As I have written a few times in the past, KIFS (107.5 Kiss FM) was the radio station my brother and I used to listen to in Southern Oregon. In the summer of 2012, I was able to hear Kiss-FM again by using its online streaming service; however, it was uncomfortable to listen to the station again and I was going to stop, but for some reason I was unable to access the streaming service again, anyway.
Recently, I was informed about a phone app (a legal one!) that streamed radio stations from around the world. I was curious as to whether or not it would be able find Kiss-FM and, lo and behold, it did! For the first time since July 2012, I was listening to Kiss-FM.
Surprisingly, it no longer felt uncomfortable to listen to it. For some reason, the local adverts were playing on app's feed (not exclusively the national ones, as was happening in 2012) and hearing commercials related to Southern Oregon made it feel like "home" again, not an alien world like it did when I listened in 2012. Like that year, though, many of the tracks being played on Kiss-FM were songs that we hear here in the United Kingdom on a daily basis, save for only a few. It is astounding how similar American and British pop radio are; you don't miss much, regardless of which country you live in!
The app was also able to find another Southern Oregonian radio station that we occasionally listened to: KLDR 98.3 (I've mentioned it twice before: here and here). This station played a wide selection of pop songs, but as my radio often had trouble picking KLDR up, Kiss-FM became my primary station. Oh, and the first song I heard on KLDR? Coincidentally, that would be "Best Day of My Life" by American Authors, which was the song I wrote about yesterday.
The Hits Radio and Heart Northamptonshire will remain my primary radio stations, as they are local to the United Kingdom, but I will occasionally listen to Kiss-FM and even KLDR again, now that it's easy and no longer feels uncomfortable to do so. It's just great to hear sounds from my old home again; some might say I'm living in the past whenever I listen to Kiss-FM and KLDR, but as far as I'm concerned I'm just getting the chance to again appreciate something I enjoyed while living elsewhere. If you can do it again, why not?
It's funny how you miss things like local radio when you move away. I'm glad it's not uncomfortable for you to listen anymore. Yay for Oregon :) I'll be down there this weekend - can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI listened to the station almost every single day, so I became attached to it and kind of took it for granted. I wanted to take it with is but I knew that wasn't possible! At least getting to hear it this way gives me another link back to Southern Oregon. :)
DeleteYay! I hope you'll write about your visit there, I look forward to reading it! :D
I listened to a Chicago station, WXRT, for twenty years. When I drive within range, I listen to it, but there are so many commercials!
ReplyDeleteDespite what I said above about them, Kiss-FM doesn't appear to have too many adverts; The Hits Radio and Heart aren't too bad, but I haven't listened enough to KLDR again to find out.
DeleteTwenty years is a long time! :)
I'm old. ;-)
DeleteNot necessarily: you could have started listening at a really young age. :D
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