then presented on Virgin Radio UK, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at weekends and covering the breakfast and... - John Hyde
- Adie James
- Adam GreenAdam GreenAdam Green may refer to:*Adam Green , writer/director of Hatchet*Adam Green , staff cartoonist for the New Art Examiner, early 1990s...
(former Youthcomm RadioYouthcomm Radio106.7 Youthcomm Radio is a youth community radio station, licensed by Ofcom, broadcasting to Worcester, England, on 106.7FM. The station officially launched on FM on Sunday 13 January 2008 after running online for seven years....
Presenter) - Stuart Hickman (formerly of Beacon Radio)
- Steven Beech (formerly of Touch Radio and Sunshine Radio Hereford)
- Nick Jones (former Radio MaldwynRadio MaldwynRadio Maldwyn - The Magic 756 was a local commercial radio station serving Mid Wales and the English border counties. Their transmitter site is currently based a few miles outside of Newtown, Powys.-History:...
presenter) - John Taylor (now at Aston FM
- James Hazell (now at BBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio SuffolkBBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Suffolk, commencing broadcasts on 12 April 1990. Its studios are at Broadcasting House in St Matthews Street, Ipswich on 95.5 , 95.9 , 103.9 and 104.6 FM...
) - Tim Cooper (now works at the BBC in Cardiff)
- Neil James (Deceased 09/04/2007)
- Simon Doe (now at Radio MaldwynRadio MaldwynRadio Maldwyn - The Magic 756 was a local commercial radio station serving Mid Wales and the English border counties. Their transmitter site is currently based a few miles outside of Newtown, Powys.-History:...
) - Matt Healey (now a Street Star at Wyvern FMWyvern FMWyvern is a radio station broadcasting to Herefordshire and Worcestershire in England. Wyvern is predominantly music-based, playing pop from the 1980s through to the present day...
) - Nigel Morris (now at The Pulse of West YorkshireThe Pulse of West YorkshireThe Pulse is a British Independent Local Radio station that serves the Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale areas of West Yorkshire. The station was originally known as Pennine Radio...
) - Jon Potter
- Ryan Kennedy (now at Beacon Radio)
- Ellen Orchard
- Toby Riding
- Andy Vass
- Mike Hollis (ex BRMBBrmbbrmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
and Radio LuxembourgRadio Luxembourg (English)Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
) - Jay Thomas
- John Buckley
- Julian Saunders (ex-Radio Maldwyn, Beacon Radio, Star Radio, Oak FM and now at Energy FM Isle Of Man)
- Ian Perry (formerly of Beacon Radio)
- Chris Gray
Keith Holden (Breakfast 2002)
- Phil Dent
- Terry Ingram (also on North Cotswold Community RadioNorth Cotswold Community RadioNorth Cotswold Community Radio is a non-profit community internet radio station serving primarily the North Cotswolds and the surrounding area in west-central England.The station began broadcasting in autumn 2007...
) - Mike Edwards (Saturday nights 1984/5)
Roy Stevens
See also
- Sunshine Radio (FM)Sunshine Radio (FM)Sunshine Radio is a radio station which broadcasts to Herefordshire and Monmouthshire from its studios in Hereford, England. It is operated by Murfin Media Ltd, and previously by Laser Broadcasting.- History :...
- Sunshine 1530Sunshine 1530Sunshine 1530 was a radio station which broadcast to Herefordshire and Worcestershire on 1530 and 954 kHz Medium Wave from studios in Worcester, England.-History:The station started life as Radio Wyvern on both FM and AM in...
- South Shropshire Communications Ltd Companies House entry
External links
- Change of control review - OfcomOfcomOfcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
. - Sunshine Radio
- The Pirate Archive