Pirate Radio London | UK Garage 1999 | DJ Marcus Brown & MC Contrast | Upfront FM 99.3 | Jan 1999

Artwork by Take Me Back Pirate Radio Archives. Upfront FM 99.3 began broadcasting as a pirate radio station in the late 90s to London city and its surrounding counties from their south west London base. They strived to keep a professional sound, playing all the UK Garage classic anthems of that era. They ran many successful rave nights across South London like "Southern Comfort" and "A One Night Stand", hosting events at popular venues in Caesar's in Old Kent Road, The Blue Orchid in Croydon, Ananda Lounge in Croydon, and Club Colosseum in Vauxhall. They also hosted arenas at some the biggest Garage raves, like: La Cosa Nostra: The 1999 Underground Soundclash (The Opening Chapter), on Sat 13 March 1999 @The Rex Music Arena, in Stratford, London, and in 2000, Upfront FM hosted "The Attic: Come As U R" with Pure Science @Atomic Nightclub (Maidstone, Kent). The station showcased the very best DJs, MCs and producers of that era: DJ Hatcha (Big Apple Records) & MC Crazy D, DJ South Central (Urban Myths), DJ Para (D.E.A. Project), DJ KCK, DJ Goodfella, MC Spidey G, Jaydee, DJ Frontline, DJ G Money, DJ Risky & MC Asher, DJ/MC Madd B, MC Destruction, MC Shadow, MC Contrast, MC Lipton (Trinity @Chunnel Club), MC Easyrider (RIP), DJ Jesse James & DJ Darren James (The James Connection), DJ Top Notch, DJ GBH, DJ Iron Lung, DJ Lady B Line, DJ Danny C (AIM Records), DJ GBH, DJ Gavin Jay, DJ Mr Wilson, DJ Jon Russell, DJ Nicklebee, DJ Paul Lipton, DJ Emma Feline (London's Most Wanted), DJ Aqua D, DJ Jo Public, DJ Dave Foster, DJ Tony Dee, DJ Relay, DJ Kraftie, DJ Matix, DJ Mark Brown, DJ Alan B, DJ Marvellous, DJ Rox, DJ Scatty, and many well known artists from that era. They went off air in the late 2000s with the transformation of UK Garage into Dubstep and Grime. Big up ravers that used to rave at EC1 Club, Camden Palace, Chunnel Club (Vauxhall), Turnmills, The End Nightclub, Gass Club (Leicester Sq), Club Aquarium (Old Street), The Powerhouse (Stratford), Club UN (Temple Nightclub), Opera House (Tottenham), Eros Nightclub, SW1 Club, The Leisure Lounge (Holborn), The Connaught Rooms (Holborn), The Fridge (Brixton), Harlequins Nightclub (Ilford), Legends Nightclub (Barking), Caesar's Nightclub (Old Kent Rd), Cheeky B's Nightclub (Stoke Newington), The Ocean Nightclub (Hackney), Chimes Nightclub (Clapton), Velvet Rooms (Charing Cross), Club Colosseum (Vauxhall), The Rocket (Holloway Rd), Secrets Nightclub (Romford), Time & Envy Nightclub (Romford), RM1 Bar (Romford), Hollywoods Nightclub (Vivid & Elite Nightclub (Romford)), Bar Med (Cockfosters), Chelsea Football Club Executive Suites, Emporium Nightclub (Kingley St), The Rex (Stratford), Blue Orchid Nightclub (Croydon), Bagleys (Kings Cross)... The year 1999 was a successful year for UK Garage releases in the UK Commercial Charts with tracks like: The 10th Night - Y-Tribe, All 'n' All - 187 Lockdown ft.D'Empress, Buddy X 99 - Dreem Teem vs. Neneh Cherry, Do U Dream - Serious Danger ft. Carlton, Enough Is Enough - Y-Tribe ft.Elisabeth Troy, Everybody Come On (Can U Feel It) - Mr Reds vs. DJ Skribble, Funk on Ah Roll" (Bump & Flex Mix) - James Brown, Get on Down - JKL ft.MC Neat, Girlfriend - Caramel, Got Myself Together - Bump & Flex ft. Kallaghan, Happy Day - SJC ft.Wayne Allen, Joyrider - Colour Girl, A Little Bit of Luck - DJ Luck & MC Neat, Moving Too Fast - Artful Dodger ft. Romina Johnson, My Love (10º Below mixes) - Kele Le Roc, Over Here - M-Dubs ft. Richie Dan, Reminisce - Corrupted Cru ft. MC Neat, Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta) - Artful Dodger ft.Craig David, Something - Artful Dodger, See Line Woman '99 - Songstress, sets 2 Me - Grant Nelson ft. Jean McClain, Straight from the Heart - Doolally, Sweet Like Chocolate - Shanks & Bigfoot, Things Are Never - Operator & Baffled ft. Colour Girl, Try Me Out - Sunship ft. Anita Kelsey, We Are Da Click - Da Click, What U Do - Colours ft. Stephen Emmanuel & Eska, Who's the Bad Man? - Dee Pattern, and, You're Mine - Suburban Lick. Out to all the London FM pirates of the past. Here's a list of some of our most loved pirate radio stations in frequency order from 1989-2006: Flava FM 87.6 / Shine FM 87.9 / Rude FM 88.2 / Impact FM 88.2 / Centreforce FM 88.3 / Unity FM 88.4 / Conflict FM 88.4 / Ice FM 88.4 / London Underground FM 89.4 / Defection FM 89.4 / Raw FM 90.0 / Raw Mission 90.0 / Pure Magic FM 90.2 / Pulse FM 90.6 / Chicago FM 90.6 / Mission FM 90.6 / Y2K FM 90.6 / Rinse FM 91.8 / Passion FM 91.8 / Weekend Rush FM 92.3 / Kik FM 92.3 / Deja Vu FM 92.3 / Taste FM 92.5 / Mac FM 92.7 / Freeze FM 92.7 / Kool FM 94.5 / Origin FM 95.2 / Cyndicut FM 97.8 / Fantasy FM 98.6 / Future FM 99.1 / Upfront FM 99.3 / Rinse FM 100.3 / Pressure FM 100.4 / Eruption FM 101.3 / Erotic FM 101.3 / Freek FM 101.8 / Chillin’ FM 102.9 / Delight FM 103.0 / Flex FM 103.6 / Smoove FM 104.0 / Rude FM 104.3 / Ruud Awakening FM 104.3 / Girls FM 106.8 / Risk FM 107.1 / Dream FM 107.6 / Don FM 107.9 #TakeMeBackPirateRadio #UKGarageClassics