So, what's all this Lazer talking about ???

I Think it was the 7th of August 1991!!! When i was listinging again on my new bought stereo system from JVC, i decided to scan the FM band again. Then it stopped at th 97.0 MHz.... and then, I heard some "strange" music I almost never heard on the radio before....For Me, it was the first time, a Radiostation was playing non-stop house in stereo, without any talkings and commercials, just some jingles that indicated Lazer was back on air on the AM576 Khz. But i looked again on my tuner, and i saw 97.0 FM Stereo !!! So, these jingles were "borrowed" for some good reasons, you can read below (the text from the creators of Lazer Radio !!!) why. But the jingles sounded perfecly together with the music! Another free commercial sweep..., Where the others are talking, we keep on rocking, Maximum Power, More Hits, Back back back back back to back, More New Music. etc !!!!

But, man, this music, it was awesome ! It sounded like detroit house / techno. But they played also a lot of belgian releases from Music Man and R&S Records !!!! It was mixed perfectly for that time. Later I heard some rumors they were also playing music from the famous club The Globe (Stabroek) with DJ Yves de Ruyter (not famous that time). I will give you some examples of tracks that were played on Lazer:

Neon -  Waves,  Joey Beltram - Energy Flash + My Sound + The Melody,  The Prodigy - Charly, Lhasa - The Attic, RJ's Rule - Rave The Nation, MNO - God of Abraham, Robert Armani  - Circus Bells,  Linea Alba - Space Travel, Set Up System - Fairy Dust and Music and Noise, Science Lab-  Flesh And Blood, Suburban Knight - The Art of Stalking, Digital Boy - Kokko, D.H.S. - The House Of God, Human Resourse - Dominator, Frank De Wulf (B-Sides) - Traffic + Imagination, Second Phase - Mentasm and the B-side Mind To Mind ! Okay, I will stop now, I can put here thousands of good tracks !!!

A couple of weeks later, they had their first commercials. Blitz Recordstore  !! I still know there were some problems the first times the commercial was played. It sounded to sharp, and the stereo indicator started to act as a stroboscope !!! Later I will add more memories from this great station !!!

At the end of August 1991, a commercial was played, saying: from now on La Rocca is also open on Fridays. Also they played in August a whole day the complete CD: Houseparty Vol.1 from Arcade.

An official note from the creators of Lazer Hot Hits:

Just to put things in perspective: this crew has no relationship whatsoever with the original LASER, or LASER 558, (notice the S) that broadcasted on AM from the ship 'mv communicator' located in international waters in the North Sea during 1983-1987. But of course we share some principles, so you will understand when you read on.

During the early nineties, New Beat was in its last phase, and a new music phenomenon was about to spread: HOUSE. As all new music styles, House was adored by the youngsters, but outcasted by the established government, national press and radio stations. House was presented to stimulate young people to take drugs, participate in acts of violence, and other, more negative aspects of our society. Just imagine that these people, who now condemn House, were the same generation that loved 'Rock and Roll' 20 years earlier!
(Of course, history has proved them wrong, and today House music has been recognised as the most important musical revolution of the nineties...)

As a direct result however, DJs and record labels did not get any airplay on the national media and the Internet was not really developed yet. At that time LAZER was started off.
AT first, LAZER was a pirate radio station, playing non-stop house music in 1991 . Tapes were recorded during weekend nights in famous clubs and by various top DJs. Later on they were broadcasted on FM in their original versions. All mixed, with no real spoken anchor men.

What's in a name?
The name LAZER was chosen, because of several reasons:

The original LASER did not exist anymore.
A direct 'feeling' with the background of a pirate radio station.
The English spoken jingles of the original Laser were a good 'fit' with our music style and were available immediately, without real investments.
The original concept of using a laser effect sound signal, containing a long-short-long tone, which --in marine terms-- means 'I want to communicate', reflects the same basic principles of this crew: trying to promote House and Dance music.
The first transmissions were broadcasted from Antwerp, Belgium, on the frequency 97.1 FM.
The result was astonishing! In a few weeks time, LAZER became enormously popular and was heard in all 'boom-cars' on the road. But nobody knew where the signal came from, nor who was behind the project. Several news reports indicated that LASER, the original AM radio station from the eighties, had begun to transmit again, but this time on FM and from a ship on the North Sea, or near the Antwerp harbour.
Unnecessary to say that at the time we heard those news reports, we were rolling on the floor, laughing!

The whole dance and house scene immediately supported LAZER with the newest records, advertising and co-marketing. The first LAZER parties were organised at the famous club 'La Rocca', located in Lier (nearby Antwerp, Belgium). For the first time in Belgian history, a house party was live broadcasted on the radio. Party people who arrived by car at the party, were already listening to the live music from the club they were about to visit. This really gave a 'special touch' to our project.

During 1989 and 1993, several frequencies (87.7 FM, 88.6 FM, 100.3 FM, etc) were tested and new locations (Ghent, Brussels, Ostend, and even several cities in The Netherlands) were added. At its peak, you could hear LAZER all over Flanders, Brussels, and half of the Netherlands territory in stereo. (At that time it was forbidden for local radio stations to broadcast a stereo signal)
The main revenues of LAZER came from advertisements of the many new emerging House discotheques and from organising LAZER parties in many clubs. However, the main losses came from confiscations of the radio- and studio equipment by the Belgian government (LAZER never got a license and was confiscated several times, because 'we were the devil'). Even legal radio stations, who had an official license, were harassed, and in one case a license was even revoked, because they played House music and mentioned the LAZER parties.

But more and more legal radio stations began to capture the signal and relay it, others saw the potential of this new House scene and began to promote House music on their own. Finally, a national radio station, Studio Brussel, could not ignore this new music trend any longer, and began its own radio shows with House music, organising their own parties with live music from the clubs.
By the time LAZER had to stop its transmissions in 1994, House music could not be stopped anymore...

If you have info which is helpful to complete this story, or if you were a listener or party visitor at that time, maybe you have old tapes, stickers, etc? Please let us know!

And then, there was the Internet opportunity. Finally we could broadcast worldwide without having to fear governments. Although there are many rules and regulations that apply to Internet broadcasting, we believe we will be able to create something unique.

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Pictures  / Flyers:

Soundclips: (all clips are recorded from Lazer Hot Hits from 1991 - 1994)

Lazer Club Night Commercial at New Prestige (Aired between December '92 and March '93)

Second Erotic Lazer Clubnight Commercial (Aired in March 1993)

Usa Import Commercial (Famous Recordstore in Antwerp, aired in 91, 92 and In 1993)

La Rocca on Fridays Commercial ( This one was broadcasted between spring and summer '93)

Blitz Recordstore, The home of Bonzai Commercial

Dancing La Rocca: From the 23rd of August 1991, it's also open on fridays !!! Commercial

Qupid Housenight with Lazer Hot Hits in July 1993 !!! Commercial

Special Horror Party in Disco Fauna September 1992 Commercial

La Rocca presents La Rocca behind Curtis September 1992 Commercial

Lazer Club Night Commercial every friday @ La Rocca (spring and summer 1993)

Lazer Hot Hits presents The Visions Club in Lier, named after the Visions of Trance radioshow

Lazer Hot Hits presents Visions of Trance, every thursday with DJ's Max la Menace and The Fly