Hans Knot's International Radio Report - July 2008
July 2008 is the month
we have to mark as the month that brings us the fact that Offshore Radio
on commercial base started 50 Years ago in Scandinavia.
Thanks again for all who responded and as always the most interesting
ones are mentioned as well as the first to respond. It’s like a little
game that there are always the same persons who respond in the first
rankings. On top again after two months is, from California, the one and
only Emperor Rosko who
wrote: ‘Hi Hans, on top as always! If anyone is going to do a movie it
should be you, you must be the ‘world authority’ on pirate radio. My
book got to script stage but the backers went broke. There must be 10
books from ex jocks I know about, Keith, Paul, Tony, John etc. Stay well
and keep up the good work. Rosko.’
Thank you Emperor. A pity those guys went broke but nowadays it’s
possible to publish books on low scale and so low budget. Ordering for
instant 200 copies and do a 100 reprint when the first edition is sold.
In that way it’s for many people a responsible way to publish their own
story. Just think about it.
Remember last month that Fons Winteraeken asked if someone knew more
about a captain aboard the MV Mi Amigo in 1979? His name was mentioned
during the Christmas program and even he was heard doing greetings to
family and friends in the Tom Anderson program. Well I’ve got a response
from Bob Lawrence, who
was also living on the old lady in those days: ‘Hi Hans, Captain Harris!
I remember him well. He was a Belgian fisherman who was put on board
when Danny Vuylsteke took over running the Dutch/Flemish side of things.
His job was basically a crewman/sailor. He certainly was a character and
there are so many stories I could tell you about the man but I heard
that he was one of the guys who died when the Belgian tender went down
in 1980. I don't know for sure but if that is true it's best I keep the
stories to myself. I'm trying to organise things so that I can be at
Radio Day, if I can then "tot ziens". Regards, Bob
www.boblawrence.co.uk
Hello, wrote Bart Serlie, ‘ Hopefully all is well with you. What you’ve
written about your stay last month aboard the Jenni Baynton (Radio
Waddenzee) I could conclude that you had a good stay. I think the very
nice weather, that precious day, was also part of the very good stay
aboard. A few days earlier it was force 6 and I think boarding on the
light vessel was impossible at that stage that the tender, the MV
Javazee, could come alongside the radio ship and bring passengers
aboard. I recently visited with people from my work Scheveningen. A
special ‘A Scheveningen on Tour’ shows the people all kind of ins and
outs from this for offshore people special harbour. Within the tour
there was also a visit to the museum of Scheveningen and also the
lighttower, which has 162 steps. In the museum I found a model of the
former fishing vessel
Scheveningen 54, which was once used by Radio Delmare. Also there
was a special book on the history of the harbour, of course with stories
on the Offshore Days.’
SCHEVENINGEN 54 PHOTO: FREEWAVE
ARCHIVE
Thanks a lot Bart and good to hear you enjoyed this trip through
Scheveningen. Each time I’ve to go to the Hague for my work or other
things I don’t forget to take the tram to Scheveningen and visit the odd
places at the ‘Tweede Binnenhaven’, where so many memories are and of
course still the Trip Tender and MV Fortuna are at the quay. The
Foundation for Media Communication had contact with the publisher of the
book but a pity is that the edition is completely sold out.
We have to go now to the maestro, also called
Dan O’Day. He is sending
out, like me, regular newsletters and knows also to get attention with
other info mails: ‘Hi, Hans, in my latest Radio Programming Letter, I
said something that generated a ton of responses. Most were approving.
Some disagreed vehemently. So many people emailed to "put their two
cents in" that I actually -- (gulp) -- launched my first-ever blog, to
make it easier for subscribers to sound off. So if you want to check it
out and maybe leave your own comment, just click on this link:
http://www.danoday.com/blog
Thanks, Dan O'Day P.S. I really am nervous about this whole blog thing.
But sink or swim, I promise not to use it to tell you what I ate for
breakfast this morning or other minutiae of my daily life. It'll be
devoted to "the business":
http://www.danoday.com/blog
Let’s go to Eastern Europe and the man behind RTE,
Eric Wiltsher. He heard
last month that the international programs had to stop and only
Slovakian language was one for the future. I asked my readers to protest
and here’s Eric with the question to still take action: ’Dear Hans,
thank you for including the RTI piece in your journal - much
appreciated. We still need all the help we can get so anyone who feels
our cause is good please ask them to e-mail the
studio@rti.fm with there views. Now I
really know how Ronan felt when he said that is was less of a crime to
go to Moscow than play a Beatles track. Regards, Eric.
From Eric Wiltshire, in Slovakia we go to Don in England, with very sad
news from Israel.
‘Hi Hans, I have just heard today, from a good friend in the Israeli
advertising industry of the death of
Shosh Atari, the only
Israeli broadcaster who offered competition to the Voice of Peace, her
show was the only one that drew an audience that came close to 1540's.
Her name came up in conversation, and my friend said Shosh had died of
cancer; I was quite shocked, I had heard her on air in February this
year while in Tel Aviv.
