Hans Knot's International Radio Report - January 2009
W
elcome
to this years first Hans Knot International Radio Report. We’re
celebrating as ten years ago the Radio Report appeared on a very small
scale, but grew to an enormous success, which we have to thank you, the
reader. I hope I can bring a lot of interesting things this year. Also
Jana and I would say a very big thank you to all those hundreds of
people who sent us Christmas wishes and New Years wishes. The walls in
our living room were totally packed with those cards coming in from all
parts of the world. We hope you all had a lovely time during the
festivity period. This year 2009 will not only see our 31st year
organising Radio Days (together with Martin van der Ven and Rob Olthof)
but also hope to congratulate Hendrik Verweij, better known as
Bull Verweij. He was one
of the directors of the offshore station Radio Veronica between 1960 and
1974. If all goes well he will become 100 years of age in September.
Bull Verweij in late 2008 (Photo:
Verweij Family)
Of course in the Christmas wishes received there was some additional
information for our readers, for instant from Rob van Veld in the
Eastern of Holland who wrote: ‘Dear Hans, first of course Happy New Year
to all. A special year cause 50 years ago in Hotel Krasnapolsky in
Amsterdam was the start of Radio Veronica. But now to the point, as I’ve
read your Christmas edition of your Hans Knot International Radio
Report, which was again very interesting. I have some information for
Ian Godfrey of the ‘Lex Harding Top 40 show’, he mentioned in last
issue. This was the Top 40 of 22 of May 1971. Greetzzz from: Rob Veld.
Thanks Rob and we’re coming back to Ian later in the report as he has
much more to share with us.
Next is John Patrick. A lot of people know John P as a deejay from
Satellite Radio Caroline. Others know him as the main person behind the
project to see if there are opportunities to bring back the
MV Mi Amigo, or parts of
the good old lady, back to shore. It’s this year 29th years ago the
former Radio Caroline vessel sunk. John wrote me the next info: ‘I have
recently been contacted by Jan Kotschack (Radio Nord) about his father's
ship. Also, Johan Sköld got in touch with about the same project. I have
supplied him with all the information I have about the boat and put him
in touch with several other people interested in raising a few bits from
the ship. The visibility in the River Thames this last year has never
been more than 10 cm so diving was a no go. More information when I have
it.’
Thanks John and that’s the first time John officially mentioned the info
for the report. However John and I are already years in contact about
the diving’s without mentioning his efforts in the report. John also
went to America recently and brings back some memories from that trip:
‘I have a short anecdote from my recent trip to the US. I went to Austin
in Texas and bragged my way into KLBJ using the Radio Caroline name. I
entered the on air studio and met three DJ's who were doing the daytime
shows. They asked me who I worked for and saying ‘Radio Caroline’, they
had wide open eyes and all said that they loved what the old girl was
doing and wished they could be like her. They said that in all the radio
schools in the US Radio Caroline was given as an example as what real
free radio was all about. The guys at KLBJ all wished they had the
freedom that Radio Caroline had and when I enquired why they had not got
the same level freedom as Radio Caroline, they showed me the computer
generated output.
Every hour each DJ was allowed to talk live twice but each time it was
scripted and no variation was allowed. They ask me what I played and
what was I allowed to say. I replied that I could play whatever I wanted
and could say anything. They didn't believe me so I said that that they
should listen in. One of the guys there even used the name Johnny Walker
on air after his hero. A few days later I received messages from two of
the guys saying they hated me for the freedom I had and could they have
jobs on the old girl. So, if you ever have doubts about the influence
that Radio Caroline has on the world of radio. Above is the proof. I
have more but will not bore you with that now. John Patrick (Radio
Caroline)
It was so good to hear, after a very long time, from
Mick Luvzit from Canada:
‘Thanks Hans for the Christmas card...and best wishes of the Season.
I've been pretty sick over the holidays but am recovering very slowly
due to my chest infection and a lot of pain but am glad to be alive. I
may have to go in for another operation but will keep you up to date.
Your friend, Mick Luvzit, Radio Caroline,’
Well Mick it’s been some 5, 5 years ago we met for the last time.
Remember it very well there in London. As I told my readers earlier last
year Mick had severe heart problems and step by step he’s getting back
with his feet on the ground again. I hope you’ve the strength to fight
back and hope to receive memories from you about your days at Radio
Caroline North. Take care!
Someone in the USA discovered my name on internet regarding offshore
radio’s history. Seems to be a young lad who’s very interested of all
those who worked on international waters so let’s see what he has to
mention: ‘My name is Dave Lewis, I live in Richmond Virginia USA. Just
to let you know, I have loved reading all of your in-depth information
about offshore radio - of yesterday and today. I volunteer at a local
independent (commercial free) FM radio station here in Richmond, and I
host an overnight radio show ("It's Still Friday")... at 3am on Saturday
mornings. www.wrir.org
I'm lucky enough to have the freedom to play pretty much whatever music
and feature whatever theme I choose. (Great fun!) I'm a nostalgia nut -
in general and now I've finally begun to read and research the history
of offshore radio (something I've always been aware of, but have never
researched before now.)
