The end of an era

On Monday night, (July 7th), it was the end of an era for me as I hosted my last weekly show on Tameside Radio. The show has been on the radio at various stations for over a decade, almost a quarter of my life, and it was a really hard decision to leave.

It was back in 2015 when my first ever ‘The Dave Sweetmore Show’ was broadcast.Although I’d done bits of radio work before and been a guest on many radio stations and shows over the years, it was in February of 2015 when Revolution 96.2 programme director Kev Bailey sent me a message asking if I’d be interested in doing a weekly indie and new music show on the station. I had strong connections with the station from its time as a dedicated indie station, as I was DJ for many of its club nights. Credible Media had bought the station, and although it now had a much more generic music policy, they still wanted an indie show. Kev trained me for three months before he let me take the show live on air, teaching me valuable presenting skills which I still use to this day. I feel lucky and grateful to have had the training I received. 

My show was a simple format which I continued to base my show around until the end, which was indie anthems from across the decades, and the best in new local music. Laura Beth, my radio sidekick, arrived at Revolution on a work placement around two years after I had started my show, and along with work in the office, she was placed on my show to help produce it, and never left! Laura quickly became a huge part of the show and has stayed with me ever since. Sadly, in November 2020, money talked, and Revolution 96.2 Radio was sold to Bauer Media and instantly turned into part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. Another local station had vanished. Around the same time, Tameside Radio had been sold to the company who still own the station today, the recently renamed Not Really Here Media Group, and the station manager at the time was Andy Hoyle, who I had also worked with at Revolution. 

Several offers from stations came to move the show to a new home, but Tameside Radio was one the one we decided to move to. 

From December 2020 onwards, the show continued on Tameside Radio every Monday night between 7pm and 9pm. Over the years we have had some of the biggest names in music on the show, such as Stereophonics, Status Quo, James, and The Fratellis, to name just a few. We gave The Lathums their first ever radio interview and have seen many bands come and go and still be rising in the music world to this day, such as Alex Spencer, Stanleys, Cobain Jones, and The Guest List. All of the support and feedback we have had from listeners and fellow presenters has always been nothing but amazing, one of my favourite quotes being from Oldham band Gardenback, who in an interview said: “Dave is so appreciated by musicians, he gives all unsigned and local bands exactly the same respect he gives to some of the biggest bands in the world.” That was a quote I’ll relish forever, as that’s always been the aim of the show. We have had bands live in the studio most weeks over the last decade. The actual number of bands who have joined us will be hundreds and hundreds - I really wish I had kept a record. 

The first ever band was the iconic Manchester band The Space Monkeys, who still remain great friends with us. We have also hosted several live nights over the years, the next one being on Friday August 8th at Whittles at Tokyo Live Music Venue in Oldham. The ‘Local Music Spotlight’ feature on Tameside Radio, which has featured over 100 bands and artists has always been based around my show and has lasted for over two and a half years. Alongside all of this, we have many loyal listeners and friends to the show who we are forever grateful for, and the reason that it was always so important to do the show fully live in the studio each week. I could write a full book about the memories made on my weekly show - and I maybe will do one day - but for the foreseeable future, my weekly show and these articles are coming to an end. If there were more days in the week, I would be continuing, but due to other work commitments and a busy tour schedule with my work at live shows, I sadly have to press pause on this chapter. 

Thank you to everybody who has listened to, supported, and been part of the show over the last decade, and of course to Laura Beth who has continued to work on the show every Monday night, and also to Letitia Royle who last year started joining us each week. A big thank you also to the team at Not Really Here Media for the help and support each week. Ten years of ‘The Dave Sweetmore Show’, and what a pleasure and honour it’s been. Laura Beth will continue her weekly magazine show on Tameside Radio every Tuesday night from 7pm, and I will hopefully see you at our live night at Whittles in Oldham on August 8th. To keep up to date with my future ventures, you can find me on all social media by searching ‘Dave Sweetmore’. Thank you for the best ten years, see you in the next chapter.