%0 Book Section %T Gaywaves: transcending boundaries - the rise and demise of Britain's first gay radio program %A Wilson, Paul; Linfoot, Matthew %C Bielefeld, Germany %D 2018 %8 2019-04-11 %E Föllmer, Golo; Badenoch, Alexander; %I Transcript %7 %P 73-80 %@ 978-3-8394-3913-5 %U http://cadensa.bl.uk %X At the beginning of 1982, an array of conflicting forces was working to shape the landscape of Europe’s metropolitan radio services, and to alternatively control, commodify or liberate its gay communities.1 This paper examines the drivers, which inspired Gaywaves, a nascent weekly gay community radio program broadcasting to an inner London audience on pirate station Our Radio from May 1982 until March 1983. Though its primary aim was to inform and connect the disparate and sometimes isolated constituents of London’s gay communities, it also sought to connect with gay and lesbian movements further afield – in Europe and America – in an attempt to harness collective strength and solidarity. Despite the brevity of the Gaywaves experiment, it was nonetheless a significant attempt to foreground gay lives and experiences on radio, and to use the airwaves to make meaningful connections with communities inside and outside their broadcast range. %G English %[ 2024-03-28 %9 Book chapter %~ Hyku %W British Library