Faze FM

Faze FM Radio Ltd was the owner of two United Kingdom radio stations in the North of England. It operated Kiss 102 in Manchester and Kiss 105 in Yorkshire from 1994 to 1997.

In 1997, both stations were acquired by Chrysalis Group (now Global Radio) and rebranded as Galaxy.

Branding

Faze licenced the brand "Kiss" from Kiss 100 in London and commissioned radio ident company Alfasound to produce a custom made jingle package called "Danceman". These idents were resung for both stations and was specifically designed to fit in with the dance music format.

Kiss 102

Infobox Radio station
name=Kiss 102


airdate= October 16 1994
frequency=102 MHz
area= Manchester
format = Dance
owner = Faze FM

Kiss 102 was a UK radio station launched 16 October, 1994 to provide Dance music to the Greater Manchester area. The licence win was spearheaded by Eugene Perera's Level Broadcast and included shareholders UKRD, Eastern Counties Newspaper Group and 3i.

The station won awards for its coverage of social issues and is acknowledged by writers like Dave Haslam and commentators such as Anthony Wilson as helping to prolong and grow the dance music scene at a crucial period in the evolution of that music in Manchester. The ground-breaking format was the brainchild of two highly-experienced UK radio programmers Mike Gray and Guy Hornsby who first worked together at the original BBC Radio London where they produced the station's leading DJ presenters Robbie Vincent and Tony Blackburn. Unusually for a small UK radio station aimed at the youth market, it had a dedicated news service (at one point providing a news-reading service to its sister station in London Kiss 100), a nightly entertainment magazine sponsored by The Guardian, and was noted by Independent Radio News for its coverage of the 1996 Provisional Irish Republican Army bombing of the city and also for its policy of linking sport and music for example with the Manchester United Red Cafe and the Manchester Giants. It is noteworthy for a proud policy of social integration, led by the influence of the club scene which brought about sponsorship of such events as the Manchester Mardi Gras during its years of largest expansion. In common with other specialist music stations it handed over many hours of output to club DJs, artists and music producers who had little or no experience of radio presentation leading to ground-breaking if at times anarchic entertainment from groups like 808 State, Fat City Records and Autechre. Despite staying true to its roots and playing 'thumping dance music' at breakfast time, a move perceived of in the radio industry at the time as unlikely to be popular, the station achieved a 10% share of the total available audience, and its yellow oblong car stickers could be seen proudly displayed by an enthusiastic audience across the entire region. The station became a victim of its own success when months after opening a second station, the Yorkshire regional Kiss 105, the station's board accepted a £17.6 million takeover bid from the Chrysalis Group for a company that had cost just £600k to set up three years earlier.

DJ/Presenters

Kiss 105

Infobox Radio station
name=Kiss 105


airdate= February 14, 1997
frequency=105.1 MHz, 105.6 MHz, 105.8 MHz
area= Yorkshire
format = Dance
owner = Faze FM

Kiss 105 was launched after the success of its sister station on Valentine's Day in 1997.

A total of four transmitters were used to cover the whole of Yorkshire. North Humberside is served by 105.8, Sheffield by 105.6, Bradford by 105.6 and a general Yorkshire transmitter on 105.1 FM. The studios were based at Joseph's Well, Hanover Walk, Park Lane in Leeds, West Yorkshire and are still used for Galaxy Yorkshire. Some of the programmes where shared with the Manchester station.

DJ/Presenters

ee also

*Kiss Network

Notes

* [http://www.ukrd.com/history.html UKRD helped getting the licences]
* [http://www.veale.uk.com/testimonials.htm Built the studios]