Hans Knot's International Radio Report - March 2008
Welcome to this month
edition of the report, with of course thanks for all your e-mails and
memories. First I would like to plug the combined March and April
edition of Horizon Magazine:
In this issue: ‘Caroline celebrates its 44th Easter with some very
special broadcasts. Horizon and Caroline pay tribute to Rob Leighton.
Pandora delves deep into her Rock Box. We reveal the efforts of the 70`s
Caroline Movement, despite government interference. Tim Charles talks of
standing in for Imagination and his own 'Magic Carpet Ride' shows for
Caroline. The Ross Revenge team report on the ships restoration with new
photos from Tilbury. John Brocks is the fascinating subject of 'The
Caroline interview`. Plus all the usual news and views Caroline and Free
Radio, Past Present and Future.
http://www.horizonmagazine.co.uk
One
of our readers, Patrick Karswill wrote that he enjoyed all the stories
of the festivities last year, including the August reunion in London as
well as the Radio Day Report from November 10th. Patrick went to his
loft and found back a few newspaper cuts from which one is published
here. It’s from August 15th 1967 showing the office of
Big L with one of the
secretary in tears. The other photograph shows three
Caroline North deejays
going back to the Fredericia: Dee Harrison, Mark Sloane and Daffy Don
Allan. The youngsters were then 15 and 18, Janet Gibson and Pauline
Goines saying goodbye to their favourite deejays who wanted to fight the
law.
Well movie time and let
the internet sites speak for themselves!
www.radiocarolinethefilm.com
Here's the ship The Boat that Rocked the Ocean are going to use.
http://www.marinefilm.co.uk/news/index.php
http://scheepsfotoruilbeurs.web-log.nl/scheepsfotoruilbeurs/2008/02/nb142_sleepvaar.html
Well isn’t that a well known ship we saw a lot in Scheveningen in the
sixties and seventies?
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a89886/hoffman-nighy-join-boat-that-rocked.html
http://www.ais-live.co.uk/News/shippingnews.html
(scroll to "Timor Challenger")
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a89886/hoffman-nighy-join-boat-that-rocked.html
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a88931/curtis-to-make-pirate-radio-film.html?rss
And then a newsletter came in, which for one time we republish. An e
mail is given at the end to subscribe yourself.
WELCOME ABOARD
Hello and welcome to the first newsletter, bringing you updates, news
and just a little gossip about Radio Caroline the film and other
projects in the
pipeline. It’s early days still, so the newsletters will be sent on an
ad-hoc basis at first, every few months, increasing in frequency as
production dates approach. We want to keep you informed and involved and
this is our first step in creating a forum where you can exchange views
and opinions about the project. So please feel free to send us your
feedback, comments
and contributions by email to
newsletter@radiocarolinethefilm.com.
Subscription details and instructions can be found at the end of this
newsletter.
HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU KID - RECOGNITION ALREADY!
We’ve been excited about this film from the very beginning, but it’s
always good to know others see merit in the project too, especially
established
European film industry institutions. So it’s with great pride that we
announce our selection by EAVE, which stands for European Audio Visual
Entrepreneurs (a bit of a mouthful but quite an achievement!). We’re
amongst the lucky few to be invited to the series of workshops
throughout Europe, to learn and grow with industry experts and take our
film to the highest level. You may not have heard of the programme but
you probably have seen or heard of some of the
films EAVE graduates have produced, including: 4 months, 3 weeks and 2
days’, ‘the death of a president’ and ‘the last king of Scotland’. The
peer pressure is on! The first workshop is in March in Luxembourg and
Caroline Producer Saskia Vischer will be attending with Screenwriter
Kara Kidman. If you want
more information on EAVE go to
www.eave.org, but a word of warning:
this is a website in need of a little TLC from a good web designer - a
polite way of saying: it’s a little hard to navigate!
SPIRIT OF THE FILM
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article
19.
Audacious. Passionate. Defiant. Sassy. Radio Caroline has attitude.
It’s an inspiring story about rock and roll, social revolution and the
fight for free speech. The creative vision of the film exudes the energy
and essence of the Sixties with a contemporary twist. The drama,
cinematography and music will be edgy, authentic and powerful.
SYNOPSIS
The Sixties in Great Britain was an exciting and turbulent decade.
