The Sound, earlier known as Solid Gold FM, is a New Zealand

radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many ( simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) t ...

owned by

MediaWorks New Zealand MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine ...

. Solid Gold began broadcasting on 13 October 1997 and was rebranded as The Sound on 1 January 2012. The Sound has a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format, playing "the greatest music of all time" from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The station appeals to an older audience than most popular and rock music stations in New Zealand.

History

As Solid Gold FM

Solid Gold FM started in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

on 13 October 1997 broadcasting on 93.4FM. This frequency was previously used to broadcast Kool 93, a station that played a similar format to Solid Gold. After The Radio Network purchased Kool 93's parent company, Prospect Media Ltd, the Commerce Commission ruled that The Radio Network had to sell or dispose of some of their Auckland frequencies as a condition of the sale, and as a result they closed Kool 93, with the frequency going to Energy Enterprises. For several months during 1997, 93.4FM was used to play temporary programme advising listeners of the launch of a new station coming soon. Solid Gold's original line up was Breakfast with Blackie and Jennifer ( Kevin Black and Jenny Marcroft), Adam "Boom Boom" Butler (10 am - 2 pm), Big Tony Amos (2 pm - 7 pm) and Brian Staff (7 pm - midnight). Following the launch in Auckland, Energy Enterprises (which later became RadioWorks) rolled the station out across New Zealand as they were able to secure frequencies in each market. In some markets local stations were closed down and replaced with Solid Gold, as there were markets where RadioWorks had taken over more than one local station. Solid Gold was eventually available in 25 markets across New Zealand. During the station's early days, the playlist featured mostly music from the 1950s and 1960s. Music from the 1950s was dropped in the early 2000s, with the station focusing on 1960s and 1970s music for most of the decade. The station has run several promotions sending listeners overseas, for example, to see Bruce Springsteen, to Graceland, 10 friends to Fiji, 10 friends to the Gold Coast, the 1000 Greatest Hits of the 60s and 70s countdown and more. In 2009, long-term Breakfast host Kevin Black retired, and Blackie's Big Breakfast (featuring Alan (AJ) Whetton and David Burke-Kennedy) was replaced by Muzza in the Morning, with host Murray Inglis. A former breakfast host on Auckland's

Radio Hauraki Radio Hauraki is a New Zealand rock music station that started in 1966. It was the first private commercial radio station of the modern broadcasting era in New Zealand and operated illegally until 1970 to break the monopoly held by the state-o ...

, Black was once the highest-paid private radio DJ in New Zealand. His 12-year spell with Solid Gold between 1997 and 2009 was his last on-air role until he died in 2013, just short of his 70th birthday. Murray Inglis left the breakfast show in late 2010 and was replaced by Mark McCarron. From 25 December 2010 the station changed their positioning statement to "The Greatest Hits of all time", and no longer played only 1960s and 1970s music. Daytime announcer Macca, who had been with the station since 1998, had his last show with Solid Gold on 30 December 2011 and did not continue with The Sound. Afternoon host Rick Rennie and former night host Peter Dakin also left.

As The Sound

The station relaunched as The Sound at 9am on 1 January 2012. The last song on Solid Gold FM was " A Change Is Gonna Come" by

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is common ...

. The first song played on The Sound, following a 5-minute profile intro, was

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's "

Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" is a medley of two songs written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It is the opening track of the 1973 double album '' Goodbye Yellow Brick Road''. The ...

". Breakfast host Mark McCarron hosted the first show on The Sound. The Sound features a classic rock format, which broadcasts on all existing Solid Gold frequencies over the country. The change was made in response to competing stations

Classic Hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...

and Radio Hauraki choosing to play newer music. The change fills the gap in 1970s and 1980s music no longer played by these stations. Mark McCarron left the breakfast show in June 2014, to make way for The Kennedy and Staufer Breakfast with Mark Kennedy and

Mark Staufer Mark Staufer (born 3 November 1963) is a New Zealand native. He is the author and curator of ''The Numinous Place'' and a screenwriter, most notably of ''Love, Laughter and Truth'', a biopic about US comedian Bill Hicks, which he developed with ...

. Kennedy and Staufer were well known to Auckland listeners as the breakfast duo on Auckland's 89FM during the 1980s hosting a breakfast show called ''The Top Marks''. The show was cancelled in July 2014, after co-host Mark Staufer reportedly used foul language during a late-night talkback slot he was co-hosting with Ian Wishart on

Radio Live Radio Live (stylised as Radio LIVE) was a nationwide Auckland-based New Zealand talkback, news and sport radio network owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. It was formed by the 2005 split of talk and racing network Radio Pacific i ...

