Monday, April 28, 2008

Radio Nostalgia: LM Radio Museum and Sound Archive


I’ve been spending some time checking and updating some of the entries in our Hitlist. In the process I came across a website that records the History of Radio Clube de Moçambique, and Lourenco Marques Radio, the first commercial radio station in Africa. LM Radio was on the air from 1936 until 1975 and played a very important role in shaping the style and content of broadcasting in South Africa.
The website is the work of Chris Turner, who worked as a broadcaster in South Africa and now lives in the UK. There’s also an online audio documentary about LM Radio, produced by Chris, which includes audio clips and jingles. This site is well worth a visit if you’re interested in the history of broadcasting.
There is a connection between Media Network and LM Radio. The late Fritz Greveling, who preceded Jonathan Marks as presenter of DX Jukebox, which became Media Network, worked at LM Radio. I knew that because I remember him telling me stories about it. What I didn’t know was that he used a different on-air name (Fritz Greyling) on LM Radio. I thought this was a typo, until I listened to the jingle, and it does sound like Greyling. Sadly, Fritz passed away in 1994.
(Source: Andy Sennitt/R Netherlands Media Network weblog)