And now I'm beginning to edit together sound-bites that I've collected
and as I'm learning more and more; I'm finding myself putting together a
show about offshore radio history to put on the air. I really wish to be
as accurate as possible in all that I report. So: If you're willing and
available, I would be honored to have an on-air chat with you via
telephone! It would be more or less a casual conversation and allow you
to give our listeners the real story about the past present and future
of offshore radio. If you'd rather not, I'll understand; and, still I'm
so thankful for all that you've put online about Radio Caroline and the
other stations! Thanks! Dave Lewis.’
Well and that indeed I like so much that someone of the younger
generation is interested in the good old days of radio! I’ve already
arranged with Dave Lewis to do a chat in one of his February programs.
Also it was very interesting to talk with a few students from Amsterdam,
way back in December. There are plans to use the former
REM island platform as a
restaurant and the owner has asked a group of students to think about
how to use a part of the platform. And so they came to me to talk about
the history of the REM Island (1964) and ideas to bring a museum into
the platform. Yes, the younger generation has more interest than
computers and their IPods.
Remember a few issues ago of the Hans Knot International Radio Report
that Klaas Vaak, aka Tom Mulder, wrote about his love for radio and
trains and trams? Still
people are reflecting and I must admit that Tom and I had the idea that
this should happen! Here’s another lover for radio and trains:
‘Dear Hans, regarding your Radio report and deejays, who have trains,
model railways and buses as a hobby. I have to admit that I am 'guilty"
of this too having been a fan of buses and trains almost since birth. I
have built four model railways, three of them OO gauge, one Narrow Gauge
and all of them for other people. My collection of diecast bus models
numbers approximately 234. Attached a picture of the Narrow Gauge
railway model I built. I did hear that Bill Hearne, of Caroline Cash
Casino fame, later became a full time professional model-maker-can
anyone confirm this? All best wishes, John R Bennett. ‘
Photo: John R. Bennet
Any
one
who wants to share more on trains and trams, don’t hesitate to write to
me at HKnot@home.nl
More from Wales and Mike
Kerslake: ‘Hi Hans, I found the attached picture today whilst
scanning some pictures for Gil Katzir, so thought it might be of
interest. It shows from left to right: Tony(?), Mike Kerslake (Coconut),
Paul Fraser and in the background Alex Lee. Photo was taken in 1987
onboard the Peace Ship.'
Hi Mike nice to see the photo. I’ve never seen photo before. Could be
either Tony O’Reilly, or Tony Martin. Maybe Paul Fraser does remember?
greetings Hans
Photo Archive Mike Kerslake
Next is Jean Pierre Legein from Belgium, an avid radiolistener since the
sixties and strange enough he listened to offshore radio most of the
time when being on sea. He was a fisherman in those days: I found ABC
history page about the landbased station in Ireland
http://www.abcthehotfm.com/
Thanks Jean Pierre, nice memories! Another reflection from Belgium comes
from Luc, after I published info about a well known American deejay:
‘Dear Hans, thanks for you (ever longer?) report. I remember listening
to Charlie Tuna almost daily on AFN radio in the early seventies, along
with Wolfman Jack, American Top 40 with Casey Kasem, American Country
Countdown with Don Bustany, the Golden Days of Radio and many other very
good shows that aired at the time. Thanks to you I have been able to
download and listen to the Charlie Tuna 1978 Xmas show. Thanks for this
nice Xmas present. Best regards from Belgium, Luc Masuy.’
An American in Paris is a wonderful composition in music. But, what
about an American in Belgium? I know Elton John composed a song about
Belgium and listeners to Radio Veronica heard Bojoura in the late
sixties sing about Belgium, but the American is heavy in love with a
Belgium lady and decided to move to the little country in Europe: ‘Hi
Hans, Rosko has it right! One should make a sandwich and get a beverage
before sitting back to read your interesting newsletter! Always
enjoyable. I hope you and Jana had a wonderful holiday season. You did
me a huge favor this year by the wonderful suggestion of where to get
DVD and CD blanks in Luxembourg, and will probably return in 2009. I've
been trying to buy a time base corrector for video (rack mount)
specifically a CTB531R. I found a firm in Derbyshire (England) that
sells one for 462 pounds 50 pence, but they only ship to the UK. Do you
know of any good sources for this type of almost professional equipment,
say, in The Netherlands, or Germany, Luxembourg, etc?
I'm willing to travel! I've been re-reading Kenny Everett's biography
and had forgotten a lot about Radio London when it signed on. Not very
glamorous! How I wish I could have been here in those days of glory to
just twist the dial and hear them! Tom Konard.’
Thanks Tom and have a good read! Hope to bring more this year. Sorry no
answer on the equipment, will ask the readers for that. Yes Radio London
did start very poor, took some weeks to become really a radiostation.
