Hans Knot's International Radio Report - August 2008
Welcome to the August
edition of the Hans Knot International Report. Many memories and other
bits and pieces were sent to me. Some of them will be used in this
report, others another time. Also some longer stories in this issue as
well as answering the first e mail, which came in after the July 1st
report came out. It was not the Emperor wining this time but Clive from
England. Strange enough Clive was responding on a subject the
Emperor Rosko brought in
last time: Clive: �Hans replied to Emperor 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."
I'd just like to add that I do in fact have a small publishing company
that does everything from editing and typesetting to cover design and
can publish books "on demand" in both the UK and US. So, if anyone is
seriously interested in publishing their stories, it is distinctly
possible for not very much money. There's no need these days to print
hundreds of books to see your book available on Amazon.com etc.
Clive Warner.�
Well Rosko if you want more information just ask me for the contacts so
you can write to Clive.
As promised in last issue we bring this time the views from
Tom Lodge about the
questions from Alan about Caroline and Atlanta.
�Hi Alan Milewczyk,
aka The Pole with Soul, this is Tom Lodge here. Thanks for your most
interesting questions about the music policies of Radio Caroline North
and Radio Caroline South. As I was there at the start and closely
involved, I am please to express my experiences of those early days.
You say, "I was brought up in Manchester which was in the catchment area
for Caroline North, although I could hear the South ship albeit with a
much weaker groundwave signal during the day. What has puzzled me for
some time is the difference in the music policy of the two ships,
especially for the first 15 months or so post merger."
(Tom) Yes, both ships did have a different music operation policy after
Radio Atlanta became Radio Caroline South and Radio Caroline sailed to
the Isle of Man and became Radio Caroline North. The two operations were
totally different.
You
say, "We know that Radio Atlanta was Allan Crawford's vehicle for his
music interests, so post merger the South ship often played records that
Crawford had an interest in, rather than the original hit versions"
(Tom) And I hated that about Caroline South. I preferred the original.
Not only was Radio Caroline South playing the music that Allan Crawford
had business interest in, such as covers of hits, but also the policy
was �safe' middle of the road programming and the deejays were, good
broadcasters and what I would call, �easy going'.
Photo Archive: Tom Lodge
You go on, "Whereas from the outset the North ship off the Isle of Man
was very Top 40 oriented, playing the original hit versions and also
heavily promoting tracks from the American Hot 100."
(Tom) And that was my genre. The new music that was happening at that
time was inspiring and invigorating. Soon I became in charge of the
music policy on the North ship and my policy was to have fun, push the
envelope, and also it was okay to be outrageous. We were young. Jerry
Leighton, Mike Ahern, Alan �Neddy' Turner and I were adventurous, high
spirited and wanted to share the exhilaration that we were experiencing.
We loved the music coming out at the time, from both sides of the
Atlantic. We had great respect for the new and the established musicians
and were delighted to be able to play and expose them to the British
audience.
You say, "I believe that, in this London-centric world, the South ship
has always had more publicity at the expense of her Northern sister".
(Tom) Well, that was, and maybe still is the case between northern
England and southern England generally. I guess it is something to do
with the squeaky wheel and all that. Of course the Beatles help change
that a bit.
You say, "In my view, the North ship's programming and music policy was
brilliant and has been totally under-rated over the years"
(Tom) Yes, I agree, but then I am biased. I believe that the South ship
at that time was doing �radio'. Such as radio had been known�traditional
English radio. But we had freedom on board and that freedom was
expressed in our shows. Also that freedom was contagious to our
audience. We were not doing �radio�; we were sharing on the �air' our
enthusiasm for the music, our youthful energy, our simple joy of an
amazing adventure.
You go on, "We also know that after Radio London came on air, Caroline
South's audience figures suffered dramatically."
(Tom) Yes, that is true. Radio Caroline South's music, in my opinion, at
that time, was weak, was �wet'. Whereas Radio London was using an
American format that had proven very successful in the States, call the
Drake Format. And this the British listeners loved. The sound was �hot',
the deejays �moved' and the music stimulated the �phagocytes'. It was
very natural, at that time, for the audience to switch from Radio
Caroline South to Radio London.
You say, "I understand that the Crawford venture went bust in late 65,
which was when Ronan took over and put in Tom Lodge, who had been Head
DJ on the North ship, to turn around the fortunes of the South ship."
(Tom)
Yes, Radio Caroline South had lost its audience to Radio London, and
that was when Ronan asked me if I would come down from the North ship
and take over the programming of Radio Caroline South. I was delighted.
But I had two conditions. First, I would hire a whole new crew of
deejays. I wanted to avoid having anyone on the �air' who was attached
to the old system. We needed to start from scratch. So I hired young,
enthusiastic, rock music lovers, who had a positive and adventurous
attitude. I hired Keith Hampshire, Dave Lee Travis, Robbie Dale, Emperor
Rosko and brought Mike Ahern down from the North ship. Second, I needed
to have complete control over the music programming. I instructed the
deejays to have around them all the records they might want to play, and
then to only decide what the next record was going to be when the one
before was playing. To be spontaneous. I told them to feel the music,
play what they loved, listen to their own shows and above all, to have
fun. When we started in October 1965, we had one listener to Radio
London's ten listeners but by August 1966 we had beaten Radio London and
the survey showed that we had twenty four million listeners.
You say, "Pre merger, Christopher Moore was Programme Director for
Caroline - did he
take over the same role for the South ship post merger in addition to
the North ship?"