She
broadcast up to the day of her death, on Radio Lev Hamedina, on April
1st 2008. After returning home from the studio she was later found dead
in her North Tel Aviv apartment by family and friends. She was buried in
the Yarkon Cemetary on the 3rd April 2008.
A number of Voice of Peace guys, especially Kas Collins, will be sad to
hear of her passing, she had spent the last 9 years fighting a battle
with kidney disease, and had undergone a number of operations to
alleviate the condition.
Shosh Atari (Photo Archive Don
Stevens)
I came across an air check of her last close down from April 1st on
frgdr.com BLOG and she does sound very ill. She leaves behind her family
and sister Gali, the Eurovision Song Contest winner, and a lot of
friends from the Peace Ship who liked her spiky and chippy personality,
and her great sense of humour.
So Hans, maybe a mention for a broadcaster, who, never a pirate had all
the style and buckle to swash with the best of us, and, on air, was our
only serious competition for two hours on Reshet Gimel. Without Shosh
Atari, Reshet Gimel would have been an expensive failure for the IBA
(Israel Broadcasting Authority) leaving the way clear for the offshore
stations. Instead, Shosh Atari led the way for Israeli broadcasters to
develop her style into an Israeli pop DJ style. She was also a good
friend to a number of the guys, Kas knew her well, I worked with her and
Gali in night clubs, and she was a good mate and the first Israeli DJ to
self op her kit.
The report is looking good Hans, see you in November,
Don Stevens.
Well Don, thanks a lot and I did forward the sad message to Kas and I
know you’re in contact again. Take care and indeed see you in November.
Let’s go to another e mail from England: ‘Hi Hans - I hope that you are
well.
I have a problem here for you and you readers. In the UK at the moment,
there is a BBC TV drama programme running called "The Invisibles" - it
is a comedy-drama based around three burglars who reform after a twenty
year absence to rekindle some of their lost pride in being the best
burglars in the UK.The question I have is nothing to do with the show,
but the trailer that runs which advertises the programme itself. On the
trailer - there is a piece of music which was used on
Radio 390 back in 1966,
as the theme tune for the "Sunday Times Hour of Jazz", (which was
introduced by Jazz legend Alexis Korner). I have tried asking the BBC,
but they say it was made at their marketing department, and they have no
record of the music that was used. Perhaps someone has seen this and
might know the name of the track used. Please - if anyone know what the
music is - can you ask them to e-mail me on
galaxy266@ntlworld.com
Many Thanks and all the Very Best Wishes from the UK
Chris Dannatt
Well Chris hopefully there’s one in the readership who can help you and
please if you get an answer let us know the title of the song and who
played it.
If you have any memory to share or even other photo’s please don’t
hesitate to exchange them with us. You can send them to
HKnot@home.nl (memories) and
Hans.Knot@gmail.com for photos.
‘ Hello Hans: I’ve not been in touch for a while. I hope you are well.
Just to let you know I’m on Red
Sands Radio next month and
Swinging Radio England in
August. Doug Wood. Swinging Radio England will be on
www.nowthatsradio.co.uk
there is a picture of the ship there right now. We did it last year for
just the week, but we have all old jingles. It was wonderful and will be
again this year. Doug.
Thank you Doug and great to see SRE in a new form can be heard again
this summer. Good luck on Red Sands!
Next we go to John from Holland: ‘Dear Hans. Must there be a reason to
have an internet site
where most of the information is related to offshore radio? Yes, in my
case there is the reason that I grew up in those splendid days and
became devoted to the offshore radio stations. At my place the radio was
on all day and every time on a frequency from one of the offshore
stations; mostly Radio London and Caroline. I was a lot of time awake
during the night and therefore I knew exactly at what time they closed
down the transmitter and restarted them too. Listening for me went far,
even so far that I could hear from the sound of the mediumwave and the
interference on a signal which offshore station was on. Today’s youth
doesn’t know how all those local radiostations got their birth. I think
this is why we had all those pioneers from offshore days. Nowadays a
listen a lot to Big L on 1395 AM, which for me is a very recognizable
sound related to offshore radio. For those who want to know more just go
to my pages at
http://members.home.nl/pa0jhr Click on the flag which language you
want to read and I wish all readers a lot of pleasure. John.’
Thanks John for your memory and good luck with your site. In last issue
we had a review about the
pirates’ dilemma, a book from Matt Mason. In the modern days all is
possible as Matt Mason's book is now available for electronic download,
price is up to you, enter any amount from $0.00 upwards, details:
http://thepiratesdilemma.com/download-the-book
Next e mail came in from the Shetland Islands with quit interesting
questions: ‘A friend and myself are trying to establish how many vessels
of the offshore fleet visited Lerwick harbour, or any other Shetland
harbour, in their early lives (before they were radio ships). It
occurred to me that I had never seen a photo of the
Norderney when it was a
fishing trawler, first as the Paul J Muller HH 294 (1950-1956) and then
as the Norderney (1956-1960). I have eight Dutch language books on
Veronica and there is nothing in any of them. Also, I always considered
the Norderney, as a radio ship, to be high out of the water, with the
top part of its rudder showing, and not ballasted like a fishing boat.
