DESCRIPTION: January 10th, 2000. I'm heading down to Enigma Digital. In my rental car are two CD-Rs. One CD-R is a one hour re-edited loop of "Expo 2000" by Kraftwerk, and the other CD-R is a montage I made of a ton of Groove Radio IDs and drops (snippets from TV shows and records), as well as some of my own samples.

At midnight on January 11th, 2000, Groove Radio dot com launched. Headed by Bob Ezrin (Enigma Digital), and run by "Swedish" Egil Aalvik, this was the next step for the radio station. Groove Radio started as a regular FM radio station at 1425 5th Street in Santa Monica, California in 1996. Now, a few years after the FM station had gone off the air, a new "online" version was starting up just a few blocks from where the original FM station started (1424 Lincoln Blvd, between Santa Monica Blvd and Broadway).

As with the FM version, I did a lot of music production for the station. Music editing, remixes, ID/jingle/imaging creation, and on the new "online" station, I even had my own weekly show.

For this new station launch, Egil tasked me with making a music bed to play an hour before the January 11th launch (the previously mentioned Kraftwerk), and also to create the "Introduction to the station" imaging mix. With two CD-Rs in hand, I drove from Burbank to Santa Monica.

When I got to the station, I nearly shit myself. In jewel case #1 was the Kraftwerk hour long loop, but the jewel case for the highly important "launch of the station" imaging mix was empty! Before I had left my home, I proofed both CD-Rs, to be sure that all was good. Sadly, in my rush, I had left the second CD-R in the damn player at home!

Someone said "There's no way you can get from Santa Monica to Burbank, and back to Santa Monica before the Kraftwerk CD finishes". Hold my beer...

With mighty acceleration, and flashing a blue LED from my keychain to the top of the car's windshield (to look like a cop), I got from the station, to my place, and back, in 39 minutes! As I told my "car pool lane" passenger when he said "Aren't you afraid of getting a speeding ticket?", "Dude! I'm essentially impersonating a cop. Going over 100 is nothing compared to that!" :)

Walking into the station victorious, I sat down in front of the console, and got ready to launch the station. As you see in the picture above (taken by DJ Dave from Virgin Megastore), fellow Groove DJs Alan Freed and Christian B were by my side as I launched the station.

Fun fact: I didn't play anyone what I had made for the imaging mix before it aired. If I had, I am sure Egil would have politely asked me to take out the multiple samples of him I snuck into the mix.

To save you all from 60 minutes of looping Kraftwerk, for this online version, I start the file off at the end of the Kraftwerk loop, and then get into the imaging mix, just like I did when the clock struck midnight on January 11th, 2000.

Fun Fact #2: No one specifically said "Hey BRAT. Man the board." I just sat there at the control board, took charge, and started the station.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the launch of Groove Radio dot com, not heard since 2000!

File uploaded: April 9th, 2020