Making Waves: Moray Firth Radio The Independent Years

A group of community activists in the north of Scotland secured a commercial radio station licence by raising funds and scaring off more serious investors. The book explores what they did with the station, with anecdotes from those who were there, and how it became important to the local communities, offering a remarkable tale backed up by photographs.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 28 January 2021
Publisher: Troubador Publishing

The saga of how the north of Scotland secured its own commercial radio station at this time in history is truly unique. Radio station licenses were strictly controlled by the Home Office, and the standards for output were deliberately high. Here, we have a group of community activists who had no experience or a penny to their name. They raised funds for photocopying their application by holding plant sales and, in the process, scared off the more serious local investors who didn't think they'd pull it off. But they did.

The rest of the book looks at what they did with it, the story told largely in anecdotes from those who were there. With a bunch of largely untested on-air talent and relying on a great deal of volunteer labor, they ended up with some of the best listening figures in the country. It's a remarkable tale backed up by dozens of photographs that will evoke the 80s and 90s.

The book explains why truly local radio was so important to the communities of the north of Scotland at that time when the economy was fragile and unemployment savagely high in some places. Presenters share what it was like to become a household name and reminisce about the music and the lighter side of radio life and how it changed the lives of so many. If you love radio, this book is for you.

Dimension: 210 x 210 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781800462984