Solar Radio

Join MIKE GEE ON A MISSION FROM 1 -3pm with HAPPY DAYS FESTIVAL 2019

With a combination of legendary artists from the 70s, 80s and 90s, that will recreate the feel good factor. Come and reminisce the party vibe across the BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND MAY 25th & 26th at 'Imber Court', East Molesey, Surrey KT10 8EG, an amazing 40 acre site in the heart of Surrey

​The Festival will blend 3 decades of amazing music with other entertainments including a themed retro bar, pyrotechnics, games area, family fun activities. Festival goers will also be able to try the delicious Gastro Grub, which will include a selection of World Fusion food and Vegetarian options.

Tickets are now available for our annual evening soul cruise from 6.30 to 11.30pm on Saturday May 25th (Bank Holiday Weekend) aboard m.v Golden Jubilee - two floors of music with Solar Radio DJs. Please note new times to assist in travel. Buy your tickets HERE

We are sorry to report the sad passing of two key artists from the world  of soul and blues. Singer/writer/keyboard player MICHAEL WYCOFF gained acclaim as background singer on Stevie Wonder album 'Songs in the Key of Life' before signing a solo contract with RCA, with three albums from 1981 to 1983, with hit singles including 'Looking Up To You'. He lost his life to pancreatic cancer on March 13, aged 63 years.   Veteran Chicago singer/musician/producer ANDRE WILLIAMS died in his home city on Sunday (17th) aged 82 years. Andre, from Bessemer, Alabama, was a key figure in Detroit music of the 1950s on Fiortune Records as solo and with the Five Dollars. He moved to Chicago early 1960s, producing hits for Alvin Cash (Twine Time) and the Five DuTones (Shake a Tail Feather), then for Chess  in the later 60s. He continued to produce sessions into the 21st century, but was recently diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. 

Join us on Sunday June 23rd from 1 - 6pm for a midsummer Soul Cruise from Southampton onboard the OCEAN SCENE with two floors of Soul, Funk, Jazz & Soulful house from Solar Dj's TONY MAC, STEVE HOBBS, SIMON VAN OS, DUG CHANT, IAIN BOX & TONY MONSON

Sailing from the Town Quay Marina, Town Quay, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 2AQ.

Tickets at £18 HERE

Available NOW-  our SOLAR SOUL CD, a collection of 15 tracks by singers and groups who have featured on SOLAR RADIO in the past couple of years, and including some exclusive mixes. The CD is in digi-pack format with 4-page gatefold sleeve and full colour 8-page booklet. Full track listing is above. The price for mail-order is £12.50 including postage and packing, and orders can be placed now  HERE

Solar Radio Presents:  Soul on the Tyne 2019                               

Bank Holiday Weekend -  Saturday August 24th  aboard The Fortuna

With Soul, Funk & Jazz from Solar DJ Andrea Robertson + Guest Dj’s Wayne C McDonald & James Anthony

Plus after-party 7.00pm - 2am at : Tiger Hornsby 8-10 Close, Quayside, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 3RE -  ‘Reviving the spirit of the iconic Julie’s Nightclub’ 

Departs fron East Quayside Pontoon, Newcastle Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3DX  at 2.00pm  and returns at 5.00pm.  Tickets just £14.00 HERE

Tickets are SOLD OUT for the SPRING SOUL CRUISE, this on Sunday March 31 from 2pm until 7pm aboard the m.v. GOLDEN JUBILEE, sailing from and returning to Temple Pier, with two floors of music, SOLAR RADIO DJs, and food available to purchase. 

Tickets are ALL SOLD for the Solar Radio Early May Soul Cruise on Sunday May 5, sailing from Temple Pier at 2.00pm aboard m.v. GOLDEN JUBILEE, returning at 7.00pm, two floors of music from Solar Radio DJs, food available to purchase. If you wish to go on the WAITING LIST for possible returns, please email us at info@solarradio.com with your contact details.

The new single by SOULUTIONS featuring LOUISE MEHAN, "Who's Been Kissing You?", from the forthcoming album, is scheduled for release by Festival Park Records on February 22. The track will be available from https://www.soulutionsofficial.co.uk/home

On New Years Day 2019  the daughter of Solar Radio DJ Ash Selector, Ashley Grundy, sadly passed away, aged just 28 years, leaving her two beautiful children Lailani & Maverick behind.

Nobody can replace the unconditional love of a Mother, the most important person in a child's life.
A page has been set up to raise funds for their future care and give them some much needed stability.

Please donate if you can: LAILANI & MAVERICK LIFE FUND

Here are the dates for Solar Radio events in the early part of 2019. Please note that our boat events during this year have usually sold out within a couple of weeks of going on sale, so do look out on our website and on social media for news stories advising of tickets going on sale - and book early to avoid disappointment!