Ambitious young men and women rejected the Establishment, defining a new
way to live and love. Max Cashman, a brash young music lover is swept
aboard Radio Caroline, an offshore ‘pirate’ radio station set up to play
pop music and challenge the government’s monopoly of the airwaves. Radio
Caroline epitomised the emergent youth culture, redefined broadcasting,
and provided the soundtrack to a social revolution. As Max’s celebrity
increases, his older sister Clare, a smart, tenacious aide, ascends the
ranks of Harold Wilson’s government. When the audience for pirate radio
out rates the BBC’s, Clare must legislate against
the pop pirates and their stations. With their principles and family
bond at stake, Clare and Max are forced against each other in a struggle
that will teach
them the high price of free speech.
MEET THE SCREENWRITER
It was important to find just the right person to bring this great
story to life. Kara Kidman is that perfect candidate with her background
in stand-up comedy, political satire, criminal law, and music. She is a
published writer and DJ on Australian national radio station triple j.
Her experience includes writing a political satire column for ninemsn
during Australia’s 2007 Federal Election (articles, interactive
components, and vodcasts),writing for the award winning TV series ‘The
Chaser’s War Against Everything’ broadcast
on ABC, the Andrew Denton produced ‘David Tench Tonight’ (Channel
Ten), and the top rating ‘Sunrise’ programme (Channel Seven). For the
past 15 years now, Kara has been published in the Sydney Morning Herald,
Sunday Telegraph, the Chaser newspaper and jmag. Prior to full-time
writing and radio, Kara practised as a criminal lawyer. The energy and
passion she continues to inject into Radio Caroline are inspiring, the
script a true reflection of the times, the issues and the music. We’re
proud to have her on board.
PRODUCTION UPDATE
All is going well on the production front. More and more people are
being swept up in the excitement surrounding our project and there is
heightened
anticipation from Caroline experts, fans, film industry professionals,
financiers and members of the general public alike. The script will be
finished this year and by the end of 2008 we should have secured the
financing and attached the talent. We plan to shoot early 2009, to
finish later in the same year for a 2010 release in theatres, festivals
and on DVD.
MESS ROOM GOSSIP
We can confirm rumours about a forthcoming Working Title film written
and directed by Richard Curtis, set on a 70s (and yes, we’re as confused
as you
are!) pirate radio ship, which starts shooting soon. Reported as a
“romantic comedy for blokes,” it is largely a fictional, romanticised
storyline in classic Hollywood studio style. While we look forward to
seeing the final result, our film is quite distinct - a political drama
with more grit and authenticity. The Radio Caroline film is developed
and produced independently in the anti-Establishment style of the era
and in true Caroline spirit. There are also reports
of TV series, documentaries and books in the pipeline… we’ll keep you
posted as these come to light. Stay tuned.
LINKS
Official film web site
http://www.radiocarolinethefilm.com
Radio Station today
http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk
Horizon Magazine
http://www.horizonmagazine.co.uk
NEWSLETTER CREDITS
Texts by Chloe Preece, Kara Kidman
Editor: Kerry-Jane Lowery
Design & layout: Nicolas Robel, B.ü.L.b grafix
© Saskia Vischer 2008
For new subscriptions, please send a blank email to
newsletter@radiocarolinethefilm.com
We
go to last issue when Colin
Nichol reflected on an earlier question: ‘I'm confused about the
question from someone in one of your reports about the height of the
Galaxy's mast - the
answer is in one of your publications in Soundscapes: ‘Galaxy leaving
Miami with its towering 212 feet (64,5 meters) tall aerial mast’ Thanks
Colin.
MV Galaxy Hamburg Harbour 1967
(Archive Soundscapes)
A reader in the USA came back after he read it: ‘As I had reported
previously ... back in 2001 at a USS Density/Radio London Reunion held
in Dallas, Tom Danaher (one of Radio London's founders) spoke about the
logistics of bringing Galaxy over from Miami. Tom specifically said that
the antenna mast was not erected until the ship had crossed the
Atlantic. This makes perfect sense due to the mast being "top heavy"
(with no counter-weight cement being poured into the hull) and the
potential for rough seas/storms in the Atlantic. Also, Tom showed the
attendees some video footage (from a grainy 8mm movie) and I remember
seeing the mast's thick steel sections lying on the deck. As I recall
him saying, the ship docked in the Azores and the mast was erected
there, before Galaxy relocated off the Essex coast. May you keep up your
great work! Thank you! Best Regards, Paul Mustill. Dallas, Texas.’