But always it’s good to listen back the old recordings. Hope anyone in
the readership had an answer about where to buy the time base corrector
mentioned above. Answers please to:
HKnot@home.nl
Short press release from Eric in Slovakia: ‘RTI has ended the
Slovak/English programme exchange project 19 December 2008,
RTI has ceased
broadcasting Slovak shows on FM services in Slovakia. The service
remains automated until full closure in the very near future. The
International service of RTI retains presenter shows and plays non-stop
music at other times when Slovak shows were aired.’
News from Sven Martinssen
and his research work: ‘Dear friends,
I’ve to mention that important updates are on! The story of my finding
more on the Radio England/Britain Radio etc. broadcasting ship Olga
Patricia's time as a Navy Ship and of her present stint as a menhaden
vessel was uploaded to the internet on the 42nd anniversary of the close
down of Swinging Radio England on November 13th. This edition of my
essay contains the absolute proof: The Earl J Conrad Jr IS the Olga
Patricia and the USS Deal!
Special credits to the kind contributions of Ben Miller(c), Leslie
Wright(c) and Jeff Turner(c).
http://www.northernstar.no/chapter10.htm
The original picture from fall 2007 that led to the solving of the
mystery, by Marc Piché is here:
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=468256
A look at Radio London from the technical side, courtesy of the kind
contribution of Big L engineer Dave Hawkins(c).
http://www.northernstar.no/chapter11.htm
An input on the often forgotten, but very important group of people: The
North Sea Engineers by Derek Burroughs, Jr. (c) with contributions by
George Saunders(c) from Radio Atlanta/Caroline South and Dave Hawkins of
Radio London(c).
http://www.northernstar.no/northseaengineers.htm
Svenn Martinsen, Radio Historian, RONG, NORWAY
Well
Svenn thanks a lot for this update and congratulations on you very good
work done! We hope all to see more of your excellent work later this
year.
As you see there’s a special chapter added about the technicians aboard
the radio ships, a subject we started also in the Hans Knot
International Radio Report. Here’s another one who wants to be added to
the list: Clive Warner:
‘Well, you can add me to that list! I was on the Mi Amigo in the mid
seventies working as a technician for Radio Caroline. As to what I am
doing at the moment, well, I finished restoring the 1KW FM and sent it
off to Torreon; I'm teaching physics and chemistry full time, have a
small publishing company, Citiria Publishing, and recently began a new
business teaching the SAT, GMAT and GRE exams. So, I am quite active.
Clive Warner’.
Now it’s time for a photo in our series about offshore radio t shirts.
This is a photo taken in 1971 from the
Veronica Promotion girls.
Must have been nice weather and pretty to be on the tender too! The
photo comes from the archive of Koos de Ruiter, who really was very
friendly to us to donate six scrap books filled with newspaper cuts and
photographs. Thanks again Koos!
In last issue I wrote about a planned station who wanted to use the name
of Radio Nova, so well
respected by many radio listeners. That is, the original Radio Nova. Its
ridiculous people think they can adapt a name without asking for
permission. Stations using names such as Radio Nova is another prickly
subject when you consider that Nova it's not that surprising that
another station uses the name but it's a form of plagiarism; it reminds
me of a similar situation at Big L, with their use of the strap line
'it's all about the music;' when Capital and Classic Gold merged and
adopted the highly innovative name (!) Gold I was disturbed to discover
that they were using the same phrase. Mike Read launched an appeal
against them although he couldn't have had much success as they're still
using it. I've tuned into Nova Classic Rock recently and found that it's
also being used there, plus obviously the use of Nova!’
I got the next e mail from Chris Vezey: ‘Your Christmas report was
forwarded to me. Just to put you in the picture - when I heard Gold were
going to use the phrase "Its All About The Music" - I wrote to GCAP
suggesting they might consider not stealing our strapline (they also
copied much of the Big L front page website too - it was too close not
have been). When they continued to use it, I applied for the trade mark
of the above phrase. This has recently been confirmed and I now
personally own that phrase for both radio and advertising. So now we are
able to deal with it.
Regards, Chris Vezey.’
Was Don Stevens at the special award happening where
Rosko got his long life
award, early December? I ask this due to the
fact
I got an e mail coming in from Cherry Hueges: ‘Hi Hans, I was at the
Radio Academy lunch. Rosko's speech was less than three minutes as
requested by the Radio Academy, and he received a standing ovation, and
no complaints. Maybe Mr. Stevens was at a different lunch! Regards,
Cherry.’
Well there you go, in last issue Don mentioned that Rosko talked endless
on the lunch and so I got back to him with the question where he got the
info from: ‘I did not hear the speech Hans, I was told about the speech
and its reception by the audience from an attendee whom I met by the
venue. I am trying to find the copy of the letter I wrote you; I must
have mistyped it or something. A Happy New Year, Don.’
Rosko getting the award in London:
Photo: Cherry Hueges
And so Rosko had his share in the report again!
In the latest edition of Radio Review I found a nice article about
nicknames, which was written by Phil Champion. I remembered he once
wrote a beautiful article in the Freewave Media Magazine (which I’m the
editor from). It was years and years ago and so I asked him if he was
the same person: ‘Yes Hans, I'm the one who writes for "Radio Review"
and used to write for "Offshore Echos" and your magazine in the past.
