Radio Mil Diez
| City | Havana |
|---|---|
| Slogan | La Emisora del Pueblo ('The People's Broadcaster') |
| Frequency | 1010 kHz |
| First air date | April 1, 1943 |
| Language(s) | Spanish |
| Callsign meaning | CMX, COCX |
| Owner | Popular Socialist Party |
Radio Mil Diez (or Radio 1010) was a radio station broadcasting from Havana, Cuba, owned by the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). Radio Mil Diez broadcast for five years, between 1943-1948, and played an important role in shaping contemporary Cuban music.
Following the entry of the Soviet Union in the war against Germany the Cuban communists re-emerged as a legal political party, the PSP. The party purchased Radio Lavín and converted it into Radio Mil Diez in 1943. The first broadcast was made on April 1, 1943. The name reflected the dial sign (1010).
Radio Mil Diez became an important propaganda weapon of the party, and one of the foremost communist media outlets in the Caribbean at the time. The slogans of the radio station were La emisora del pueblo ('The Broadcaster of the People') and Todo lo bueno al servicio del pueblo ('All the Best to Serve the People').
Radio Mil Diez had the most powerful shortwave radio transmitter in Havana. It broadcast on the frequency 1010 kHz on longwave, with the call sign CMX. On shortwave it used a 32-metre band and the callsign COCX. It was the sole international broadcaster in Cuba at the time.
The radio station rarely played prerecorded music, preferring to give opportunities for live bands. It played an important role in developing Cuban Jazz. Radio Mil Diez featured several prominent artists and orchestras, such as Beny Moré's Trío Matamoros, Arcaño y Sus Maravillas and Arsenio Rodriguez. Enrique González Mantici directed the orchestra of Radio Mil Diez.Celia Cruz featured as a singer of the Radio Diez Mil orchestra, whilst Mongo Santamaría was part of its rhythm section. The radio station sponsored several tours of Cruz, then a young rising singer, across the country.
Adolfo Guzmán was the musical director of Radio Mil Diez. Other musicians that worked at Radio Diez Mil included Elena Burke, Olga Guillot and Bebo Valdés.
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