Melody Radio launched on 9 July 1990 on 104.9 FM in Greater London with Tony Bennett's Strike Up The Band, as part of the Independent Broadcasting Authority's creation of seven capital-wide services at the time.

Hanson was particularly keen on keeping speech to an absolute minimum; however, after the first few days of transmission, a large number of listener enquiries as to the identity of featured music persuaded him to slightly relax restrictions on presenter content.

In its early years, the music predominantly catered for those aged 50 and over; Frank Sinatra, who recorded a launch message for the station, and Annunzio Mantovani prime examples of the artists featured.

In 1996, the station changed frequencies, moving to 105.4 FM, having received numerous complaints from listeners in South West London of interference from BBC Southern Counties Radio.

In its later years, Melody FM adopted a soft adult contemporary sound, aimed at a slightly younger audience, and newly marketed as 'London's relaxation station', the slogan which accompanied a television advertising campaign featuring Enya's Orinoco Flow.