It certainly did/does not look like a typical side-winder fishing boat
(that is one with nets put over the side for fishing).’
Ian Anderson, SIBC
Norderney in pre Veronica days
Archive Freewave Media Magazine
Well Ian, surprise is here as I’ve a photo of the maiden trip as well as
one from 1956. If they have visited the harbour Lerwick is not know to
me. Also I send you a picture taken on the Norderney when they were
rebuilding it into a discotheque. You can see the ballast consist partly
of a lot of pebbles.
Greetings
Hans
I did send the photos by mail and Ian replied
Pebbles ballast at the Norderney
photo Marcel Poelman
After receiving the photographs Ian came back to me with: ‘Hans, I find
the pictures very interesting. I had wondered why a vessel built in
1949/1950 was being scrapped as early as 1960. The pictures, one as the
Paul J Muller (1950) and one as the Norderney (1956), provide the
answer. The shape of the funnel and the black smoke from the funnel show
that the Paul J Muller, later the Norderney, had coal, or bunker-oil,
fired steam-propulsion. Although steam trawlers were being built well
into the 1950s, by 1960 some fishing boat owners wanted only motor
fishing vessels. Up until the 1950s steam propulsion was very efficient
and reliable, compared to diesel motors, especially for long trips to
the cod fishing off Iceland. The pictures also answer the question about
the ballasting of the Norderney as a radio ship. As a fishing trawler
the vessel is lower in the water, especially at the stern. With the
enormous weight of the steam engine and other machinery removed, it must
have been decide to re-ballast the vessel to give a greater freeboard
for life as a radio ship. Ian Anderson, SIBC’
Then interesting news, which came in from Mike Barraclough: ‘The
Times has put its entire archive online and access is free for an
introductory period, though you do need to register. I put "Radio
London" in the search engine for articles from 1964 to 1968 and got 43
results. Putting "Radio Caroline" in the search engine for articles for
the same period gave me 166 results. Most interesting one I have seen so
far is from August 16 1967 and shows the effect of the Marine Offences
Act as is headlined: "Companies disown commercials by Radio Caroline" It
includes a statement by Leslie Clark, of the Futurist Theatre in
Scarborough about an advert for a concert by the Bachelors, placed by
Phil Solomon's PPR Music. He says he is alarmed that the show was being
advertised on Caroline North and would see his managing director
immediately. "We shall all probably be in goal tomorrow" he said. Times
Archive can be accessed at:
http://archive.timesonline.co.uk
Thanks a lot Mike for brining in this news. Anyone who wants to write a
memory, newsflash or send in a photo please use
HKnot@home.nl and for attachments
Hans.Knot@gmail.com
And now we go down yonder to Australia and
Jack Curtiss has big
news: ‘Well, folks I guess it's a good time for an update, being as the
Fourth of July is near, regarding the Yank contingent of our
Merry
Band of Radio Outlaws. And it's not about me, still happily ensconced in
Adelaide and just turned 65 (eek!) but someone else we've not heard of
or from more than 41 years. Briefly, the word is Johnny Dark is alive!
The irrepressible Dark Lord of the Night Ride (aka
Harry Putnam) is alive
and well (sort of a couple of strokes haven't helped probably) now 72
years old and living with his wife in Pasadena, Maryland, not
that far from Towson, the Baltimore suburb where he worked years before
coming to England.
Getting an invitation to another reunion (in the States) that I couldn't
make got me thinking of those lads still missing from the radio pirate
rolls and led me to make one stab at locating Harry. I tried a few times
before but there are just too many guys with the same name but this
time, on Bob LeRoi's nostalgia site, I spotted a middle initial I hadn't
seen before and that did the trick. A half-hour later I was speaking
with good old "Johnny Dark”
himself. He was thrilled to hear from me and even more so to learn there
were actually websites and fans avidly keeping up on what happened to us
all after lo these many years. And of course he was quite saddened, when
I related the unhappy end of young Boom-Boom's Virginia Odyssey.
I'll send him some photos and URL’s so he can check out the websites
himself. Seems to me that somewhere on somebody's site is an Alan Black
cartoon of Harry as Johnny Dark in Bermudas, a Hawaiian shirt, thongs
and holding cocktail. I just went through my yellowed clippings and I
don't have it. Anybody recall seeing this? But Johnny Dark is still
cooking' and he's really pleased to hear from us and know that we care.
Best regards, Jack Curtiss’.