Thank you for the list of nicknames/phrases you’ve send me. I might use
some of them in future but I'll give full credit to you. I've recently
taken early retirement from my job but though I am still very busy I've
been researching SRE/227 plus the Scandinavian pirate stations.
I did though find your piece on
Dimitra interesting. (www.mediapages.nl)
Radio Veronica used to have so
many
shows for 'gastarbeiders' (immigrant workers) for a commercial station,
let alone a pirate. By early 1969 there seemed to be one most nights.
Thursday had the most I think. At 2000 was Suhandi or a female, I think
the female was back at 2100 then two shows by a male in a completely
different language 2130-2145 and 2145-2200 though one week they went
2130-2150 and 2150-2230. I always assumed it was a far eastern language.
I couldn't say the deejays name- I was just getting used to saying and
writing
some of the Dutch names. I could manage say Lex Harding but Chiel
Montagne took a bit of getting used to. Happy memories. I'm glad I
didn't like BBC Radio 1 -or I wouldn't have had all those Dutch stations
and some great European music to listen to over the years. Regards, Phil
Champion.’
Dimitra: Freewave Archive
Well good you enjoyed those special programs on Veronica for Italian,
Greece and other foreign people working and living in the Netherlands.
Dimitri died some 5 years ago; I heard when suddenly her daughter got in
touch with me early January.
Martin van der Ven forwarded me an e mail from which he thought the
content could be of interest for the Hans Knot International Radio
Report. It’s from Theo Bakker in Leeuwarden who mentioned he went on a
holiday trip to Morocco and France in 1978. Theo wrote that they had a
lot of people looking at the Caroline 319 sticker as it was the year
Princess Caroline from Monaco married.
Theo’s car in Morocco
But Martin van der Ven sent also a photograph from his car way back in
1977 featuring a car sticker from an offshore radiostation.
Martin and Christian van der Ven
and the Mi Amigo sticker. Archive: Martin van der Ven
The big question of course is do you have any photograph of your recent
or old car featuring your love for radio? Just sent it to
HKnot@home.nl
Like last month a long e mail from Ian, who just has discovered the
world of internet and has a lot of interesting things to mention: ‘Many
thanks for the Christmas Newsletter and also the upload (I'm still not
fully familiar with some computer terminology so hope that's correct!) I
finished a ten-week computer course a couple of months ago and received
a certificate and apparently got a high score so I guess I can't be that
bad!
After reading all the highly interesting contributions in the Newsletter
I did wonder how my e mail was going to fit in - and I must admit -
thought it fitted in quite well, which was a relief. I can safely say
that my contributions are very likely to be based on recollections as a
listener and comments on stations past and present; that's why I was a
bit skeptical. It's good to see that the Monitor situation is looking a
bit healthier than this time last month, due to the amount of genuine
support shown by contributors; heart-felt response like this makes the
world of difference. Monitor and 'Buster' Pearson are such major factors
in offshore radio heritage.
A very exciting key date for me was
30th September 1972. I'd
checked 1187 kHz several times since I heard Chris Carey say on RNI,
round 18th August: "If you want to know where I'll be in a few days just
add 39 to this frequency and a 'Record Mirror' article about the
imminent return of Radio Caroline I was beginning to wonder if it would
ever materialise. Knowing that Rosko was on Radio One I was curious to
know if he was doing anything for their 5th birthday although I never
found out as, en route, I found a strong, varying, test-tone on 1187 kHz
(which I soon began to regard as 'characteristic Chicago;). I listened
for a few minutes till I was called downstairs for lunch and when I
tuned in again, about 12.30, continuous music was in progress. I forget
how long I listened but I sat, with A4 pad on lap for hours, making a
list of the records played plus jingles, comments on the modulation and
audio quality (which I was very impressed with). Out of curiosity I
decided to check RNI and Veronica (who'd been announcing the switch to
538, and discovered that on the verge of taking place, just before
13.00, but didn't realise that RNI was about to start using 192 metres
as RNI 2! It was a clean switch but the first thing I noticed was the
signal strength had dropped slightly together with noticeable
'breakthrough' from the 220 transmitter and Tony Allen advising the
Veronica listeners to switch to the new frequency and referring to "our
friends at Radio Veronica," which sounded very appealing. I think RNI 2
only lasted for two or three days and I couldn't really see the point of
it, unless there was a massive increase in signal strength. There was
also a very low-powered loop-tape message advising Veronica listeners to
re-tune, which lasted till about 4th October.
I read in Monitor that 'Buster' had logged exactly the same as I had but
for much longer! I think he said he listened to the Caroline test till
he fell asleep at about 03.00 and that the power was about 7kW.’
