Last night, in front of 500 invited media and business guests at the Adelaide Convention Centre, Austereo Adelaide Director of Programming, Craig Bruce, crossed to the Triple M studios to hear the last few bars of Stairway to Heaven (for the very last time on the station) before turning on a “totally different” Triple M.

The first song heard at 7pm on the new Triple M was ‘Fight the Good Fight’ by 20 year old Adelaide artist, Jet O’Rourke, after “a massive intro out of the
old rock format which ended with ‘Stairway’ sounding like a broken record, then bits from movies, songs, computer stuff and drum rolls.” The big production piece was followed by the new morning presenter, Kate McLoughlin, introducing the new format.

Jet O’Rourke, who was in the audience, couldn’t believe it when he discovered his song was going to be the first played on the new Triple M.

‘’I always dreamed of the day I’d hear my song played on radio, but to be the very first song played on a ground breaking new station like the new Triple M is mind blowing,” he told radioinfo.

Craig Bruce said: “The music on Triple M is going to be totally different from anything anyone in Adelaide has ever heard before. You’ll be hearing modern rock from bands like Jet, Foo Fighters and Audioslave next to hot urban acts such as 50 Cent, Beyonce and Ja Rule as well as the biggest dance tracks by artists like Basement Jaxx, GT and Fatboy Slim – and it will be delivered to you by the best young on air talent in the country.”

At the launch there was also an acoustic performance from ARIA Award winner Alex Lloyd.

The launch lineup is:

The Frog (Ben Dillon-Smith) 6am – 10am

Kate Mac 10am – 2pm

Higgo 2pm – 6pm

Sam Mac’s Freq Show 6pm – 9.30pm (with Alexis on the streets)

Alexis 9.30pm – 12pm

Further lineup changes are expected in the new year, with the addition of James Brayshaw at breakfast and The Cage early in 2004.

Triple M has “turned upside down” in its music, its attitude and the signs on the building and other logos around Adelaide are also upside down. Even the station’s website has turned upside down – click below to have a peep.