DATES FOR 2019:

SUNDAY March 31 (Spring)-  Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 2pm - 7pm

SATURDAY APRIL 6th SOUTHEND SOUL at the PARK INN by RADISSON PALACE SOUTHEND on SEA ESSEX 7pm - 1am

SUNDAY May 5 (Early May) - Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 2pm - 7pm

SATURDAY May 25 (Evening) -Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 6.30pm -11.30pm (NOT 7 - 12 as previous)

SUNDAY June 23 (Soul on the Solent)- Ocean Scene, Southampton, 1pm - 6pm

SUNDAY June 30 (Mid Summer) - Golden Jubilee, Temple Pier, 2pm - 7pm

SUNDAY July 28  (Summer Soul) - Dutch Master,  Tower Millennium Pier, 1pm - 6pm

SATURDAY August 24  (Soul on the Tyne) - Fortuna, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2pm - 5pm

There will be further cruises during the autumn of 2019, and the year will end once again with our showcase DECEMBER SOUL CRUISE on Sunday December 15 aboard the DIXIE QUEEN.

As of Wednesday November 21st Solar Radio's London DAB service has upgraded to DAB+

Listeners will need a DAB+ compatible radio - most receivers purchased over recent years will be. A retune or rescan may be necessary. Typically this can be done by either pressing a re-tune or auto-tune button or by going in to the menu and selecting scan, full scan or auto-tune.

This is to advise listeners that after May 31, 2019, Solar Radio will no longer be broadcasting on Sky channel 0129.

The decision was taken after much discussion and ‘soul-searching’

Solar Radio came on the Sky platform in September 2000 at a time when internet streaming was in its infancy. However with the station now being available to listeners on a range of  streaming platforms that have developed and become readily available to the popular market, we have arrived at the conclusion the time is right to take this step.

We have undertaken  surveys which have revealed that listeners have readily adopted alternative platforms through which to listen to the station, mainly via our free branded apps for iPhone and Android mobile devices, and similarly for the Echo Dot unit now available at competitive price from Amazon, as well as similar smart speaker systems and Internet Radios. Solar Radio is also readily available via  other apps including TuneIn Radio and RadioplayerUK, and directly from our website at www.solarradio.com.

In the past couple of years, Solar Radio has also been involved in the path-finding small-scale DAB experiment, and is currently available on DAB in the Inner London area (within the North and South Circular Roads), Birmingham, Brighton and Norwich.

Thus, after examining the costs of the Sky platform, for the EPG and the uplink, at some £50,000 per year, and with a mind to potential future complex pan-European licencing requirements, the decision was taken to leave Sky at the conclusion of our existing contract on May 31 2019.

With the ever-increasing number of people tuning to Solar Radio, we are happy to welcome new customers to our events including the ever-popular Soul Cruises, and it may be timely to advise new folk (and remind valued 'regulars'!) of our ticketing procedures. TICKETS ARE SOLD ON A 'FIRM SALE' BASIS. There is no automatic refund for cancellations unless we have published a 'Buy Back' message - any returns will be offered to any Waiting List customers for re-sale. We do not send out tickets for our river events, either by post or as e-tickets, but we do hold all tickets for collection on the day, just before the event. After the initial acknowledgement, the buyer will  later be sent another email, advising of collection time and boarding information. We hope this helps!

CHRISTMAS CRUISE – SUNDAY DECEMBER 16 - every picture tells a story..

SOLAR RADIO now has a dedicated SKILL app on the ECHO DOT device to enable easy access.

Listening to Solar Radio on an Amazon Dot or Echo and Google Home device:

AMAZON DOT / ECHO:  If you have an Amazon Dot or Echo (or any other Amazon smart speaker device) you can listen to Solar Radio by enabling the Solar Radio Alexa Skill.  All you have to do is say “Alexa, Launch Solar Radio”.   You may need to repeat the sentence a couple of times before it responds but once enabled you can simply say  “Alexa, Play Solar Radio” to play the station.  You can also enable the Skill via the Amazon store HERE.

GOOGLE HOME:  For Google Home simply say “Okay Google, Play Solar Radio”.   You may need to add  “… on TuneIn”  at the end if it fails to respond

A reminder that the dedicated SOLAR RADIO app for Android devices is available NOW to download and install FOR FREE from the Google Play Store, featuring choice of 64k or 128k streams, schedule information, contact and social media links, available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SolarRadioAndroid  Also available from the Apple Store, is an UPGRADE to the SOLAR RADIO app for i-PHONE.

Beer & Banter - Check out the Video:

Solar Radio can be heard on DAB in Birmingham, Brighton, in the London area, with the boundary of the North and South Circular Roads,  and Norwich, all part of the Small Scale DAB trial as promoted by OfCom. If you are new to DAB radio receivers, it is worth noting that the most complete range of available stations will be found by doing a full scan near to a window and in the highest available location in your property.

Our Sunday morning 'In Orbit' man, CLIVE R, has written his autobiography - entitled SOUL CITIZEN- relating his memories and experiences over his fifty years as a soul fan, record-collector, music journalist, club and concert-goer, oh, and soul radio DJ! 

Following the excellent response to his set on the April Soul Cruise, Clive is now making the book available direct to Solar Radio listeners. Purchase the book HERE