Late Bar Radio was conceived in March, 2000. It was inspired by a Rolling Stone article about Internet broadcasting. At the time I had also recdiscovered one my by favorite bands from the 80s, Duran Duran. With some thought, ingenuity, and heck of a lot of time in front of the computer, 'Duran Radio' was launched in May with its very own website, www.duranradio.com. The station played all Duran Duran and included voice inserts about the tracks. The launch was timed with the release of their latest album, 'Pop Trash', and the stream was updated frequently.

'Meltdown' sprung from 'duranradio'. It is against broadcasting laws to have a station featuring one artist without explicit record company permission -- therefore I had contacted John Taylor via his website, Trust the Process. I was looking for non-Duran Duran contributions, but before long ideas were formulated, work began feverishly, and 'Meltdown', the Official John Taylor radio station, was launched in September, 2000. At that time 'Late Bar Radio' was launched as the umbrella site for both broadcasts.

A great deal of time was spent attempting to make 'duranradio' an official station. All efforts failed and the station was shut down by live365.com (for the second time) in November, 2000 citing violation of broadcasting rules. I hope someday to restart the Duran-only broadcast, but for now it will remain part of Late Bar Radio's history.

All Late Bar Radio streams are hosted by a third party site, live365.com. I chose this site because it is free (well, they started charging in September, 2001, but it's still free for me...wooohooo!), and provides the most flexibility for Internet radio broadcasts. There is no custom software required, PC and Macintosh users can both tune in, and they offer bandwidths ranging from 8K to 56K. The hosting site provides all the necessary licensing and copyright coverage, which keeps the streams legal. In addition, many other bands choose to stream their official stations from live365.com; including Nine Inch Nails/Trent Reznor, The Black Crowes, Hole, and No Doubt.

The broadcast bitrates are configured to cater to the highest number of listeners. Configuring the broadcasts is extremely laborious -- this is why on some occastions I only broadcast in one bitrate. I try to update the broadcasts frequently to keep them interesting, but sometimes it is difficult due to time constraints.

Your input is important. If there is anything you like or don't like, be sure to let me know. For 'Meltdown' you can also e-mail Patty from TTP with your suggestions.

There is now a mailing list so that you can be informed about Late Bar Radio broadcast and site updates. I promise not to e-mail you too much! Just when there are major changes to the broadcast and site and when there are special events such as audio chats. To join the mailing list, go here and fill out a simple form.

Thank you for tuning in and for all your support!