So we fired up the ol’ Wayback Machine and took a trip down memory lane. Join us, won’t you?

Just click the headlines below for a view of what was going on in the digital CHIRP space at that time. Note that Internet Archive links load a little bit slowly.

First Stop: October 27th, 2007

Ahh, the year we were born! Before we were officially CHIRP Radio, you could find us at the bare-bones chicagoindieradio.org. Our links section included articles about low-power FM radio – the very same technology we would work to expand across the country. CHIRP helped successfully pass a bill through Congress, the Local Community Radio Act, that has since allowed more than 1,000 new stations across the country to go on the air (including ours!).

Second Stop: September 13th, 2009

Like all the coolest people back in the day, CHIRP had an official MySpace page. Our latest blog entries in 2009 included such hits as “Kickstarter - Launch the webstream for the Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) station”, “Washington DC trip”, and “Record Fair weekend is upon us!” Also, fun fact: CHIRP was apparently single at the time and our zodiac sign is Cancer ��

Third Stop: January 22nd, 2010 

Chirpradio.org officially is live! After a period of placeholder images and “coming soon” messages, everything comes together. We have a digital stream where DJ Mike Scales is playing Animal Collective, new album reviews, contests, and a listener feedback section at the bottom where I definitely see some familiar names.

Fourth Stop: June 15th, 2012 

Disaster strikes – “Where’d Everything Go?” While working on the first (and only!) redesign of our website, we ran into some technical issues and had this stripped-down version up for a little while.

Final Stop: December 9th, 2012 

Look familiar? That’s right, the current version of chirpradio.org launched all the way back in 2012. That’s 14 years ago! Our website is almost old enough to have a driver’s permit! It could get into a PG-13 movie! Ok, you get the picture. But hey, when this thing launched, it was state of the art. Just look at these features we highlighted! Impressive as it was back then, times have changed, and so we must, too. It’s time for our old website to graduate from middle school and ride off into the sunset.

Looking to the Future

We hope you enjoyed taking a glance back as we get ready to jump forward. In the upcoming weeks, CHIRP will launch our brand new website and mobile apps that have been redesigned for the modern era. Not to toot our own horn too much, but we think they’re pretty neat!

Stay tuned for more news on features and an official launch on May 15. Hear -- and see -- what’s next!