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Updated 01 Dec 2008
A Radio Caroline Supporters Website
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Worldspace Call In Liquidators Worldspace (UK) Ltd called in the liquidators on Friday Nov 14. The action means an immediate suspension of the Afristar channels that were being transmitted from London by WRN. The move also means that Worldspace UK’s few remaining staff have been let go, according to informed sources. London employees have received no salaries since September. Telemetry, care and control of Afristar are still being carried out. Insiders suggest that Afristar is still carrying some radio channels beamed up from South Africa. Worldspace UK is a separate operation to Worldspace Inc., which is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Our sources suggest that Worldspace's London assets (transmission equipment and so forth) had already been formally seized ahead of the liquidation because Worldspace is in default on payments. A Creditors Meeting will be held later in November. Use this link for more details http://rapidtvnews.com/index.php/200811162553/worldspace-uk-goes-bust.html Worldspace has been carrying Radio Caroline programmes free to air for the past year now but the service stopped suddenly on Friday 14th November.
"Where is John Brocks?"
Mr Paul Hemingway in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire signed the guestbook above and asked, "Where is John Brocks?" Well, John is well and keeping busy working for the return of European Klassic Rock or East Kent Radio. Radio Caroline took over the EKR studios in Maidstone when they closed down in 1999 due to lack of funds. I wish John the best of luck with his project to bring back this once popular station but with the current economic climate and the demise of Big L we wonder whether he can get this project off the ground. John had been doing a live breakfast show on Caroline for three days a week but now Tony Paul is bringing us his breakfast show from L.A. for five days a week. from 7am till 9pm. including all the latest showbiz gossip from Hollywood.
Pirates of the Irish Sea Manx National Heritage’s new temporary exhibition ‘Pirates of the Irish Sea’ was officially opened on the 1st August 2008, by special guest Terry Cringle. It concludes on January 1st 2009. The exhibition is the culmination of six months of careful research and preparation for the curators at Manx National Heritage, which marks the 40th anniversary of the departure of pirate radio station ‘Radio Caroline’ from Manx waters in 1968. The exhibition is housed at the House of Manannan, and the radio ship MV Caroline, though based off Ramsey in the 1960’s was tended by a Peel vessel, the Essex Girl operated by local man Harry Maddrell. Manx National Heritage Curator of Social History Matthew Richardson commented: “The past six months have been really enjoyable for me as we contacted radio enthusiasts around the world and tracked down former DJs who had worked on the station. Some fantastic memorabilia has come to light, from records played on the ship, to parts of the transmitter.” Matthew continued: “We are very excited and pleased to be staging this exhibition, which we believe is the first one to cover the subject of Radio Caroline anywhere in the British Isles. We are very fortunate to have been able to work on this exhibition with Andy Wint, who was a fan of radio Caroline in his youth and has retained an infectious enthusiasm for the station ever since.” DJ Tom Lodge who arrived with the ship off the Isle of Man in 1964 could not attend the opening but sent a message of goodwill from his home in California: “The Isle of Man has a very special place in my heart ... even though I cannot come to the opening, I shall be there in spirit. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to have been a deejay on Radio Caroline North, to have introduced some of the finest rock music to the country, I would be most grateful if you could pass on a thank you to the people of the Isle of Man for their hospitality and their support during those adventurous and sometimes dangerous years”. Terry Cringle, who opened the exhibition, was a freelance journalist in the 1960s and clearly remembered reporting on the wedding of Radio Caroline DJ Mick Luvzit on board the ship. Terry said: “There was never so much international focus on the Isle of Man as there was whilst Caroline was here – the Isle of Man was really at the centre of the pop music world. I remember when the UK government passed the act to outlaw the pirate stations, there was tremendous fury in Tynwald. Clifford Irving, who was a great showman, had a copy of the UK Act with him in the House of Keys and he very theatrically tore it up, saying “This should not be applied to the Isle of Man””. Visitors to the exhibition can hear sounds from the 60s as well as view the exhibits which include fan letters to DJs, original records played aboard the ship and visitors will also be able to view original archive footage of Radio Caroline North which has never been seen in public before. In addition to the exhibition, events which shaped the radio industry in the British Isles will be recalled in a special conference organised by Radio Caroline enthusiast Andy Wint, which will take place in September 2008 and will be attended by a host of special guests. The exhibition is open at the House of Manannan on Peel Quayside, which is open from 10 am to 5pm every day and entry to the exhibition is free. Sources Matthew.Richardson@mnh.gov.im http://www.gov.im/lib/news/mnh/piratesoftheiris.xml
"Protecting, presenting and promoting the unique cultural and historical heritage of the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man is set in the Irish Sea, midway between England, Scotland, N.Ireland and Wales. Known also as "Mann", the strongly independent Island has the oldest continuous parliament in the world, Tynwald." http://www.gov.im/mnh/
Message from Clive Pearce (Ex Ross Revenge Crew Member)
Hi There, hope I find you and yours are all in tip top health and enjoying life. If you want to see me in action and all that I have been doing of late go take a look at my short films 'Take that Grouville' and my new one 'Broad Bean Down', a take on Black Hawk Down. It might not make a lot of sense to you as it is very local (Jersey) humour and GST is our recently introduced equivalent of VAT, Kindest Regards Clive Pearce. View films on this site by clicking HERE
Ross Revenge On Google Earth
You can now see the Ross Revenge in its present position (Tilbury Docks) on Google Earth. If you click HERE you can zoom in and out and pan in any direction. Google Earth installation not required.