A magazine Advert: Tom Lodge
Archive
(Tom) Chris Moore's position with the North ship as Programme Director
was simply cosmetic. Chris Moore was a warm, friendly, gentle person,
but with low energy. He wasn't the type who would be on top of us with
following his programme rules. And because of our isolation, I became
the Programme Director, de facto. So most of the memorabilia papers of
programming, etc. were simply a Caroline House creation for the
advertisers. And because of this we had much freedom. Remember Caroline
House could not hear us, and the only communication from them that we
received was when someone came on board, and then and maybe rarely, a
written communication. Plus with the deejay shortage nothing was tied
down or regular. Sometimes no replacement deejays came for weeks. And so
we kept the shows going the best we could. Sometimes it was too rough
for a boat to come out to the ship. And sometimes there were other
personal difficulties and so often we only had a few of us to keep the
shows going. I am not sure about Chris Moore's role on the South ship
after the merger, but my recollection is that Allan Crawford ran the
programming for the South ship. After the merger Chris Moore slowly
dropped programming and concentrated on producing advertising at
Caroline House.
You say, "The "merger" seemed to be a marketing convenience and I know
that both ships adopted the same programme names, The Early Show, Top
Deck, etc, yet the music policy was so very different."
(Tom) At first we kept to the names that Chris had created, but soon we
replaced them with our names for the shows, "The Jerry Leighton Show",
The Mike Ahern Programme", "Alan 'Neddy' Turner Radio Show", "The Tom
Lodge Show" and so on.
You ask, "So who decided on the actual music content of the two stations
in the period July 64 to end 65? Was that down to Christopher Moore for
both ships or was Tom Lodge given that freedom in his position as North
ship Head DJ?"
(Tom) I created the music policy on the North ship. Because of our
isolation, I was able to ignore the �BBC type of programming' and move
into a more spontaneous music flow, with the mood of the moment, with
the feeling of the day and the energy of the country. I gave the deejays
permission to have fun, play what they liked and broadcast the feelings
of our lives on board a ship, in the Irish Sea, with waves splashing
over the sides and the excitement, enthusiasm, devotion and
unprecedented support from the country.
You
also ask, "Did Allan Crawford and Ronan merely continue to run their own
ships their own way.
(Tom) Yes, Ronan and Allan Crawford did keep running their ships in
their own way, until Crawford went bust and Ronan took over the South
ship.
You ask, "In short, why is it that the two ships had such a different
music policy despite operating under the same banner?"
Tom Lodge ringing the famous
Caroline bell (Photo: Archive Tom Lodge)
(Tom) The fact that I had spent some time in Canada and the US, I was
not influenced by �Auntie BBC' radio type of broadcasting, but I was
influenced by the free wheeling, open feeling radio of Canada and the US
of the 1950s, such as Alan Freed, Dewey Phillips, Wolfman Jack and so
on. And so this style became our way of broadcasting. Not only did we
the deejays love it, but so did the audience as shown in their support
and the surveys.
Thank you, Alan, for these questions. I really appreciate having the
opportunity to lay out my own experience of those times. Best wishes,
Tom Lodge.�
And of course a big thank you to Tom for sharing his views with us like
former shipmate did it from another place in the world in last issue.
Good to have your opinions too!�
Another
long story is coming at the end of this report in which Henrik N�rgaard
from Denmark is sharing his memories to Radio Mercur with us.
Next you see one page of the leaflet which I got from the organizing
committee at the Isle of Man,
promoting their special Caroline North conference, which will be held in
September. Full version of the leaflet can be read at
www.offshore-radio.de (go to
"NEWS").
Concerning the conference I got mail from
Martin Kayne: �Hi Hans, I
have received several enquiries asking if I will be at the Caroline
North Conference at the Isle of Man on 20th September. I am pleased to
say that I will be there, complete with my partner Rosemary, to keep me
in check perhaps. I am looking forward to meeting everyone that has
happy memories of that wonderful era. Best wishes, Andy Cadier. (Martin
Kayne).�
One of my regulars is Colin
Nichol in Australia and this time he wrote: �Another very full
Report, as usual! Thank you, Hans, for the nostalgic reminder of
Caroline close-down. It was most enjoyable to hear. The North ship
always followed the proscribed routine more definitively than the South,
but we fell into line as time progressed. I have asked Keith Martin to
again confirm which disc recording he has of 'After Midnight'. One thing
which united Ronan and Chris (Moore) was their interest in artists such
as McGriff, Georgie Fame and so on - R & B, Jazz, Hip sounds like Jimmy
Smith, Booker T, � - as quoted directly from the programme format. It�s
cold - for here (a couple of degrees above zero) and lots of rain (we
have a folklorist story here of a cow and a flat rock) but pleasant
days, the best time of year for me - and the flowers still bloom. Like
all of us, they are confused about the weather. Kind regards, Colin.
Thanks Colin and hopefully the weather has changed a bit to more higher
temperatures. Not much later Colin came back to me with a confirmation
about Keith Martin: �A
quick note on the matter of the Jimmy Griff recording of 'After
Midnight'. Keith Martin assures me he has that actual LP disc from
Caroline South. �The DNA on it will prove it's the one," he claims. Kind
regards, Colin.
At the end of June and early July a lot of speculations went around in
Belgium as well as in Holland about the future of the
Norderney, the former
ship which was once used � up till August 31st 1974 � by Radio Veronica.
During the last years not much action was on the ship, which was once a
discotheque in several places in Holland as well as Belgium. A lot of
free radio members suddenly awoke when rumours were spread that possibly
very soon the ship would be towed to a new position. Most of the fans
hoped it would leave for a new place in the harbour of Scheveningen. The
Norderney could be a part of Dutch National Pop Museum soon, was
mentioned too. Former Caroline deejay and Veronica presenter Erik de
Zwart (Paul de Wit) would be putting money into the project. And so a
lot of other things were rumored.