And for those who don’t remember or know Johnny Dark, he was working on
Swinging Radio England too. Jack sent the e mail to several persons with
a lot of interest in the stations which were on the MV Laissez Fare/ MV
Olga Patricia and a I decided to public a few of the reactions, which
came in on the news from Jack. First the one from Jon Myer from the
Pirate Hall of Fame: ‘It's good to hear from you - and very good news
that you have traced Johnny Dark/Harry Putnam. Isn't the internet
wonderful? I don't know if it is coincidence, or whether your phone call
triggered a chain reaction within the Putnam family, but only this very
morning I received an email from Harry's daughter, Michele Trankovich,
offering to provide information about her father - and possibly a photo
- for my web site. So thank you very much for setting the ball in
motion. I am attaching the cartoon you mentioned, drawn by Alan Black,
and published in the 21st February 1967 edition of Radio News. You must
have a fantastic memory - it is almost exactly as you recall - just a
tennis racquet instead of the cocktails. Congratulations on your 65th
birthday and all the best, Jon’.
Then from Norway Svenn Martinsen: ‘Dear Jack! Congrats on your 65! Good
also that you found another hero from my youth. Harry/Johnny's R&B Nite
Ride promo from Britain Radio on 845 in Jan-Feb 1967 triggered me to
listen so much, and take in the great music he played. Of course, I'd
already then heard him on 1322 in the fall of 1966 with Oscar's Groovy
Grotto ad to the Billy Preston tune. I think this was at the same time
Jack McLaughlin came down from Radio Scotland to do an up-tempo
7-Midnite show on Radio 355. Don had been reinstated on January1st and
the investors now wanted a more up- tempo format on Britain Radio. I
have an edited mp3 recording on Bill "Boss"Berry doing that famous Legal
ID on 1322 in late October 1966 (with co-channel Radio Moscow from
Leipzig in background!) followed by Harry/Johnny and the Grotto ad. My
regards to you all, especially to "Johnny Dark"! Svenn Martinsen.’
There’s just a little gap between happiness and sadness as I’ve to
announce the death of Keith
Ashton in Australia. Keith worked for Radio Hauraki, Radio
Caroline, Capital Radio and the Voice of Peace but also a lot of radio
stations in Australia. For more memories on his work and his friends go
to:
http://www.isonliveradio.com/iarba/lifemembers/keith_ashton.html
With thanks to Mary Payne who sent me the sad information.
![]() Hans Knot, Rob Olthof and Martin van der Ven have been busily planning this year's Radio Day which will be held on Saturday 8th November 2008 again in Amsterdam's Hotel Casa 400 near the Amstel railway station (James Wattstraat 75) from 11:00 till 17:00 CET (which is Dutch local time). This year's event will have "Radio Caroline in the late seventies (1977-80)" as a main topic. We are planning three panels to discuss that exciting era just before the MV Mi Amigo sank in March 1980. This will include all English and Dutch colleagues who worked for the legendary offshore radio station thirty years ago. You see that this will again become a big class reunion... We have also plans to invite a well known guest from Belgium. And you might look forward to an interesting dialogue between two old stagers who formed a major role in the European broadcasting history. Last but not least Sietse Brouwer will present his station Radio Waddenzee which is broadcasting from the radioship Jenni Baynton. More details to be announced soon. Many impressive pictures from the years gone by can be found at http://www.offshore-radio.de/radioday/ |
Then there was an e mail from New Zealand in which the sender wrote: ‘Hi
Hans. Purely by coincidence I read the next article on internet: ‘ Jan
Sundermann from Germany has a story and a question related to the
MV Emma, once used by the
ill fated project Radio Condor. ‘Hallo Hans, in July 1974 I was o¬n a
sailing vacation in Enkhuizen. In a local discotheque o¬ne evening I
thought to hear a familiar voice, when the deejay was o¬n. I later gave
him some requests and talked with him, frankly asking if I might know
his voice from the radio." Which station do you think?" he replied. "I
think o¬n WMR" , and then he turned his Spotmaster cassettes around, and
o¬n the backside was printed WMR. It was Theo Verstraaten (Boekel), the
operator of WMR , that was raided a year earlier. Later in the week I
could visit his home o¬ne evening, it was o¬n the way to Schagen in
Nieuwe Niedorp. There was his studio, and the former transmitter
location. Among the photos he showed, was also o¬ne picture of some WMR
people o¬n board the former Condor ship, when lying in summer of 1973 in
the harbour of IJmuiden. So station WMR was also o¬ne time interested in
that boat for coming back with transmissions in the 49 m band. But as
with many enthusiastic projects, they probably found soon, that it was
not financially of a realistic chance. I saw Theo Boekel some weeks
later in Scheveningen again, just before August 31st 1974. I was in the
1990s again in the area of Schagen, and a lady from the neighbourhood
said, that she believed Theo had moved to New Zealand . Maybe he is
nowadays a reader of this report? Jan.’
That was a question from a reader in Germany some months ago and yes the
person who was asked responded himself with the next lines: ‘Well this
is from Theo Boekel. Indeed I left Holland to go to New Zealand way back
in 1976. Radio was a thing of the past for a long time for me. However,
20 years ago I couldn’t wait long, to make radio again. Echo Radio is
the company I work for.’
