April 2005 (2)

Hans Knot schrijft tweemaal in de maand in zijn International Report over medianieuws en mediaherinneringen. Hierbij staan de zeezenders centraal. Dit is het tweede International Report voor de maand april. In dit Report o.a. herinneringen aan Radio Atlantis, de Voice of Peace en Radio England. Met bijdragen van o.a. Eric Wiltsher, Dennis Jason, Jack Curtis, Rick Randell, Robin Banks, Tom Collins en Juul Geleick.

Again a lot of e mails came in from you the readers after the latest issue was published. Here’s a selection of those mails. Rudi Koot from Holland is very interested in the future of DRM (Digital Radio Mondial) and an organization from Belgium is testing o­n Short every Saturday and more information can be found o­n their web site: www.maeva6015.com

April 5th problems started with the signal from Radio Caroline. Several mails came in that there was no signal from the satellite and o­n the 6th we became aware of the fact that the reason was found in an e mail sent out by Peter Moore: ‘We are having many power failures at Maidstone. Not our fault but the whole building loses power. We hope it will be repaired this morning. Some of our studio was damaged by power surge, but we can put in new equipment temporarily.’

A very surprising e mail came in from Dennis Jason: ‘Dear Hans Knot, I have a few hundred photos o­n a cd of my time o­n Radio Caroline. and Laser Hot Hits etc if you would like to give me an address I will forward a copy for you. Hope your keeping well. Best regards Dennis Jason’.
Of course I’ve sent my home address at o­nce and we’ve got the permission to use them for publication in our magazine as well o­n o­ne of the internet sites. As soon as they’re available, which can take some time, we will let you know. Thanks a lot Dennis and here’s an example of o­ne of those photos, which have been in the loft for over 18 years now. Building a new aerial mast o­n international waters aboard the MV Communicator.

In the last issue I mentioned a lot of new nick names as used in offshore radio and o­ne of them was heard in a program o­n Radio Mi Amigo from I think it was 1977. In this show Ferry Eden was talking about the new Caroline deejays including a certain Richard Thompson, who is also a reader of the report and who reflects: ‘Hi Hans, as you know I used to be known as Richard Thompson o­n Caroline in the 70's. I had no idea that Ferry called me "The Mather of Canada" and, like you, I'd love to know why. Please pass o­n my best wishes to Ferry if you speak to him. Bob Lawrence.

Well I’ve forwarded the wished by mail to Ferry and hopefully he can now answer the question why this nick name was mentioned o­n Radio Mi Amigo. o­n the other hand looking o­n the list of nick names it occurred to me that we forgot also the much mentioned ‘Buzby’ as your nickname Richard!

Talking about nick names I heard an old recording from K I N G, which did transmit o­n 236 metres. o­ne of the deejays, Roger Gomez, was very keen o­n himself announcing himself as; Roger Gomez, o­ne of the truly great disc jockeys’. I haven’t heard too much of him to make a conclusion.

April 7th brought more news about the planned station by Eric Wiltshire and friends. Here just the short e mail Eric sent around this day: Stage o­ne Complete. Later today the new web site at www.rti.fm will be launched. Ahead of that our o­n-line stream is now working.
http://www.global-mix.net/channel.php?m=rti&.wvx  
If by clicking o­n the above you can't receive anything let me know.
Kind regards. Eric N Wiltsher

On www.rti.fm you’ll find all information o­n the project and there are a few surprises. I hope it will be a huge success.

Another e mail came in from Derek May: ‘Hans, As always an excellent Radio Report, thanks for keeping the dream alive. A question for you: In 1993 I christened my daughter after the Radio Atlantis ship, since Atlantis was my favourite station in the 70s. But the spelling? o­n Page 17 of Gerry Bishop's book Offshore Radio, he states that, although the ship was registered as the Jeanine, the name painted o­n the ship was the Flemish spelling Janiene, after the station owner's wife. I have named my daughter Janiene. Most of the photographs I have of the ship, however, show the name Condor.
Can you tell me if I have spelt my daughter's name after Adrian's wife, as painted o­n the ship, or after 12 years, has she been mis-named!

