Severn Sound - Launch

Severn Sound launched from Gloucester on 23 October 1980, based in what had been a pub. Many of the early commercial stations had homes with history; often hugely impractical but immensely characterful. The station too was typical of its age, with an active newsroom and commitment to local music and local talk. And, as you can hear here, it quite rightly enjoyed its compulsory Alfasound jingles. I love the doo-doo-doo on this, genuinely.

Like so many stations, its early days were troubled. In Severn Sound’s case, it was tragic, with three deaths in the first few months: MD, Graham Moon; and two engineers. The latter two deaths at an outside-broadcast prompted others in the industry to look seriously at radio car safety,

Severn became part of the Chiltern Radio Group in 1989, GWR group in 1995; before becoming part of GCap and being sold to Global Radio in 2008.