Thanks Paul for the information. It shows us that all publicity in the
early days about the ship crossing the Ocean as a complete radio ship
was misleading. Anyone reflecting on this or other story our e mail
address is HKnot@home.nl
In the last issues a few times the song
‘Peace’ by Peter, heavily
used by the offshore stations in the seventies was mentioned as well the
name from Peter Gosling. Peter Timmerman, one of the contributors wrote
me that I forgot to mention that Peter Gosling also played keyboard on
two albums from Renaissance. Another one reflecting was Chris Edwards
from London who wrote:
‘Found a bit more on the "Peter" story. Peter Gosling's group Moon
Train, produced by Bill Wyman is on CD
http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=341909
Last issue I published a very early photograph from the MV Tiny, which
decades later became the MV King
David from Capital Radio. It was Theo Bakker from Leeuwarden who
wrote to me that he recognised the place where the photo was taken: ‘Hi
Hans, thanks for the latest report. The photo from the MV Tiny shows the
ship in ‘Zuiderhaven’ (The Southern Harbour) in Harlingen. I came there
very often due to the fact my grandparents were living there, just
around the corner from this harbour in the Brouwerstreet. Maybe you can
remember me, although we haven’t been in contact since decades. Many
years ago you sent me a tape which I still have, also I’ve been at your
place at the Goudlaan in Groningen. I was on last Radio Day in Amsterdam
which was fantastic. A lot of thanks for that. As it was so busy there I
hadn’t the time to speak to you, but that will happen the next time. It
was thanks to you many years ago I could record a test program from
Radio Caroline. I also have to tell you that I like it very much that
you have gone on all those decades with your work to get the free radio
scene alive. It was a beautiful time in the sixties and seventies. Much
different to the computerised radio which we have nowadays. Theo
Bakker.’
That was indeed realy a surprise to hear from Theo again after so many
years. We were in contact between 1970 and 1974, and which so many
other, lost contact after the Dutch government thought to bring an end
to transmissions from offshore radio and stations like Veronica, RNI and
Atlantis closed down. Lucky enough it would take 17 more years for no
station on international waters were active.
Do you remember the story Clive
Warner told in last issue about the ‘Wilson II’ tapes he got with
the request to play them on the air on Caroline in the mid seventies? He
didn’t play the tapes but we got some response on the story. It was Mr
Anonymous who wrote: ‘Hi Hans, Now some more information which I would
ask you not associate with my name as I do not like the attention of the
SS:-); The Harold Wilson BBC ´interview´ tape was circulated during
1974-5 from various sources. As well as being involved in radio I was at
the time a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and it was via
this organisation that I received a cassette tape of the interview. I
passed it on to a certain M/W London pirate who did actually broadcast
the tape in the early hours on one Saturday, I doubt many people heard
it. Now I have since heard from various sources that in fact it was a
fake, and was distributed as "black propaganda" by the British Security
Service (MI5). Obviously there is no way to verify this but it does tie
in with accounts from a number of people, including the spy Peter Wright
and a more recent BBC programme "The Plot Against Harold Wilson",
broadcast in 2006 that there was indeed a smear campaign by MI5 which
resulted in Wilson's sudden resignation in 1976. It would therefore seem
that Ronan and Clive did not act as MI5 anticipated as they did not
broadcast the tape.´ Best regards Anonymous
I informed Clive about this answer who came back again with: ‘ This is
very interesting. Why would the BBC guy have given me the tape rather
than the DJs? After all I was only running the midnight till two a.m.
program, not exactly peak listening time. I had previously worked for
DWS (Diplomatic Wireless Service) which is closely connected with
Hanslope Park and other such places, and had been on the anti-spy
course, and they were well aware that I was on the Mi Amigo. In fact I
issued a threat after the jamming started that I would bring up the
reserve 10KW on top of a main London station, possibly Capital with whom
I still bore a grudge. And I heard later that I was persona non grata as
it were, with the Foreign Office. This is strange stuff. Many thanks for
the info. Clive.’
