LM Radio
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LM Radio (Lourenço Marques Radio) was a radio station broadcasting to South Africa from Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) in Mozambique between 1933 and 1975. It was often referred to as the Radio Luxembourg of South Africa.
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[edit] Influence
Until the early 1980s, broadcasting in South Africa was state controlled - the sole broadcaster being the state owned and operated SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation). LM Radio was privately owned and operated, and served the vast audience of young people by transmitting pop and rock music which was not heard on the SABC stations. Many young South African artists made their debute on LM Radio through the numerous road shows which toured the country. LM Radio also trained a whole generation of announcers and disc jockeys who later went on to make their careers on other stations in South Africa and all over the world. Names like John Berks, Gary Edwards, Frank Sanders, Robin Alexander, George Wayne and David Gresham all started out at LM Radio before moving to other stations such as Swazi Music Radio (SMR), Radio 702, Springbok Radio and other SABC stations, 2JJ (now known as Triple J in Sydney) and Capital 604.
[edit] History
The first radio station in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), Mozambique began broadcasting on 18th March 1933, but suspended transmissions for a while in 1934 owing to a shortage of money. A South African, G. J. McHarry became involved, and in 1935 Radio Clube de Moçambique was launched, broadcasting mostly in English. In 1947, Colonel Richard L. Meyer, who prior to World War II was General Manager of the International Broadcasting Company of London, together with John Davenport formed Davenport and Meyer and took over the management of Lourenço Marques Radio. The station recruited David Davies to run the station and he together with another announcer David Gordon, were the first two announcers on the new commercial station. In 1948 LM Radio moved into a new purpose built 4-storey building which became known as the "Radio Palace". The station started producing variety shows in front of live audiences. "Anything Goes" hosted by Peter Merrill and recorded in 1948 at the 20th Century Theatre in Johannesburg was one of the first South African radio variety shows. In the late 1950s the station underwent a major format change to cater for the younger generation who were not being catered for in South Africa by the state owned SABC. LM Radio, as it was popularly known, was renowned for its Top Twenty chart show, the LM Hit Parade, and played a major role in promoting South African artists and their music. LM Radio lost much of its sparkle when it was taken over by the SABC in 1972. On 7th September 1974 the station was occupied during a bloody uprising in Lourenço Marques and the administration of the station was taken over by the Frelimo army. On 12th October 1975, following Moçambican independence from Portugal in June of that year, LM Radio facilities were nationalised and the station closed down bringing an era to an end. It was replaced in South Africa by Radio 5, later known as 5FM.
