Good morning friends.
Seven years ago today, on Monday September 15th 2014, I broadcast the very first Richie Allen Show. FAB Radio’s Paul Ripley built a modest but functional studio in the spare bedroom of the house that we were renting at the time. We’d recently arrived in Fallowfield having spent 18 months in London.
The studio was modest because I had very little money. I had a Behringer desk, a rode microphone and two computers. One of them was an iMac which I never liked.
Paul did a cracking job with the rudimentary gear and at 8pm that night I went to air. I edited together a theme tune and used some FAB jingles. My great mate Hayden Hewitt was among the guests that night (I had four I think) and the show went off without a glitch.
I finished at 10pm. I was knackered. I’d been really nervous all day. I had turned down a lucrative offer from a commercial radio station to go it alone and I wasn’t convinced I’d made the right choice. My soul mate (the oft mentioned El Froggo Tremendo) had no doubts. She was certain from the outset that I’d made the right move.
My old mate David Icke was just as positive. When I was considering going back into commercial radio, David advised me that I wouldn’t be happy not being able to choose who I talked to and what we discussed on-air. He was right. He very generously offered to stream it daily on his website. There were no conditions. He wanted nothing in return. His family were brilliant too. They always have been.
I jumped in with both feet. I dedicated myself totally to producing the best possible show I could, every single day. I asked the listeners to consider supporting it, if they liked it. I made a promise. I said that I would never put it behind a paywall. I meant that. I still do.
Time flew. Suddenly I’d been on air for a year, then two, then three. I was working eighty hours a week to produce edit and present five shows. I loved it. Support increased and as it did I was able to upgrade the equipment. Here I want to thank the other woman in my life, Jeananne Crowley. Thanks Jeananne.
Today, the studio is state of the art. The broadcast console, the processors, the computers and the mics are BBC quality. This is why The Richie Allen Show sounds so good. I was adamant from the start that the independent media had to mirror the production values of the legacy media to have any chance of competing with them.
Paul Ripley and I never stop tinkering with the studio. We’ll never rest on our laurels when it comes to the sound. I’m fiercely competitive. I’m obsessed with it actually.
Like I said, the years have flown by. In May 2019, we moved to Salford. We are within walking distance of Media City. I’m not sure if that’s ironic or not. Is it a coincidence that the most listened to independent news radio show in the world is on the doorstep of the BBC? I don’t know. It makes me chuckle though.
Today, the show averages over 150,000 daily listeners and the podcast gets more than 2 million downloads a month. How cool is that? Incidentally, I recently passed 1,600 episodes.
The Richie Allen Show exists for one reason, that is to platform that which has been suppressed or banned by the legacy media. It really is that simple. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, I want to hear from the other side. There would be no need for me of course, if the MSM did its job.
I fee like I am rambling here, so I’ll wrap it up. Thanks for listening to it and thanks for supporting it. I don’t know how long it’ll last. The show has taken a few hits over the years. That’s par for the course, but lately it’s gotten more serious as you know. I’ll keep doing it as long as I can, but I fear it might be taken out of my hands one day. We’ll see.
It has been an amazing seven years. Here’s a few thank-yous off the top of my head and in no particular order. I’ll speak to you at 5pm.
Thanks a million
Paul Ripley, Hayden Hewitt, Jeananne, Patricia, Simon Stuart, Ruth in Oz, Mark Bajerski, The Icke family, Martin Noakes, Aaron Calland, Chris Seeley, Patrick Gallagher, Michael Coen, Mike from FAB Café and FAB Radio, Stephen, Andrew and everyone at Accounts Direct, Tez, Sophie and Andrew, Andrew Hunter, Neil in Jersey, Kim Hutchinson, Peter Ebdon, Right Said Fred, Daniel Tisserand, Monique & Céline, Tony Gosling, Meria, Mark Moore, Leia, Jazz (RIP), Jordan, Jim Marrs (RIP), Spiro, Music Radio Creative, Nigel Coad, Stephen Lendman, the folks at Podomatic.
And Caroline, the love of my life, for your constant love and support. Nothing works without you.