Ross Revenge Easter Broadcast Success
The Easter weekend of broadcasting from the Ross Revenge has now come to a close. Everyone enjoyed the broadcasts and it was a great success. E-mails were received from all over the world and Internet streams were running at very high capacity. The many donations received will help keep the ship in good order ready for the day when the ship can be moved to a public mooring again and be open for tours and more live shows. Well done to all involved with this excellent broadcast which proved that the Ross can still provide an excellent platform for broadcasting.
Message From Richard Regarding Above:- Hi, yes that's me Richard Kuttschreutter from Amsterdam Holland. I was than onboard in 2000 / 2001 in the time that the ship was in Queenborough anchored. I have painted the studios , record library and and bridge new in with paint and helped onboard in that time. one funny thing was that the plaits where not painted with a fresh colour since the time the ship was fitted out in Spain, also you look on old pictures from the studios you can see the difference from many years smoking onboard. Greetings Richard Kuttschreutter from Holland Amsterdam. Radio Caroline Inspires Film?
LONDON, March 4, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ Universal Pictures and Working Title Films announced today that principal photography began March 3, 2008, on "The Boat That Rocked", the new comedy about rock and roll, boys and a boat from filmmaker Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral). Inspired by the British pirate radio revolution in the 1960's, the majority of the film's shoot will take place in a large rusty metal fishing trawler moored off the coast of England in the very waters that kept the rock of the 1960's booming into the U.K. More details at http://www.foxbusiness.com
The Real Radio Caroline
There are various stations around the world calling themselves Radio Caroline. We also hear lots of rumours and reports about new stations starting up and calling themselves Radio Caroline with web sites promising new ships off the coast and streaming programmes with Radio Caroline jingles. Currently there is a station in Tenerife broadcasting Radio Caroline programmes during the day with Radio Seagull programmes at night. This station has no connection with the Radio Caroline we promote on this website that currently broadcasts from Maidstone. The brand name of Radio Caroline is popular and well known around the world and these stations know that if they call themselves Radio Caroline they will pick up a large audience from people that remember the station from the past. This website only promotes the real Radio Caroline broadcasting from Maidstone with its ship The Ross Revenge. It is sad that other organisations feel the need to use the Radio Caroline brand name which causes confusion to listeners. If a station was to start in Tenerife calling itself BBC Radio 2 then I am sure the BBC in the UK will have something to say about it and would feel that its name was being abused. All new radio stations are very welcome but they should give themselves a name that suits their image and doesn't cause confusion among the listeners. Caroline Movement History
A John from Norfolk who was once a Caroline Movement member wrote to remind me that the early founding members of the CM were Geoff Baldwin, Andy Thompson later known as DJ Andy Johnson, and Brian Bannister who is now sadly dead. He tells me that he is sure there were others involved in these early days but the real credit of the CM goes to Geoff Baldwin. The first editor of the CM Bulletin was Andy Thompson, John Burch then took over from him. I am pleased to be able to put the record straight John, I am planning to do an article on the Caroline Movement and would be pleased to hear from anyone who has info on the movement in those days.
