You know that moment in life when we want to talk and show everything at once and make everyone aware of one of the best moments in our lives but then you don’t know where to start? That’s how I feel right now.
I grew up listening to the radio. My parents were passionate about music and some stations at the time. And I listened to what was going on. There wasn’t as much foreign music on some Portuguese radio stations in the 70s and 80s and Portuguese artists were the ones who dominated the stations the most.
In the early 80s, music began to take on a different style and new radio stations would emerge. At the time, the AM (Modeled Amplitude) band was the one most stations had but the sound quality was very poor (it also depended on the antenna we had), then there was also FM (Modeled Frequency) which gained fame for its its quality and ease of searching for channels or radio stations.
With people opting more for the FM band, especially young people, new radio stations began to appear such as Radio Energia, Antena 3, and Radio Cidade.
Radio Cidade (and I’m not talking about Cidade FM because that doesn’t matter), was a radio that still holds a lot of memories for many today and was an informal, relaxed, simple, young and number 1 radio station. because it was simply a radio that had everything. It wasn’t that kind of radio where people have to express their voice and be something that they aren’t in real life. Radio Cidade was an open and very “open mind” radio inspired by Radio City of America and the Brazilian Rádio Cidade.
When I found out that Radio Cidade was going to end, in 2003, I didn’t want to believe it, it almost “fell to the ground”, but at the same time I was convinced that this radio station was going to reopen, but with the same name, some different announcers, etc. In other words, not with a drastic and radical change like what happened.
The name was changed to Cidade FM, the staff changed, the music lost quality, and obviously the number of listeners at that time began to decrease. It was then that I started listening to Antena 3 more.
On the one hand, I feel the pain it must have been and the impact it caused to the Staff of this radio when they had to make these changes. I can’t imagine what that phase was like, but remembering and missing the team, the studio, the CDs and cassettes they had, the environment… I imagine it as if you were losing a very close family member, or building something that took a lot of work and in the end you saw everything go down the drain… I imagine how hard, sad and revolting it must have been.
I miss this radio a lot because it was the one that always accompanied me.
When I was at home, at school, with friends, I remember that sometimes I would put the speakers outside on the street so that we could all listen. It was a brutal party, especially when we played CDs like “Eletricidade” or “Sarcófago da Cidade”! It was beautiful!!
I loved the way they addressed their listeners. The way they did the pastimes, the programs they aired, and even the intros… I’m currently listening to this radio on their website and at the same time I’m traveling back in time… It’s a feeling that can’t be described in words. Honestly.
And you ask: how are you listening to Radio Cidade?
Yesterday, April 8th, I was talking to a friend of mine on Facebook, and in the middle of the conversation he gave me a link “https://saudadecidade.com“, and I went to see it. As soon as I clicked and opened the link, it was as if I was being sucked into another portal, another dimension. I explored the entire site! Everything that was their links on social media, the option tabs, the reader, I clicked on everything and followed them! I was emotional, happy, and of course, the memories of those times came to my mind and I literally couldn’t close the website because it was like having that feeling that I was saying goodbye to them, to the radio, to the memories.
Obviously the website is live. I don’t know when this project was created. I’m not sure if Radio Cidade will actually return to the original format it had before, taking into account that many announcers must have had different life choices and some unfortunately may not be among us, but in my deepest and most sincere opinion, and what I would most like to happen is for our Radio Cidade to return. Not only with a playlist, but also with some members that the radio worked with. This was the pinnacle, the icing on the cake.
In my opinion, there has never been a Portuguese radio that offered as much to its listeners as Radio Cidade. It wasn’t just a radio, it was a home, a family, a real friend… In this case, several!
Radio Cidade did not die. It continues to live among us.
P.S.: I still remember the phone number they had to call, it was 21 491 1072