Of course I went back to Mr Anonymous with Clive his answer and also he
came back with the following words: ‘Wow, makes sense then that Clive
was already known to the authorities as a possible "loose cannon", more
likely to broadcast the tape, they obviously got that bit wrong, but as
with our M/W transmission it was not at peak times which maybe would be
too obvious, who knows how these "spooks" think or operate? What gives
the lie to the MI5 accusations of Wilson being in the pay of the Soviet
Union is that they gave us (CPGB) the tape when we were most definitely
on the payroll of Moscow, and this was no secret, so we would hardly be
likely to betray one of our own.’
Finally Clive again: ‘I've spent about 4 hours today reviewing and
searching the period, and I believe the tape - from 1971 - was genuine.
The BBC themselves acknowledge it, and the best reference I can find is
at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/in_depth/pressure/yesterdays.shtml
However
this is not to say that there was no intent of the security services to
denigrate Wilson. I'm prepared to believe that was the truth since there
were serious suspicions that he was beholden to Moscow, and the Cold War
was still going on.
Last issues also had the subject ‘Amen, song by the Impressions from
late 1964, which was heavily played on Big L but didn’t make the chart.
A Caroline deejay from the sixties responded on last issue: ‘ Hi Hans,
regarding the Mary Payne note on Amen’ by the Impressions, its on the
album "People Get Ready" The Curtis Mayfield story. I am bemused
although not surprised it’ s not in the BMI. As Mary says it was a
Massive 60s hit at Wigan Casino, The Twisted Wheel Manchester, The Torch
in Hanley Stoke on Trent and every Northern Soul Club Night across the
country. Hans, You still write the best Pirate info around.
Best Regards Ugli Ray Teret
www.manchesterradioonline.com 14.00 till 16.00 every Sunday
Ray Terret in the sixties
Next one with just a little accident: ’Hi Hans Hope you and your are
well. I stupidly deleted your bulletin this week - could be so kind as
to copy me again please? Yours Graham (Jones) Radio Hertford UK.’
Well this counts for everybody, if something like this is happening to
you simply go to www.hansknot.com
as there are all issues since early 2004!
Our man in California USA needs a name check every issue, it’s just a
game between him and me. We talk about the Emperor Rosko who wrote this
time:
‘Hans if the report get any longer I will need to take a lunch break in
between the parts. Whew!!! that only took 45 min !! EMP I forgot anyone
who missed Amen by the Impressions had to have their head in the sand!’
Now I like to ask you to have special attention to the next special item
with just the first part in the report and the rest to be find on a
special internetsite:
50 years ago, in July 1958, the
launch of Radio Mercur started the offshore radio boom in Europe.
Nowadays, the offshore stations are increasingly considered in a
nostalgic way. The deejays and personnel having served on the
ships as well as their listeners are getting older. This also
applies for the hundreds of people who visit the annual Radio Days
in Erkrath, Calais and Amsterdam with melancholic feelings. Many
of these enthusiasts have even reached their retirement age, are
wearing glasses and some even need hearing-aids, have synthetic
hips or need specific assistive technology. |
Next one comes from an American living in Belgium: ‘Hi Hans, Only one
comment on your longer report. As usual, it's not long enough! I love
the reminiscing. Back then being in the US my only taste of this
wonderful radio was via recordings. Now that I am in Belgium, not far
from the North Sea I think how wonderful it would have been to tune the
dial and hear all this exciting radio! I can only imagine, and thanks to
your report, and a vivid imagination I try to! There is good old' Big L
(on 1395 kHz) which I listen to constantly. And for me with the kind of
reception I get it, at least, gives me a "taste" of what listening to
the old pirate ships were like. Again, thank you for keeping the
memories alive! Your infamous radio collector friend. Tom Konard, La
Louviere, Belgium.’
Thanks
Tom and it’s good to see you like living in this part of the world and
you’re enjoying the stories about radio’s past!