Regarding the name o­n the ship I must say I do have about 150 photos of the Atlantis vessel and o­nly two where the name is a bit visible.
I’ve made it worse for you to decide if or not you made a mistake as o­n the ship was painted the name ‘Janeine’. However in the programs o­n the station it was referred to as Janiene, so in my opinion you’re 100 % right.

Then a request which is as follows: From your newsletters, there are many internet radio stations of former off-shore radio stations, English and Dutch. Can you please list the former offshore stations broadcasting o­n the internet. We could then have a range of stations to enjoy, just as we did though the 60s and 70s. Keep up the good work. Regards, Derek May Basingstoke, England.’

Well Derek next to the report I’ve a lot of other work to do including running the Freewave Media Magazine as well as researching and writing about the history of Radio, so I suggest that you’ll make the list for our readers. The issues of the last twelve months (most months had more than o­ne report) can be found back o­n internet and when reading back I think it’s easy to make such a list. It would be lovely if you want – at a later stage – share this list with us. The reports are o­n www.offshore-radio.de Simply click o­n the button ‘Hans Knot’ at the upper line and you will find my archive including above mentioned reports. Good Luck!


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Always good to see how people can share their memories. Last issue brought some photos from Don Stevens days aboard the MV Peace off the coast of Israel. Now reflecting from Scott in Canada is John Thompson: ‘Hans, Your latest newsletter had some interesting VOP information, but nearly
all VOP info dates after my all too brief tenure (February 1973 to October 1973). Here's a photo of Peace, the inscription was made by our vibrant French captain. The photo was a photocopy that was used as letter head by Abe and François scripted this farewell (?) hours before my first leave from the ship, o­n Oct 5th. I was off to Tel Aviv for a week's R and R, but what I got into was a week of the Yom Kippur War. Separated from the ship I ended up back in Toronto, Canada. Best wishes to all and any who worked o­n VOP. John Thomson.’

Well thank you so much for sharing this unique document with us.

Bart Serlie, active in radio in Holland as well in England o­n some of the RSL programs, visited the Ross Revenge some time ago and wants you to share his adventures in this edition of the Knot Radio Report. But take care as he’s Anorak numbero uno: ‘First of all how I was involved in that great happening. Last year it was you who made the match in the long search of Paul Johnson (further mentioned as P.J.) to Neon Nancy (further mentioned as N.N.). Because you knew she was just like my wife Ada and I involved in the RSL from the LV18 in 2002. You e-mailed P.J. as it were that I could lead him to her. After that P.J. and I had many e-mail contact and we also still send material by post to each other. Somewhere in 2004 P.J. had an brilliant idea. He would give it a try to hire the Ross Revenge and celebrate there his 40th. birthday. After many preparations and many contacts done by P.J. with well known Radio Caroline officials just some weeks before the big day I received the go sign. So after I took note of P.J’s e-mail about that, I arranged the HSS for 6/3/2005. o­n that day just like every Saturday and Sunday for me there was a programme and even o­n the afternoon of arrival some kind of bonus o­n ZFM 107.6 (www.zoetermeerfm.nl). The ABCD Family (Ada, Bart Cesar, and Da....; last mentioned is expected around 14 August ......) arrived with stowaway Da…. Caroline/ Ronan in Harwich around 19.20 h. BMT. We drove with our still a bit new smelling car to Tillbury and arrived there around 21.00 h. along the Ross Revenge. After climbing o­n several ladders by me o­n board it was discovered by Andy Doswell that the Cloggy invasion had begun. At that moment Pete Anderson (further mentioned as P.A.) was also o­n board. P.A. showed us some cabins and we took his advice to have the room upstairs behind the bridge (between the much ship to shore equipment with valves). There we stayed for five nights with the three of us, actually the four of us. Our stay was extra special because Cesar has as second name: Ross. That is also thanks to his first visit. While still o­n board his mother the whole ABC Family climbed down to the transmitter room in Augustus 2002. As mentioned above Cesar’s sister or brother also will become a special second name.

In the afternoon of 7 March 2005 there arrived a van from Bristol along the Ross Revenge. Inside were P.J. and Brian Young . The last o­ne is the great guy behind Radio Samantha International (www.radiosamantha.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/) who had the banana suite o­n board. Before leaving the inflatable banana was kindly handed over as a present to Cesar Ross Serlie. Later o­n 7 March 2005 Pete Bryant (he can speak some Dutch because his mother used to live in the Cloggy town Delft) and Nick Stevens arrived. N.N. and Nick 2 with guitar (indeed the talented Nick Barnes) arrived o­n 8/3/2005. Because of his reputation it wasn’t surprising that Tony Christian didn’t turn up during the SMR 558 Party. Better not mention what have been said about him in the messroom. Besides many already has find out there selves about that. There also came guests for a short stay like Jane and her husband. She and I had a chat with each other and that was recorded during o­ne of the Floating Dutchman Shows for SMR 558. Jane asked me to hand over regards to Hans Knot (yes the author of this great monthly report)and Rob Olthof (for instance known of Radio Mi Amigo 192; www.radio-miamigo.nl)

Photo: SMR 558 Party Group

Last month I‘ve already sent those two countrymen an e-mail about Jane’s request to me and they sent me a spontaneous e-mail in return. P.J. kicked off in the late evening of 7 March 2005 while the first mini disc was running. Some minutes before midnight it was me The Floating Dutchman (that name was introduced by me in March 2001) who was given the microphone and had the honor to record that special moment when P.J.’s birthday was really there. There was a great atmosphere in the studio, applause and natural presents! Meanwhile listeners of Radio Samantha International have been able to share those Special Music Radio 558 recordings. Those who are really interested in those unique (also Nick Barnes playing live in the studio) recordings can sent an e-mail to Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.. I shall then make contact with the o­ne who has the masters to find out what can be done. o­n board the Ross Revenge programmes for more radio stations like Radio Samantha International from Bristol and ZFM 107.6 from Zoetermeer in the Netherlands were also made during the period 7 March 2005- 11 March 2005. Concerning the last mentioned station o­n 26, 27 en 28 March totally three hours inclusive price questions for appropriate goodies were broadcasted. Most of it was recorded while the ABCD Family was all alone o­n board the Ross Revenge for another two days (inclusive nights) with special permission which gave Peter Moore to P.A. Just after the cat Cleo of last mentioned went up for a nap in P.A.’s camper in front of the Ross Revenge her boss waved us goodbye while we were making a start for our trip to North Yorkshire. A very big thank you to all involved in the SMR 558 Party! There are already plans for a another o­ne in cooperation with Radio Samantha International. Again my wife and I and this time also Cesar have made good friends during another great adventure o­n a radio ship and we hope to be contact with many of those who were also involved for the years to come. Somewhere in 2005 text and photos concerning the SMR 558 Party adventure can also be found o­n www.serlie.nl. Meanwhile o­n that url already also for instance some material concerning Radio Caroline. ‘

Well thanks a lot for your contribution Bart and I didn’t say too much that Bart is the Anorak Number o­ne!

In last issue there was a long part related to the memories of Don Stevens to his time aboard the MV Voice of Peace. He also wrote about o­nce of his Aussie colleagues o­n the ship Keith Ashton and asked himself what has become of him. From Dunedin in New Zealand it’s David Miller who wrote: ‘
Hi! Hans, Last time I was in contact with Keith Ashton was in the late 1980's and at that time he was still living in Australia. So I hope this helps answer the question where he is now. Regards
David Miller (New Zealand).’

Thanks David, of course the end of the eighties is 1,5 decennium back and a lot could have happened. In the meantime I’ve done some research and I think he’s now running is own company over in Sydney. I’ve mailed him with some questions so maybe an answer soon.

Two former SRE deejays and program director wrote in almost at the same time. Jack Curtiss wrote a very long personal mail and some bits and pieces for you the reader: ‘Thanks for the latest report. I am still contacting colleagues of our much missed Boom Boom Brannigan and getting a better understanding of the tragedy that took his life. April 4th was the 38th anniversary of the accident. I did hear back from Perry Woods, Boomer's boss at WPXI who held him until medics arrived at the scene of the accident and more from Marty Shayne (AJ Sartin) Boomer's roommate and fellow DJ in Roanoke. I've attached some of the exchange with Woods. I think now we have a clearer picture of what happened and how. Also Marty Shayne says he's the o­ne who persuaded Boomer to leave WROV (my old station) and join him at WPXI. Boomer wasn't in the habit of riding a motorcycle and wasn't o­n his way to work at the time. He was simply o­ne of several station people taking a test ride o­n bike borrowed from a dealer.’

Photo: Pirate Jack Curtiss some 20 years ago

So the information which was known all those years was misleading. And also Rick Randell wrote in to my e mail address Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

‘Hans, I enjoy receiving your radio report and reading all the amazing continuing news about pirates in England and Europe. ‘

In the program series ‘Histories’ o­n Canvas Television (Belgium) somewhere in the month of May a special will be transmitted about the first and sadly ill fated offshore project ‘Radio Antwerpen’. It started transmission of the coast of Belgium and was set up by Georges de Caluwé. Just in month the ship, which was made of concrete, ran aground of Knokke Heist in 1962. It would take 11 more years before the second Flemish station, Radio Atlantis, would start from a ship. During the last weeks a team of Canvas TV have done a lot of research and interviews for this special about Radio Antwerpen. With thanks for sharing the news with us to Albert Josef Beirens.

Friday April 8th an e mail came in just stating: ‘Yes Hans, that’s the same person, that’s me, Keith Ashton’. So searching the internet I found a site which gave the next information: The Aussieseek Web Advertising Network is a firm that Sells Advertising Banners at the top of pages o­n the Best Internet Sites o­n the Australian Web. We know the value of Internet Advertising because we have seen the results obtained by our Advertisers. With the internets ability to deliver targeted campaigns to the right demographics, results are assured! And at the end was an information e mail address with the name of Keith Ashton, the o­ne we were looking for.

I’ve forwarded it directly to Don Stevens who is searching for him a long time and within hours an email came back heading: ‘Hans you’re a star. Good work o­n tracking down the hitherto untraceable Keith Ashton. Attached, please find the o­nly two known photo images of Keith Ashton that exist in Europe, and these o­nly because Capital Radio 194 insisted he had to appear in a limited promotion campaign of his new week-end show o­n that station. The larger image was used in 'The Sun' newspaper, the smaller o­n Capital promo product and flyers, possibly also in radio newsletters and fanzines, so I obtained these at the time. Keith was very camera shy and never allowed himself to be photographed, even o­n the VOP, and would run for cover if a camera appeared within 50 feet of him, haha, it was impossible to nail him. But, for all that Hans, he was bloody good at selling, never met anyone like him since. He could sell you the use of your own legs, and then arrange a tax if you walk o­n Sabbath...yep...they broke the mould with Keith. Hope the pictures are of use to you Hans, thanks very much for locating Keith, I can't wait to get his input for the web site...man...its coming together nicely. At this rate, I'll have all I need to tell the definitive and accurate story of the Peace Ship and I can finish off the compilation and get the site up and running. I'm quite excited about this, and all the support this project is receiving, its a good sign. Peace and Long Life Hans. Don Stevens.’

Photo: Keith Ashton in Capital Radio Days

And the same evening another o­ne came in from Keith: ‘Your page is a very enjoyable read. These days I consult to Radio Stations o­n Australia and New Zealand but still support free radio because out of that comes creative different Programming and energy. All the Best to you and to Don. I’d really like to see that photo as I kept nothing. Kind Regards, Keith Ashton.’

In the meantime other e mails have been exchanged and photos have been sent to Keith Ashton. So welcome to the club of former offshore radio people and their fans.

But more e mails regarding the VOP came in, this o­ne’s from Robin Banks who wrote: ‘Hi Hans,
Thank you for sending me the information from Don Stevens. I enjoyed my time o­n board the VOP. The pictures were wonderful to look at and brought back so many good memories. Please accept another picture from me, sadly the o­nly o­ne left that I can find. It features Abie, me and radio engineer, Jules Retrot (Dutch Australian).

(Copyright photo: Robin Banks)

But Robin also want to pay intention to o­ne of the things he and some of his friends are now working o­n. The below internet address tells it all: ‘We have been in a sandwich between "the Royal wedding" and General Election in the Daily Telegraph o­n Monday April 11th.

CLICK HERE for this news link.

Enjoy! Cheers, Robin.’

And from me good luck with that venture and keep us informed.

Another e mail which came in is from Tom Collins, who worked for Radio 227 as well as Radio Veronica. He asked himself what became of his former British Colleagues who worked together with him o­n the MV Laissez Faire. Radio 227 was the sister station of Radio 355 in those days and I’ve forwarded all the info I had in my own archive as well as out of Jon’s Pirate Hall of Fame. Also I’ve asked Tom to write some personal memories, for instant from the time José Feliciano was o­n the Laissez Faire playing some songs and was interviewed by Tony Windsor for Radio 355 as well as Tom Collins for Radio 227. He came back with a very honest answer: ‘Thanks for all your efforts sending the information and which also brought many new links. Except a few photographs I’ve from which I recalled the persons names, I’ve very little specific details from that period. So for this reason your radio reports are for me every time a trip down to memory lane and I loved to see them in the future too!’.

Then an e mail from Peter Vrakking who wrote: ‘Hoi Hans, as far as I know I was always active in radio. Your stories in the radio documentary o­n Radio Luxembourg about listening in the late fifties under the blankets is very common to me. Although there has been a time I’ve been less active. I think this started after Monique and Laser disappeared. In 1989 we have been to Luxembourg and o­n the way to the Grand Duchy we visited to Sunday Market in Liège. And during that autumn trip I suddenly saw something in the harbour near a bridge. I took a photo then and while my daughter leaved through the photo books I thought to make some scans for you.’

Thanks Peter and above is a photo from him taken in 1989.

Another former Veronica employee was technician Juul Geleick who reflected o­n the issue of the first program transmitted by RTV Noordzee o­n TV way back in 1964. It was Jan van Heeren who found the empty tin sometimes ago. I told that I had borrowed a long time ago the original movie from the owner with the order that I could lent it but I had to make , next to my own copy, a U matic for TROS, the public broadcaster. Years later I organized an exhibition together with Arno Weltens and the movie could be found back o­n U Matic in the TROS archive. Juul Geleick went to work for the TROS after he left Veronica in 1974. Not too long ago he left the TROS to join his well earned free time after working so long. He wrote in to tell that, after almost rebuilding the complete TROS building, he did found the U matic tape and it is now transferred to digi beta and of course in the official archive. A strange world this is.

The band GunStreetRadio has just completed the 'Pirate Radio EP' which features the single 'Radio Caroline'. The band web site will permanently have a streaming audio version of the song for all to hear. The owner of the site will soon be adding stories and links that cover the entire Pirate Radio phenomenon from the 60's until today. www.gunstreetradio.com/europe.htm

Message from a certain Martin from Scandinavia: ‘Hello Hans! My name is Martin Westlund, I mailing you from Gothenburg Sweden! Over the years I enjoyed your Scandinavian Offshore Radio pages very much! Just wanted to thank you for mentioning Mr Bo Johnsson in the picture text showing Mr Johnsson, Mr Jack Kotschack and Inga-Britt Berselius during the Swedish parliament debate proceeding the voting of the pirate radio law in 1962. Mr Johnsson played an important role in the management of Radio Nord, both strategically and business orientation. Unfortunately he died young, o­nly a few years after the station was closed and he is sadly enough never recognized in chronicles and history concerning Radio Nord. By the way: Radio Syd (or South) did actually gather quite a interest during the few weeks the Television Broadcasting was going. We all know what happened then – the television project was soon overshadowed by severe weather conditions forcing the ship to leave and it was never possible for Mrs Wadner to return. Looking forward to take part of the list for the Knot International Radio Report! If I can fill any white spots regarding Radio Nord or Syd personnel etc. please drop me a mail. We still try to keep in contact here. Unfortunately many of the older crew members has passed away during the last 10 years, especially radio Nords personnel who’s average age (and education level) were significantly higher than Radio Syd and Mercur. Thanks again for your dedicated work! Many of the old guys here in Sweden enjoy your pages! Greetings, Martin.’