It resulted also in a lot of people taking the opportunity to travel to
Antwerp harbour to get some last photos in this harbour, were the ship
is already for many years at the Kempisch Dock. It was
Alex
Berrevoets who brought me the news on June 30th that something
�terrible� had happened. During �the making ready for travel� of the
Norderney � which has no engine, so must be towed away from Antwerp. One
of the original aerial masts has been broken. Not much later it became
known that there were two complete masts which were placed on the
Norderney. Berrevoets about what he saw that afternoon: �Suddenly there
was panic on the ship. I heard someone screaming and suddenly the sound
of crackling and a big bang on the deck. It was just a shot from a war
movie!� The foremast broke in two pieces. I took a look and don�t forget
that those mast are more than 40 years old and it looked like totally
rotten.�
Norderney still in Antwerp harbour
Photo: Marc Kloosterman
After days and days of speculations in several radio and offshore radio
forums one person, former Caroline deejay
Peter de Vries (Wout van
der Meer) took contact by e- mail with me confirming that there is no
future for the ship in any of the harbours of the Netherlands. He stated
that more than 20 different towns talks had been with the authorities
but that nowhere was enough money to save the former Veronica vessel as
a peach of Dutch radio history. He also stated that the inner side of
ship has been partly rebuilt and that all will be made ready for a
departure to one of the harbours near the Mediterranean. A week later,
around July 10th, I learned by another e mail that the destination will
be
Spain,
as the ship will be heading for Benidorm. Information gotten from the
harbour authorities in Antwerp learnt that all official papers are
ready, including insurances and that it�s now up to the owners when they
will leave Belgium. By the way part of the mast are for sale on Dutch
internet site �marketplace�. (MARKTPLAATS). Buyers will get also a
certificate of originality as well as a photograph of the former radio
ship Norderney.
Yes, we�re another month further to this year
Radio Day. Just three
months and it is November. For all information available just go to the
information site:
https://www.offshore-radio.de/radioday/
One of the former offshore deejays who always attend the yearly
Amsterdam Radio Day is the Australian guy
Graham Gill, who lives
since 1966 in Amsterdam. Graham is still interested in radio and has a
question to you the reader: �Hi there Hans, I hope you can help me with
a small problem. As you know, I am busy with writing my autobiography
and while doing some research for the early part of the book I need to
find a copy of the magazine �DEEJAY and Radio Monthly� in which the
article �Graham Gill and a Piano full of Piss� was featured. It would
have been published some time around 1972 - 1973. It was published B.C.
ENTERPRISES LTD. Willmont House. 43 Queenstreet, Hitchin, Herts in
England. I had a copy of this magazine, but like a lot of other things
it got lost during my moving house
20
years ago. Maybe you can help solve this problem. Greetings to you and
everyone within the readership, Graham Gill.�
So anyone who has this issue from �Deejay and Radio Monthly� with the
Graham Gill interview could make him happy. He only needs a scan from
the pages where the interview is on. Send it to
Hans.Knot@gmail.com
December 1973 Graham Gill on board
the MV MEBO II. Photo Theo Dencker
Next one is from another former RNI deejay, Gerard Smit, who still lives
in Surinam: �Hi Hans, everything well with you? I think so as you keep
me surprising with a lot of information of the former offshore stations.
I never could think that after so many decades still so many people are
interested in the history. A couple of months ago you�ve sent me your
article in Dutch about the planned offshore station off the Surinam
coast. I can reveal now that the newspaper �Ware Tijd� picked up the
story and paid attention to your story on two pages. I mailed you
earlier but didn�t get an answer. Greetings from
Gerard Smit.�
Well really a pity that the first e mail didn�t arrive elsewhere I had a
look at their internet site. But maybe you can asked them to make a
photocopy and send me the article. The postal address is Hans Knot, PO
Box 102, 9700 AC Groningen Netherlands. Thanks in advance. And for all
non Dutch readers, the article will be published in the very near future
in English in the Hans Knot Radio Report.
Then someone who desperately needed a plug in the Hans Knot
International Radio Report: �Hello Hans, just a bit of fun and archive
for you and our radio fans out there. Please could you give us a mention
at www.southhertsradio.com
Lots of vintage offshore pirate radio archive, downloads plus our own
shows and some inland radio material. We can't stream all the time but
the stream is mostly on at weekends. A bit of nonsense about shortwave -
keeps people guessing and also good for the site by generating interest
- don't tell anyone that the SW is a bit of a dream (between me and
you). Nether the less some good stuff on there I have put together with
some friends and hopefully worth a
mention
from you. Have a look and see what you think.
Best Wishes Gary Drew and the team at SHR.
www.southhertsradio.com SHR
International - free radio from south Hertfordshire.