Thanks Ian for this reflection. Indeed this special day we must never
forget at it was a day a lot of things happened for the Anoraks. The
very surprised taking over of the 192 frequency by RNI was for everyone
a very big surprise and I think a big shock for those involved in Radio
Veronica. But Ian has more to share with the readers: ‘mention was made
in the last newsletter of an American station called K-Earth; since
starting using the computer I've tuned in two or three times and am
quite impressed and will probably add it to the 'Favourites' list. I was
interested to discover a Radio Veronica, at West Point, Pennsylvania! It
uses a couple of the jingles used by Veronica 192 - not featured on the
original station - and I wondered who used them first. There was also
mention of 2NG, a station I'd never heard of and, checking the web site,
I found that Bill Rollins presents a couple of Programmes; I heard him
this evening and although the presentation was unsurprisingly good the
content, being nothing but Christmas records, was, for me, a complete
turn-off. I switched to 'Pirate Radio Skues' which wasn't a lot
different and it's the first time since the programmed started that I've
given it a complete miss! A fairly safe haven was KBC on 6055, where the
only one played was 'Run Run Rudolph', by Chuck Berry which is the only
one I can really appreciate, being a strong fan of his. It's obviously
difficult to avoid Christmas records at the moment; Veronica 192 -
obviously due to their unique format - has been free of them for the
past hour.
Over the past few weeks I've seen about half-a-dozen photographs of the
Caroline ships under tow and find the images quite disturbing, so
profoundly representing the end of an era. One of the reasons I appealed
for a replacement copy of 'Script No 3' is that if features similar
shots of the 'Mi Amigo' at the time of the 'mutiny' on 28/12/72 when I
thought Caroline's relaunch had been completely scuppered. Thanks also
for the photos in the report, the most interesting being the NS tank
engine (I'd like to know more about Dutch steam; it's difficult to get
information in the UK).’
I must add that Ian is visual handicapped and I’ve such a high respect
for a couple of my readers who have the same handicap and who are so
very enthusiastic in talking and writing about their hobby. I do a four
hours radio program on regular base for a small group of visual
handicapped people about radio for more than 20 years and nothing is
more thankful in the hobby than doing this program for them. Anyone
willing to be in contact with Ian about the subject steam, please send
me an email so I can send his address:
HKnot@home.nl
Then Ian has some comments on listening to Luxembourg: ‘The only time I
tuned into 208 was in the early-'60s; I wasn't aware that for instant
Spangles Muldoon was working there. If I'd known I probably would have
tuned in. A notable feature, and something which seems to have been
common to all the offshore stations, was the single ad between records,
as opposed to batches of four or five on contemporary radio; I've always
felt that single unannounced ads are more likely to generate positive
response from listeners; I find set ad-breaks tedious - by the third ad
I'm pretty keen to get back to the programme. Other peoples' views would
be interesting to read.
Regarding the mention of Mandy and Radio Seagull, in I think the
November Newsletter: whenever I tune in I do notice a love for the music
and a 'spiritual experience' similar to '70s and '80s Caroline, and more
so the original Seagull. Radio Caroline has always generated that aura,
almost exclusively, one exception possibly being Veronica, to a much
lesser extent. I've always felt that, although it was quite clear to
Ronan that Caroline would be commercially unviable after 14/8/67, he
chose to continue for the sake of freedom of expression and the whole
essence of the station's existence (about five years ago, round 14th
August, Steve Wright on Radio 2, interviewed Tony Blackburn and Johnnie
Walker on their offshore experiences - Tony upheld what he regarded as
the 'professionalism' of Radio London to which Johnnie immediately
replied: "The difference between London and Caroline is that we had
soul"!)
Whenever I mention offshore radio, I invariably get the response: "What,
do you mean Radio Caroline?" No-one seems aware of any other station;
but I get the impression they feel Radio Caroline is a station that's
bucked the system - a real pirate in their eyes! On a completely
different note, two weeks ago today I was reading an interview with
Roger Scott, in the latest 'Offshore Echoes,' recounting his brief time
on Caroline North (where incidentally he remembers a distinct lack of
soul and the feeling that the end was nigh) and also listening to the
Adje Baumann Top 10. No more than five seconds after I'd finished the
article No. 1 was played - it was 'Caroline Goodbye' by Colin Blunstone!
Coincidence is a strange phenomenon!
With very best wishes, Ian Godfrey.’
Rob Olthof, Hans Knot
and Martin van der Ven have been making plans for this year's Radio Day
which is taking place on Saturday 14th November 2009. We will meet again
in Amsterdam's Hotel Casa 400 near the Amstel railway station (James
Wattstraat 75) from 11:00 till 17:00 CET (Dutch local time). More
details on this year's schedule will be announced during the next few
months. To celebrate our new Radio Day Internet address, which is
http://www.radioday.nl we have
arranged a "Radio Day Experts Competition".
You will find a new Radio Day banner on the mentioned website containing
many photos of former Radio Day guests from 2001 to 2008. Just go to the
new Radio Day website and download a larger version of that banner. Then
you have the following challenge:
1. Find out at least 100 guests on that banner and identify their names.
2. Tell us at least 2 guests appearing three times on the banner.
Send your answers to hknot@home.nl
Closing date is February 15th 2008. We will draw 2 winners who will get
FREE ADMISSION on November 14th.
