History

Take one rockabilly-loving, veteran West Midlands pirate radio engineer and DJ, and a group of like-minded individuals with ambitions to run their own radio station in the Amber Valley, and the seeds of Amber Sound FM were sown.

There was no community radio in the 80s, but that didn't stop Johnny B and friends from keeping the streets of Birmingham and the West Midlands alive with the sound of the latest reggae and dance that was too uncouth to be played by Auntie Beeb and the increasingly revenue-driven independent radio stations. The exploits of those radio pirates are recorded here. From those illegal beginnings grew a movement - a movement that led to legal radio stations run by the community, for the community.

Community radio for the Amber Valley was conceived over 20 years ago when a youngster decided he would play around with an electronics kit. He looked at the design of a small circuit and by connecting wires to make the circuit created an FM transmitter. The youngster was the, then 12 year old, founder of Amber Sound FM Chris Knight. To cut a long story short the youngster was going to run his own radio station one day.

In the 1990s The Radio Authority (now Ofcom) began issuing licences to groups in areas of the UK to broadcast their own service to the local area they lived in. An application was sent it into The Radio Authority to apply to broadcast Valley Radios first service and the ninth such station in the UK.

Staff Involved in that first broadcast were Chris Knight, Eddie Gold, Judith & Phil Shaw, Lee Raynor, Alan Fararr, Andy Hallsworth, Ian Perry, Neil Freeman, Andy Potter, John Dolby, Merrick McIver,Elizabeth Jane Taylor (harry) Phil Smith, Sue Bradshaw, Luke Barratt, Ian Chilvers, Tony Mullins, Brian Dee, Steve Jenner, Jay Drabble, Phil Penny, Alan Williams, Ian Hunt. and more that I can remember!

Broadcasting from a railway carriage at the Midland Railway Centre in Butterley the station made history in Amber Valley. Valley Radio carried out four broadcasts during 1994 - 1996, broadcasts 2, 3 and 4 were using studios above a shop called Cellar 5 in Oxford St Ripley. During this period Amber Valleys second station Amber Sound FM was to be more upfront with the music.

Operated from Chris's sisters dining room the first broadcast in 1996 was a great success, the feedback received from residents across the Amber Valley to both stations was extremely positive and in total the groups held seven 28 day broadcasts giving Amber Valley a strong taste of what was to come.

Chris became disillusioned at the apparent reluctance of The Radio Authority to offer a full licence for the area and decided to call it a day in 1996, still concentrating on the radio industry began hosting shows on Choice FM in Birmingham, gaining a reputation in the big clubs of the Midlands for being an excellent club DJ, and working, at one point, for…no less than Johnny Bee, on Powerhouse Radio in the West Midlands! It was at this time also that a 13-year old Matt Fury joined the team at Powerhouse, paving the way for his later career at Amber Sound FM.

In 2006, one Eddie Fowler, part of the management team at Radio Robin, the well-regarded internal radio station for Ilkeston Community Hospital obtained a licence for a 28 day broadcast from Heanor called Amber FM, on 97.9FM. On hearing about this, Chris got involved to help the fledgling station, bringing his boss Johnny Bee - still running Powerhouse Radio - on board as technical consultant.

During 2007 Ofcom announced that community radio licences would be made available in the East Midlands for interested parties to apply for. Chris, Eddie and Johnny set about resurrecting Amber Sound FM in readiness for a bid for the licence.

Two 28 day broadcasts later and the licences were advertised and one cold January morning Chris took in his application to London. May 2009 saw the licence being awarded not only to Amber Sound FM but also to several other Midlands stations. Chris acquired, designed and built state of the art studio premises, located in Ripley, creating Amber Valley's own radio station Amber Sound 107.2FM and with a host of superb volunteers bring you your own very local station.

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