20 Years of 6Music

It was 20 years ago today….when Will Young sat atop the pop charts with ‘Anything Is Possible’, while those pop titans Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Westlife and Nickelback brought up the metaphorical rear of the Top 5. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, his US counterpart George W Bush and the rest of the world were still reeling from the tragic events of 9/11, Arsenal were top of the football pyramids and the George Clooney-led caper Ocean’s Eleven was drawing in the crowds and the pounds in the cinema.

Meanwhile, on DAB radio, comedian and presenter Phill Jupitus cut the ribbon to unveil the BBC’s first new national music radio station in 32 years. A high-pitched guitar lick gave way to a frenetic explosion of drums, bass and power chords, as Ash’s ‘Burn Baby Burn’ heralded the arrival of BBC Radio 6 Music: a new, alternative, digital-only radio station. 

You may not listen to 6 Music, but you know what it represents. The station is a refuge for those who sit outside the mainstream and a tonic for those who, frankly, can’t stand wasting their lives with perpetual adverts. A place for the mis-shapes to seek solace and shut out the outside world. The chances are that if you like any form of alternative music, be that folk, electronica, indie (or post-punk, as it’s now been rebranded), hip-hop, soul, dub or any of the innumerable genres that are represented outside pop, the first radio station to have played it will have been 6 Music. Like much of the BBC, it’s often taken for granted but is never dismissed and is widely recognised as the home of new music.

https://www.gigwise.com/features/3416385/20-years-on-air--happy-birthday-bbc-radio-6-music-