UK Bank Holidays: Supermarket Shopping replaces Listening to Free Radio

For me at least there was once a time when a Bank Holiday was synonymous with the exciting possibilities afforded by UK-based free radio on shortwave. Whilst some, if not many, ended up being washouts, there were still many memorable daytime and particularly night-time broadcasts that made the 1990's such an interesting time to listen to 3 and 6 MHz. 

We should never compare anything (but we do), whilst remembering the words of Don Henley who opined to "don't look back you can never look back" but harking back to a different era both digitally and socially as well as musically is an occupational hazard for those of us who think most aspects of life were once better, or less bad, than they are now. 

Did we though consider in real time how good the 1990's were? I suspect not. It is only when measured against pejorative aspects of modern life do we yearn for times past which admittedly had their glaring drawbacks. Nevertheless, the rave scene of 1991-92 that captivated me so was one of those social occurrences whilst much missed, cannot be contemporaneously compared on a like-for-like basis.

I digress. My comparatively carefree days of the 1990's, especially 1991-92, 1994, and 1997 have long since given way to the realities of adult life that transcend eras. I will always have a passing interest in what constitutes today's free radio scene, but the days of almost organising my life around listening to 48 and 76 metres are distantly behind me. Zeal for free radio has been replaced by an at best mild curiosity. 

Bank Holidays weekends for the modern age are now analogous with gardening and weekly food shopping, the latter being far preferably to the former, if only for what are the normally diverse play lists heard in most supermarkets, and even Superdrug and Home Bargains. 

I therefore wended my way to 'big' Morrison's - along with it seems a sizeable minority of the local population. Hot weather brings them out, it seems. Anyway, a prolonged stay in this once 'big 4' supermarket, recently overtaken by German discounter Aldi, is rarely one for the faint-hearted, but nevertheless bore significant aural fruit:

Sade - Smooth Operator

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

Queen - A Kind of Magic

Wham - Young Guns(Go For It)

Dodgy - Summer Forever

INXS - New Sensation

Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely?

Feeder - Going Back Around

Olivia Rodrigo - Drop Dead

David Bowie - Let's Dance

The Real Thing - You to Me are Everything

Mel & Kim - Respectable 

Declan McKenna - Brazil

Sombr - Homewrecker 

A mediocre bunch at best, albeit littered with some gems and lesser known tracks by Dodgy and Feeder. I think the foot tapper/singalong award is shared between Wham and David Bowie,  not a sentence you will otherwise see written anywhere! The tone was set nicely by INXS, but my controversial dislike of Queen and most of Rick Astley's body of work knocked an overall rating for Morrison's Bank Holiday soundtrack down to a respectable but can-do-better 7 out of 10.

Galaxy International - a galaxy of 90's shortwave favourites

Recordings of Galaxy International, a collective of free radio operators from the 1990's transmitting quite literally out in the field, have been aired over the bank holiday on 6925 KHz. Is this a precursor to the station's re-emergence? We'll have to see.

I am loathed to attempt to encapsulate what true free radio spirit consisted of, but here goes. Broadcasting live from cars from remote countryside locations within Central England, Galaxy presenters would often authenticate the experience for listeners by commenting on strong-smelling manure, and curious hikers marvelling at aerials strung between neighbouring trees. Redolent of Weekend Music Radio's golden years, telephone calls were taken live to air without filter or predictability of what might be said.

Consisting of Radio Blackbeard's Dave Norris, Paul Stuart from the mysterious Station Sierra Sierra and Mark Perry who was better known in FM circles, Galaxy would also number fellow free radio legend Bill Lewis as an occasionally visitor behind the mic. 

Originally on air in the late-90's, Galaxy rarely if ever put out a strong signal but with a limit of perhaps 60 watts, nor would they be expected to. The technical limitations of broadcasting remotely are manifold, with getting on air at all being a feat in itself. It is ironic that this weekend's recordings of live programmes from at least 25 years ago benefited from a far stronger signal, more reminiscent of Live Wire Radio than Station Sierra Sierra.

Being fond of their dance music, the Galaxy trio would often favour tracks from Capella, David Morales, and Pete Heller, who I will always synonymously link to the station. For Station Sierra Sierra, Kim Appleby's Don't Worry was the station's calling card.  

I couldn't say for certain when the only iteration to date of Galaxy International finished broadcasting; my uneducated guess would suggest the early 2000's, although I did step away from listening during 2002 until at least 2015. Could there be a reboot? Archive recordings put out there would suggest to be a precursor to new beginnings, or maybe it is pure mischief making. 

Either way, it certainly adds welcome intrigue to the UK shortwave free radio scene, and takes those of us who 'were there' back in time as if it was merely yesterday. 

For clarity, Galaxy International are unconnected to Radio Galaxy International from the late 1980's and early 1990's, a station operated by Paul Watt that morphed into the well-known Radio Merlin.