Audio
Recordings of On The Wire exist in a variety of formats, but there is no escaping the fact that many editions are lost forever.
A number of sources of audio have been used in this archive, and notes may be provided for them on an individual basis. In broad summary however:
1984 - mid-1995: 'Live' period
On The Wire was broadcast live, and shows were not habitually recorded (this isn't strictly true, as all BBC output was recorded locally and retained for a period of time for legal reasons, however these tapes were reused on a cycle). Any recordings from this period tend to be cassette copies made by Steve Barker or other people involved in the show for one reason or another, guests, or listeners.
mid-1995 - ~2000: 'Manual recording' period
As the show shifted to more unsociable hours, it was recorded direct to DAT, which was then played out at the appropriate time. A good proportion of the DATs are still extant, preserved by the OTW team (Steve Barker and Jim Ingham), providing a high quality stereo source. However on many occasions, the DAT of a previous show would be overwritten with a later one for economy.
~2000 - present: 'Digital automation' period
With the introduction of Radioman and successors, each show was recorded digitally into the system, and was then able to be played out automatically at the appropriate time.
From around 2001, copies of most shows were made to minidisc (but in mono), and almost all of these are extant, preserved by Jim Ingham, OTW engineer, providing a reasonably high quality mono source. However just about all the period May-Dec 2003 is missing, for unknown reasons.
From November 2005, shows started to be published as mp3 128kb/s files for download from archive.org just after broadcast, although in many cases higher-bitrate mp3s also exist.
From June 2014, show publication was shifted to the mixcloud platform, where it continues to this day, and 256kb/s (mostly) mp3s are extant.
Listener Contributions
The following have been able to contribute substantially to body of On The Wire audio material:
Jethro R Binks (OTW engineer ~1993-1999) - recordings on cassette or DAT of parts of, or complete, shows from the live period and the early 90s.
Steve Urquhart - recordings on cassette and minidisc of complete shows from various times between 1994-2000.
Bob Wilkinson - recordings on cassette of parts of, or complete, shows from the period 1987-1994, but also the splendid visit of Lee Perry and Adrian Sherwood in 1987.
Robert Coddington - recordings on cassette of parts of, or complete, shows from the period 1990-2000.
Visual
Most of the photos, paper playlists, and other ephemera were kindly supplied by Steve Barker from his archives of material relating to the show, with other contributions from Jim Ingham and Michael Fenton.
