To honour the history of live music in Newcastle our opening on 87.6 at 8am on Friday 4th March, 2016 included historic news reports from the Riot of 19th September 1979 when patrons at Newcastle's Star Hotel rioted as police forced the closure of the iconic live music venue. An estimated 4,000 people fought with police on Newcastle streets.
The Star's final night featured live music with local Newcastle band, Heroes and free beer. At exactly 10pm the police pulled the plug on Heroes in the middle of a song and demanded that everyone leave immediately, creating a hostile mood among the patrons. As the patrons began leaving the hotel confrontations began with a small contingent of police, which escalated into throwing of missiles, arrests, injuries and the burning of cars, which continued for more than two hours.
The full story..
First song on air
With the great history of Newcastle music, and disdain of the authorities who try to hinder the music we love, it's only fitting that we named our radio station "Riot FM", and play as the first full song on air, Heroes "The Star and The Slaughter"
You can hear the Riot FM Opening Production, featuring news reports from the Star riot, along with cuts from the Dead Kennedy's "Riot", and then the first full song "The Star and The Slaughter" from Heroes, by clicking the "Play" icon.
