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Some where in a small part of London, a group of friends made a decision to set up a radio station. On the 28th of November 1991, KOOL FM was born. The music being played at the beginning of transmission was known as HARDCORE JUNGLE. KOOL FM were setting the standard for the underground by being the very first pirate station ever to play this type of music.
Kool FM describes itself as a 'Hardcore Jungle Drum and Bass radio station' - and as such the music it broadcasts ranges from (predominantly) drum n bass to old skool and, occasionally, other genres. A wide range of both up-and-coming DJs and MCs play out on the station, and similarly almost every style of Drum & Bass can be heard: music ranging from mainly Jump-Up (dancefloor-oriented D&B, arguably the most popular type of Drum & Bass in raves and clubs) to, sometimes, the more IDM-influenced subgenres of Techstep and Liquid Funk, depending on the DJ's musical tastes.
Kool FM has been running, helping to support and perpetuate the scene, and inform ravers, for over a decade. Back when jungle was an emerging genre, the station played a seminal role acting as a middleman between the ravers and the promoters (along with many other stations, some of which are still going, but the majority have been permanently shut down by their owners, merged with other stations or just faded into obscurity). Pirates back in the 1990s afforded a wide-ranging, effective way of communicating to fans of the music where and when the next raves were taking place, and it gave producers and DJs a chance to play out brand new tracks, often on dubplate (in fact, it could be argued that pirate radio contributed to the continuing success of dubplates, as producers would cut a track to acetate and then give a few copies to big-name DJs to play out in clubs or on pirate radio, to get early exposure and increase 'hype' in a track, before the promotional copies hit the record stores. If a track had non-cleared, copyrighted samples in it, hearing it on a pirate or in a rave was often the only way to ever hear it. The culture of pirate stations broadcasting a niche genre of music to hundreds and thousands of dedicated fans, of which Kool FM has always been a major part, helped both to sustain and diversify the genre throughout the 1990s, as new styles of music were played out by DJs, testing the waters or exploring new musical ideas.
As interest and popularity in jungle (now called jungle drum n bass), grew, so did the pirates, and Kool FM has always played a notable part in the progression and support of the genre. Booking Agencies were set up to book DJs to play on the station, events were organised in association (and sometimes by) the stations, producing revenue to further the ability of the stations to survive, supporting the music scene and themselves. This had always been a necessary thing to do in terms of the pirates supporting themselves: since the Radio Authority (now known as Ofcom) regularly enforced the law regarding unlicensed broadcasts, confiscating broadcasting equipment and all possessions relating to the station if they were caught. Thus, DJs would lose record collections (which were often subsequently destroyed), masts would be taken down, microwave dishes removed... Running a pirate station was (and still is) an expensive project, so as much as supporting the scene, events were organised and the revenues used in part to fund the continuation of the stations.
It is widely regarded that along with several other stations at the time (such as Pulse FM, Don FM, Eruption), Kool FM's support in jungle's formative years helped to spread the word amongst fans of the style, and also helped to nurture the music into what it is today. Almost every drum n bass fan with a sense of the history behind their music understands that the genre would be nowhere near as popular, diverse or successful without the invaluable support and development provided by the multitude of pirates (in the past, there were easily as many as 40 or more pirates in the Greater London area alone, though the airwaves aren't quite as crowded today). Many newcomers to drum n bass, and some who have been listening to the genre for a few years, fail to realise that until 1994, when Kiss FM began broadcasting jungle, and 1995, when the seminal 'One In The Jungle' show began on BBC Radio 1, there was no Jungle or Drum & Bass on any legal, licensed radio station anywhere in the UK, so it is important that the role of pirate stations is not underestimated. Even today, pirates such as Kool FM play an essential role in the continuation of the genre
(ADVERTISMENT)
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