Does anyone remember 103.1 MARS FM

[Sean]

Does anyone remember this radio station in Southern CA. Not sure if anyone from out of state has heard of it but it was the coolest station ever. Made up of many ex-KROQ dj's, this station did what KROQ should have done, played classic New Wave as well as great new electronic/new wave bands. This was the station that used to play great songs like the following:

Thinking Of You - Seven Red Seven
Living In Oblivion - Anything Box
Dancing On The Planet - David Storrs
You Think You Know Her - Cause & Effect
One Day In My Life - JWB Hits The Beat
Worlds Apart - Shades Of Grey
Have In Mind - Cetu Javu
Million Headed Monster - I Start Counting
and so many more

No other station in Southern CA would have dared to play this stuff. Anyways, just reminiscing on the olden days where you can turn on the radio and here so great songs that you know and love as well as new ones that you fall in love with.

[marsfmfan]

Hope you are still reading this forum Sean.

HOLY COW!!! Someone finally confirmed those songs exist. There are two tracks on your list that leap out at me:

Thinking of You by Seven Red Seven
Worlds Apart by Shades of Grey

I looked for those tracks in music stores for years. Seven Red Seven I kind of found, but it wasn't the same mix. And Shades of Grey I found reference to (a dealer at a record show said he'd seen their vinyl EP's but never bought any because he didn't know who they were). Every now and then I put them into search engines but I never find much (not sure why it took me so long to find this post given the date on it). I was starting to believe that I remembered the track or artist name wrong.

Mars FM was great. But like many of the great Los Angeles radio stations they were really good at selecting good music, but not so good at making money.

Does any one know where the Mars FM mixes of those two tracks can be purchased?

Whoa...

[motnow]

I'm from Long Island but I visited LA back in the early 1990s when I found MARS (and KROQ). I recorded a cassette of it. I actually have a bit when they (Egil and Holly Adams) were talking to some clubgoers outside the "House of Unity" (I think that was it). Egil was there and was broadcasting over the phone. He asked them why they should go in the club. The guy answered,"TO LOSE YOUR F$%^ING MIND!". Egil tried to cover it up by saying that he had a lisp and really meant to say that "it was a funky night". I was cracking up. I never heard such a blatent screw-up like that over the air. Afterwards, I wondered if that was the reason MARS went off the air.
Anyway the tape has that Seven Red Seven tune mentioned previosuly along with a remix of We will Rock You, Flagray Suvlagin (no clue who that is), Waxx doing Planet Claire, Will You Be There by Celebrate the None, BAD doing a Just Play Music remix, Look Whose Dancing by Ziggy Marley, and some other real melodic mixes that KROQ (nor WLIR) wasn't going near. I found that station pretty unique.

[New Wave Dave]

Yeah, I remember MARS. They were a trip. Now the station is Indie103.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ZZYZXX13/MARS103.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

[ben_at_work]

I was out of SoCal by 91. I grew up with KROQ and KMET though!!! Great stuff!!

[Sean]

I'm still here. A lot of the stuff from Mars is still available in stores. There are some that are harder to find than others. The Seven Red Seven, you want to get the album version. That was the version they played on Mars. The Shades of Grey, that's a whole lot tougher. I have the cd and the vinyl but you've got to really hunt for that one. Be careful though, there have been quite a few other bands with the same name out in the past few years.

[Sean]

Ben, I haven't heard 94.7 KMET mentioned in years. The Wave (New Age station) too that station over years ago. If you listened to KMET, then you probably listened to KLOS too. Do you remember KLOS constantly playing The Monroes "What Do All The People Know"? It was the weirdest thing because it was a Hard Rock/Heavy Metal station.

[New Wave Dave]

Here's the KMET sticker as well as a few of the other biggies in L.A. (most of whom are now gone).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ ... 3/KMET.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ ... 3/KLOS.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ ... Pirate.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ ... ARS103.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ ... KNAC75.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ ... /KWEST.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ ... 3/KROQ.jpg

[jumpshift]

Man, What a great station that was. Such great variety. I wish I could find a playlist of the songs they used to play.

[marsfmfan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Sean[/i]
<br>I'm still here. A lot of the stuff from Mars is still available in stores. There are some that are harder to find than others. The Seven Red Seven, you want to get the album version. That was the version they played on Mars. The Shades of Grey, that's a whole lot tougher. I have the cd and the vinyl but you've got to really hunt for that one. Be careful though, there have been quite a few other bands with the same name out in the past few years.
[/quote]

That's one of the biggest problem, even using the "shades of grey" and "worlds apart" on searches it's amazing how many hits I get.

Do you have any suggestions about where to look for stuff like that? Either a store in L.A. or an on-line site?

[ben_at_work]

Yeah Sean, I loved the Mighty MET. "A little bit of heaven, 94.7, KMET, tweedle-dee". I would always stay up late on Sunday nights and listen to the Dr. Dimento Show. My parents listened to KEARTH 101, I remember a DJ named Charlie Tuna, i think they actually new him. Ah, memories. Remember the upside down KMET billboards?

[New Wave Dave]

Does anyone remember the one-hour show KMET ran on Sunday nights at midnight? I think it was called "Reelin' In The Years" and was a parody of the times' social and political news events. Like they'd do a story on Paraquat spraying and then play 'Fresh Air' by Quicksilver Messenger Service... (take another HIT!) [:D]

[kreepz86]

man, i cannot believe all of you left out "The Mighty 690" (am radio station broadcasting from Tijuana, Mexico) out of your list!!!! just kidding people!! lol! but does anyone remember the station?






p.s. out of curiousity, how do i turn on forum code? or is it even offered? i am not complaining by no means! i am just wondering if i am missing something here cuz all i am getting offered is smileys. [xx(]


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[LovePlusOne]

[quote][i]Originally posted by kreepz86[/i]
<br>man, i cannot believe all of you left out "The Mighty 690" (am radio station broadcasting from Tijuana, Mexico) out of your list!!!! just kidding people!! lol! but does anyone remember the station?

[/quote]

I do...they were more like Top 40, though right? Eventually switched to an all-sports format, where this guy got his start as an intern: http://www.jimrome.com

[kreepz86]

thanks for the info! i've always wondered about that too.

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