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Background
We could tell you how a bunch of volunteers felt inspired by the legacy of the late and much-missed BBC Radio DJ John Peel to create our own Internet radio station, named after Dandelion Records, the label Peel ran from 1969-1973. We could tell you that we're bored with automated and formatted radio, and yearn for the days when DJs made it up as they went along, like we do. Or that we want to serve the needs of the people who create and distribute new and interesting music and provide a unique listening experience, with the spirit of Peel running through all we do. We could also tell you about all the strange, challenging, new, old and different music we play. And the exclusive live recordings and sessions we regularly feature. Or about how we are the official new home of John Peel's legendary Festive Fifty - a broadcasting institution since 1976.
However, we think our station speaks for itself. So why not click on one of the 'listen live' links above and hear what it has to say?
You can find out more about us and our achievements under History, below.
The Stream
We broadcast our monthly shows consecutively, in a schedule that loops 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Shows are not downloadable. Tracklistings are published online at the end of every month. There are two ways to hear our audio stream: the 'all media players' link allows you to see which artist and track is currently playing in real-time using media players such as Winamp, iTunes and RealPlayer; the other link will open in Windows Media Player, but will not display track information.
The home page of this site also provides live track details, biographies and web links for each artist, which auto-refreshes every 30 seconds.
The new schedule begins at midnight on the 1st of every month. Because we're self-financed, we are limited in the number of listeners we can support online at any time, so if you can't access the stream, please do try again later. If you have any problems with the link or the connection, please let us know and we'll try to help.
Demo Submissions
If you have some music you want us to hear, or if you're interested in getting involved with Dandelion Radio, visit the Contact section of this site. Thanks to everyone who has sent in demos, records & CDs. Keep them coming - everything gets a listen.
History
• 31 January 2006: First ever meeting of Dandelion Radio, at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. Members see Mogwai and Jakokoyak record a live session for Radio 1's One Music show, and discuss plans for launching an Internet radio station. See Photos section for pictures of the event.
• 15 February 2006: Members meet again at Maida Vale, this time to see The Suicidal Birds recording a live session for One Music while discussing plans for Dandelion Radio. More pictures in Photos.
• 21 June 2006: Dandelion Radio begins broadcasting its first stream, with shows from Andy, Dan, Mark Rosney, Neil Jenkins and Rocker.
• August 2006: Peter Nelson and Rachael Neiman both contribute their first shows to Dandelion.
• October 2006: Steve and Brian, otherwise known as Radiodubster, join Dandelion Radio and broadcast their first show.
• November 2006: Dandelion Radio is asked to take over the late John Peel's annual Festive Fifty listener's poll by his former BBC production team. Dandelion Radio and its Festive Fifty are promoted heavily on Radio 1 by both Huw Stephens and Rob Da Bank.
• 1 December 2006: Voting begins for Dandelion Radio's 2006 Festive Fifty - marking the first time it's ever been broadcast on any station other than Radio 1.
• January 2007: The results of Dandelion Radio's first ever Festive Fifty are broadcast in a show that repeats throughout the month. The show is co-hosted by a number of Dandelion Radio DJs, who each count down a different section of the chart. Tall Pony's darkly humorous cult classic 'I'm Your Boyfriend Now' takes the coveted number one spot, as introduced by Neil Jenkins. Portsmouth's Autons are at number two with their frantic electro-punk track 'Snakes'.
• 26 January 2007: Steve Evans of Dubster records Shifty Disco Records' 10th anniversary gig at the Kilburn Luminaire in London - live performances by My Device, The Race, Seagull Strange and Paperlung all get broadcast on Dandelion Radio during 2007. See Photos section for pictures of the night .
• February 2007: Festive Fifty high-flyers Autons become the first ever act to feature in session on Dandelion Radio, with four tracks appearing exclusively on Andy's show.
The Dubster boys broadcast a show documenting the 10-year history of Shifty Disco Records, featuring two hours of live tracks and releases from the Oxford-based record company, as well as an interview with label boss Dave Newton.
• 6 February 2007: Autons, Forest Giants and King Of Spain perform live for the first ever Dandelion Radio night at the Shoreditch Cargo in London, with Andy and Rocker both playing DJ sets. All three bands are recorded by Dandelion Radio for future broadcast. See Photos section for pictures of the event.
• 23 February 2007: Dandelion Radio's live recording of The Race's 'Comfort, Comfort' is released as a single on the Shifty Disco Records MP3 Singles Club.
• March 2007: Neil Jenkins broadcasts the Luminaire live set by My Device recorded in January. Andy plays Seagull Strange's set from the same night during his show. Rachael's show features live tracks from Forest Giants at Cargo in February.
• April 2007: Sasser joins Dandelion Radio and broadcasts his debut show. Forest Giants appear in session on Andy's show alongside a live recording of Samuraj Cities playing a support slot for I'm From Barcelona on March 27th 2007 at Koko in Camden, London.