It’s time to have another look in the
Carl Mitchell files. When
I took this archive from Amsterdam, now two years ago, one of the many
boxes were put apart at my loft, with the thought to give the contents
time. Lately on a Saturday I took the grey faded cardboard box into my
recording studio. In the box some fifty singles, most of them very
scratchy due to the fact they had be hidden in a wet cellar for 35
years. Although I did some cleaning, they still sounded scratchy. Many
of the singles carried either the words ‘advance promotion copy’ or ‘not
for sale’. I must admit that many of the singles, although I was a more
than avid listener, I’ve never heard before. Some were typically RNI
singles and most of the box contained songs from 1970. One cover of a
single paid special attention to me as it was a song from D.J. King with
on the A side a song called ‘Lazy’ and on the B side ‘One finger one
thumb’. It was released on Negram Records in Holland and mentioned as a
‘little M.A. Production’. The photo on the cover reminded me of one of
the many photos I found in the Carl Mitchell Boxes. D.J. King is no one
other than Stevie Gee,
who was for one stay onboard the MV Mi Amigo for Radio Caroline
International in 1968. So another singing deejay.
This one is added to the long list of songs and tunes used in offshore
radio days. You can find the lists on
www.soundscapes.info At the
main page at the right side there are buttons to click and go to
‘zeezenderdiscografie’ .
Remember we once wrote a short item about those Mexican stations who
once blasted their programs into the USA? Well here’s an interesting
site to scope:
http://borderradioshow.com
Radio Waddenzee, which
broadcasts to the Netherlands on 1602kHz from the restored lightship the
Jenni Baynton, is planning an offshore broadcast. Between May 1st and
3rd, the ship will anchor off the island of Griend to provide live
coverage of a boat race taking place on May 2nd. Already on April 29th
the ship will be anchored at her temporary position and live broadcasts
will be on air from May 1st up till May 3rd. On Saturday May 3rd it’s
possible to go to the radio ship with a ferry, which travels to Griend
from the harbour of Harlingen. Together with Martin van der Ven I will
visit the broadcast and photos will be shown in May on Martin’s internet
site. www.offshore-radio.de
Bob LeRoi sent us the
following press report: ‘Tower takes a tumble’ The severe gales over
recent weeks have taken their toll at the Red Sands Fort. Situated seven
nautical miles out from Whitstable in the Thames Estuary, the Forts are
exposed to the full onslaught of winds from every direction. So hardly a
surprise that the transmitter antenna installed on the Red Sands Fort
last summer has taken a tumble
Said radio engineer and overall Project Redsand Chairman Robin Adcroft
“We’re disappointed it’s fallen but in reality it was a temporary
antenna which we didn’t expect to survive the winter”. He continued, “We
have a new and permanent replacement ready to ship out and erect for
this and future Red Sands Radio broadcasts”.
Radio Red Sands plans a
return to the air in early July 2008
Talking about Bob LeRoi here is this month update for his internetpages:
Welcome to the March 2008 Update. A Double Bubble Scrapbook as we roll
out the 1st of a brand new series ‘Call Up The Groups’ looking at the
groups signed to Reg Calvert & their association with his stations
Radios Sutch and City. We continue the Red Sands Radio adventure with a
double issue of Parts 5 and 6. ”One Subject One Link” asks why do so
many TV junctions go wrong, is Television trying to be too clever?
Auction Lot 7 for a signed copy of the Tornadoes now rare instrumental
“Dragonfly” has as yet failed to reach it’s reserve, so it remains open
for bids this month. Finally the 2nd set of 1960’s Compilations are
available from the CD Store. Enjoy Your Visits.
www.bobleroi.co.uk
From Bob to Mary and
Chris Payne is just a small step: They had several updates this month
including: Forty years ago this month Radio Caroline North and South
were silenced by boarding parties and the ships towed away. This
momentous day in radio history is recalled in recollections by Bud
Ballou and Martin Kayne here:
http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/caroline/march31968/bud030368.html
Also see newspaper clippings from the time in our Francis Pullen
collection feature
http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/otherwaves/newsclips/newsclipsintroP1.html
Another update comes from The
Pirate Hall of Fame:
What's new this month?
• Forty years ago this week Radio Caroline North and South were silenced
by boarding parties and the ships towed away. We look back at that
tragic event;
• we hear about Radio Sutch's blind DJ;
• we see some pictures from Steve England's photo album
• and a photo of Woolf Byrne on Radio City in 1966;
• there is news of the current incarnation of Radio Caroline's plans to
mark the station's 44th birthday with live programmes from the mv Ross
Revenge;
• and we link to a fascinating magazine article about offshore radio
from 1934! All the best, Jon
www.offshoreradio.co.uk
Eric Wiltshire wrote
us the following: ‘The Challenge and Show - Let's Connect Europe’. Did
it work – Yes! What did it sound like – great. How was it done? Skype, a
laptop and the RTI Poprad Studios Who were the guests? Listeners through
to highly respected European broadcast experts. The programme lasted 2.5
hours and the final 10 minutes are here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsDyghCnPmE
Regards, Eric.
Five nicknames this time
in the report. Partly used on Radio Atlantis in 1974. Dave ‘Good Guy’
Rodgers, Dave ‘Big D’ Rodgers and Dave ‘Far out’ Rodgers. Larry 'the LP
man' Pannel and Larry Pannel, ‘the smiling grinning deejay of yours’.
The extensive list with nicknames from offshore radio people is on
www.hansknot.com If your own nickname is not listed yet, please feel
free to send it to: www.hansknot.com
Then just go back to the extra small report on the death of
Spangles Muldoon. Several
messages and wishes came in on the message board as well as at my
address, which I’ve forwarded to the family. Some of the memories I want
to share with the readership. Martin van der Ven and Jon from the Pirate
Hall of Fame made two very nice memories. First the one Jon wrote:
Chris Cary, he joined Caroline South just as the Marine Offences Act
took effect on 14th August 1967. Previously an engineer, he was
initially responsible for playing non-stop music through the night and,
during this period, he was known as Chris Anthony. Once he had mastered
the studio, he started to make the occasional announcements, changed his
name to Spangles Muldoon and then took over the noon-3pm show. It became
known as the Lunchtime Loonabout ("with the goon, Muldoon"). The
Offshore Themes web-site reveals that his theme tune was an instrumental
ve
rsion
of Yeh Yeh by the Mark Wirtz Orchestra. For a few months he broadcast
under the name of Herb Oscar Anderson, having acquired a jingle for an
American DJ of that name (from New York's WABC). In March 1968 he left
Caroline South to transfer to the North ship but the station close-down
beat him to it. His return to sea came in July 1970 when he joined Radio
Northsea International. He later ran the returning Radio Caroline off
the Dutch coast and broadcast on Radio Luxembourg, both as Spangles
Muldoon and under his real name. At the same time he was getting
involved in the early video games market, later expanding into
computers. Former Radio Scotland DJ Brian Webb (also known as Brian
McKenzie on Radio Northsea) told him about the burgeoning Irish
land-based pirate scene and, together with former Caroline director
Philip Solomon, Chris started Sunshine Radio in Dublin. The station
manager was his old Caroline colleague Robbie Dale who later took over
the station as Chris moved on to start up another, Radio Nova. This was
probably the most professional and successful of all the Irish pirates.
In 1986 Nova closed down and Chris moved back to the UK. He now had a
company dealing in satellite equipment and for a while ran a
satellite-distributed version of Radio Nova in Britain which employed a
number of former pirate DJs including Paul Burnett, Mark Wesley (alias
Mark West) and Tony Blackburn. He also owned a Birmingham station
Buzz-FM for a time. In 2002 Chris put in a bid to take over the long
wave transmitter in the Republic of Ireland previously used by Atlantic
252. Unfortunately RTE, the Irish state broadcaster which owned it,
turned him down. Chris continued to run a computer business Exidy Media
(formerly known as Compshop) and re-launched Radio Nova on the internet.
He was about to start a version of the station in Tenerife but, while
visiting the island in January 2008, he suffered a stroke. He died on
29th February. ‘
Martin van der Ven wrote the next memory as well as he placed 23
photographs featuring Chris Cary
on his site.