Next
is Michel van Hooff who wrote: ‘I visited the Radio Day for the very
first time. Mighty beautiful to shake hands with my all time favorite
offshore radio deejay Marc Jacobs. How beautiful that man can tell
stories. Also during the forum of former Dutch Caroline deejays. With
thanks to the world wide web and ‘missed programmed’ I enjoy the Sunday
Afternoon program from him on Radio Noord. Fascinating!’
Marc Jacobs worked in the
seventies on Radio Mi Amigo and later joined Radio Caroline. Since the
eighties he works on Radio and TV Noord and has – among other programs –
a very good Sunday afternoon show from 13 up till 18 hrs with golden
oldies and never forgets to mention the good old days in words and
sounds. Have a listen at
www.rtvnoord.nl
Marc Jacobs 2000 Photo Martin van
der Ven
Next one is from Sally who loves land based pirates already for decades:
‘Hello Hans a nice website about landbased pirates in the seventies and
eighties:
http://www.cq3meter.nl/index_n.php
We go back to the earlier mentioned question about the names from
technicians on offshore radio
and where they have gone. Here’s an e mail from David Porter: ‘Hi Hans,
well this is a subject dear to my heart as it was the antics of these
people who gave me the idea for a career and one that I have been
involved in since 1970! On Caroline South was Carl Thompson who has just
given a talk at the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Club about his watery
wireless days. On Radio City was Ian West G3SZC, who designed a more
powerful transmitter and of whose handwritten schematics I have a copy!
Also on Radio City was Phil Perkins G3OUF and was famously cited as
being the guy who hid the [spare] 1034 kc/s quartz crystal from the
transmitter when Major Oliver Smedley's lads did their raid. On Radio
London was Russ Tollerfield G3SQD who was ex-BBC at Skelton HF site and
famously got the 1133 kc/s RCA Ampliphase transmitter to load up
properly into the 212' mast. Long time HK correspondent Clive Warner was
a tx engineer at BBC Skelton then did time on the Mi Amigo. Later on of
course was Peter Chicago G3WZG on the Mi Amigo, Ross Revenge and MEBO
II. Robin Adcroft was one of the tx engineers on the MEBO II with Bob
Noakes, whether they were on the boat at the same time I'm not sure.
Even later was the lad of Hull, Paul Alexander Rusling again with Robin
Adcroft on the Communicator. The amateur radio call signs given are in
the public domain as they are published by Ofcom and the Radio Society
of Great Britain. I have written to Russ Tollerfield by post and sent a
follow-up letter but to no avail. It looks like he does not want to be
reminded about that particular time of his life. So there you have it
Hans I wonder if you have had anymore thoughts? *Was there not someone
called Manfred Sommers who worked on Caroline North? Regards, Dave.
Thanks a lot Dave and indeed Manfred Summers was technician on the MV
Fredericia. Also nice to see the call signs next to the names mentioned.
In a second mail David mentioned too that Sven Martinsen just published
his special sites about offshore engineers.
http://www.northernstar.no/northseaengineers.htm
One of the famous transmitters in Switzerland is not in use anymore.
Beromunster was therefore in the news recently. Watch the video:
http://www.sf.tv/sf1/schweizaktuell/index.php?docid=20081010
Time for my monthly radio friends, this time first
Bob Le Roi:
Happy New Year & welcome to the 1st Update of 2009. We’ve been toying
with the idea of compiling a complete a-z of everyone who’s ever worked
for the Lady for sometime &at last we’ve assembled 19 pages of our
progress thus far. With your help this could become the definitive
galley of everyone who’s ever been involved, from the moment the
Fredericia went into Greenock. Those on air, the crew, the technicians
and the people in the background working on the various ships, in the
offices and the services since up to date. ‘One Subject One Link’ has a
contribution echoing thoughts on holiday relief cover and swing jocks
Newly listed in the equipment section a Sony MDS JE440 and the workhorse
of the industry a Technics SL 1210. We’ve a whole selection of Elvis
Presley on 12” vinyl, from the budget to the rare & much sought after
pressings
The CD Rack has its 1st listing of Country & there's another ever
popular Instrumental plus a Commercial Breaks CD up for grabs. As ever
enjoy your visits:
www.bobleroi.co.uk
Once again it is time for the monthly update to
The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame.
What's new this month, I hear you ask. Well...
• We have some wonderful photos taken on board Radio Caroline North,
supplied by engineer Mike Wright;
• Colin Nicol has provided the Caroline South programme schedule for a
week in June 1965, as issued by the Caroline press office;
• And I have begun adding links from any mentions of songs or theme
tunes on the site to the relevant page of the Amazon MP3 Store where you
can hear a short extract of the track and, if you are based in the UK,
purchase an MP3 download. Not every track mentioned on the PRHoF is
currently stocked by Amazon but a large proportion of them are.
Almost 240,000 people visited The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame during 2008.
