Alice's Restaurant Rock Radio

Rock stars and music industry buffs have had their say about the state of UK radio.

Ozzy Osbourne, international rock star: "It is only in the UK that the industry support for rock music fails. Sales figures of albums and tours only substantiate the fact that rock music is alive and well and that a vast market exists for a radio station of this kind, despite the popular belief that dance music is what the audience require".

Ian Gillan, international rock star: "I have sold 117 million records over the last 30 years, and, with Deep Purple have just completed another (15 month) World Tour, major arenas, sold out. My friends in Europe and America cannot understand the lack of industry support, at home, for rock music; and as we all know, the support that does exist is badly focused".

Colin Bell, Director, London Records: "Rock music, for which Britain, is renowned the world over, is woefully under served on British radio. Where can you hear Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, and the full range and depth of our, and indeed other classic rock acts? I do feel that the provision of Classic Rock programming is long overdue".

Jimmy Devlin, Managing Director, Roadrunner Records: "Britain has always enjoyed a great tradition of world beating rock artists and we continue to develop the artists who will be the commercial success of tomorrow. Music is one of the UK's big export success stories. To me, it makes sense in both a commercial and creative vein to highlight more rock music on radio in this country".

Rob Dickins, Chairman, Warner Music UK: "We at Warner Music believe that it is culturally important for radio programming to reflect all genres of music, and that the need for programming based on rock music has not really been addressed in the UK for many years. We would whole-heartedly welcome a rock format on radio that was put together with knowledge and integrity".

Daniel Lycett, Managing Director, Edel (UK) Ltd: "We find it very frustrating that we cannot offer rock acts the same support as say Germany or France, territories where rock is still high on the list of traditional radio and television output".

Jeremy Marsh, President, BMG Entertainment: "Rock music is a big part of UK heritage and needs to be preserved if the airwaves are to cater for all musical styles, such as they do for dance, indie and mainstream pop now. Since the demise of the national Friday and weekend rock shows, this area has been totally neglected and there are many rock album buyers who are simply not being accommodated".

Nicko McBrian, member of Iron Maiden rock group: "Rock music has a long history and is highly regarded worldwide. It is only in this country that the industry support fails. Sales figures of albums and tours only substantiate the fact that rock music is alive and well and that a vast market exists for a radio station of this kind".

Colin Miles, Managing Director, See For Miles Records: "We as a record label of some 15 years standing, are only too aware of the lack of exposure for rock orientated music on radio. Any attempt to provide an adult rock album format on radio is long overdue, and we would welcome any change to this anomaly".

Martin Mills, Chairman, Beggars Banquet Group: "This company believes that there is an unfulfilled demand for rock music on the airwaves in this country, and that the establishment of stations and programmes supporting this musical genre will be of great benefit to the breadth and diversity of the musical output of this country, which has historically produced so much great music".

Rob Stringer, Managing Director, Epic Records: "I wholeheartedly endorse the provision of new rock programming on British radio. This would provide a much needed output for promotion for rock based artists, one that at the moment is limited. This is something that is long overdue".

John Stanley, rock manager, producer and impresario: "As a manager and producer I have been involved with over 40 million album sales. Equally I have been responsible for creating many hundreds of rock special shows. The adult market for authentic rock stations is utterly proven in the USA, and yet it still is only served in the UK by isolated broadcasters. With the bulk of the adult population ageing, nostalgic, and still starved of an authentic rock music diet - a rock radio station deserves absolute support".

What's really needed is a dedicated rock station, run by rock enthusiasts, for rock enthusiasts. It's about time Alice's was back on legally, providing a platform for a style of music which suffers blatant discrimination. I've been looking at various ways this could happen, and have come up with some interesting ideas, so if there are any rock radio oriented people with a bit of get up and go in them, who'd like to help with Alice's, get in touch. It's a bit like getting a band together [or perhaps a team of people to run a rock magazine], so if you're fed up with radio and want to do something about it, maybe you fancy yourself as a 'rock jock' have experience with sales etc etc, or have a rich uncle or maybe you've just won the lottery, drop me a line. It can be done - IS being done, a quick twiddle along the am/fm bands show only too well, that pop fans are able to get their fingers out and get their bland boring projects going.

There's an old proverb which goes:

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem".