Mei 2008

In het International Radio Report o­nder andere de o­nderhandelingen in 1962 over het zendschip MV Mi Amigo. Verder een unieke foto van de bouw van het Caroline zendschip Fredericia, historische zeezender t-shirts en herinneringen aan de zeezender Laser 558. En een tocht naar Radio Waddenzee (foto) en nieuws over Radio Caroline, de Radiodag 2008 en de film over Radio Caroline.

HANS KNOT INTERNATIONAL RADIO REPORT
MAY 2008

Hello everyone around the world and welcome to this month’s edition of the report. As always a lot of e mails came in and thanks for all the news, memories, goodies and photographs. Even made a small memory trip together with Martin van der Ven during a very sunny Saturday, early May. More about that later. First we go to our regular contributor in Australia, Colin Nichol.

Hans, regarding your April Report. Just a word o­n the Bon Jour/Magda Maria / Mi Amigo story in 1962. From my conversations with Kitty Black and Allan Crawford, as well as comments by Keith Martin, I understand that Allan was negotiating for the ship that year. He had long been interested in it. That explains why she was standing by off Holland. She was well fitted out and already had medium wave transmitters aboard. Allan had hoped the Americans would be partners with him in the operation and then had to look for more backers when they were not keen to do that and so he was dealing with the Verweij Brothers at that time as well. In fact, he thought he had almost bought the ship, intact and ready to go, but the American owners panicked at the last minute and withdrew it to Texas. Allan then had to start again at the beginning and raise more finance, later bringing the ship back. But for Thompson, the American owner, not seeing through the deal, Atlanta might have been o­n the air two years earlier.’

Thanks Colin, who reflected o­n an article I had written about the MV Bon Jour in the period between Radio Nord and the use for Radio Atlanta. He went o­n with more notes: ‘Radio Ellen may well have been GBLN, (Great Britain ELLEN tested briefly by John Thompson (not the same person!) of Slough, transmitting from Folkestone It was named after his wife, Ellen - LN!). More o­n that soon in Keith Martin's reminiscences, which I have been editing, and which Jon Myer will publish o­n his Pirate Radio Hall of Fame site. As you know, the same John Thompson later set up King Radio from the Red Sands Fort in the Thames Estuary in late February 1965. Kind regards and many thanks for another fascinating Report. Colin.’

Well also interesting to read Colin. Good news to see it soon o­n the Pirate Hall of Fame. In the meantime I dived in my archive and found back a long article in Dutch, which I wrote in the nineties. Whenever there’s time next month will have an English version in the report.

RADIO DAY 2008 INFORMATION
Hans Knot, Rob Olthof and Martin van der Ven have been busily planning this year's Radio Day which will be held o­n Saturday 8th November 2008 again in Amsterdam's Hotel Casa 400 near the Amstel railway station (James Wattstraat 75) from 11:00 till 17:00 CET (which is Dutch local time).

This year's event will have "Radio Caroline in the late seventies (1977-80)" as a main topic. We are planning three panels to discuss that exciting era just before the MV Mi Amigo sank in March 1980. This will include all English and Dutch colleagues who worked for the legendary offshore radio station thirty years ago. You see that this will again become a big class reunion...

We have also plans to invite a well known guest from Belgium. And you might look forward to an interesting dialogue between two old stagers who formed a major role in the European broadcasting history. Last but not least Sietse Brouwer will present his station Radio Waddenzee which is broadcasting from the radioship Jenni Baynton.

More details to be announced soon. Many impressive pictures from the years gone by can be found at http://www.offshore-radio.de/radioday/

Next we’re going to Norway where we have also several readers:
’I still listen to the ‘recorded’ files that I found o­n the Internet regarding Pirate BBC Essex last August. What a great time to hear all the DJ:s that we (old-timers) remember so well I did not know that Keith Hampshire was such a good singer. I hope it will be repeated again soon. Also thank you for your reports that are always most interesting to read. As a collector of the 60’s music I have long time tried to find the song: Johnny Young and Craise Finton Kirk. Do you know if it is possible to get somehow? Best regards, Magnus Fors
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Thanks Magnus, good to see you enjoy the Pirate BBC Essex recordings. While writing the report I had John Kirk o­n with o­ne of the night programs. Indeed a good listening. In the meantime you’ve the wanted song at your computer. Lucky enough I’m a collector of all those rare songs played by the offshore stations in the sixties, which didn’t became a hit. Thanks also for the two newspaper cuts from the sixties, from which I have added o­ne to this report.

Next o­ne please: ‘Hi Hans, I hope you are well. Great report as always I am an ex IDEA DJ tell Chris Baird (question about Denmark deejay scene in last issue) that there is a website that has just been launched, he will love it it's: www.ideajocks.co.uk It's a fantastic site and lots of people are becoming acquainted again. Hope you are well. Best regards Carl Kingston.’

Carl was o­ne of the people reflecting o­n the question, so thanks for that Carl. I forwarded the answer to Chris Baird who came back with: ‘Hi Hans, You really are the centre of every radio rebel most of us have ever known. My appeal for any information about colleagues who worked, no fooled around o­n the IDEA agency in Denmark came up trumps. Thanks to Carl Kingston. He put me in touch with a recent website dedicated to the 1000 jocks who rocked Europe in the seventies and beyond. It's easy now after a career in radio to look back o­n that amateur period as a club DJ as silly nonsense. But a lot of jocks from the post M.O.A. days developed their communication skills and their own personalities abroad in club land, just in time for the arrival of independent radio. And without a venue to play records and talk to yourself those skills would not have been achieved. IDEA was to jocks what Hamburg was to the Beatles. Chris Baird....officially the first English speaking DJ to work in the Artic Circle in 1971... wow.

From Denmark to Luxembourg and an e mail from former Luxy technician Alan Bailey: ‘There is a special event planned for the weekend of August 2nd 2008 (2.08!!!!!) which will involve many of the famous Radio Luxembourg DJs - and members of the public who wish to participate. Location – Luxembourg. The final details have yet to be released - but - it is happening! - if you want further details, or to book a place - please contact Tim, the organiser, via:
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Alan Bailey’.

Less than half a year to go and we have the annual Radio Day. Organiser Foundation for Media Communication has a special offer:
DUTCH AND BELGIAN READERS: MAY WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? YOU CAN WIN A MEMBERSHIP FOR A YEAR ON THE MEDIA MAGAZINE FREEWAVE IF YOUR ANSWER IS CORRECT ON THESE 2 QUESTIONS:

1) IS BIG L STILL BROADCASTING ON NOVEMBER 8TH 2008? (WITH BROADCASTING WE MEAN ON 1395 AM AND/OR ON SATELLITE)

2) IS THE NORDERNEY IN THE HARBOUR OF SCHEVENINGEN ON NOVEMBER 8TH?

SEND YOUR ANSWER (1 PER PERSON) TO HANS KNOT IN GRONINGEN.

DURING THE RADIODAY IN AMSTERDAM HANS KNOT WILL PICK FROM THE CORRECT ANSWERS 10 LUCKY WINNERS, WHO WILL GET A YEAR LONG SUBSCRIPTION. ALL ANSWERS UNDER ‘RADIODAYCOMPETITION’ TO Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

Some newspaper cuts from Australia came in and a cartoon is re-published in the report: ‘Hans, a couple of old English paper cuttings you may not have seen. Maybe Robbie Dale does not have the o­ne about him? Kind regards, Phil Crosby
Sydney, Australia.

Cartoon from 1970

The Cartoon which came in from Phil and of course thanks a lot for sending the items. In the meantime I’ve forwarded them to Robbie Dale.

From Phil in Australia I go to Clive in England: ‘Thanks for another great Knot report! The Phil Mitchell chapter was especially amusing and interesting. Evidently nothing much had changed since I left at the beginning of 1975; including the practical jokes. In my case it was Andy Archer and Tony Allen who enlisted my help and burst into the studio just as John B Mair went live, accusing him of liking ‘little boys’ and so forth. A struggle for control of the mike and mixer ensued. Meanwhile I had actually shut down the Continental and rerouted the studio monitor directly from the Gates instead of the off-air pickup. . . we also fed hash cakes to him o­n another occasion, leading to some rather interesting broadcasting. I now recall the hash came from an American DJ who was with us briefly, but unfortunately I have forgotten his name.
And they still hadn't changed those grotty Spotmasters! Best wishes. Clive Warner (Correll)
Thanks Clive could be a few persons delivering the cake material. So who knows the answer? Well Andy, maybe you can remember the name of the American deejay. Was it Mike Hagler or?? All answers and memories to Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

Next mail came from a certain Gary, who’s family name was not mentioned.
‘A forum which has attracted many members from the Big L site. Many radio news stories are covered not just Big L or offshore stations
It is www.musicradionews.co.uk
thanks and I hope it will be of interest. Regards Gary at Music Radio News

Another mail regarding the longer story in last issue about Phil Mitchel’s work aboard the Mi Amigo and for Radio Caroline: ‘Hans, mi amigo. The reports, including Phil Mitchells comments were beautiful Hans, so emotional too for those of us who knew Phil. His family did not know the extent of his popularity, and thanks to your reproduction of previous comments you have made Phil live again. Thank you Hans for your support and friendship of all offshore radio broadcasters, in life, and in death, you have been our o­ne constant. A time will come, when we will all meet again, and in that Forum, your name, Hans Knot will be revered, for your kindness and sympathy in the face of our losses. At your Service Hans, Don Stevens.

Thanks for this touching words Don. Hope we will meet up again later this year!

Another Caroline veteran from England is Andrew Austin: ‘Hi Hans. Thank you for including me o­n your mailing list for the Hans Knot International Report. I did enjoy the April news letter and the April fool joke. I did think at the time it might work, however after some deliberation whilst it is really nice to meet up with some old friends a couple of times a year residing all together and meeting each day may be a different issue. Having to listen to Peter Moores lectures o­n running a radio station o­n £2 per week could have been funny! Hope that you are keeping well and I look forward to seeing you in November if you are not in the UK before then. Regards. Andrew Austin.

Well thanks a lot and see you in November o­n the Radio Day Andrew. It won’t be before as I was in March already in England. This summer will be probably a visit to the hometown of Jana in Germany as well as a trip to the Isle of Man.

And now open your eyes and look to a very big surprise: ‘Hi Hans, attached are a few rare pics of the Fredericia in Sweden; o­ne of the pics is of the ship being built. Excellent Knot Report this time! Best wishes, Les Woolam’.

Well Les wonderful pictures and o­ne is reproduced in this report:

Photograph of what would become in later days the MV Caroline

Time for some nicknames. After so many years of writing them down still more come ‘ashore’. This time the next o­ne, which weren’t listed o­n www.hansknot.com

Caroline South deejay, from Canada, Steve Young, got Steve ‘Big Big Indian’ Young as a nickname. More than a decennium later also o­n the MV mi Amigo and Radio Caroline Johnny Lewis worked under another deejay name and also got a nickname: Stephen ‘Betty Boop’ Bishop. And then the longest of them all. Used at the start of his program o­n Radio Caroline is was: Phil Mitchell, ‘The thing big enough to swale up the whole of the North Sea’. Let’s end with a name from a guy who presented sponsored programs o­n Big L: John ‘the man with all the gem’ Benson.

From Kent the next o­ne from Martin Kayne: ‘Hi Hans, thanks for the latest radio report. I have been looking at various websites featuring old military bases and forts. This link takes you to a menu where you can select some of the Thames forts used for pirate radio in the 60s. There are some interesting interior shots of Shivering Sands towers and exterior shots of Knock John. The editor of this site hopes to enter Knock John if it's not too dangerous. Sadly little evidence of the pirate radio days seems to remain.
http://broken-britain.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=967d69e785e754244e20078429b814e8
Best wishes, Andy/Martin.

Ian Fleming, well known from the James Bond stories, suggested an Offshore Radio Station in 1940. This is what could be read about it o­n Medianetwork: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/james-bond-creator-suggested-offshore-radio-station-in-north-sea-in-1940

Talking about the movie ‘Radio Rock’, I mentioned in the report last time, there are several photo’s and other news to be found o­n the next internet sites.
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=thread&topic_id=4766&forum=1&post_id=25407#25407
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=626440
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=626439
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=626438

Svenn from Norway has an interesting thing to say about Radio Rock
If you also care to read about o­ne earlier ‘Radio Rock’, please go to my recently updated essay o­n WBMJ San Juan, PR 1190:
www.northernstar.no/wbmj.htm

Here o­ne of the photographs and the ship has been used in earlier days as a radio ship specially for the fishermen at sea. Martin van der Ven found the next internetsite: http://www.scheveningen-haven.nl/info/overschepen/dehoop.htm

Dave in London wrote after seeing the photographs o­n internet: What a waste of all that lovely mast rigging, just for a film?!! Anybody got an old 50kW medium wave TX?’

Celtic Music Radio in the Glasgow area is o­n AM 1530 but this special station can also be listened to o­n the internet. So give it a try:
www.celticmusicradio.net

Many of us are collectors. Photographs, stickers, recordings, dvd’s and so o­n, all relating to radio’s history. But we’re not so extreme as the o­ne interviewed about his love for AFN.
http://www.afneurope.net/itemlink.aspx?itemId=2518

One of my readers, Patrick Morley from High Wycombe, asked me if it wasn’t time to reveal the whole list with female deejays in the report. He asked so as I had mentioned now and then names of female offshore radio deejays through the, let’s say, past six years. Lucky enough I’ve listed them all o­n the computer. Here we go with the rundown of our Offshore Ladies:

9MI (MV Kanimbla): Eileen Foley

Radio 390: Mary Simone, Mandy Raven and Samantha Leigh

Radio Antwerpen: Mini Huybrechts, Terry Rendall

Radio Atlantis: Mona, Debbie England and Linda Anderson

Radio Caroline / Radio Seagull: Cathy McGowan, Debbie England, Samantha Dubois, Charlotte Ribbelink, Monique van Dijk, Diane Lauren, Marty Wright, Susan Charles, Fiona Jeffries, Stevie Lane, Caroline Martin, Jamie King, Jackie Lee, Rowena Wild, Judy Murphy, Melanie McArthur, Cherrie Marshall, Tracey (Jones), Louise Roberts, Kim Frazier, Chris Carson, Ellen the Cook, Barbara Johnson, Erin Kelly, Kathy Kirby, Julie Grant, Twinkle, Alma Cogan, Cleo Laine, Cilla Black, Patty Labelle, Sana Leone, Linda Lawrence, Marjo (Marcus), Jennie McKenzie, Sue Mercer, Jenny (Conway), Ann Shelton, Sylvan, Marina Wail, Anka (only voice overs) and Liz West (some Laserettes who did o­ne show o­n Caroline are included). Marianne Faitfull, Marilyn Rickard, Elsie Hatchett, Jackie, Dianna Lawrence, Marie Vincent, Cilla Black and Vera Lynn

Radio City: Candy Calvert, Peggy Knight, Linda Bass and Janice Nicholls

Danish Commercial Radio (DCR): Hannah Bjarnhof, Nette Shreiner

Radio Delmare: Astrid de Jager

Radio Hauraki: Trudy Rana

Laser: Jessie Brandon, Holly Michaels, Liz West, Chris Carson, Erin Kelly, Jonell (Pernula), Mary Turner and Brandie Lee

Radio London Kathy (Golden Oxo Show) en Jane (Petticoat Show)

Radio Mercur: Ida, Lilly Broberg, Birgit David, Inger Marie, Gitte Muller, Käte Mundt, Clara Pontoppidan, Hannah Rahlf, Lise Reinaud, Helle Schmidt Grethe Sonk and Jytte Weiss.

Radio Mi Amigo: Michelle, Hanny (de Rekels) and Haike Dubois (=Loes)

Radio Monique / Radio 819 / Radio 558: Mirjam Verhoef, Elly van Amstel, Conny VandenBos, Ria Valk, Marijke van Breemen, Loekie Knol, Esther, Annie de Reuver, Thea Pentelman, Mirella, Nelleke

REM RTV Noordzee: Sonja van Proosdij, Marijke van Zon, Marijke Philips,Hetty Bannink and Marianne Bierenbroodspot

Radio NewYork International: Pirate Kelly

Radio Nord: Puck, Karin Juel, Raya Ravell, Mona Krantz, Chris Wählström, Christina Grunberg, Elsa Prawitt, Barbo von Horn, Monika, Monica Hylinga, Frida en Anita Byström

RNI: Elke, Louise Quirk, Jane Valentine, Sheila Ross, Willeke Alberti, Hennie Spijker and Meta de Vries

Radio Scotland: Catherine Scott, Cathy Spence and Moira Brioday (One o'clock gang)

Radio Sutch: Tamara Harrison

Radio Syd: Britt Wadner and Conny Wadner

Radio Veronica: Ellen van Eck, Mies Bouwman, Brenda, Ellen, Anuschka, Tineke, Ger Ann Verweij, Ageeth Scherphuis, Annie M.G. Schmidt, Jasperina de Jong, Netty Rosenfeld, Hetty Blok, Karin Kraaykamp, Ida de Leeuw van Rees, Pia Beck, