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The First Black Music Station in Europe

Neil Meads looks back at the Dread Broadcasting Corporation (DBC), Europe's first dedicated black music station. From 2023.

In 1981, Rita Marley's brother Leroy Anderson aka Lepke launched the Dread Broadcasting Corporation (DBC), Europe's first dedicated black music station.

Frustrated by the lack of airtime for reggae music in the UK, Lepke setup a mast in his back garden and began to broadcast to a small area of West London every Sunday afternoon.

DBC soon expanded to cover all styles of black music and with its unmistakable logo featuring a dread with headphones and a spliff became a trailblazer for the future of black British radio in the UK.

Neil Meads speaks to former DBC station manager Michael Williams about the early days of the station, and DJ Carmella Jervier who explains how it inspired her own career.

Producer/Presenter: Neil Meads

First broadcast on the BBC World Service in 2023.

(Photo: Dread Broadcasting Corporation. Credit: BBC)

Available now

9 minutes

On radio

Wed 29 Jul 2026 10:50
BBC Radio 4 Extra

Broadcasts

  • Fri 3 Feb 2023 08:50
    BBC World Service
  • Fri 3 Feb 2023 12:50
    BBC World Service
  • Fri 3 Feb 2023 18:50
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Fri 3 Feb 2023 23:50
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Sat 4 Feb 2023 03:50
    BBC World Service except Australasia
  • Sat 4 Feb 2023 05:50
    BBC World Service Australasia
  • Wed 29 Jul 2026 10:50
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Wed 29 Jul 2026 16:50
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Thu 30 Jul 2026 00:50
    BBC Radio 4 Extra