Bringing the '90s back on #TunnFM...

For the past couple of years I've been one of those annoying people who bang on and on about how 'kids don't know what real music is' and how things were so much better 'back in my day'. (Refer to my previous post about music festivals for an example of this.)

When I was a teenager living in Bundaberg, the national youth radio station (the one that starts with a 'T' and ends with a 'J') was my window to the outside world. I learned that, amazingly, Roxette weren't the best band on the planet, and broadened by tastes to include some very diverse artists. I spent night after night pressing redial on the phone trying desperately to get on to the Request Fest and speak to Michael Tunn (which 'Goat', as I was known back then, succeeded at on numerous occasions). I often waited all night to hear that one song I'd been wanting to tape off the radio, only to have one of the announcers (usually Tunney) talk over it right at the end. Sure, I didn't like everything that was played, but most of the music had a kind of 'drive' or passion behind it, and that had to be respected.

Fast-forward quite a few (ok, a lot) of years, and things have changed. Very little of what I hear on that same radio station resonates, and I'm pretty sure it's not just an 'age thing'. For one, most of it sounds the same. I can't tell most of the bands apart, and the majority of them don't actually seem to be saying anything. The tables have been turned: I like a handful of artists that make it on the air (like Jack White, Sleigh Bells and Go! Team), but the vast majority of it is, in my probably worthless opinion, rubbish. Last month, I was engaging in a Twitter discussion about this fact on a Friday evening. The following night, I discovered something amazing (also via Twitter):

TUNNEY WAS BACK.

It turned out that on Saturday nights, Michael Tunn was taking requests via Twitter and playing them on his online station, TunnFM. When he's not taking requests, Tunney's station continues playing 24 hours a day. Not only that, but the playlist is ALL '90s. From that moment, I started hearing bands that I'd completely forgotten existed, or that I simply hadn't heard on the radio in a really long time. Just like old times, I don't like everything that gets played on TunnFM, but I'm pretty certain that no radio station could please me 100 per cent of the time. The fact is that I can now listen to bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Arkarna, Custard and Portishead while I work or hang out at home, and (just like on the radio) I enjoy the suspense of not knowing what's going to play next.

The thing is that no matter how much I love listening to TunnFM, more people need to participate in order for the station to reach its full potential. For one, more people need to participate in the Saturday night Request Fest. It's not much fun when only a handful of us are picking the songs, and it's really easy to join in.

1. Follow @RequestFest on Twitter.
2. Tune into TunnFM online.
3. Tweet @RequestFest with the '90s song you want to hear and add the #TunnFM hashtag so we can all follow. You can even request East 17 if you want. Not that I know anyone who has requested them yet. Honest...
4. Wait for your song to get played.

See? Easy! If you're not a member of Twitter and don't really want to use it other than for making song requests, just join and use your account for that purpose only.

If you decide that you really really love the station and want to help out, you can also become a TunnFM Member for the insanely low low price of $5 a month. These funds give you access to the Members-only HD stream, go towards keeping the station running, and will help introduce new features (like apps and other exciting things).

So, what are you waiting for?