Kim Schumacher

Kim Schumacher, born December 15, 1949, was a famous radio DJ and TV host in Denmark between 1982 and 1990. Kim started as a DJ at Danmarks Radio (the only Danish radio station at that time) in 1982, and made a true revolution. Back then there was no such thing as a radio DJ, the term was more like 'radio host', as records would be cued up and handled by a technician, and started by the host by pressing a button - If it was a live show. Kims first many broadcasts were taped in advance - again using technicians to handle the technology. The technician would be on the technology side of the studios glass wall, and this scenario was to change during the eighties. Kim introduced young danish listeners to break dance, rap, remixes & mega mixes - and opened up our eyes for a completely new world of music, which was almost invisible and inaudible at consumer outlets. Kim Schumacher helped push modern dance type music to the point where it became more ordinary. Also Kim pushed the limit for the experience of listening to the radio, and much innovation and creativity was seen in the radio field in that decade, with Kim placed in the core of development. Certainly compared to the 3 previous decades of radio services the eighties became a wake-up call to the people controlling the danish radio in 1982. At that time many young people simply taped his broadcasts. The music he played was very new and unique and his speaks fast yet timed perfectly to the individual records. On some occasions Kim Schumacher appeared on television, both as video presenter and video jockey (programs such as 1999, Harakiri and Videosynet) and as a game-show host on TV (Labyrint and Kims Corner) - but he remains best remembered for his many radio broadcasts. Kim died of AIDS June 12, 1990 - only 40 years old. But he was not forgotten. Both in 1996 and 1997 Peer Kaae released a double CD with bits and pieces from Kim's broadcasts. These were made by Jacob Lund from a local radio station The Voice in Copenhagen who cut Kims comments out of old broadcasts and fit them with CD quality 7" versions of the songs Kim played, although Kim played obscure versions that were either mixed or remixed, for copyrights reasons only the normal versions of the songs were used. 2 kroner per disc set were given to AIDS Fondet to help their work to fight the disease. As the Internet began to gain popularity, people started writing together about Kim Schumacher - a few of these people discovered that many people still kept their taped recordings with Kim Schumacher. Today over 200 radio and TV recordings are known to exist - more or less complete. The site www.kimschumacher.dk has become a tribute to Kim Schumacher and a handy database for those into the music he played, a discography for collectors of the music and the source of information on artists you do not hear much about and who may or may not have been active since the eighties. The site contains information about all the broadcasts he made, the records he played and noting the speak he did over the records - a hard job, which takes a lot of time.