• 21 April 2007: Andy and Paul meet John Peel favourites Decoration at Gravity Shack studios in London to watch them record an exclusive session for Dandelion Radio. The session is broadcast during Andy's June show. See pictures of the day in the Photos section.
• May 2007: Mark Whitby, author of the book 'The Festive Fifty' presents his first ever show on Dandelion Radio. Horrowitz feature in session on Rocker's show. The Bobby's McGee's are Andy's session guests, with Paperlung's Luminaire live set also featuring.
• June 2007: Rachael has Syd Howells in session. Andy broadcasts Decoration's session, including brand new song 'Good Health' and an excellent cover version of 'Laid', originally by James. He also features a live set by Hush The Many, recorded at The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, on April 18th 2007.
• July 2007: Rachael's session guest this month is Master Solo. Andy features King Of Spain's live tracks recorded earlier in the year at the Shoreditch Cargo
• August 2007: Andy broadcasts the Luminaire live performance from The Race recorded as part of the Shifty Disco 10th anniversary night back in January. His girlfriend Teresa contributes her first two 'Tasty Tips' during a guest spot pre-recorded at her home.
• September 2007: Neil Jenkins' show features a session from Cartridge. Mark Whitby's has one from Subliminal Attraction. Andy's best friend Scott Ruston introduces the first of his regular 'Funky Five Minutes' during Andy's show. These are not always funky, or five minutes, but they are recorded on location at their local pub, The Coach & Horses in Hilsea, Portsmouth.
• October 2007: Voting begins for the second Dandelion Radio Festive Fifty. Again, Rob Da Bank and Huw Stephens plug the poll and Dandelion on Radio 1. Mark Whitby's session guests are 2 Hot 2 Sweat. Andy's session is from Epic45. Mark Rosney contributes his first show for ages...
• November 2007: As Festive Fifty voting continues, Autons become the first band invited to contribute a second session to Dandelion Radio, debuting three brand new songs on Andy's show. Rocker features live recordings from Pete Green.
• December 2007: Voting closes for the 2007 Festive Fifty. The results are compiled and broadcast in a show presented by several Dandelion DJs, repeating within the regular schedule from Christmas Day until the end of January 2008. Battles are very worthy winners with 'Atlas', from their album 'Mirrored'. Fittingly, Mark Whitby (author of a book about the Festive Fifty) has the privilege of announcing this year's top five. Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip are runners up with 'Thou Shalt Always Kill'.
Mark Cunliffe joins Dandelion Radio, providing his own show and also participating in the Christmas Eve Festive Fifty Build-Up show and the Festive Fifty show itself.
Andy plays classic tracks from previous Festive Fifties in his show, and also features a session from The Pony Collaboration.
• January 2008: As the Festive Fifty repeats throughout the month, Pete Jackson joins Dandelion Radio with his one-hour demo show featuring in the schedule. Steve Evans makes up for the lack of a regular Dubster show with Electronicshire, a one-hour program playing experimental electronic music.
Rachael Neiman and boyfriend Adam are joined in the studio by solo artist Ste McCabe, who chats and picks some of his favourite records.
Scott Ruston courts controversy during Andy's show, selecting Whitesnake's 'Here I Go Again' as his 'Funky Five Minutes', justifying his choice by saying it would make great walk-on music for a big sporting event. The nation shudders in disapproval.
• February 2008: Peter Nelson returns to Dandelion Radio after a lengthy absence, featuring an exclusive session from Persil.
• March 2008: Peter Nelson features a continuous mix from Black Rabbit. Andy's girlfriend Teresa engineers and co-presents his show after he breaks both his arms in a cycling accident!
• 9 March 2008:
Andy records Eliza Newman (formerly of Bellatrix) performing at The Bullingdon in Oxford on 9th March for future broadcast - see Photos for pictures of the gig.
• 18 March 2008: New-look website goes live.
• April 2008: Dandelion enlists the talents of The Yank Sizzler, who appears for the first time with the show he submitted as a demo to the station. Sessions this month are from Dandelion Children (Neil Jenkins), Dalmatian Rex And The Eigentones (Mark Whitby), Atomizer (Andy) and Rafter (Andy).
Andy provides an additional two-hour 'Autons Special', in which Dave and Tony from the band co-present, picking their favourite records, playing their new single 'Election Singer/Devil In Me' for the first time anywhere, and introducing an exclusive Autons live recording. See Photos for some pictures of the show being recorded.
With hotspots like London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Norwich already placed further down the list, Mark Whitby finally reveals the greatest UK town or city for music during his show.
• 18 April 2008: Andy DJs for an Autons gig at The Fawcett Inn, Portsmouth - see a photo here.
• May 2008: May's schedule is the longest yet - 22 hours in length over ten different shows. Sessions come from Skin2Soul (Mark Whitby), The War Crimes (Andy) and Before You Die... (Andy). Andy also features an exclusively-recorded live track from Eliza Newman, recorded in Oxford back in March - pictures of which can be seen here.