Thanks Theo and this is what I found on the internet: ‘Echo Radio is a
one-hour Dutch language programme with audiences across New Zealand,
presented and produced by Theo Boekel with the assistance of Martin van
Irk and Yoka McLeod. Theo approached Plains FM in 1988 with the idea of
a programme for the Dutch community. Now, Echo Radio is heard on The
Dutch Radio Network around New Zealand via other access radio stations
like Plains FM. Echo Radio attracts people who have a connection to, or
an interest in the Netherlands via the latest Dutch news, interviews and
music.
For more information check out the website:
www.echo.org.nz
Of course I sent the surprising e mail to Jan Sunderman in Germany and
he came back with: ‘Hello Hans. That is quite a surprise. This planet is
simply too small to escape, only our radio-waves can do that, best
regards Jan’
Yes
and those two are also in contact again due to the existence of the Hans
Knot International Radio Report. Next a press report from Whitstable
written by Bob Le-Roi:
‘Flying the Flag’ Broadcasting from the Thames Estuary
Red Sands Radio might be
all at sea but its HQ is in Whitstable and it’s serviced from the
harbour there. In the mid 1960’s Radio Sutch, the first station to use a
Fort later Radio City settled on Shivering Sands. Meanwhile Radio
Invicta later KING then Radio 390 took over the Red Sands. They too were
supplied from Whitstable Harbour; Fred Downs owner skipper of the
‘Harvesters’ looked after the needs on Shivering Sands whilst Vic Davies
served Red Sands with his ‘Mallard’
Operating outside then British Territorial waters both stations kept a
low profile, the Forts were unlit as shown on the Admiralty charts, and
no flag ever flew from their radio towers. Now in 2008 broadcasting &
operating within British law Red Sands Radio has commissioned its own
flag to fly from the Fort top. Said media designer ‘Kathia’: “Initially
the idea was to use the overall layout plan of the Forts, but
artistically I created a design based on a red background that
encompassed the Fort’s elevation in yellow surrounded by the distinctive
well know life ring” Radio Red Sands launches on 4th July 2008. For more
information contact Red Sands Radio, PO Box 299, Whitstable, Kent, CT5
2YA or telephone 07961 601 893 Bob Le-Roi - Programme Director’.
Well Bob a lot of success the forthcoming weeks and a lot of fun. Hope
you’ll write a little report for next issue of the Hans Knot
International Radio Report too!
Bob also updates his own pages: ‘Welcome to the July 2008 Update.
Another full month ‘Scrapbook’ concludes last summers adventures on Red
Sands Radio in Part 8 with some superb aerial shots of the Towers &
North Kent Coastline. Plus we bring you the start of the 2008 season in
Red Sands Radio – Part 9. ‘One Subject One Link’ takes a look at the
trend of listener channel hopping, normally when a song that doesn’t
suit them is being played
On
the ‘Personal Pages’ we unveil the work of local artist Peter Gander
Plus show some pictures of the Swale, Thames and Estuary in a recent
X-Pilot charter. Finally the best way to visit Red Sands Radio this year
is on our tender, which will come out from Whitstable weather and tides
permitting. Enjoy Your Visits.’
www.bobleroi.co.uk
I found this photograph back in my archive, which was taken by Peter
Messingfeld way back, I think in 1973, at the Pirate Radio News
Headquarters, which were at the Goudlaan 613 in Groningen. You see nine
t-shirts on one photograph. These are all shirts, which were worn a lot
in those days. I know for sure one of two still exists in my archive.
There must be a pink bag in one of the boxes, filled with all kind of
radio t-shirts. I will have a look one day. So, what is left in your
linen cupboard? Just let make someone a photograph of yourself in one of
the radio t-shirts’ and send it to
Hans.Knot@gmail.com
Mail
from Gert in Belgium who wrote: ‘Last year I promised you to inform,
when something would happen with the Norderney in Antwerp. Since last
Friday (June 20th) seven people are rebuilding the ship. On the
photograph attached you see that a wooden floor is made on the original
deck. I tried to get information from the people but I was not too
successful. I think they’re warned not to tell anything about the
destination of the former Veronica ship. Also on the inside of the
vessel they were rebuilding, but I wasn’t allowed to make pictures. For
more photographs just go to my internet blog.
www.bloggen.be/zeezenders.
Thanks a lot to Gert and all the others who kept me informing about the
activities in Antwerp harbour. Maybe I’ve next month more about the
future destination of the ship.
Antwerp June 2008 Photo Gert
Let’s go to the update from the
Pirate Hall of Fame for this month:
• We have added another page in the ever-growing Pirate Radio Hall of
Fame ‘Seventies Supplement’, featuring broadcasters from that decade
whose names begin with the letters G and H - complete with plenty of
photos and recordings;
• from the sixties, we hear from Radio Caroline North's Wally Meehan;
• from Keith Martin's wonderful collection of offshore memorabilia, we
take a look at Radio Caroline's 1964 programme format - back in the day
when it was mainly playing middle-of-the-road music;
• there is more information about the conference celebrating Radio
Caroline North taking place on the Isle of Man in September;
• and details of Red Sands Radio which returns to the air this month
from Radio 390's old home. My grateful thanks, as ever, to all the
contributors. All the best, Jon The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame
www.offshoreradio.co.uk
And of course don’t
forget to visit
www.radiolondon.co.uk
The Art pages from the Times brought the news of the death of
Jimmy McGriff, who we all
remember from Caroline’s night theme ‘Around Midnight’ as follows:
‘Jimmy McGriff, who since the early 1960s was one of the most popular
jazz and blues organists, died on Saturday in Voorhees, N.J. He was 72
and lived in Voorhees. Like other jazz organists of his time, Mr.
