On Valentine's Day a new radio station launched in Tauranga. I gave it a nod and promised to follow up in more depth – a chat with the owners, a couple of DJs and maybe the studio cat (every studio needs a cat).

But things move at a leisurely pace in Watusiworld and I was beaten to the proverbial punch.

Hunter Boyu, Paradise 105.4FM breakfast co-host.

Yep, The Weekend Sun popped into the HQ of Paradise 105.4FM and Laura Weaser interviewed co-supremo David Williams. You can find her very informative piece online at www.theweekendsun.co.nz/lps/70-paradise-found.html

In the meantime, I've been doing the next best thing – listening to 105.4FM.

So, since this column has featured reviews of pretty much everything – CDs, movies, TV shows, books, burgers, cocktails and more – but never a radio station, it seemed like a good time to rectify that deficit.

There are, of course, no set criteria for judging radio stations, so I'll make up some.
My four most important categories are: Music, DJs, local content and ‘The Vibe'.

That'll do for now.

Okay. First up – music. And my initial music experience with Paradise was excellent.
Randomly tuning in mid-evening, first up was ‘96 Tears' a great old 1960s song from ? and the Mysterions. Yes, a band whose lead singer was simply called ‘?'.

Great song, running on a wild two-chord organ riff and not much else. (Though I have heard rumours the lyrics deal with a certain unpleasant jail-house practice).

This wasn't the original but a nifty cover version. Second song? Something from John Hiatt I didn't know. Cool. A good music radio station should be like sitting down with a friend while they play you the best bits of their record collection. (Yes, LPs are back, didn't you hear?)

I happened to be in a car with local bluesman Mike Garner recently with the stereo randomly shuffling some of his favourites and it was a great ride.

That's what music radio should be like.

I've since heard obscure Rolling Stones (‘She Smiled Sweetly' from Between the Buttons), covered Rolling Stones (someone doing a great job of ‘Sweet Virginia'), three separate Richard Thompson tracks in the last couple of days, and a bunch of other roots alt country, blues and Americana.

Damn fine. This is music I like a lot with a high hit-rate on things I haven't heard but want more of.

Number two: DJs. Yes, DJs. I'm not, in general, a big fan. Many I've met are balls of self-centred ego with little interest in music or guests. Paradise scores highly here. Aside from a couple of mouthy guys high on their own existence on the Sunday show last weekend, all the DJs I've heard have been excellent, throwing in a little local colour and generally not making it All About Them.

The shows and DJs seem a little in flux at the moment but breakfast with Andy and Veronica is a pleasure and weeknights with Chris (Shady) O'Shea are a thing of beauty.

This is one of the few shows not done from Tauranga but since Shady is one of Wellington's most respected broadcasters and foremost experts on what he calls ‘Border Music' (as his show on Wellington's Radio Active is called), that hardly matters.

It's a real coup for Tauranga having him on our airwaves and his music choices are fantastic.

Number three – local content. I'll give this a little while before definitive judgement.

For me local content (as well as traffic reports and the like) means local music.

I have yet to hear any in my brief listening experience. I'm sure that will change.

And ‘The Vibe'...The Vibe is possibly the most important thing – and The Vibe is good.
The people on air sound like real people, they want to be part of the community, and they play great music. What's not to like? Also, I can't help but note, perhaps being due to the newness of the venture, there aren't a lot of ads on the station yet. While that may not be the best business model, it makes now a really good time to tune in to 105.4 FM.

watusi@thesun.co.nz