Next one comes from Mary Payne who wrote: �Hi Hans, I just wanted to
tell your readers who are interested in the Caroline charts compiled by
Jempi Laevaert, that thanks to a number of helpful contributors (mostly
in the Netherlands and Germany), I have plenty of new material to add to
Jempi's collection. Recently I have added two new partial charts from
1967 and 1968 and one complete chart from 1967. Also new to the Radio
London site is a 1996 interview with 'film star' Tom Danaher, who
founded both Big L and Radio England/Britain Radio. Best wishes, Mary
Payne�
Thanks Mary I would like to add that on your pages is also the very nice
story how Jack Curtiss
found back his former Swinging Radio England shipmate
Johnny Dark. All can be
found at:
https://www.radiolondon.co.uk
Johnny Dark archive Harry Putman
From Israel we received no good news about the condition of
Abe Nathan, now 81 years
of age. Eva, one of his personal nurses, wrote to me: �Hi Hans, Long
time no talk. I have no idea if you have been informed abut Abie but he
was hospitalized for three weeks and has survived two major surgeries
the prognosis is bad, so keep him in your prayers. He is one of a kind,
as the first thing he said to me when he woke up was �peace�. I will
keep you posted. In England the children, who were once saved by Abie in
Cambodia, tracked Abie down and came to visit him in Tel Aviv and their
community celebrates � �Abie Nathan's Day� in the second week of
August�.
Thanks for sending the information and we�re happy such good people like
you, Noam and the others are there to take care for Abie. Give them both
my regards too! In the meantime I can reveal that people from the public
broadcasting company �De Joodse Omroep� (Jewish Broadcasting Company) in
Holland have contacted me. This, as they want to make a sixty minutes
documentary for radiobroadcast about Abe Nathan�s work and the history
of the Voice of Peace. They approached me after they found out that I
had published the book on the VOP in 2006. The documentary will be
broadcast in October in Holland and at a later stage at Radio
Netherlands too. I keep you informed.
In
the early July issue I made a mistake to reproduce a wrong photograph
and of course the person involved came back to me: �I think the picture
of me is actually Bob Mower when he was Bob Mathews isn't it? I followed
Bob at KM fm in Canterbury when I did �Drive� for three months, although
I had to change my name to "Rob Lawrence" because they said they
couldn't have two people with the same Christian name on the station!
Regards, Bob Lawrence
www.boblawrence.co.uk
Thanks Bob, I will better my life and here�s a correct picture which was
found in Marc Jacobs his archive.
Otto, Martin Fisher, Bob Lawrence
and Johan Visser in the messroom on the Mi Amigo in the late seventies.
Photo: Marc Jacobs.
On Wikipedia an item about the Borkum Riff is placed by Herman from Gent
and you�ll find a remarkable link between a radio ship and tobacco.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borkum_Riff#The_History_of_Borkum_Riff
It�s some issues ago we heard
nicknames, but here are two we had not in the list yet: Johnny
�The irrepressible dark lord of the night ride� for Johnny Dark on
Swinging Radio England and Tim �Screamshow� Shepperd, who worked on the
Voice of Peace. The long list of nicknames can be found on my website
www.hansknot.com
Next e mail comes from Jim Corbett from Warrington in Chesire who
writes: � I was reminiscing about the pirate ships and I got to thinking
about deejays on Caroline North as that was the station I always
listened to. I remember a deejay called
Jerry Super Leighton, as
he was known on the ship from 1964 to 1967. When he left no one knew
where he was going to. Where is he now� I know he was born in 1936 and
so he is now at the age of 72 and retired. But the nagging question is
where he is now? I hope you can help me Hans as I�ve tried other
contacts, but no success so far. �
Dear Jim, three groups of people work very close together (Pirate Hall
of Fame, site from London fans Mary and Chris Payne and me at the Hans
Knot International Radio Report,) to get as much information from former
offshore people. It�s Jon at the Pirate Hall of Fame who, whenever
something new is found, nicely put it on his website as it�s his main
work. So everybody has a specialty. As you can see in the log of the
sixties offshore deejays Jerry Leighton is mentioned but lost after his
radio career. Some say this, others that, but no one knows his present
whereabouts. So I can�t help you further but maybe one of my readers
knows more. So anyone who thinks to have more info about Jerry Super
Leighton please write to me at
HKnot@home.nl
https://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/djsl2m.htm#leighton
In the early July issue we had an item about the Veronica ship
Norderney, written by Ian
Anderson. It�s Jan Sundermann from Germany who reflects: �Hallo Hans, I
would like to give a short response upon the questions raised by Ian
Anderson about that ship. I did some research on it, and that was
published in the final issue nr. 50 from the publication German Radio
News in 2000. The Paul J. M�ller was built with other ships as the first
generation of ships built again in Germany after World War II. In this
time, major industries were under control and regulation of the allied
countries of World War II. Especially ships industry was under control,
the number and sizes of ships were regulated, to prevent Germany from
establishing once again a navy. So this boat was built for Iceland
fishing, equipped with a coal fired steam engine. When in the mid
fifties the former mentioned regulations stopped, and for the
shipbuilders it was possible to design larger and modern ships, this
first generation became soon uneconomical. Why? If you have a trawler
fired with coal, you load it completely for fishing with coal and ice.
If you have finished fishing in the region of Iceland, more than 50 % of
coal is fired, and this room is now used to carry the fish for the
voyage return!