That is not quite as many as in 2007 when 283,461 visited but last
year's figures were undoubtedly boosted by Pirate BBC Essex and the
publicity surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Marine Offences Act.
It will be interesting to see what effect the release of the movie 'The
Boat That Rocked' in May 2009 has on next year's statistics.
Incidentally, if you haven't seen the trailer for the film yet, it is
here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnQc3lO4JDs
My grateful thanks, as always, to everyone who has contributed, helped
or supported the site during the year. May I wish you a very happy new
year and all the best for 2009, with kind regards, Jon
www.offshoreradio.co.uk
From Australia here news from former SRE
Jack Curtiss: ‘A happy
New Year. We hope everyone had a safe and sound New Year advent...we
rang in 2009 quietly at home watching a movie (with our two new
housemates) and managed to catch the Times Square celebrations live on
webcam the following morning Australia time. And after another Holiday
Season stint as Santa, I've returned to radio (sort of). I'll be making
fortnightly appearances on the ABC Network Station here offering
commentary on US political developments and the new Obama
Administration. Meanwhile Melanie has a solo art show lined up in Sydney
this summer. Our very best wishes for a most happy and prosperous New
Year. Jack and Melanie
A lot of success Jack with your next radio steps!
Steve ‘a go go’ Young send me the following comments from a Canadian
Newspaper: ‘Philip Seymour Hoffman's economy music People News’ Jan 3,
2009, 8:00 GMT.
‘Philip Seymour Hoffman thinks 60s pop music will help people through
the credit crunch. The Oscar-winning actor is convinced his new movie 'The
Boat That Rocked' - set in a 60s pirate radio station loosely
based on the infamous Radio Caroline that broadcast from the North Sea
between 1964-67 - will allow people to forget about the global economic
crisis. He said: "I don't want to give away the ending, but these words
come up on the screen and I just remember thinking, 'Yeah, that's right,
that's beautiful. I think I'll take that thought for today and hold onto
it.' I really hope the film does that. I think a lot of people will get
a lot out of it." The film, directed by 'Love Actually' director Richard
Curtis, features an all-star cast, including Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans,
Gemma Arterton, Nick Frost and January Jones.
Before the shoot, Curtis loaded the cast's iPods with albums by The
Beatles, The Rolling Stones and other popular 60s artists. Hoffman
thinks music from that era is particularly relevant in today's turbulent
times. He explained to Empire magazine: "The state of the world isn't so
hot, you know? How people are feeling when they get up in the morning
may not be the best, and the idea that rock 'n' roll is cathartic has a
very important place in the world."
Thanks a lot Steve as always good greetings from Holland.
Northern
Star International Broadcasters AS
PO Box 100
N5331 RONG
NORWAY
Email: 1000@northernstar.no
PRESS RELEASES
Open future for Northern Star International Broadcasters AS.
On its General Meeting December 8th, in Bergen, Norway, the shareholders
of Northern Star International Broadcasters AS (66,48 % of the issued
shares represented) voted to be open for different future scenarios for
Northern Star International Broadcasters AS, the company still holding a
provisional license for the AM frequency Longwave 216 kHz, power 1.2
Million Watts, offered by Norway’s Mass Media Authority. The founder and
chairman Svenn Martinsen comments in the form of this editorial:
”Early in 2008 our company invited its shareholders to an internal
debate as to the future of our radio project. On the background of the
received inputs the board in the fall has attempted to formulate a
strategy for the way forward. This was voted over in the recent GM.
For the public, we’d like to offer the following honest evaluation as to
where we stand as of January 1st, 2009:
Northern Star-No available funding?
Northern Star International Broadcasters AS was established on the last
day of 1999 to build a commercial, international radio station on AM 216
kHz longwave, the project having been worked on since
1994. The idea
came from partly the Mexican ”border-blasters” like XERF as well as
North Sea and Irish Pirates, but also an interested party in Norwegian
Telecoms bureaucracy had independently thought of a ”super-power” voice
from Norway. In 2000, our company commissioned a Business Plan for this
project, and at the end of that year, we had contact with 3 major USA
investor groups, and one Irish, one saying they were ”very interested”
another one wanting to put his writer in charge of the radio station! By
the end of 2008, we also have had serious contact with 2 UK, and 1
Norwegian group.
If we leave out the ”armchair critics”, it must be said that generally
the project has received a good reception, something also proved by the
large number of hits to this website. But in spite of many
conversations, exchanges and meetings with investors (many of them good,
and very friendly people) at this stage no decisive interest has been
noted. Whatever their reasons, we respect them. We feel it is a bit
strange though to observe that evidently large amounts of media
resources are put into everything from more and more in our opinion
silly TV ”reality” shows, over ”soap bubbles”, to channels of doubtful
value, and even quite disturbing content on satellite/cable TV.
http://www.northernstar.no/press.htm
Murphy's Law of Pirate Listening
By Pat Murphy
I've been DX'ing pirates for over a decade and the most often asked
question is, "how do you hear them?". It's not like you can pick up a
"Passport to Pirate Broadcasting" or a "World Radio TV pirate handbook"
to check on schedules, because pirates don't maintain regular broadcast
schedules and those that do don't last for very long. There are however,
some patterns that develop and places to look that once the persistent
DX'er understands, tend to turn up these "bad boys of the bands" on a
regular basis. Let me pass along my "Murphys Law of Pirate Listening".
