Amarok radio listening headaches

[O. Sinclair]

Kubuntu 8.04.1, KDE 3.5.10, Amarok 1.4.9.1

Every time I try to listen to a Shoutcast or cool-stream radio live the 
same thing happens:
it retrieves the playlist
it buffers
it starts playing
after a minute or more it stops and the "sound indicator" at the bottom 
of the Amarok window just "flickers" constantly.

I am on a fairly slow connection but listening via various webplayers 
works much better. Anyone have any idea of what I could try to sort this 
out?

Sinclair