A little coal dust does no harm to the fish. When the diesel engines
came up, the ships became then bigger and faster. To convert such a
small vessel was impossible; the tank for the diesel blocks the room to
carry fish. So these boats one by one went out of service. The photo you
showed was found by J�rgen Priess in a Hamburg antique shop. It shows
the Norderney leaving Cuxhaven harbour, at the mouth of Elbe River. In
the summer 2007 my wife and I have spent some days in Cuxhaven, and I
visited the company DFFU there, that is a follow up of the original
Hochseefischerei GmbH . But they do not have any documents left from
that period. Now to the use as radio ship: the Norderney was fitted out
by Radio Veronica with wooden masts! These were laminated, very similar
as in use for sailing boats. And, in good Dutch shipbuilders
workmanship, these mast were possible to lay down backwards on deck by a
mechanisms with the stays. That all could still be seen on the boat,
only some years ago when it was in Leeuwarden. That explains, how quick
the crew could change the whole antenna, when the wavelength was changed
from 192 to 538 m. And this also explains, that the need of
counterweight in the ships hull against the momentum of the mast is
quite small compared to a mast made from steel. The wood is not only of
light weight, but also a perfect insulator here. So, compared to the
other bigger ones, the Norderney was a quite good and simple
construction for broadcasting. Only for a long period out at sea in
exile, without short-term supply possibilities, the ship still might
have been quite small. All the best,
Jan Sundermann.�
Photo maiden trip P.J.Mueller
Radio News Archive
Thanks a lot Jan for your very interesting contribution to the Report.
Ian will like the information. I did send your info to Juul Geleick, one
of the technicians from Radio Veronica in those days. He came back to me
with: �hi Hans. Very nice such information and I understand that Jan
thought the changing of the areal was done easy by lowering the masts.
But that is not the reality. The aerials were changed by using a
hoisting mechanism. The masts were fast on the deck with guy ropes.
There are photo�s to prove it. Juul Geleick.�
https://www.norderney.nl/historie_zendbereik.html
When I had transferred the info from Juul to Jan Sundermann he got back
with: �Yes, it�s really interesting documentation there, I�ve seen it
for the first time now. So , the now visible installation to lower the
masts down then was probably made with the reconstruction as disco-ship,
to easier move it thru the channels and harbours inshore.�
Next one is from Holland and Frank van de Heerde: �Hans your report was
again very interesting. One of the items was your memories about
listening to AFN Bremerhaven.
You wrote that reception of the station was in Groningen reasonable
well. This raised the next question with me: In June 1966 Radio London
switched a bit nearer to the frequency of AFN Bremerhaven. This caused
in the northern provinces of Holland a whistle tone in the London Sound.
During a holiday on the isle of Texel I found this very interfering. My
question is if London and AFN were reasonable to listen to or was the
whistle dominating? In the sixties I listened now and then during the
evenings to AFN Frankfurt on 344 meters. Until 1963 also AFN Munich
could be received on 529 meters this frequency was then taken over by
Sender Freies Berlin and in later years used by Deutschlandfunk. When I
was living in Hilversum it was possible in the late sixties and early
seventies to tune in to the AFN Shape transmitter located at
Soesterberg. I often listened to the oldies show with Jim Pewter. Due to
his program I started getting interest in the doowop music from the
fifties and early sixties. Frank van de Heerde.�
I can answer you that sometimes it was horrible to listen to Big L but
mostly the sound was reasonable to receive. Lucky you could turn your
transistor radio to better reception. But still I have good memories to
both stations.
Next an e mail from a much unexpected source, namely from Michele Monro:
�Hi Hans, Alan Bailey gave me your email and hoped you might be able to
help me out. My father is the late singer Matt Monro and over the last
two years I have been writing a book on his life and music. I have also
done a comprehensive list of all radio and TV broadcasts and this is
where I have come a bit unstuck. Dad did a lot of shows for
Radio Luxembourg starting
with Winifred Atwell in 1957, (wondered if anyone knew who the producer
or director was?) But in 1961 he was offered several contracts via
letter for a series (unfortunately the series is not named). Below is an
example of what
references I have. I wonder if you or your readers might know the
answer.
Radio Luxemburg, 8 June 1961. Letter from Radio Luxembourg asking MM to
record 13 x quarter hour programmes. We intend to broadcast 3 in the
autumn schedule.
25 August 1961 Radio Luxembourg 208 � three programmes
14 September 1961 Radio Luxembourg 208, Cardiff The Anne Shelton Show
Recorded two shows. Do you have any details of this?
22 September 1961 Radio Luxembourg 208� three programmes In October 1961
he began a 13-week series of 15-minute shows on Radio Luxembourg with
the Johnny Spence Orchestra
25 September 1961 Radio Luxembourg 208 � three programmes
22 November 1961 Radio Luxembourg 208 - two programmes
5 December 1961 Radio Luxembourg 208 � three programmes
11 December 1961 Radio Luxembourg 208 � three programmes
6 February 1962 Radio Luxembourg 208 � three programmes
7 February 1962 Radio Luxembourg 208 � two programmes
9 February 1962 � For several weeks now Matt has graced the Luxembourg
208 airwaves with his distinctive, lush style of singing the oldies, and
a few newbies thrown in. Now there�s news that Matt is to have two
15-minutes spots starting from this Sunday (11th) You can hear Matt at
9.45 every week as well as his usual spot on Tuesday at 9.00
27 February 1962 Radio Luxembourg 208� two programmes
12 March 1962 Radio Luxembourg 208 � two programmes
14 March 1962 Radio Luxembourg 208 � three programmes
23 May 1962 Radio Luxembourg 208
30 March 1962 Radio Luxembourg 208� two programmes
I appreciate any information you can help with.
Thanks Michele Monro.�
You can see Michele has a lot of references that her father has done
programs for Luxembourg but she loves to get more info about the names
of the shows, the producers and so on. So anyone in the readership who
knows more please reflect and sent it to
HKnot@home.nl I know for sure all info will be most appreciated by
Michele Monro.
