Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Kiss FM's Harringay Connection - Music Power Green Lanes
Last year Liz stumbled on a mention of the old Music Power record shop. It used to be based in what is now the unused half of Paul Simon Estate Agents.
I've just stumbled over another mention of the shop; this time in connenction with the history of Kiss FM. It's unclear what role Music Power played in the radio station's history, but I'd be interested to learn more.
During the first three months of 1987, the DTI carried out 119 raids, compared to 209 in the whole of the previous year. Despite this increased level of harassment, KISS FM managed to broadcast successfully every weekend during January and the first half of February. Then the station's transmitter engineer suddenly quit, and an attempt by a new enginner to put the station back on-air failed. DJs were asked to pay the station for presenting their shows, so as to raise money to pay for further engineers, but some objected to such a system and left the station. Rumours circulated for a while that the remaining preseters were about to leave the station en masse and join another pirate station, but KISS FM eventually organised a return to the airwaves during March after a five week break. It had a new programme schedule and a new mailing address - 37 Grand Parade, Green Lanes, Harringay - the location of a soul music shop called Music Power.
Kiss FM: From Radical Radio to Big Business, Grant Goddard, Radio Books, 2011
I'm gusseing that the role Music Power played was no more than that of a bit part player in the cat and mouse game the station was playing with the DTI..........but you may know different!
In the early 1990s, Chris Simon, who co-ran Music Power record was also broadcasting on Pulse 90.6 FM. Here's a show of his from 1992. A comment on the British Record Archive website says that Pulse Radio was "born" at Music Power Harringay - thoughit's not clear if that means the idea was born in tghe shopor the station started its broadcasts there
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Comment by Hugh on May 24, 2015 at 11:25
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I've also learned that owner NIcky Power started the Ruff, Tuff & Wicked Stuff Records label out of this shop in 1991. He then opened a second branch in Ilford, Essex in 1993. The record label was subsquently run from a third shop Music Power Sound & Light, a few doors away from the Ilford branch of the record shop. Below is a sample of the label's output from the Harringay years.
Label: Ruff, Tuff & Wicked Stuff Records – MPRT 4
Format: Vinyl, 12", White Label, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1992
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hardcore
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Music Power Advert, thanks to music forum FYE Brownswood.
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Comment by Charlotte on May 29, 2015 at 7:40
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My partner in the late 80s was a DJ on Kiss FM from when it was a pirate station. I never heard of Music Power, but we did move to this part of the world from Finsbury Park as he was recording (tracks) and producing records at Livingstone Studios next to Island in Woodgreen
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That must have been a fascintaing period Charlotte. I'm not surprised that you hadn't heard of Music Power since, as I said, they were just a bit player. I imagine that KISS needed a mailing address and the Green Lanes shop gave them that and nothing more. Since they needed to evade the authorities, it is unlilkley that they ever broadcast from the premises.
With the links to KISS and Pulse the shop was clearly involved in the pirate radio scene and that much is an interesting part of Harringay's history for me.
I bet you have some great stories from the Livingtone in the 80s.
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Yes we moved here around 1988 and I am still here. Funnily enough a friend and I got chatting to two guys who were seated next to us in Durazzo and they were recording music in a house on the ladder. Brought it all back and it was really fun to talk to them.
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Comment by christina edwards on June 1, 2015 at 19:13
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we used to go to music power to get rave tickets in the early 90's it was the hub of the underground scene in north london...which is still going strong. pulse Fm sadly has gone but many of the djs' now play on originfm and koollondon...never too old to rave/ hardcore will never die!!! :)
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