Community Radio in Australia hits its fifth decade this year with Australia’s oldest community station Tune FM in Armidale, NSW turning 40.
At 2:30pm on Saturday, August 21, the radio station will broadcast it's official 40th birthday celebrations. So, vote in the morning, tune in to tune in the afternoon and then if you're in Northern NSW on that day, head on down to The Stro at the University of New England and celebrate with the station (and the nation if your "team" wins that day) in style.Rest assured, it won't be just you and the station announcers and staffers awkwardly standing around talking about the weather, avoiding eye contact and sipping shandies. That's because you'll have Electric Horse, The Snowdroppers and legends on northern NSW rock, Grinspoon to keep your ears from lasting well into your golden years.
The broadcast at 2:30 will include live entertainment, the official opening of the station's new studio and a 1979 interview with then-Sydney University SRC President, Mr. Tony Abbott.
On April 27th, 1970, announcer Dick Mutton became the first community radio announcer in Australian history on what was then called Radio UNE with the words "Radio UNE, the time is 7 o'clock," before playing the station's first track, 'Everybody's Talkin' by Harry Nilsson.
Flick your dial over to 106.9FM if you're in the Armidale region, or direct your browser over to Tune!FM's official website to have a listen.
Since then community radio has become an integral part of music communities in Melbourne (RRR, PBS and 3CR), Sydney (FBi) and Brisbane (ZZZ). We at Undercover would like to congratulate Tune FM on forty years and wish them all the best for the next forty.
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