It must be around four years ago I made a visit to Luxembourg for a
documentary which was transmitted on VPRO radio and we found out that
there�s nothing left from the archive of the English service from Radio
Luxembourg. But Michele there is a start as I found in my archive that
the program from Sunday 18th of February 1962 was transmitted at 9.45
lasted for 15 min. with the Johnny Spence orchestra and was called �Matt
Monro sings� The program was sponsored by Peter Stuyvesant. Other
artists in those days who had a 15 minutes segment were Roosemary
Clooney, Winifred Atwell, Ronnie Alldrich, Jena Baxter and Mr. Acker
Bilk. All those live programs, as they called in on �208� were live
performances which were recorded to tape in London and in other British
places and transported for broadcast to the Grand Duchy and were played
by the technicians there, who also accompanied deejays from those days
who lived in Luxembourg. Names in those late fifties, among others,
were: Aussie Barry Alldis, Dick Norton and Keith Fordyce.
Another search question comes from Australia. Last month I mentioned the
sudden death of former Capital Radio, Caroline and VOP and more
presenter Keith Ashton.
It was Sean Ison who wrote to me: �G'day Hans, it is with great sadness
that I write to inform you of the untimely death of our dear friend
Keith Ashton formerly of the VOP, Radio Caroline and many other pirate
radio stations. There is an online dedication to him you might like to
let your readers know about:
https://www.isonliveradio.com/iarba/lifemembers/keith_ashton.html
Please also feel free to contribute any materials you might feel
appropriate. We are also trying to contact Abie Nathan or any members of
the VOP still living in Israel with view to contacting Keith�s estranged
son and daughter to inform them of his passing. Any assistance you can
give in this regard would be much appreciated. All the best, Sean Ison�.
Dear
Sean, indeed we heard from Keith sudden death and mentioned it already
in my International Radio Report. Abie�s condition is very bad and
cannot be contacted. However Abe is cared for by some lovely people and
so I�ve forwarded your mail and question to Eva and Noam in Tel Aviv who
maybe can think about a solving of the questions and take contact with
you. Of course they�ve to know more about the children. Maybe they can
make contact with Mike Brand or any others on one of the radiostations
in Israel to ask in the programs about there whereabouts. Hope they will
mail you.
In the meantime the search is progressing: �G'day Hans, thanks for your
help, I have been receiving emails and people are helping out. Just an
update on Keith for your readers, we spread his ashes into the sea at
�Pirate Cove� at the end of Stockton Beach with family and friends
present last Saturday. All the best, Sean�
Nice to see several people are still searching their own and other
archives. From Ulli Mittag in Germany came the above article from the
mid sixties. In 1965 Lord Such decided to stop working for
Radio Sutch and sell the
station to his agent, Reginald Calvert. The above article mentioned that
he got 5000 Pounds for it, which was a lot in those days.
Still people are finding each other back versus the Hans Knot
International Radio Report. This time came an email for information
about one of my readers in Canada. An e mail was send to me by Walter
Beiloo: �I read the name of Ron C Jones in your report. In the eighties
of last century I exchanged a lot of recordings with him and today I
found some back at the loft and I will make some mp3 of them. I�m
looking for the actual e mail adress from Ron C Jones and try to get in
contact with him after so many years.�
Of course the two are already in contact.
Ron
and I exchanged radio recordings from the mid seventies on. One day
something strange occurred. It was so that we exchanged recordings by
cassettes, normally 6 hours a time, and used the snail male for
transport. Mostly there was a gap from 6 weeks between sending away the
tapes and getting a parcel back from Canada. In the early nineties a gap
was longer and suddenly a letter came back from Ron stating the reason
why it took so long.
Next a
long internet address which was sent to me by one of the readers.
There you can download a complete book about Pirate Radio.
For
those tuning in lately to the AM 828 they heard a new sound. Owner of
the frequency is the company behind Arrow. They�ve decided that the
signal of �Caz!� will be
transmitted on AM 828. During daytime the power is 20 kW and during dark
hours 5 kW.
Ever wondered what Tony Prince
is doing these days? The guy who made us enjoys listening to Caroline
North and Luxembourg? He is nowadays program director at weddingtv.com.
https://www.weddingtv.com/?aid=102
The organisation behind nowadays Radio Caroline jumps into the music
television on internet, whereby the idea is to get new talents a chance
to get to the public. For more information, just go to:
radiocarolinetv.co.uk
Sint Jacobi Parochie is a small village in the Dutch Provence of
Friesland, way back in the north, where a very nice radio museum is
situated:
https://radiomuseum.100free.com
On our loft, where the studio and sleeping room is, already many years a
wonderful model of the MEBO II is standing. It is built by the French
radio enthusiast Paul Ciesielski from France. He is very in to the good
old Veronica and even has a tattooing showing the Veronica vessel on his
shoulder. He asked me to have a look on his models which can be found
at:
https://www.norderney.nl/aandemuur.html
When Mercury got
wings
Radio Mercur in memoriam 50 years later
By Henrik Noergaard, Denmark (www.radio-mercur.dk)
Offshore radio broadcasting did not begin in Denmark. But the concept of
broadcasting popular music programs from international waters directed
towards an audience in a country with a state monopoly on radio
transmissions came from Radio Mercur, a Danish commercial radio station
that existed from 1958-1962. Henrik Noergardauthor from the book
�Pirater i Aeteren� published by Danmarks Grafiske Museum, Odense 2003,
takes us back to that early days en the history of Radio Mercur.