http://www.frn.net/ace/murphys.htm
The next one was send by Sally. Did you ever hear about the landbased
pirate ‘Black & White’? I didn’t till I read somewhere the header: ‘What
did we really do’. Go to the special report of soldiers who made pirate
radio on the army base in their free time.
http://www.41herstel-hohne.nl/Troost%20Johan.htm
No we go to London and Chris Edwards: ‘We've updated the
Offshore Radio Themes
webpages, with more themes and info' plus more audio clips including the
John Ross Barnard theme: - Surf dell'amore - Tutti's trumpets and Sunday
Times Jazz Hour theme: - Boogie Stop Shuffle - Charle Mingus.
New audio in Promotions includes: - Jambo Sana - Mario Mathy; Please
love me again - VIP Connection; Peace will come - Melanie and more.
If you spot any missing themes or can add any missing details please let
us know. Chris Edwards
www.offshoreechos.com
Everyone interested in the history from Radio Veronica knows the name of
the tender: Ger Anne.
What a lot of people don’t know that in 1960 there was another tender
from skipper Groen, who
irregularly
tendered the MV Borkum Riff. When authorities warned the skipper that,
when he would go on with the tendering his fishing licenses would be
withdrawn, he decided to stop with the work for Veronica. On the next
site exclusive photos from that tender Scheveningen 26.
http://www.moerwijker.nl/sch26
About 6 years ago Mary and Chris Payne from the Radio London
Internetsite visited Groningen and it was then we had a walk into t
he
city. One of the objects we saw was a shed on which ‘Radio London’ was
painted in 1966 and it is still visible in 2009. Arie Regtop sent me a
photograph from a wall were
Veronica graffiti is painted. Anyone else who has such an
interesting photo? HKnot@home.nl
Early January we heard about the death of former Caroline technician
Andy Howard, due to a
blood clot in his brains. Andy worked as chief technician under the name
‘Bilbo’ on the Ross Revenge during 1984-1985. Also he presented now and
then programs under the deejay names
Rolland Butter and
Morris d’Anser.
Bilbo comes from Bilbo Baggins,
one of the characters from the Tolkien Books, like ‘The Hobbit’. Andy
read this books on the Ross Revenge and choose Bilbo as his nickname.
Andy was a very conspicuous person on the ship with his beard and
ponytail. After his time on Caroline he also worked as chief technician
on Kiss and Capital Radio in London. Together with Pyers Easton he
grounded SBS in Hastings, a company specialized in transmitter
equipment. Andy Howard became 54 years of age and was cremated on
January 15th in Oxford. (with thanks to Leendert Vingerling).
Andy Howard Photo: Leen Vingerling
Next from France it is Paul Ciesielski who wanted me to mention that
there a nice photographs to see on the internet of the model he made
from the MV Norderney:
http://www.norderney.nl/aandemuur.html
An excellent, thorough overview of the history of audio tape types, with
up-to-date research into the treatment of problem tapes, has just been
made freely available online. "Tape Degradation Factors and Challenges
in Predicting Tape Life", by Richard Hess is here:
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/history/HESS_Tape_Degradation_ARSC_Journal_39-2.pdf
Don’t forget to have a look regulary on our new internetsite:
http://www.radioday.nl
News now from the Isle of Man again: ‘I trust the New Year has started
well for you. Further to my last note, the Manx National Heritage
'Pirates Of The Irish Sea' exhibition has been extended until the end of
this Summer. I'll let you know the exact date as soon as it's confirmed.
http://www.gov.im/mnh/information/whatson.xml
(The official website hasn't been updated yet)
Just in case you missed Paul Rowley's BBC Radio documentary 'The
Other Radio Caroline' I've attached a link to an off-air
recording.
http://www.mediafire.com/?mgyhn2nhtjb
Stay in touch, Best Regards, Andy Wind.
We have another one for Tom Mulder and his love for trains, trams, ships
and radio. In the nineties of last century there was a commercial
station in Holland using the name Radio London. From 1995 up till 1998
they transmitted from a train near the Eerbeek station in the Provence
of Gelderland. In 1998 they changed the name into QRadio and took over
the Communicator which was then owned by Veronica FM. A year later Q
Radio went bust. But Michel van Hooff dived into his archive and found
photos of this radiostation in the train, which he took in 1997.
Well that round’s up this edition of the Hans Knot International Radio
Report. We will be back somewhere in February or March. I’ve a lot of
travelling to do for my work so lesser time to do radio related thing in
the evenings. Take care and of course let it come in, your news,
memories and other things at
HKnot@home.nl and photographs please to
Hans.Knot@Gmail.com
HANS KNOT
Offshore Radio Programme Names - Programmanamen Zeezenders 1958-1990
Read Hans Knot's former report