Pirate radio and jungle: the stations that carried the sound
Before jungle had legal radio it had Kool FM, Don FM, Rush and Rude FM. Here is what the record says about the stations and when the mainstream caught up.
Photo: Jay Bergesen, CC BY 2.0. Illustrative, not from the story
Jungle's first national audience heard it on pirate radio. Wikipedia names Kool FM as the most important of the stations, with Don FM, Rush and Rude FM carrying the music alongside it.
What the stations did
The stations were unlicensed, which is why legal radio only picked jungle up later. Wikipedia lists Fabio, Grooverider, DJ Rap and LTJ Bukem among the key DJs of the early scene.
When legal radio caught up
Kiss 100 broadcast a jungle show called Givin' It Up in 1994. BBC Radio 1 followed in 1995 with One in the Jungle. By then the scene was at its most popular, and the sound was starting to be called drum and bass.
More on Kool FM
Our Culture and History panel carries features on Brockie and MC Det, two voices tied to the station.
A few seconds of drums on the B-side of a 1969 soul single became the backbone of jungle and drum and bass. Here is where it came from and who got paid.