. The talkback slot also included frank and explicit discussion about masturbation and teenage abortion, with his co-host blaming his poor choice of words on tiredness. He immediately lost his place on the late-night talkback slot. The situation was reviewed by

management and the breakfast programme was cancelled just five weeks after it had begun.Radio host's four-letter words
/ref> Following the cancellation of The Kennedy and Staufer Breakfast show Mark McCarron was reinstated as breakfast presenter with co-host Leah Panapa. Mark McCarron left the station at the end of 2015.

Programmes

Breakfast The Morning Sound with Nik Brown & Heather Keats between 5am and 10am weekdays. Workday The Sound Workday with Heather Keats between 10am and 2pm weekdays. Drive The Sound Drive with Mark Woods between 2pm and 7pm weekdays. Nights The Sound Nights with TBC between 7pm and 12am weeknights. Weekends Weekend shows presented by Mark Smith, Heather Keats, Kim Blair and Mark Woods. The Acoustic Sunrise is hosted by Nik Brown between 7am and 10am Sundays.

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 ...

hosts the Sunday afternoon show between 2pm and 7pm Sundays.

Stations

These are the frequencies for The Sound: *

Kerikeri Kerikeri () is the largest town in Northland, New Zealand. It is a tourist destination north of Auckland and north of the northern region's largest city, Whangarei. It is sometimes called the Cradle of the Nation, as it was the site of ...

- 92.0 FM * Whangarei - Maungataniwha - 98.0 FM * Rodney - Moirs Hill - 92.9 FM *

Sky Tower Sky Tower, SkyTower, Skytower, or Sky Towers may refer to: Buildings In Asia * Higashiyama Sky Tower, Nagoya, Japan * Marina Sky Towers in Dubai, UAE * Sky Tower (Abu Dhabi) in Abu Dhabi, UAE * in Kowloon, Hong Kong * in Dubai, UAE * Sky Tower ...

- 93.8 FM *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

- Ruru - 93.8 FM *

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

- Kopukairua - 92.6 FM * Whakatane - 105.7 FM *

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encomp ...

Pukepoto Pukepoto is a town in Northland, New Zealand. It lies south west of Kaitaia and north east of Ahipara. The Herekino Forest lies to the south east. is a cobalt blue pigment which can be found in clay rock. Demographics Pukepoto is in an SA1 st ...

- 91.1 FM *

Reporoa Reporoa is a rural community in Rotorua Lakes within the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located within the Reporoa Caldera, a caldera in the Taupo Volcanic Zone containing the Deer Hill, Kairuru and Pukekahu rhyolitic ...

- Paeroa Range - 92.4 FM * Gisborne - Wheatstone Road - 96.5 FM * Taupo - Whakaroa - 100.0 FM *

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

- Mount Erin - 91.9 FM *

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

Mount Taranaki Mount Taranaki (), also known as Mount Egmont, is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is the second highest point in the North Island, after Mount Ruapehu. The mountain has a seco ...

- 98.0 FM *

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

- Bastia Hill - 94.4 FM * Manawatu - Wharite - 94.6 FM *

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

- Otahoua - 93.5 FM *

Kapiti Coast The Kapiti Coast District is a local government district of the Wellington Region in the lower North Island of New Zealand, 50 km north of Wellington City. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent island offshore. The pop ...

- Forest Heights - 94.3 FM *

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

- Kaukau &

Haywards Haywards is a small hillside suburb in the Hutt Valley near Wellington, New Zealand. It is notable for its large electrical substation, which is the main switching point for the Wellington region, and the home of the North Island converter stat ...

- 97.3 FM * Nelson - Grampians - 98.4 FM * Marlborough - Wither Hills - 96.1 FM *

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a r ...

- 92.9 FM * Ashburton - Ashburton substation - 95.7 FM *

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

- 90.7 FM, Mount Horrible - 97.1 FM * Fairlie - Mt Michael - 104.6 FM *

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the ra ...

- Cape Wanbrow - 99.2 FM *

Kurow Kurow is a small town in the Waitaki District, New Zealand. It is located on the south bank of the Waitaki River, northwest of Oamaru. Description The name is an Anglicised form of the Māori name of the nearby mountain, Te Kohurau. In the ...

- 105.6 FM *

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "p ...

- Obelisk - 93.5 FM * Wanaka - 93.8 FM * Queenstown - Peninsula Hill - 97.6 FM *

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

- Mount Cargill - 90.2 FM * Southland - Hedgehope - 98.0 FM

References

External links

The Sound Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sound * 2012 establishments in New Zealand