In the modern age of rampant file sharing and live streaming, maintaining a functioning radio station without some sort of private backing or advertising can be difficult, to say the least. Yet that's exactly what Radio Free Colorado does, relying solely on listener donations to stay afloat, and to keep on delivering some of the best classic and contemporary rock you'll find on the web. And given the consistency with which they churn out the hits, it's no wonder that this station has so far welcomed over half a million visitors from over 173 countries. Founded by Gary Burke, Radio Free Colorado continues to produce some of the most expertly selected rock hits and deep cuts alike. And with that kind of pure, exclusive commitment to music (and nothing else), you definitely won't leave disappointed.
You can find Radio Free Colorado in the Classic Rock genre of the SHOUTcast Radio Directory.
We strapped on our parkas and hit the slopes of Radio Free Colorado, and here's the double black diamond of musical terrain that we crossed:
Playlist Snapshot - Tuesday 02.01.2010
| Artist/Program | Song |
|---|---|
| The Moody Blues |
Your Wildest Dreams |
| Kansas |
Carry On Wayward Son |
| Sheryl Crow |
Leaving Las Vegas |
| Coldplay | Speed Of Sound |
| The Zombies |
Time Of The Season |
| Cream | White Room |
| Joe Walsh | Rocky Mountain Way |
| Paul McCartney | Let 'Em In |
| Jack Johnson |
Good People (Bonnaroo 2008) |
| Don Henley | The End Of The Innocence |
1. Radio Free Colorado streams at 192 kbps MP3 in 5.1 Channel MPEG Surround Sound Format.
I use a Logitech Squeezebox Internet Radio connected to my Hi-Fi Stereo system to listen to Radio Free Colorado in 5.1 Channel Surround Sound. It sounds marvelous.
A recent Listener Poll posted on the Radio Free Colorado website http://www.radiofreecolorado.net shows that over 100 Shoutcast.com listeners voted that Radio Free Colorado "Has Better Sound Quality" when compared to 95% of the other Rock radio stations listed on Shoutcast.com.
My ears agree. :)
According to Gary there are over 5,000 songs in the Radio Free Colorado music library. Of those 5,000+ songs, Gary recently said approximately 950 are currently in "Active Rotation" for playback on any given day.
I like how there are "Standard" Rock Song Hits you'd expect to hear played daily, songs from The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Eagles, U2, Eric Clapton, etc. but then you'll hear "Sunshine Superman" from Donovan or Live Recordings from Jefferson Airplane from Woodstock 1969, or even rarer "Demo" recordings you may have never heard before.
Yesterday 2-16-10 on Radio Free Colorado I heard Stephen Stills "First Live Acoustic Demo Recording of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" recorded on a single Reel-to-Reel tape on April 26, 1968. When Gary mentioned that recording is available for purchase on Amazon.com as an MP3 Download for .99 cents I immediately added that track to my CSN&Y MP3 collection.
Gary has a knack for making playlists of his own design, it is very apparent that RFC is not a copy of someone else's radio station. However, you can hear some other Rock format stations attempting to copy Gary.
When Gary is not D.J.-ing Live on Radio Free Colorado he has the DJ Software rather well programmed for automatic playback so I am not feeling bored, but it is when Gary is at the controls you may feel as I heard him say once: "today's broadcast is Rock Radio FM, circa 1974". Then Pink Floyd's "Money" (safe for Work, non-explicit lyrics version) will come on.
There are no commercial advertisements played, no "crossfading" of songs (overlapping the playback, or "mashing" of the songs together) no annoying "station ID sweepers" (those noisy Station Identification adverts) and no talking on top of the music, ever.
Gary pays the majority of Radio Free Colorado's broadcast expenses, and asks that "the Listening Audience contribute towards paying some of the station expenses". Each month there is a Fundraising Goal posted on the RFC Web site (this month of February 2010 the Goal is $300) and most months the Goal is met.
Gary strives to keep Radio Free Colorado at the Forefront of things, although not the prettiest Web site you'll ever see Gary did just add an Adobe Flash Player that automatically starts playing RFC's music stream when the http://www.radiofreecolorad.net page loads in your Web browser.
Gary says he did this so persons at Work offices can listen on computers which have no MP3 playback software installed or able to be run. The RFC Flash Player is operating on "Port 80" by intention, making it as Gary said "IT Department and Firewall Friendly for all".
Checking the Facebook.com page for Radio Free Colorado http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Russell-Burke-Founder-and-Manager-of-Radio-Free-Colorado/156223480766?v=wall you will see content not shown on the Main RFC Web site, such as details of recent Equipment Upgrades being made at the RFC Broadcast Studio - the installation of KRK VXT-8 Studio Monitor speakers, an Auzentech "Quartet" professional PCI sound card, etc.
There is no other Internet Radio, or any radio for that matter, the same as Radio Free Colorado.
Posted at 10:23AM on Feb 17th 2010 by Terry Davies