Many Southenders will remember the birth of the first local radio station for Southend-on-Sea as Essex Radio, back in September 1981, broadcasting from Clifftown Road, but the first real radio station from Essex, was MZX, an experimental Marconi station.

After a few test broadcasts, in June 1920, world renowned opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba, performed a pioneering radio broadcast from the Marconi works in Chelmsford.

While few heard this early broadcast, it was a world first, and that and other subsequent broadcasts cemented Essex as the home of broadcasting.

To commemorate this broadcast, radio amateurs (radio hams) in Chelmsford have been hosting an exhibition and broadcasting to other enthusiasts under the callsign GB90MZX.

We’ve been lucky enough to record an interview with John Bowen, the Chairman of the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society, which has been kindly hosted by our podcasting friends at FrequencyCast.

If you’re interested in the history of radio in our county, please take a listen to this 20 minute interview. You’ll find it at www.frequencycast.co.uk/historyofradio.html

The station re-launched at 6am – first track was Janet Jackson, The Best Things in Life are Free.

Here’s a short extract from today’s 6am launch: Heart Essex Relaunch 2.1 Meg MP3.

Below is a picture of the main Heart Essex studio in Glebe Road, Chelmsford, rebranded with Heart.

As we covered in our recent Essex FM becomes Heart piece, many will see the transition to the Heart corporate brand as a sad day for local radio in Essex after 27 years of Essex Radio and Essex FM.

Got a comment? Noticed the change? Let us know.

As we’ve reported before, Essex FM is owned by the largest commercial radio group in the UK, Global Radio. Their three-phase plan to rebrand over 30 stations with a local identity to “Heart”.

For the last couple of weeks, listeners to Essex FM will have noticed subtle changes to the music format and branding – getting listeners gently ready for Monday’s change.

What does this mean for local listeners? Many of the presenters remain the same, including Martin and Sue’s breakfast show. Some shows will now be “networked”, including the 10am-1pm weekday show with Toby Anstis, and the evening “Heartbreakers” show. Less local programming, new jingles, and a form of programming identical to the other 32 “Heart” stations around the UK.

The Good Old Days: Essex Radio started back in 1981, and has seen many changes over the years. Any of these ring any bells? “Somewhere Special”, “We’ll make it a great today”, “The Big SX”, “Greatest Memories, Latest Hits”, “Essex (swoosh swoosh) FM”, or “Today’s Best Mix”. Various identities that your first local station has been known by.

Want more? Keen to reminisce about local radio in Essex? Here’s some links:

• Essex Radio Remembered
• Archive recordings and jingles

Happy with Heart? Happy to find your local station becoming part of a brand? Moved on to a different Southend radio station? Or happy to stick with Heart? Please add your comments below.

Farewell Essex Radio and Essex FM… and thanks for being “Somewhere Special”.

Queen: “All we hear is Radio ga ga… Radio goo goo… Radio blah blah…”

This UK-wide re-branding of stations to the “Heart” umbrella started in January 2009, and Essex FM will be one of the last stations to change its name. Once complete, 33 local radio stations will be “Heart” branded. More on the re-brands.

Essex Radio started in 1981 from a basement below Southend’s Clifftown Road. The company was owned by local businesses including department store Keddies, H.W Stones, Garons and T.O.T.S nightclub. The station’s changed hands a few times, and now broadcasts from Chelmsford.

After nearly 28 years, it seems seems “Essex” will be dropped from the station’s name in the next couple of months.

Sad to see “Essex” lose its identity? Looking forward to the new sound of “Heart”? Or have you moved on to listening to the newer local stations? Have your say below…

Within a few hours, listeners started springing up on Facebook trying to “Save Martin and Su”, but the whole story was in fact, a publicity stunt, presumably to hide the fact that the pair were taking a few days off, and in the hope of getting some media attention.

Seems Essex FM got what it bargained for – the badly-timed stunt clashed with the Jonathan Ross / Russell Brand / Andrews Sachs controversy, and, according to the Evening Echo, as “an unauthorised publicity stunt”. Parent company Global Radio is apparently launching an internal enquiry, and the pair returned to the station on Thursday.

For more on the story, see the Evening Echo Story, where you’ll find over 40 comments, mostly indicating that Southend Radio’s done rather well out of this.

Also, see the following story: Martin and Su’s jobs are safe

Global Radio has plans to re-brand 29 of their UK commercial radio stations either to “Heart” or to “Galaxy”, and Essex FM will reportedly be rebranded to be “Heart”. Also set to go, is Kent radio station “Invicta FM”.

The loss of the Essex FM identity could take up to 18 months to take effect. Possibly not good news for Essex listeners who’ve grown up with Essex Radio / Essex FM brand since 1981. More on Essex Radio’s history.

Not happy to see the loss of Essex FM? Comments welcomed below…

Southender Gary Bullock told us: “From a Southend perspective, last season’s home gate averaged over 8,000. With travelling fans averaging a creditable few hundred, that leaves over 7,000 avid supporters who, for reasons such as other commitments or financial considerations, will not now be able to enjoy the excitement of a Saturday afternoon’s sport. Even more supporters will suffer as the financial burden of spiralling fuel costs make the prospect of regular away travel simply too expensive. Considering the nature of the Corporation’s funding I would have expected a more community-friendly approach to broadcasting schedules.

A member of Shrimperzone.com, a Southend United fansite, has instigated an on-line petition to press the BBC to reconsider. www.petitiononline.com/bbcessex/petition.html.

Got a comment? Add it below.

The new station is staffed by a number of names from former Southend-based radio station Essex FM, including Mike Porter, Tracie Young, Ben Payne, Tracy Cooper, Nick Hull and Adrian Fox.

With the slogan “Playing Just Great Songs”, the station went live on Friday the 28th of March 2008, following weeks of test transmissions consisting of the sound of waves sloshing against the shore.

The station kicked off at 8am, with breakfast show presenter Mike Porter and newsman Nick Hull. In the first link, Mike told listeners that this morning, the “colour of adrenaline is brown”, played a station jingle, remarked that the toilet roll holder in their new building only dispenses one sheet of toilet paper at a time, before kicking off with the first song: Chris Rea’s On The Beach.

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The on-air date for the station is understood to be 28th March 2008

More on local radio on our Southend Radio section.