Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

After 25 years, Pure Pop Radio, which began in 1995 as a weekly show on WEBR Radio in Fairfax, Virginia, and more recently was reborn as a 24-hour internet radio station, is going off the air for good. The station will stream its final catchy stretch of melodic pop songs at the end of the day on Sunday, December 13.

The Pure Pop Radio website will, however, forge on and continue to provide reviews of new and reissued albums, EPs and singles, and host new episodes of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, the internet’s premier melodic pop talk show. Articles, such as the ongoing series I Love that Song!, will also continue to appear in the new year.

I have loved working on Pure Pop Radio; in recent years, though, I have found it more difficult to do the work necessary to keep the station running at peak efficiency, thanks to medical problems that have gotten progressively worse. So, it is with a heavy heart that I have come to the realization that it is time to retire one of the great loves of my life.

Nothing has given me more pleasure than helping to spread the word on the greatest melodic pop music in the universe. It has been my pleasure, and my honor, to play music on the radio from artists as diverse as Bill Lloyd, Andrew Gold, David Myhr, Jeffrey Foskett, the Legal Matters, Tony Rivers, the Spongetones, Ray Paul, Lannie Flowers, Dave Caruso, Dropkick, Lisa Mychols, Scott McPherson, Michael Carpenter, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Richard X. Heyman, Emitt Rhodes, Scott Gagner, Dana Countryman, and a whole host of other artists.

Likewise, it has been my pleasure and honor to interview on the radio many of the artists whose music I have played through the years, including most of the artists mentioned above and others like Joey Molland, Paul Revere, Doug Fieger, Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley, and on and on. Various independent record labels have helped with great support over the years, from Not Lame, Kool Kat, and Permanent Press to Futureman, Sundazed, SpyderPop and Big Stir. Apologies to those labels and artists I have forgotten to mention; trust that you are all in my thoughts and in my heart.

As I look forward to continuing my work helping to promote great, melodic pop music here on the Pure Pop Radio website, I find myself thinking about the person who first suggested that I begin and ultimately maintain a web presence: James Cribb, who created an umbrella site called TWOMP (The Work of Many People), where the first Pure Pop Radio website appeared back in the late 1990s. Thanks, James.

It’s hard to let go of something that means so much to you; the last song streaming on Pure Pop Radio hasn’t begun playing yet, but I already miss the sound of catchy choruses, deeply-felt melodies and harmonies, and sleigh bells.

I truly appreciate everyone’s support of Pure Pop Radio through the years. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. I hope I will continue to see you around here; a new episode of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation will be posted next week, a charming conversation with a new artist whose work is already making waves through the indie music community. I will return early in the new year with reviews and my annual Favorite Records of the Year feature.

Until then, enjoy the final days of Pure Pop on the radio, and see you back here next week for another edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation.

Thanks for your time, as always, and thanks again for your support.

Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premier website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features.

The Pure Pop Radio station brings the greatest melodic pop music in the universe to your waiting ears, 24 hours a day (listen by clicking below).