McGriff spent much of his career working in the clubs of the East Coast
organ circuit, including the Golden Slipper in Newark, a club he owned
in the early ’70s. He played jazz as dance music, whether it was music
by Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Ray Charles or James Brown. Over swing,
shuffle and funk rhythms, he played in a focused blues language that
built gospel-like intensity through his solos.
Mr. McGriff was born in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia,
which became a jazz organ Mecca in the 1950s and ’60s. His father played
piano, and Mr. McGriff learned it from an early age; he went on to play
saxophone and bass before settling on the Hammond organ, which became a
common instrument in small-group jazz instrument only in the mid-’50s,
largely because of the example of another Philadelphian, Jimmy Smith.
During the Korean War, Mr. McGriff served as a military policeman;
returning home, he spent more than two years on the Philadelphia police
force. Encouraged by his friend Richard (Groove) Holmes, another
Philadelphia organist, he took up the organ, playing around
Philadelphia, sometimes with the tenor saxophonist Charles Earland, who
himself switched over to the organ soon thereafter and became another
one of that instrument’s great players.
His first hit, in 1961, was a 45-r.p.m. single of Ray Charles’s “I’ve
Got a Woman,” a local jukebox success that was featured on the radio. It
led to a full album for the Sue label; it also quickly led to another
hit single, “All About My Girl.” From the mid-’60s through the 1970s,
his records were produced by Sonny Lester, on the Solid State, Blue Note
and Groove Merchant labels; his own 1971 live album, “The Black Pearl,”
as well as another with the blues singer Junior Parker, were recorded at
his own club in Newark. He also played with Buddy Rich’s band for a
stretch in the late ’60s and early ’70s. In 1986 he started working
regularly with the saxophonist Hank Crawford, making records and
touring; he continued to record as a leader for the Milestone label and
made his last recording in 2006, a live album done at the Manhattan jazz
club Smoke. He stopped playing in 2007. In addition to his wife,
Margaret, Mr. McGriff is survived his mother, Beatrice, and brother,
Henry, both of Philadelphia; his sisters, Jean Clark of Amherst, Va.,
and Beatrice Evans of Philadelphia; two children, Donald Kelly of
Philadelphia and Holiday Hankerson of the Newark area; and five
grandchildren. ‘There were several people responding on the death of
Jimmy McGriff and here are a few: ‘I dare say that mention will be made
in your next report of the death of the great blues organist Jimmy
McGriff, whose recording of the Thelonious Monk composition 'Round
Midnight' was used as close down music each evening on the early days of
Radio Caroline. The first time I heard this track on Caroline I could
not understand why they played what seemed to me this never ending and
dreary piece of music. Strangely, I felt compulsion to stick it out to
the end just to see what it was all about and guess what? I grew to love
it and other music of Mr McGriff but trying to get a copy of the LP
containing the track was damned near impossible. I worked near the
infamous Soho district of London's west-end where there were several
specialist and jazz record retailers shoe-horned in between the strip
clubs and unscrupulous 'clip-joints' that populated the area but none
had even heard of it. By chance when working on a hospital radio station
around 1969 with a young man called Noel Edmonds (that's another story),
one of our new DJs came into the studio with a copy and kindly loaned it
to me. My triumph at last being able to hear the LP in hi-fi was short
lived as the condition of the record was truly appalling being full of
dust, finger marks, scratches and the remains of what might well have
been served up at the local Chinese take-away some months previously. It
was unplayable but with much cleaning and coaxing of my Garrard SP25
record deck pick up arm I managed to get a tape recording of the whole
LP. The 'Round Midnight' track insisted on jumping at one point but a
piece of cotton attached to the pick up and a minimum of opposite force
applied by myself eventually guided it through with no more than a click
or two. I still have the LP as the lender of it abruptly left our
hospital radio station so I was unable to return it to him although I
seem to recall him telling me he had himself borrowed it from someone.
Maybe it was the Caroline original. Who knows? It remains as part of my
small collection of 'pirate radio' discs that includes original 45 rpm
discs of 'Caroline' by The Fortunes on Decca, 'Man of Action' (RNI) by
Les Reed Orchestra on a Chapter One Records the CBS LP 'Tasty' by the
Belgian organist Andre Brasseur which was very popular with the stations
on your side of the North Sea, Hans. Here's hoping this little story is
of interest to you and your readers. With best wishes
Stephen Raindle’.