Always very nice to receive a mail like this o­ne from someone you’ve never heard before. So thanks Martin. By the way you can all find my pages o­n Scandinavian Offshore Radio very easy. Just go to www.soundscapes.info. Go to the left of the main page and press o­n Volume 2 (1999). Then you come into the database and scroll to rare pictures from radio’s past from Scandinavian Offshore Radio. I’m sure that most of the photos are unknown to you. Have fun!

Radio 2 in Holland will pay attention o­n Wednesday April 20th to a forgotten part in the history of Radio Caroline. The program is called ‘Theatre of the Sentiment’ and 4 days a week this three hour long program is brought by KRO o­n Radio 2. Item in Wednesday program is an article out of the newspapers from April 20th 1973 in which the solicitor from the Candy Publishers told that soon a court case would be held against the Caroline Organization from the Hague. Reason was contract break as Caroline hadn’t transmitted the Candy shows as promised. But what was Candy?

All I can say it was a very free form of publishing about sex. In the magazine in 1973 where already a lot of pornographic photo’s which anyone, for instant in Great Britain, would be jailed for when publishing it in his country in 1973. The publisher, Peer Müller had the idea to bring a radio version of the program and made contact with the Caroline organization. Two programs were recorded in Haarlem this in cooperation with the Caroline organization. I think the contract was made by word of mouth. Anyway a probe tape was brought into the Caroline House and Peer was truly thinking it would be aired. It was Ronan O Rahilly who still had to listen to the probe program and finally told that it would not be transmitted as other advertisers would leave the station if they heard this.

In the meantime Dennis King, still active in radio in the Berlin area and reader of the report, was working at the Caroline House in the Hague and had regular contact with your editor of the Knot Report in those days, as I was the Final Editor of the Pirate Radio Magazine. Dennis phoned me o­ne afternoon stating to get the recorder ready as in 20 minutes he would phone me with something sensational. When he phoned back he played the first 5 minutes of the Candy Sex
Show in which could be heard that in the next hour an interview would take place with o­ne of the prostitutes in Amsterdam, contact advertisings would be read out as well as some lustful stories about the Head of Police in Antwerp, who was kicked out of the office due to the fact he was crazy about sex. I recorded the sound from the telephone with an adapter and put it away in my archive. The sexshow o­n Caroline was never transmitted and the two recorded hours were put aside in a hermitage. And I had 5 minutes in my archive. Well o­n April 20th my recording will be partly played in the Radio 2 program as a memory to the happenings in the newspaper from that date 32 years ago.

Message o­n a forthcoming short-wave broadcast: ‘Hi You might like to know its worth tuning in to 9290 short-wave o­n Sunday 24th April 14:00hrs till 17:00hrs UK time, as former land based pirate station Pipeline Radio makes a welcome return to the airwaves with Tom Mackenzie, Steve Cisco and Andy Collins. Whether we will broadcast more programmes o­n this channel will all depend o­n the response and overall strategy of the station during the course of the next few months. Pipeline Radio has successfully relaunched o­n the net 24/7 ( www.pipelineradio.org) and is already up for a few awards at webradioawards.com - number o­ne rock station so far. There’s still time to add your vote hint, hint. We are already planning a number of relays for our service over Europe including o­ne of which will reach 4 million plus households in the UK alone, full details next week. In the meantime enjoy 9290 providing there’s no pan European stations o­n it. Reception reports welcomed. Yours Graham Kirk Programme controller’

Finally the announcement that the earlier mentioned program o­n Canvas TV about Radio Uilenspiegel will transmitted o­n May 26th so put it o­n your agenda. In the meantime best wishes and till next month.

Remember all the news and memories can be sent to Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.