The "Ross Revenge" At Sea
The two pictures below were given to me (Roland) recently. The one on the left shows the Ross Revenge with its original aerial mast before the great storm in October 1987 from which it survived. The other photo was believed to have been taken in 1993 in Clacton showing the temporary structures that were erected at sea. These temporary structures are still standing and used today for RSL broadcasts. More details about the Ross Revenge on http://www.rossrevenge.co.uk When you look up at these structures it makes you wonder how they managed to put them up at sea.
Further To Article And Photos Above John Cronnelly Writes
The hurricane took place on 16th October, 1987. The mast fell down on 25th November, 1987. This was due to the ship being side on to the waves and rolling at 40-45 degree angles. They couldn't turn the ship into the waves as one of the motors for turning the rudder was off the ship being repaired. The stays had become slack because of the hurricane and the ship was waiting for riggers to go out and tighten them up and also replace the broken egg insulators. As regarding the photos, the one taken allegedly at Clacton looks like it is actually Bradwell, where the ship went after leaving Dover Harbour in October, 1993. I think it is Bradwell, as the ship looks like it is facing Maldon as the tide is going out. Also there is a river bank on the right hand side of the picture. Hope this helps. Regards Rockin John Cron Many thanks to John..
Another show that became popular was the Frinton "Flashing" Hundreds of motorists would park their cars on the seafront at Frinton and Walton on the Naze and flash their headlights out to sea where the ship was at anchor 3 and a half miles out. The DJs would stand on the deck asking questions and the motorists would flash their headlights with two flashes for no and one for yes. Apparently it was an incredible sight to see all the cars flashing their headlights on command. It must be remembered that the guys on the ship were very cut off and had no phones except for emergencies so this was a way of contacting the listeners for them. I suppose this was the first interactive service another first for Caroline!!! Various boats were taking visitors out to the ships from the Essex coast. The DJs looked forward to these visits as life could become very boring on board because some of them stayed out there for several weeks at a time. The ships could be seen from the shore and many people particularly those on holiday during the summer would go out to see them. The staff on the ship would leap about on board when they saw a boat approaching and shout out greetings. If you were very lucky and the sea was calm the boat would go up very close but contact with the ship was forbidden and you could not go on board without going through customs.s.
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Radio Caroline History
Radio Caroline first started broadcasting at Easter 1964. I was on my school holidays and getting a little bored. I had a cassette recorder and every week I recorded the top 20 chart show from the BBC Light programme on Sunday afternoon. There was not much music on the radio those days and so I could play back the programme over and over again. I listened to some of the Dutch stations at the time and workers playtime, music while you work and listen with mother were the highlights of the BBC weekly offering. Radio Luxembourg was the only pop music station on the air during the evenings with a strong signal that faded badly. I was tuning the dial when I found a very strong signal playing pop music. Suddenly a voice said "This is a test transmission for Radio Caroline on 199 your all day music station" It was Simon Dee and Chris Moore. Little did I know how this would change my life. This was BBC Radio's biggest challenge and the beginning of a radio revolution for he UK. Soon many other stations joined them on boats and forts in the North Sea. Radio London, Radio City, Radio 390, Radio England. Britain Radio. Caroline North (Irish Sea), Radio 270 and Radio Scotland also arrived. I made my parents take holidays in Clacton so that I could visit the ships on boats from Walton on the Naze and I remember leaning over the side of the old Mi Amigo talking to Tony Blackburn and Roger Day getting them to play my requests on the Big Line up programme at 4pm. This fun went on until 1967 when the government passed a law banning these stations and all but Radio Caroline closed down. On August 14th 1967 the government's bill to silence all the stations was made law and all the stations closed down except one and that was Radio Caroline. I was supposed to be working that day but at 2pm I disappeared into a stack of boxes of light bulbs for an hour with my transistor radio and earpiece and listened to the last hour of Radio London. I will never forget that last hour they closed with "A day in the life" by the Beatles and Paul Kay said, "Radio London is now closing down". I turned over to Caroline and heard Johnny Walker say, we welcome all the new listeners and Caroline continues. Luckily no one seemed to have missed me all that time and I still had my job. Caroline's programmes that evening were un-missable and the midnight "We shall overcome" and Johnny Walker sailing up the Thames story was legendary and radio at its best. Caroline continued for some time but found it difficult with money running out. I remember tuning in one day and there was nothing there and later in the day I heard the TV newsman say that Radio Caroline's north and south ships had been towed away to Holland due to unpaid bills although