Spangles Muldoon aka Chris Cary
(photo: Martin van der Ven)
Chris Cary (Spangles Muldoon) 5th October 1946 - 29th February 2008
'I feel deeply sorry to report the sad news of Chris Cary's death
following a second stroke some weeks ago. As a young teenager being 15
years young, I first heard "Spangles Muldoon" with his "Lunchtime
Loonabout" programme on RNI just after the station had returned to the
Dutch coast at the end of July in 1970. Spangles immediately fascinated
me as I strongly imagined he was a tough-minded guy with a lot of humour
who consequently committed himself to the idea of "free radio". On a
Saturday afternoon in August - whilst on holiday in Italy along with my
parents and my younger brothers - I listened to RNI on shortwave (31 and
49 metre band) and followed the dramatic events when Kees Manders tried
to hijack the Mebo II with Spangles and several colleagues on board the
ship. And with much sorrow I listened to Spangles' farewell programme in
September 1970. During the summer of 1972, he suddenly reappeared on the
station, soon leaving to take part in the reincarnation of Radio
Caroline from the MV Mi Amigo. I soon realised that Spangles played an
important role within the new Caroline "organisation", but unfortunately
he could be heard not too often as a deejay on the station...
More than three decades later, in October 2005, I met Chris for the very
first time when he took part at the "RNI-in-1970 Reunion" on the
Amsterdam Radio Day. I saw him again at the "Celebration of Offshore
Radio" in London in August 2007. And then in November 2007, we were so
pleased that he took part in the "Radio Caroline resisting the MOA"
panel which was held during the recent Radio Day. I have compiled
several pictures as a decent help to bear Chris in our remembrance.
Martin van der Ven.’
Also on the internetsite from Radio Luxembourg some farewell words have
been placed:
http://www.radioluxembourg.co.uk/cms/index.php
On the Public radio in Ireland also attention was played:
http://www.radio.ie/archives2/chris_cary/jc_020308.ram John Clarke
on 2 FM RTE Eirland
Radio 227 remembers the offshore radiostations during 28 weeks. Look
Boden, former offshore 227 deejay and nowadays owner of the radiostation
227 in Holland has restarted his Laissez Faire Story on March 2nd. Each
Sunday evening a two hour program will be on the station between 20.00
and 22.00 CET. It’s a repeat of the programs which were earlier aired in
2004 an d 2005.
www.radio227.nl
The whole story on the Laissez Faire can be found on
http://www.northernstar.no/sre.htm
‘Hi Hans’ wrote John Cronnolley, hope you are well and thanks for the
International Reports that you send. They certainly contain a wealth of
information! Just to let you know that Dr. Martin van der Ven has
updated the German Caroline website
on the Photo Gallery page with photos from 1st/2nd February, 2008
showing the restoration work on the
Ross Revenge in the Barge
Dock at the Port of Tilbury. There is another batch of photos from
Easter, 2006, when the ship was in Berth 21 and the aim is to put
together a record of the work done on the Ross between April, 2006 until
the present day whilst the ship is out of public view. The photos have
been taken by members of the Restoration Crew and thanks must go to them
for the photos and Martin for his time and effort in putting these
photos together on his website. As the ship is the last complete
surviving offshore radio ship in the world, it would be remiss of us
all, not to keep this last bastion of radio history alive. Regards, John
Cronnolley.’
Well it looks like that you as a reader have to go to Martin’s pages and
take a lot of time this months as he has several new things on:
www.offshore-radio.de
From Germany it’s Burkhardt Nowotny who sent me the internet addresses
where the readers can find the documentary (in Dutch) made about the
work and live from Joost den
Draayer or Willem van Kooten (what his real name is):
http://www.avro.nl/tv/programmas_az/hoge_bomen/afleveringen/willem_van_kooten.aspx
I got an e mail from Bill
Rollins in which, after some personal lines to me he wrote for
the readership: ‘I still do weekend presenting for Dream 100 - I attach
a short email and current picture of myself. Hope to hear from you soon
and thanks very much for sending the monthly reports - Regards to you
and the family. Bill Rollins.’
Bill
started his radio career with the pirate radio stations twelve miles off
the Essex coast on an old wartime fort in 1965. It is rumoured his
family had originally sent him out there while the rest of the family
planned to emigrate to Australia - unfortunately for Bill's family - the
supply boat arrived before the family had packed their final suitcase
and Bill was returned to dry land. Over the years Bill has been heard on
many radio stations voicing commercials and even we find this hard to
believe! Bill used be a continuity announcer for religious programmes.
He has been regularly broadcasting to the North Essex/South Suffolk area
since 1990. Join Bill every Saturday and Sunday morning from 6 for the
best way to start your weekends!
http://www.dream100.com/on-air/index.php
Bill Rollins personal archive
From Australia another segment of an e mail which came in on March 3rd.
