Top of the radio pops! (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Top of the radio pops!

12:50pm Thursday 22nd January 2009 in Local By Vicky O'Hare

POP pickers were in their element as DJs at Hospital Radio Basingstoke (HRB) took to the decks for the annual chart countdown – and to celebrate the station’s 25th birthday.

The popular station, which operates out of a cabin near the maternity wards at Basingstoke hospital, has been pumping out the hits since 1984 and has taken requests from tens of thousands of people.

Neil Ogden, programme controller, said: “Every time someone makes a request, we make a note and this is the fifth year in a row we have done the artists countdown, which is compiled from over 68,000 requests since HRB went on the air in January 1984.”

Fellow DJs Sarah Beattie and Steve Fox also took part in the countdown of the top 80 artists.

The show even had an international twist with former station member, DJ Andy McCormick, making a guest appearance from his home in Auckland, New Zealand.

Steve Fox, who worked on HRB’s first-ever show, said: “People like Neil are the unsung heroes of stations like this.

“The service HRB provides is extremely valuable to all the patients and their families who have to spend time in hospital.”

The first record played on the station, when the equipment was a little less sophisticated than the state-of-the-art new studio it now calls home, was Donna Summer’s On The Radio, and Steve said the facilities are now good enough to rival local radio stations.

Neil added: “It’s great that we have so many requests. This chart just puts them all into context and shows exactly what people spending time in Basingstoke hospital want to hear.”

The official opening of the new studio is scheduled to take place in April with a special celebrity guest set to join in.