The year was 1958 and the scene is Denmark. Since the early days of
radio broadcasting in the 1920�s the Danish radio listeners had been
used to the fact that the choice was easy made when deciding what to
listen at from your radio receiver. The national broadcasting company
had a law-enforced monopoly on transmitting radio signals, and there
were only two programs to choose from. The concept was to educate and
enlighten the audience and entertainment and modern music was almost
banished. Or at least only in minimized quanta a few hours per week. On
good days you were able to catch transmissions from Radio Luxemburg in a
fairly good quality. Otherwise there was only the State Radiofonia
(�Statsradiofonien�). But on August 2nd 1958 a new sound was in the air
and heard in the loudspeakers: From international waters between Denmark
and Sweden, just a few miles from Copenhagen, a floating radio station
began to transmit music and commercials in a way that had never been
heard before in Denmark. The new station was called Radio Mercur. Within
a few years the idea had spread to other countries like Sweden,
Netherlands and UK. Radio Mercur has since been known as the pirate
radio, which gave inspiration to a whole number of pirate radios or
offshore radios. This is a look back at the start of Radio Mercur in
1958 to celebrate the 50 years jubilee of the first pirate radio.
The idea behind
The founding father of Mercur was Peer Jansen, a young man in
Copenhagen. He had the same interest for new music as many other young
people in Denmark. He tuned in on Radio Luxemburg to catch the latest
hits and did occasionally listen to American Forces Network. But on the
national radio he rarely found the music he fancied. On a travel to the
south of Europe he discovered that USA used a military ship in the
Mediterranean Ocean to transmit to the Soviet-alliance countries in
Eastern Europe. Peer Jansen got the idea that something like Radio
Luxemburg could be combined with a floating transmitter into a totally
new kind of radio station in Denmark. What he didn�t know, was how to
realize the idea. But he had a good network to draw on in order to find
out. First of all: Danish national laws didn�t allow such a thing as a
private radio station. But how about international regulations? Peer
Jansen had a cousin, Boerge Agerskov, who was a law student at the
University of Copenhagen. Boerge Agerskov tells: �There were a lot of
adventure in Peer. He was very good at inspiring people. While I was
finishing my studies I spent a lot of time researching radio conventions
� whether it was possible at all, and it was in some way.� No one had
thought of the possibility, that a radio station could be anchored in
international waters and broadcast to a specific country without having
permission. Secondly: What about the technical side? Peer had a brother
in law, who was a radio enthusiast. He knew of another radio enthusiast
named
William Petersen. Normally he was a bike repairer but he also was very
skilled in making radio transmitters. William Petersen took up the
challenge to build a FM-transmitter and an antennae that could be used
for the purpose. Thirdly: The idea was costly and there was a need for
financing. Peer Jansen was working in a family owned silverware company
in Copenhagen, run by Ib Fogh. Peer presented his idea to his boss, and
soon Mr. Fogh was keen on the idea and willing to invest in the project
together with Peer Jansen. From that point around summer 1957 things
went fast with the establishing of a brand new radio station. A year
later Radio Mercur was ready to go on air with recording studios in a
mansion in a suburb of Copenhagen, a station big band, a floating
transmitting station and a lot of enthusiastic people working as
technicians, speakers and crew on the ship.
Radio Mercur�s own orchestra
Photo: Gunilla Cair�nius
New music and rising youth culture in a conservative landscape
How could anyone succeed in setting up a new radio station in a country
with a monopoly on broadcasting radio, being unquestioned for decades?
Denmark in the mid 1950�es was a traditional society. Young people were
expected to follow in the footsteps of the parents, and you were
expected to obey authorities. But a new culture was rising � slowly but
clearly. Talking about 1968 as a breakthrough in changing the society,
the path was already made many years before. A new kind of music � the
rock�n�roll � came to Denmark from England and USA. Many young people
were welcoming movies like �Rock Around the Clock� with Bill Haley and
The Comets, shown in cinemas in Copenhagen in August 1957. Tommy Steele
gave a concert in Copenhagen. Dance schools introduced rock�n�roll
dancing. The new music had arrived in different ways. But among the
older generation it caused a lot of worries. Rock�n�roll music was
thought to lead to a loose and weak moral among the young generation,
especially with underlying sexual messages in lyrics and stage
performance � just think of the movements of the hips of Elvis Presley!
A leading dancer described the effect of the music in the newspaper
Aftenbladet (The Evening Paper) on September 12 1956: �It�s in the
music. Performed rightly it is hypnotizing and narcotic like primitive
drums on Indians and cannibals. It begins monotonous. After a while it
excites more and more. At the end they are in the wildest ecstacy.� And
the later program director of the national radio said: �On the question
of rock�n�roll it is my opinion that it cannot be the task of The
National Radio to promote knowledge of it, when we are told that it�s
all about mass hysteria.� The young generation wanted to hear to the
music anyhow in spite of what their parents and the authorities said.
They listened to Radio Luxemburg on tiny transistor receivers, the
reception usually in a poor quality due to the long distance. Therefore
Radio Mercur had success with a concept putting emphasis on the popular
music � both from records and with live transmissions of young Danish
bands, that were invited to be recorded and broadcasted through the new
radio station.