there has always been some doubt about that. They broadcasts eventually returned from the Mi Amigo and they continued until the old ship sank in early 1980. Many people thought that they were gone forever but we know Radio Caroline and they returned in 1983 on another boat, the Ross Revenge an ex Icelandic trawler. In the hurricane of 1987 the mast , which was the highest ship born structure of that time was weakened and it blew down a week later. But they were soon back on the air when a temporary structure was erected at sea. Laser 558 joined them and although up to then the government had taken little interest in them Laser with its top 40 America style format changed all that. Caroline was relying on the Dutch programming to provide them with money to pay the bills but soon the Dutch and British governments raided the ship and closed it down taking away most of the transmitting equipment. After a couple of weeks they again returned when Peter Chicago found enough equipment to get the transmitter working again. Eventually they went adrift onto the Goodwin sands and incredibly were towed off by a Dover Harbour tug and taken to Dover. This was one of the only times a ship has been rescued from these treacherous sands. This began a remarkable comeback by Caroline. Because of a restriction order placed on the ship forbidding it to go to sea much work had to be done by the northern repair group before they could get the ship out again and all this work was carried out by volunteers free. The salvage bill was paid after great support from Dover harbour board and the Ross Revenge Support group which became the Radio Caroline Support group. The ship then moved to various locations around the Kent and Essex coast before settling at Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey where I visited the ship and saw the amount of work that had been carried out by the dedicated team. The ship was looking much more respectable now. Some money had been raised with the Radio Caroline support group and R.S.L broadcasts from the ship and one of these had taken place in London when the ship proudly sailed up the Thames to Docklands as in the Johnny Walker story. This nearly proved costly to Caroline because they only just moved the ship before the devastating IRA bomb blast that would have damaged the ship. The successful Docklands RSL raised enough money to pay for the ship to go into Chatham Dockyard for an inspection on the dent that was the result of their running aground on the Goodwin Sands. In August 1999 the ship was moved to the end of Clacton pier for the summer and another R.S.L broadcast took place. During this time talks were taking place with an organisation that were trying to bring back Radio Luxembourg. The plan was to use the Ross Revenge as a studio moored in London Docklands and relay the programmes up to the Astra satellite from the ship until a permanent studio could be built. This would have brought in lots of money for Caroline and a rebuild of their studios. From Southend the ship was moved to a temporary mooring in the River Medway. This proved a disastrous move for the ship because at Christmas a storm blew the ship adrift, it just missed another ship and went aground on mud flats. Tugs from Medway port authority had to be called out during their Christmas break to tow them into Sheerness harbour at great expense. Since then the ship has returned to Queenborough. After all that Radio Luxembourg never returned. Later when EKR who were broadcasting from the Maidstone studio's ran out of money they offered some free airtime to Caroline. Caroline decided to take up the offer and gradually the hours of transmission were increased until they were broadcasting seven days a week. When the analogue closedown took place Caroline decided to go digital and after a break of a month resumed in splendid digital quality from Maidstone. Broadcasts were also streamed from the web by the Dutch supporters on www.radio-caroline.nl In August 2004 to celebrate their 40th birthday they moved the ship from Rochester to the ferry landing stage in Tilbury. They had an RSL covering much of South Essex and North Kent on Medium Wave sending the signal over to the Maidstone studio's using an ADSL link to uplink to Sky, Worldspace and the Internet. Presently Radio Caroline are now broadcasting from another studio in Maidstone, using an expensive link to get the signal up to London for uplinking to the Eurobird satellite to Sky Digital EPG 0199 but the audio signal is in mono. Their signal is also uplinked to the AfriStar Satellite for Worldspace Radio's, this is a portable radio with a small satellite dish attached to it that covers most of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Internet stream is now in super stereo and usually very solid and listeners can tune in all over the World. They are also heard on DAB occasionally in Italy and on Saturday and Sunday nights can be heard on FM on the French and Italian Riviera's. This has all be achieved with thanks to many unpaid volunteers that have worked tirelessly for the station. Remember, Caroline can be anywhere. by Roland Beaney
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new photos of the weekend 23rd Nov click
One
of the famous DJs on Radio Caroline in the 60's was Johnny Walker. He became
very popular with his 9 - 12pm shows which included a "Kiss in the car"
segment where couples could snuggle up in their cars at 11pm to the sound
of "When A Man Loves A Woman" by Percy Sledge. This song became a Caroline
anthem and the "Kiss in the car" stickers became sought after. Johnny now
works for the BBC on Radio 2. 