TotalRock is a radio station based in London, England. The station first started in 1997 as Rock Radio Network (RRN), changing name to TotalRock in 2000. The station broadcasts rock and metal music internationally across the internet.

History

Rock Radio Network

Set up by radio and rock luminaries Tommy Vance, Tony Wilson, Andy King, David Clouter and Nigel Roberts, RRN started broadcasting in 1997 online from the front room of a DJ's house on Briarfield Avenue,

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

, known as 'The Skullery'.

TotalRock

With a move to the function room of The Kings Head in Fulham, TotalRock began broadcasting on 1251AM in London with a

Restricted Service Licence A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL) is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofcom ...

on 29 May 2000, with BBC Radio 1 '' Friday Rock Show'' creator Tony Wilson, the legendary ‘Voice Of Metal’ DJ Tommy Vance, CEO Boyd Steemson and the metal guru, journalist and author, Malcolm Dome. The station produced a series of shows for Sanctuary Music's "Metal-Is" website and in early 2001 TotalRock launched free-to-air digital satellite service. Commercial pressures led to TotalRock losing its satellite licence in 2002, however, the station was already streaming all shows worldwide through its website. This later became the station's sole method of output, and it was voted the world's best online metal station in the Online Metal Awards in 2002. In 2004,

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

's Denmark Place became the home of TotalRock until

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

developments forced a move to the parallel Denmark Street in 2010. With high business rates in the centre of the city, TotalRock looked elsewhere and found a home in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

, East London, in 2012.

Bloodstock Radio

On Halloween 2012, it was announced that TotalRock would merge with

Bloodstock Open Air Bloodstock Open Air is a British heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, since 2005. Originally held indoors for one day with two stages, the festival started in 2001 at the Derby Assembly Rooms and ...

to become Bloodstock Radio from 1 December. Shortly afterwards in 2013 came the move to the basement of The Cape of Good Hope in Euston. Under new management, the pub was converted to a rock bar and allowed TotalRock to flourish and broaden the brand with club nights and live acoustic gigs.

Return to TotalRock

In January 2014, the station reverted to the TotalRock name, however, only months later misfortune struck and the station was forced to vacate its studios due to the landlord returning the lease. Though currently minus a headquarters, the station continues through remote broadcasting.

Locations

*1997–2000,

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

RRN was broadcast from the front living room of rock DJ "Skull"; the location was nicknamed "The Skullery". *2000–2004, The Kings Head,

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

A pub in South West London, with purpose built studios in the function room upstairs. This venue enabled the TotalFest gigs to be held The first floor area which was the offices of Total Rock, was once where Robert Plant and Jimmy Page used to rehearse. *2004–2009, 1 Denmark Place,

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

Initially the studio, library and office were located in one practice room on the first floor of Enterprise Studios, using a section of the studio wall from The Kings Head to sound proof the studio. In early 2005, the office relocated to attic space of 1 Denmark Place and allowed for a second studio. *2009–2011, 24

Denmark Street Denmark Street is a street on the edge of London's West End running from Charing Cross Road to St Giles High Street. It is near St Giles in the Fields Church and Tottenham Court Road station. The street was developed in the late 17th centu ...

, Soho, Central London With the development of the London

Link, along with the

London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England, that operated from 1976 to 2009. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in t ...

Astoria 2 The Astoria 2, subsequently known as the LA2 and later the Mean Fiddler, was a nightclub at 165 Charing Cross Road in London, England. History The venue was originally a ballroom in the basement of the London Astoria theatre and connected by ...

, The Metro, The Ghetto and Sin nightclub, a section of Denmark Place also needed to be demolished. This included both the office and studios of TotalRock, though largely, Enterprise Studios were able to remain until the complete destruction of Denmark Street north in 2015. Studio Sonic practice and recording studios in the basement were also evicted. With this, TotalRock moved to

, also known as the British

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

. *2011–2013, 8-10 Rhoda Street,

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

, East End of London In mid-2011, TotalRock once again relocated their entire premises to Rhoda Street just off

Brick Lane Brick Lane () is a street in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest, mo ...

in East London. *2013–2014, The Cape of Good Hope, Albany Street, Euston, North London TotalRock next enjoyed a brief six months at the post-war built pub with studios built in the cellar. The premises were newly decorated to a rock bar theme but due to bad trade the landlord returned his lease. *Present The station continues to broadcast with live shows via remote.

TotalRock Television

In 2001 TotalRock became available on Sky Digital as a radio channel. This ceased in 2002. In 2006 TotalRock and Rockworld TV teamed up to bring a show, ''TotalRock Presents...Licensed To Rock''. This was broadcast on Sky Digital channel 368 and on

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...

at Rockworld's website. TotalRock have a

YouTube Channel YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San B ...

to host video interviews.

DJs

Notable DJs have included Tommy Vance, (Stephen Robinson) Malcolm Dome,Nigel Skull Roberts, Steve 'Krusher' Joule, Angelina Håkansson, Robin Guy,

Doogie White Douglas "Doogie" White (born 7 March 1960) is a Scottish rock vocalist who currently sings for La Paz. He has also notably sung for Rainbow (rock band), Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Praying Ma ...

, Bill Steer,

Julia Hardy Julia Hardy, also known as Jules Hardy, is a British television presenter known for their interests in gaming, music, e-sports, and new technology. They are the creator and presenter of the online fitness programme Game to Train. In addition t ...

, Anna Phoebe, Natasha Scharf, Chris Dale, Dom Lawson, Bob Slayer,

Garry Bushell Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York C ...

Neal Kay Neal Kay (born 10 February 1950) is a former London-based disc jockey, who was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), along with Tommy Vance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Career Neal Kay has alwa ...

Ginger Wildheart Ginger Wildheart (born David Leslie Walls; 17 December 1964), sometimes known simply as Ginger, is an English rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career as a guitarist in the Quireboys, but is best known as the fo ...

Alan Freeman Alan Leslie Freeman MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff", was an Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presenting '' Pick of the Pops'' from 1961 to 20 ...

, Pandora.

References

External links

*{{Official website Internet radio stations in the United Kingdom Rock radio stations in the United Kingdom