Big plans
The people behind Radio Mercur had very ambitious plans. A mansion that
earlier housed the Embassy of Argentine in Copenhagen was transformed
into radio studios with facilities for recording of commercials,
programs and music. A jazz orchestra of 16 persons was hired as a radio
big band. The leader, Ib Glindemann tells about the first contact: �I
was picked up on some phony address on the island of Amager (near to the
center of Copenhagen). An agent took me in his car and told me, that I
was going to participate in something completely legal, but not to talk
about, because it had to be top secret. Well, he was a nice person, and
I wanted a job for my orchestra. We drove to a big fancy villa in
Gentofte, and I was shown into the high paneled rooms � it was
incredibly
beautiful, almost like an English country mansion. I was wellcomed by
Arne Paaby, the artistic leader of the radio. Paaby explained that a
commercial radio station was to be established � and that was hot stuff
at the time. Until then there only had been one station � the royal
monopolized steam radio, so it was truly unbelievable! They seemed to
know what they were up to. But they needed some music. I was �in� those
days and had a wellknown orchestra. They wanted to hire the orchestra,
and we were to get a fair salary.� And so Ib Glindeman and his orchestra
was the new big band of Radio Mercur. In the villa the dining room was
transformed into a concert hall. Recordings of dance music began soon
after to have programs on stock for later transmissions. It was also Ib
Glindemann who composed the jingle for Mercur with three trumpets and a
voice announcing �You�re listening to Radio Mercur!�
Erik Lindthardt Studio Cheetah II:
Photo personal collection Erik Lindhardt
A difficult start
The preparations on land went fine, but on sea things were more
troublesome. During July 1958 Radio Mercur announced several dates for
the official launch of transmissions, but all failed due to technical
problems with the ship, Cheeta Mercur or with unexpected stormy weather
in Oeresund between Denmark and Sweden.
At last on Saturday August 2 1958 at 6 PM the jingle sounded officially
for the first time from the ship. Unfortunately the sound waves didn�t
reach many radio receivers among listeners in Copenhagen and other
places within the expected radius from Cheeta. Technical problems with
the transmitter caused an output of only 1/3 of full power and strong
winds made the ship move so much that the antennae didn�t point towards
land but rather towards the sky or the sea. Radio Mercur soon had more
success with transmissions, and listeners rushed to stores in order to
buy the specially made �Mercur Antennae�. But the companies buying
advertisements were uncertain on how many listeners the station actually
attracted. Therefore they were not eager to pay the amount of money
requested by Mercur. The situation turned out to be an economic disaster
for the radio, though it got a lot of attention from newspapers and
radio listeners. Employees had a hard time to get their salaries �
technician Birger Svan remembers: �At that time we had to go to the
office, and they asked: �How much can you live on this month?� We
couldn�t get our salaries. Those with children got first, we bachelors
then got what we could get through the month on. Later on we got our
salaries, but for quite a while it went on like that � �I wonder how
much I can get this month?��
In the winter 1958-59 Radio Mercur was close to wreckage because of poor
economy. It had build up a huge debt, it had no longer a contract with
the international federation of record companies, the big band signed
off due to lack of payments of salaries etc. etc. Only a loan from a
small bank, Finansbanken, saved the pioneer in offshore broadcasting
from a sudden death in the ice cold winter storms. Within half a year
the situation had changed completely. Radio Mercur was able to pay back
the loan to Mr. Alex Brask Thomsen of Finansbanken in August 1959 and
from then on it was just more and more successful until the Danish
authorities and the Parliament passed a bill in June 1962 making it
illegal to assist in producing radio programs to offshore radios like
Mercur. In reality the law made it impossible for Mercur to continue
broadcasting. By the end of July 1962 Radio Mercur officially closed
down transmissions. Three days of illegal broadcasting in August was
brought to an end when Danish police went out to seize the ship and the
transmitter.
The
inspiration from Radio Mercur
Other people found the idea good and wanted to try it their own way.
Radio Mercur was an example to follow for a whole fleet of pirate radios
in international waters around Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium and UK. From
December 14 1958 the young Swede Nils Eric Svensson and his company
Skaanes Radio Mercur began broadcasting to the southwestern part of
Sweden from Cheeta Mercur in the hours when there was no broadcasting to
Denmark. Later Radio Mercur began using ship number two in Denmark,
which made it possible to broadcast in Swedish all day long from the
first ship. Britt Wadner took over Skaanes Radio Mercur in 1961 and the
station changed name to Radio Syd in 1962, when it bought Cheeta Mercur
from Radio Mercur. In April 1960 the Dutch station V.R.O.N. started
broadcasting to Netherlands and Belgium from a ship off the coast of
Netherlands. It was later better known as Radio Veronica. The people
behind got inspiration from Radio Mercur. They got direct assistance on
how to construct the company and on technical issues from the Danish
pirate. In March 1961 Radio Nord started transmissions towards Stockholm
in Sweden. It was mainly inspired by American radio programs, but there
had also been contacts between Radio Nord and Skaanes Radio Mercur.
Cartoon from a Danish newspaper
about Mercur Archive: Soundscapes
Denmark got another pirate radio as Danmarks Commercielle Radio or DCR �
founded by outbreakers from Radio Mercur � began transmissions on
September 15 1961. The two stations fought each other and the national
state radio and soon emerged into one company under the name Radio
Mercur. Denmark was too small at that time for more than one commercial
radio based on the expensive offshore concept. Especially UK faced a
number of offshore stations during the 1960�s starting with CNBC in
1960/61 and from 1964 Radio Caroline. So even though Radio Mercur didn�t
survive more than four years, the idea of offshore broadcasting or
pirate radio lived long after.
Links on Radio Mercur:
In Danish: www.radio-mercur.dk
In English:
https://www.icce.rug.nl/%7Esoundscapes/DATABASES/RP2/Scandinavian_offshore_radio.shtml
Thanks for this interesting article Henrik, most appreciated is this
contribution to the Hans Knot International Radio Report. Anyone who
also wants to contribute please use
HKnot@home.nl for your articles, questions and memories and
Hans.Knot@gmail.com for
photographs and other attachments.
Till next months with best greetings from
Hans Knot
Offshore Radio Programme Names - Programmanamen Zeezenders 1958-1990
Read Hans Knot's former report