Capital Radio 604 was a radio station that broadcast to listeners in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

from transmitters located in the

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

using Medium Wave (AM) on 603 kHz. Founded by Martin Rattle, the station started transmitting on 26 December 1979 and was shut down in 1996, as it was no longer financially viable. Capital Radio 604 had often supported the anti-apartheid liberation struggle and many highlighted the irony; that it was under the very same government that Capital and its staff had fought for in the past that the station would had to close down. Capital Radio 604 changed radio in

forever when it introduced listeners to great uncensored music, polished presenters, uncensored news, and great jingles. Previously, the state run radio stations (no private stations were allowed) were not allowed to tell the real news or play certain songs or music from certain bands. While this station is off the air now, an archive web site
Capital Radio 604
exists that contains many photos, video, jingles, and recent interviews with ex-604 personnel. There is also a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

which allows listeners to hear re-broadcasts of old shows which originally aired in the 1980s. Capital Radio 604 was an almost carbon copy of Capital Radio 194 (1548 kHz) in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(which later split to become Capital Gold and Capital FM). Capital Radio 194 operated on Medium Wave at 194 metres (hence the name) and veteran broadcasting executive Michael Bukht, Capital Radio London's first programme controller, acted as consultant to 604. Capital Radio 604 actually operated on 603 kHz, Medium Wave, but promoted a frequency to which the jingles would rhyme. Bill Mitchell returned to re-word the deep gravelly voice drop-ins and simply said 604 instead of 194. Many presenters were chosen because they sounded like presenters that were already on Capital 194. Finally the Capital 194 logo was slightly modified by changing 194's swallow to a seagull (as a symbol of freedom) and obviously changing the number to 604. Some of the household names who presented shows on Capital included Alan Mann, Dave Simons, Steve Smith, Darren Scott,

John Berks John Berks (born John Berkowitz; 24 August 1941 – 4 June 2022) was a well-known South African radio presenter. Known for his role as a breakfast presenter on Radio 702 in Johannesburg. His broadcast career covered many countries in Southern Af ...

, Jim Ellery, Tony Newman, Martin Bailie, Oscar Renzi, Kevin Savage, Tony Murrell,

Alan Khan Alan Khan (born 17 December 1971) is a media and radio personality in South Africa. His talk show, ''Walk the Talk with Alan Khan'' on Lotus FM, won "Best News and Actuality Radio talk-show, Talk Show PBS" at the 2017 Liberty South African Radio ...

, Dave Guselli, Allan Pierce, Steve Crozier, Justice Ramahlola, Steve Bishop, Lee Downs, Barry Lambert, Richard Jones, Kenny Maistry, Tony Blewitt, Brian Oxley, Treasure Tshabalala and former Magic 1548 Liverpool presenter Richard Jardine, brother of

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

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Tony Jardine Anthony Jardine (born 5 March 1952 in Liverpool) is an English motorsport pundit, former driver and former Formula One assistant team manager. He is currently contracted to Sky Sports as a presenter and pundit on their coverage of F1 as well as p ...

. 'Independent Radio News' on 603, based in Johannesburg, was the first radio news service in South Africa not controlled by government although it conformed with South African media laws. The news department boasted a team of experienced radio journalists including Will Bernard, Gary Edwards, Julian Potter as well as Paddi Clay, Michael Letellier, Mike Hanna, David O'Sullivan, James Lorimer, Manu Padayachee, Zahed Cachalia, Nigel Wrench and Beatrice Hollyer. It later included Reuben Goldberg, Cassandra Moodley, Jeremy Thorpe, John Maytham, Andrew Bolton and Shaun Johnson

References

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External links

Capital Radio 604 archives
*Sunday Independent 30th anniversary article: In Defiance of Thought Contro

*http://www.newsmonitor.co.za/newsmonitor/view/newsmonitor/en/page28457?oid=1206471&sn=Article%20Detail&pid=558&highlight= *https://web.archive.org/web/20130504082920/http://wildcoastradio.com/ Defunct radio stations in South Africa Defunct organisations based in South Africa Transkei