Jeff Cooper was one of the original line-up when Manchester's Piccadilly Radio launched in 1974 and presented an album-rock show called 'Rokzac'. He has gone on to become arguably the longest-running continuous broadcaster of New Music on UK radio.

When Nottingham's Radio Trent went on the air in 1975, the station committed itself to a nightly free-form programme of New Music and album tracks. In those 'pre-genre' days, we played everything from jazz, folk and country to rock and we welcomed guests as varied as Ian Gillan, Mike Oldfield and The Chieftains.

The show moved to Glasgow in 1978, when Cooper took over Radio Clyde's 'Midnight Rock', becoming the first commercial radio DJ to broadcast a then unknown Sheffield band called Heaven 17.

A similar accolade came a little later in Manchester when his BBC Radio Manchester 'Fast Forward' show was the first local radio outlet for New Order.

After a two-year run as 'Q-Rock' on Rock FM, Cooper renamed his show 'XS' when it moved to Sheffield's Hallam FM in the mid-90s. It finally became '2XS' when it was broadcast to the North-west and Greater Manchester on 106.9 Silk FM and Sheffield & Derbyshire on Peak 107.

By 2002, UK radio had virtually abandoned all non-chart and unsigned music with none of the above stations committing any significant hours to such programming, so we launched radio2XS. What was a 'specialist' programme now became a full-time radio station, operated from the USA (using music playlists compiled in the UK) by its associate corporation, radio2XS inc. We are also the only onine-only station to record our own live sessions (the 'Barn Sessions').

From June 2007, the station has been fully operated Sheffield, England and here on 2XS, if you are good enough to get played, the great news is that you don't get confined to a niche show - your track gets aired throughout the station's output right alongside the big names.

radio2XS: New Music, Live Sessions And 50 Years Of Rock& Roll