New radio station plays only songs by dead artists

While it may be named in slightly bad taste, Radio Dead is a new station which promises to keep the legacy of artists living on, long after they themselves have passed away.

That’s right, Radio Dead - if you hadn’t guessed already – is a brand new internet radio station which will be playing tracks exclusively from dead bands and artists, and with the way popular music is going these days, that’s probably not such a bad thing...

The station is the brainchild of veteran DJ Steve Penk, best known for his prank phone calls and his work on stations such as Virgin Radio.

Speaking about his creation to Sky News, Steve writes: “The idea came to me at the start of this year when in January we lost so many wonderful recording artists. As is the case when a major music star dies, music radio stations will have a quick burst of activity for a few days, playing a few of their songs, quickly followed by nothing, as they return to playing Justin Bieber every 10 minutes.

“I saw a gap in the radio market for a radio station of this type, a radio station that plays, honours and celebrates music stars who have left behind a wealth of great music, but in certain cases get very little or worse, zero radio AirPlay. When I sat down to put the radio station together I was amazed at the list I was slowly building of dead music stars, and so many of them never get played on the radio anymore, how sad, what a tragedy.

“Some people find the very mention of the word dead or the subject of death a no go zone, especially on radio where most of the time it’s like listening to Disneyland employees, everything is smiley wonderful and the thought of ever saying or doing anything slightly controversial is a definite no go zone.

You can have a listen to it yourself here. Meanwhile, we'll be asking Aaron Ramsey what playlists he has lined up.