Melbourne Community Radio: Attitude of Gratitude #3
Melbourne has the best radio stations in the world. Sure, I might be baiting you a little here, but I very dare you to find something close to the brilliance of 102.7 Triple R or 106.7 PBS. I used to wax poetic about them before I kidnapped J. from the UK but he never really believed me until he got here (in those days, 'listen again' or Tune In Radio didn't exist).
3PBS started around the same time as RRR and have been the beating pulsing musical heartbeat of Melbourne ever since the late 1970's
I'm uber grateful for these radio stations. I've been listening to them since I was a kid because Dad would listen to them, and we'd listen to some pretty crazy alternative stuff on long drives down the coast. They introduced me to a whole heap of music way before the mainstream radio picked up on them - I first heard Nirvana on Triple R, Jane's Addiction, Sonic Youth, Minor Threat and other bands in the early 90's where punk and rock and grunge were my jam. They were in the background whilst I studied, in the car on the way to uni and work, on Friday nights with a drink.
You can see what kind of stuff they're promoting these days by viewing their albums of the week - which, incidentally, you could win if you were a subscriber. I remember hanging by the phone and winning tickets to Queens of the Stone Age, Will Oldham, Meredith Music Festival and other gigs I just couldn't afford. The student membership price was around $40 and seemed to pay for itself. These days I just pay it because I believe in public radio.
So, this non descripit building in Fitzroy is Triple RRR radio's headquarters.
Triple R Broadcasters, Nicholson Street, Fitzroy
Triple R actually grew out of student radio from RMIT Univerisity and was meant to broadcast content of educational character (an initiative of the Whitlam government who wanted to promote Australian culture) because that's what it's 'E' or educational class public broadcasting license was all granted for in 1978. Run by students, it eventually became 'RRR' - the station suggests the R's could have been for 'the three ‘Rs' in education and R for Rock. It could also be Rebellion, Revelry and Raucousness...'. It struggled in it's early years due to financial difficulties and the licensing board, and it received a lot of flak for it's creative interpretation of 'education' as it started to broadcast punk rock and all sorts of other alternative music.
However, the power of the collective and a whole lot of determination meant that for 40 years, this station has been the heart of Melbourne, the cutting edge of music, contemporary culture and the arts - exactly what Melbourne itself is also known for (sorry Sydney). It's got the largest per capita listener supported broadcaster in the world. Every year they run subscriber-thons just to keep the station alive.
These days my favourite programs that I drop in and listen to (often again, as I don't catch them in real time are the following. I've hyperlinked them so you can go and view the playlists or listen again. You can also listen to them in real time anywhere in the world on Tune In Radio.
Sista BB's 'The Good, The Dub and the Global', playing anything from world to fusion to reggae
Local And/or General who play Australian and NZ acts, live shows and emerging artists, Double Bounce, Friday night's Skull Cave , The Golden Age of Piracy , Double Bounce (more electronic/dance)
3PBS is the other station that is on par with Triple R - I only mentioned Triple R first because I grew up listening to them. If you're interested, pop over and check out their jive here
3PBS
We always listen to TomorrowLand - a mix of future beats and old and Riddim Yard on Friday lunchtimes if I'm home as he plays great Jamaican stuff - and Jesse I's Babylon Burning is also awesome for reggae late Sunday arvo.
Both stations are going to give you a great show whether your thing is acid country, electro beats, psychedelia, jazz or old blues, world or punk, ska, rockabilly or Nashville country - I'm so grateful for these stations for showing me a wealth of music that made my music taste the eclectic mix it is today.
Don't even get me started on how amazing RN is, but that's a different story.
Vive la Community Radio!
Do you still listen to radio? Do you have a radio station you grew up with that influenced your life? Do you miss tuning in to radio?
I was tagged by @canadianrenagade to:
Write a post about something you have to be positive about today - this could be anything from being thankful for your current situation, someone being nice to you, being thankful for your friends and family, or even being thankful for the opportunity you have been given here on Steemit - just keep it positive :)
- Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated.
- Mention three people who should do this on each day.
- Tag it with #7daypositivitychallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post Include a picture of something positive (related to your story if possible.)
- Tip: You need to put the # in front of 7daypositivitychallenge or it will not let you use the tag.
Sorry if you've been tagged before in this challenge @melbourneswest @izzynoel @
j85063 - please don't feel obligated, but you've been tagged! (and that's because you are Aussies who know full well what I'm talking about here! ;)
I'm also totally honoured to be a passenger on the #ecotrain - check out this hashtag for some pretty amazing posts permaculture to meditation, environmental issues to food forests - I highly recommend checking out this tag as you're guaranteed of sweeeetness!
Keep it up!
Thanks
Good ole grunge days. I love your passion and enthusiasm when it comes to pretty much everything you write. Thank you for sharing this. Music feeds the soul and how awesome is it that the channels we listen to music through can have such an impact on our lives! ❤
Haha I do get passionate - and I'm glad that you enjoy it! Yeah, good old grunge. That was a time indeed. But I've had so many waves of music in my life - and this radio station really was a big part of my musical education!
I don't even know what to write lol
Ha - that's the trick. By thinking about what we're grateful for, we see life in a new and more joyful way! And you've got TONS to be thankful for - not this bloody Melbourne weather though - I'm freezing!! xxx PS what was your news?
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When I was a kid i used to call into the Party Show every Saturday night. I can't believe it is still going on RRR now.
I know right - RRR has been in the background of my life forever now!
Community radio, tis a beautiful thang. I remember listening to Wrack Your Brains on PBS as a teenager but for some reason it wasn't until quite a bit later that I really began listening to RRR.
Greening the Apocalypse is my very very happy place.
Your dad is just a gem! That's the kind of education the kids of today need :) Mine used to listen to 3MP in the car as a kid. Thanks, Daddyo! 😁
PS I'm getting onto the post from your tag, noo.
Lol. Yeah my folks were cool. I remember going down the coast singing fish heads fish heads roly poly fish heads because that's the wierd shot they played on the R's... I love Greening the Apocalypse.... there's lots of great shows on both stations. The Good the Dub and global is one of my happy places. We are lucky. I didn't want to live out of radio range of those stations but now we have internet so it's a diff story.
We are sooooo lucky!
I love Fishheads!
Ohhhhhh yeahhhhh cleanning the backlog of awesome posts like a boss today! I've had this saved on my tabs for days now waiting for me, just like a ton of your posts - terrible friend I am, I know.
So cool to learn about the radios over there! I can't say the same abour the ones I have here, every time I turn the radio on it's a shock "where the f. has all the good music done?" - I think.
My mon though is an avid fan of radios, she tells it brings some noise to her house, she doesn't like silence.