‘Also, Hans - I meant to say this earlier - how much I enjoyed reading
your "Forty Years On". It was particularly interesting for me because,
as you will know, I was on Luxembourg then the BBC during those post-MOA
days and later abroad with BFBS and had no time to follow what was
happening, I was too busy with my own career. It is a fascinating view
of the situation at the time and I have kept it on file. Regards,
Colin Nichol.
Thanks Colin for your nice a mail. Several other e mails came in with
compliments about the long story of what was happening to Caroline and
their people after August 14th 1967 and I only can say that it was a
pleasure for me to do the research and writing. I’m glad you all enjoyed
it and it brought so many of you to respond on the story.
TAPE has published web-based guidelines for digitisation. They describe
the digitisation workflow for analogue open reel tapes as a step by step
approach for the production of digital copies from analogue tapes from a
technical point of view. Most of the workflow may also be applied to
audio cassettes. The workflow was written by Juha Henriksson (Finnish
Jazz & Pop Archive) & Nadja Wallaszkovits (Phonogrammarchiv, Austrian
Academy of Sciences). The workflow is mainly aimed at newcomers in the
world of audio tape digitization. It contains references to other
literature and many detailed photographs. You will find the workflow at
http://www.jazzpoparkisto.net/audio/
Martin again and he found a German site about the history of ships
including very interesting material about a MV Olga, which later became
the world famous Caroline ship MV Mi Amigo
http://suche.seeleute.net/viewtopic.php?t=1805&view=next&sid=70b28ac061b3d0a232914d92cabdf1b5
Time
for an interesting double cd which is released in Belgium and which is
specially available for the readers from the Hans Knot International
Report.
Best of André Brasseur & his
multi-sound organ
André Brasseur had only one small hit in Belgium and Holland but his
music was heavily used for tunes and jingles in the offshore radio
world. A few ones I want to mention: ‘Ballad on the beach’ was used on
Veronica for a request promo.
‘Big Fat Spiritual . Tune from Eddie Becker on Radio Veronica. The
number was also used as tine on ‘House Wife Choice’ on RNI in 1971.
Early Bird Satellite was used on the Laissez Faire as tune for Jos van
Vliet on Radio 227. Also Tony Windsor used a track called ‘Holiday’ for
Radio 227 jingles and ‘Holiday’ was also used on RNI by the late
Crispian St. John. On Radio 390 the same track was used for the program
‘Radio 390 invites you on the scene’.
‘Lonely Beach’ was used for a jingle on Radio Atlantis ‘Andy Anderson
got three legs’. The same station had a drive in show and the promo’s
for this had ‘Lonely back’ from André Brasseur. And so I can go on but
just decide yourself if this album is to be found soon in your own
collection. In total there are 40 tracks on this double cd. You can
order it by e mailing to
patrick.van.den.bosch@skynet.be
The price for the double cd is 20 Euro, postage and package for Belgium
in 2 Euro, other countries in Europe 5 Europe and to the rest of the
world 6 Euro.
Again time for a rare newspaper cut, which is sadly also incomplete. It
is from the Haagse Post (newspaper in the Hague) form January 24th 1966.
It reported on the fact that the
MV Mi Amigo was taken to the harbour of Zaandam for repairs after
the ship went adrift. Captain De Vrij (48) was interviewed and started
reflecting angry as there were to many rumours going round in the press
that on board the MV Mi Amigo the crew only noticed the ship drifting
when it was almost on the shoreline. De Vrij: ‘Last Wednesday, as
normal, crew had a schedule for watchmen. Around 10 o’clock in the
evening it occurred to me, due to the fact a light ship / which is
normally far away, was in our surroundings. We have tried to save our
ship with the engine but the windforce and stream were to strong. It was
between midnight and half past midnight we ran aground.´
On the photograph of the newspaper cut you see below
Captain De Vrij, upstairs
first three English technical people and then first engineer A.
Visscher, Cook G Van Vliet and sailor H. Kaatman.
And that winds up this edition of the Hans Knot International Radio
Report. May I wish you all Happy Eastern and till next month.
Best wishes, Hans Knot
Offshore Radio Programme Names - Programmanamen Zeezenders 1958-1990
Read Hans Knot's former report