Thanks Stephen for this very nice memory you’ve to the ‘ Round Midnight’
from Jimmy McGriff. In the meantime a recording from Caroline North with
the days ending, featuring the ‘Round Midnight’ tune and Bob Stewart
finishing that days transmission, went around with several people. A
recording on very high quality and one avid Radio London and Radio
Caroline listener from the sixties, who made fame himself on the radio
in later years responded to me with: ‘Thanks for ‘Round Midnight’ A
magical piece of music which reminds me on the first years of Radio
Caroline but also brings me back to the summer of 1967 when I made a
travel by car from the Mid of England to Wales and then to London.
Really it was an adventure. In Wales it was very rainy, with Caroline
North on in the car and a sunny mid England. The place Rhyll in Wales
was also visited by me, which is a typical bath resort for workers. In
my memory it was quite an adventure to make this trip. For me it’s a
nice musical memory and also a nice factual memory. ‘Round Midnight’
also brings me back to March 1968 when both Caroline vessels were towed
into harbour and they was ‘free’ access to both ships for the public. ‘Tom
Mulder, aka Klaas Vaak from Veronica.
Then an e mail from Robbie Dale who worked for Caroline, Veronica, TROS,
NOVA, Sunshine and more and tells us that it’s almost 20 years and still
suffering withdrawal symptoms. “Radio is a drug” the bug get the gang
back together after 20 years. This time it’s also open to “radio folks”
in general. I think Roger David and Dara should be congratulated. Thank
you guys! Robbie Dale.’
Well what I read between the lines that this autumn there will be a
reunion probably in Dublin. I have heard from Roger Lane, the entrance
price will be €35 and will include food and souvenir T shirt. This is a
link of interest.
http://www.radiowavesforum.com/rw/showthread.php?t=15774
Maybe Robbie or someone else can provide us with more details. It could
be of interest for some of our readers. All info can be send to
HKnot@home.nl
This July the American Forces
Network will celebrate its 65th anniversary. Anticipating this
occasion, AFN-experts Ingo Paternoster sent me some photographs to
remember. The photos, accompanying this article, were taken on March 27,
2003, during the opening of the exhibition ‘60 Jahre AFN in Frankfurt’
in the "Historisches Museum" in Frankfurt, Germany.
When did my
involvement with radio start? Looking back at my youth and thinking of
radio, the first thing to come into my mind, no doubt, are the many fine
evenings I spent listening to the radio from under the blankets in my
bedroom. At that time, children were not used to watching television up
till the late hours. No, instead, we had to go to bed quite early.
Television in Holland was just in its infancy and the programs were
aired for only a few hours a week. That is to say, if your parents were
lucky enough to own a television set. Our parents were early starters as
they already bought one in 1958, an Erres from Germany. However, the
programs had not much to offer to young adolescents and so we sought our
refuge in listening to the radio.
I shared a big bedroom with my brothers and so in the late 1950s the
three of us had the opportunity to listen to the radio in our own
private quarters. Given our taste for music, our choices were rather
limited. We either could tune into the fading signal of Radio Luxembourg
on 208 meters on the AM band or to that other station that also was
transmitting in English though with a distinct
signature.
Here the presenters spoke their phrases with a clear American accent and
they brought us music we never had heard before, including country music
and rock and roll. The station was transmitting on AM and made itself
known as AFN Bremerhavn. Bremen was not too far away from our hometown
Groningen and so the signal came in at a reasonable quality.
AFN, the "American Forces Network", was a military station and its
programs were aimed at that part of the US forces in Germany, housed in
Bremen. Once you started listening to AFN Bremerhaven, you were quick to
find out that only part of the programming originated from the local
station itself. The other part consisted of programs that were also
aired on sister stations globally. It took some time before I learned
how this construction worked. Next to AFN Bremerhaven, so I found out,
there were many other AFN stations all over the world to provide the
soldiers with news, information, sports, amusement, culture and music.
The joint programs, being aired by all stations, in those days were put
on record in the US and subsequently sent all over the world. Later the
distribution was taken care of by tapes, cd's and, still later, through
satellite feeds. Of course, during the last years also programming has
been done with the use of the modern techniques, including the use of
internet.
My brothers and I, sure, were not the only ones in our hometown that
were attracted by the sound of AFN. During playtime, at school, we soon
learnt that more boys and girls of our age group were tuning in and we
all shared the same reason. We were hearing things, which we were not
allowed to listen to on our Dutch public station, Hilversum 1 and 2. It
was music we never heard before. And, we liked it from the very start.
In short, AFN was introducing us to American radio music. As was to be
expected, the station had the same appeal to young people in many other
European countries. It would take more than ten years, though, up till
1971, before I would be in contact with someone from abroad who also
regularly tuned into AFN. His name was Ingo Paternoster and he came from
Germany. It became clear to me that AFN was his most favorite station.
Next we started to exchange the material we had recorded throughout the
years as well as to send each other spoken letters in which we talked
about our shared love for radio.
