大象传媒

Johnnie revives the spirit of freeform American FM radio broadcast during the late sixties and seventies. While featuring the artists nurtured by 'underground' radio such as Crosby, Stills & Nash, Eagles and Joni Mitchell, Johnnie also plays the music of contemporary musicians who have been influenced by the records made during that era.

In the States, FM music stations began life as freewheeling alternatives to the commercial power of Top 40 AM stations. Their proliferation coincided with the rise in popularity of LP records containing the adventurous music of groups who focused their energies on albums rather than three-minute singles. LP sales boomed and the FM stations became very successful. For example, KSAN in San Francisco rose to number one in the 18-34 demographic and inspired the launch of similar stations across the country. FM became synonymous with a style of programming, an attitude and a lifestyle. However, during this period, British music fans could only dream about having a regular diet of the music heard on KSAN in San Francisco or WNEW in New York. Quality album music was rationed on Radio 1 to a few hours a week broadcast in the evening strand Sounds Of The Seventies and in Alan Freeman's Saturday Rock Show.

In search of more musical freedom, in 1976 Johnnie Walker left his lunchtime show on Radio 1 to join the DJ roster of KSAN. Unfortunately, it was a case of right station, wrong era as the format became more conservative and the music evolved.