• 14 May 2008: Andy and girlfriend Teresa appear as guests on Mark Parham's show for Portsmouth radio station Express FM, promoting Dandelion Radio, picking some tracks and talking about John Peel.
• June 2008: Another 22-hour/10 show schedule, with sessions from Violet Violet (Rocker - see pictures of the session in Photos) and Whole Sky Monitor (Andy), a second exclusive live recording from Eliza Newman (Andy), and Pete Jackson's top five cover versions. Teresa helps Andy present an additional two-hour 'Fantasy Festival' special, in which they pick their ideal line-up for a 2008 summer festival!
• 5 June 2008: Dandelion Radio launches its Facebook page.
• July 2008: Horowitz contribute their second session to Rocker's show, along with a session from McDowell - see pictures of both sessions being recorded in Photos. Andy's show includes a session from Ramp and a third live recording from Eliza Newman.
• August 2008: Dandelion Radio welcomes two new DJs to the station: Simon Hickinbotham and Jeff Grainger, whose demo shows both feature as debut broadcasts. Mark Rosney makes a welcome return, with a show featuring Rachel & The Lawn Grower in session. Andy's session guests are Alex Canasta, and Rocker has The Parallelograms in session on his show - see a picture from the session here.
• 8 August 2008: Andy travels up to Gravity Shack studios in London again, to watch Decoration their second exclusive session for his show. The session is broadcast during Andy's September show. See a photo of the evening here.
• 22 August 2008: Andy DJs for Alex Canasta's album launch party at the Damhus Tivoli in Copenhagen. Their live performance is recorded for future broadcast - see pictures of the night in Photos.
• September 2008: Pete Jackson warms up for the first Dandelion Radio night in Warrington on September 19th with some classic live mayhem from headliners Lovecraft.
Steve and Brian of Dubster host a T In The Park & Wickerman festivals special, with backstage access and interviews from many of the acts appearing at those events - see pictures in Photos. Ste McCabe is a guest on Rachael Neiman's show for the second time in 2008.
Past John Peel faves Decoration are in session on Dandelion for the second time, performing material from their new album and a mystery cover version on Andy's show. Andy also features an exclusive Alex Canasta remix, as well as a live recording from's the band's Copenhagen album launch party, and an innovative live violin and decks session from Fidgital.
Mark Cunliffe has live drum & bass from Iziah DC, and there are also shows from Jeff Grainger, Rocker, Simon and The Yank Sizzler.
• 6 September 2008: Andy presents a show on Bestival Radio live from the music festival site, broadcasting to the entire Isle of Wight on 87.7MHz FM and the world at www.bestival.net.
• October 2008: Voting begins for the 2008 Festive Fifty - the third time this listeners' poll has been held by Dandelion Radio. October's schedule is the longest yet, with 23 hours of shows including The Yank Sizzler, Simon, Rocker, Rachael, Neil, Mark Cunliffe and Jeff. Andy's show has a live session recorded at Alex Canasta's album launch party in Copenhagen, Pete Jackson has a session from Lovecraft, and Mark Whitby's show features Art Raghfunkle providing the shortest ever session recorded for Dandelion Radio!
• November 2008: As voting continues for the 2008 Festive Fifty, acclaimed Dutch DJ Marcelle joins Dandelion Radio, presenting her debut show on the station as part of the ten show, 24-hour looping schedule (our longest ever, again). Mark Cunliffe features a live set from Babar Luck recorded at The Vic in Derby, Jeff's show includes its first ever session guests Dalmation Rex And The Eigentones, Andy's show features two more exclusive live tracks from Alex Canasta's Copenhagen album launch party, and France's Al Dente Records is Mark Whitby's featured label.
• 14 November 2008
"Excellent... you will almost certainly love it": Dandelion Radio features in an article for national UK newspaper The Guardian on Friday 14 November - read it online here.
• 26 November 2008
"Dandelion is a sanctuary of thumping, spirited weirdness": Dandelion Radio appears again The Guardian newspaper, this time receiving a glowing review in its TV & Radio pages - read it online here.
• December 2008
December sees the addition of another new DJ to Dandelion Radio, with Matt Jones contributing his first show to our 25-hour looping schedule. Mark Cunliffe's show includes the second half of Babar Luck's live set at The Vic in Derby. Machine Boy and Galleon both contribute live sessions to Jeff's show. The schedule becomes longer still from Christmas Day until the end of January, when the results of the 2008 Festive Fifty broadcast in a four-hour countdown show, repeating every day.
Dandelion treasurer Alan Williams appears as a guest on several editions of Martin Hovden's 'Live Sounds Live' show for Southport Community Radio, promoting Dandelion Radio and playing tracks we've featured. Dandelion also features in Martin's column for Sefton and West Lancashire's Champion Newspaper.
• January 2009
While the Festive Fifty countdown repeats each day as part of Dandelion Radio's January schedule, Rocker's regular show features live recordings from The Wedding Present and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Matt's second show for Dandelion features his first exclusive session, with Kid Hideous providing exclusively-recorded tracks.
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