In time I met Ingo Paternoster in the flesh when he made his first visit
to Holland. He came over to see me, and of course, more importantly, to
listen to AFN Shape (Soesterberg) as well for a visit
of
the studio's of Radio Veronica in Hilversum. Now, after 37 years,
Paternoster and I are still in contact and we are still exchanging radio
material of all kinds. After that first meeting I really started to
learn more about AFN and AFRTS. The idea of founding the station came
about a year before the invasion of the Allies in Europe and was the
brainchild of General Dwight Eisenhower, also known as Ike, in later
years President of the USA. Eisenhower had the idea that the American
soldiers, far away from home, would feel better if they could be
informed on a regular base by radio and other forms of communications.
His first target was the American soldiers, who were already encamped in
— overcrowded — military camps in the United Kingdom.
With the forthcoming invasion in mind, Eisenhower realized that the
American soldiers had to be informed very properly to keep up the
morale. There were some serious signs that things were not going well in
this respect. In September 1942, a research project brought the
information that more and more soldiers got disheartened by their long
stay in the camps, far away from home, under harsh conditions. The camps
were really overcrowded. And of course, there was a growing fear to be
actively involved in the coming battles. To distract themselves from
these daily concerns, the soldiers could tune in to the BBC programs.
These, however, did not bring a feeling of close contact with home, as
the BBC reserved only thirty minutes a week for American music and, yes,
only five minutes a week for sports information. The American soldiers,
moreover, didn't really like the stiff way of presenting of the British
in those days. Information was sent to Washington's White House that due
to these facts more and more soldiers started listening to the
propaganda radio stations of the Nazi's.
This disturbing outcome was serious reason enough for Dwight Eisenhower
to contact a few of his best persons within the Ministry of War: General
Everett Hughes and Mr. Brewster Morgan, who got the job of changing
things on short notice. They responded to this task by proposing the
start of a newspaper, a magazine, and also a radio station. Eisenhower
gave them a free hand to start up these information systems. A
newspaper, called "Stars and Stripes", already had been published during
World War 1 and now was reinstituted. By the way, it still exists. The
radio station was newly founded. This meant the birth of AFN, the
"American Forces Network" with several low powered transmitters, nearby
or on the several military Camps in Great Britain. The first program was
aired, sixty-five years ago, on July 4th, Independence Day, 1943.
In due time, all over the world similar stations followed the American
forces during their activities. They bring them information about the
local situation they're in, but also news and information from home.
Next to stations with a more permanent status, a lot of mobile stations
were — and still are — used all around the world. After World War II, to
mention only one out of many, the Blue Danube Network was grounded. The
main station was in Vienna (Austria) while two sister stations were
erected in the cities of Linz and Salzburg. As said, this is just an
example. During the Cold War, countries such as Spain and Italy, and of
course Germany, also got their own AFN stations. There even was an
offshore AFN station as the Americans used a radio ship, the MV Courier,
to transmit programs off the coast of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. And,
for us, be it AFN Vietnam, AFN Bosnia, AFN Shape, AFN Berlin, AFN
Heidelberg, AFN Balkans or AFN Iraq, all these stations were interesting
enough to listen to. Of course for Ingo Paternoster and I and all those
other AFN lovers, we mostly listened to them by the recordings we did
trade with each other.
Since our very first meeting in 1971, I stayed in contact with Ingo
Paternoster and, next to our tapes, we shared our love for radio — AFN
and Offshore Radio being our most important interests. Up till March
1993 I could tune in and listen to AFN Bremerhaven, after which the
local station was closed down. From that moment on, I had to rely on
tapes being sent by friends like Ingo Paternoster, to enjoy the AFN
programs. Paternoster, meanwhile, had moved from Northern Germany to
Bavaria, and there he could listen to stations like AFN Frankfurt and
AFN Munich, which, of course, he taped for me. His top favorite deejays,
so I could deduce from these recordings,
were Rick Damerest and Bill Switcher.
Now in 2008 we don’t send each other tapes, as we’re in the digital
modern world we can bring archive recordings by internet within minutes
to each other by uploading and downloading them, but listening to these
recordings is still as much exiting as under the blanket in the early
sixties of last century.
And the photos taken by Ingo Paternoster and others are partly already
on the internet and Martin van der Ven, the webmaster, will publish more
in time to come.
www.hansknot.com
Also Martin placed a lot of photographs concerning the hard work many
people do at the restoration on the MV Ross Revenge in the harbour of
Tillbury. Take a look at www.offshore-radio.de
More interesting things came in for instant to have a look for a CD
called THE GREASEMAN’s Greatest hits –this CD can be loaded down
completely…
http://www.dc101.com/cc-common/gallery/
As I wrote at the beginning of this report July 2008 is the moment to
think back and remind that it’s 50 years ago that commercial radio from
international waters began from a ship off the Scandinavian coast. Later
this month we look back with a report written by Henrik Noergaard. Well
thank you all for writing in and sharing your memories with us. Both e
mail addresses are open again and for news, memories we have
HKnot@home.nl
And for attachments
Hans.Knot@gmail.com
Erik Lindhardt near transmitter
Radio Mercur
Greetings Hans Knot
Offshore Radio Programme Names - Programmanamen Zeezenders 1958-1990
Read Hans Knot's former report