Absolute Radio 80s is a national digital radio station, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the

Absolute Radio Network The Absolute Radio Network is a network of ten radio stations owned and operated by Bauer Radio. Bauer purchased the TIML Radio Limited network of stations in 2013. Most of the Absolute Radio stations are decade-themed services, alongside t ...

History

Absolute Radio 80s launched at 7.00pm on 4 December 2009, replacing Absolute Xtreme. The marketing plan for Absolute 80s started with targeted sampling at 80s events such as Madness,

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

at the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decem ...

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

at the

NEC Birmingham The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, Solihull, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Bir ...

and

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

at the

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

. The first track to play on the station was " (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" by the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

. On 14 May 2010, Absolute 80s began broadcasting in mono at 64kbps on

Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...

national DAB digital radio. On 29 February 2016, the station switched to the newly launched

Sound Digital Sound Digital is a semi-national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group and Wireless Group. The multiplex covers 73% of the population from a total of 45 transmitters. History Following ...

multiplex (an "upgrade" to 80kbps in mono) although it continued to broadcast on Digital One until the end of April 2016.

DJs

The station's DJs include

Leona Graham Leona Graham (born 18 January 1971) is a British radio broadcaster and voiceover artist. She is currently a presenter of Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio), a position she has held since 2000. She can also be heard on the digital stations ...

Sarah Champion Sarah Deborah Champion (born 10 July 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rotherham since 2012. Champion studied Psychology at Sheffield University. Before entering Parliament, she ran ...

and Richie Firth. Claire Sturgess hosts a live 80s show every Friday on sister station

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Virg ...

that is also simulcast live on Absolute 80s called Friday Night 80s. The Dave Berry Breakfast Show is also simulcast live on Absolute 80s.

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley returned to the ban ...

, the former lead singer of

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European D ...

, used to host the two-hour ''80s Party'' on Saturdays from 6pm, that ended in December 2019. Sarah Champion looks back on the chart hits of the decade on the 80s Chart Show on a Sunday from 4pm.

Matthew Rudd Matthew Rudd is an English radio personality and disc jockey. Since May 2013 he has presented the weekly Forgotten 80s radio show on Absolute 80s. Early career Rudd was brought up and educated in Hedon, East Riding of Yorkshire, and started his ...

hosts a Sunday night show, Forgotten 80s, featuring lesser-played hits of the decade from 9pm. From 23 September 2019, Absolute Radio's ''Hometime with Bush and Richie'' is simulcast on weekdays, with the same "split playlist" system as used at breakfast allowing relevant music to be played on each station.

References

External links

* Absolute Radio Radio stations established in 2009 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom 1980s-themed radio stations Bauer Radio {{UK-radio-station-stub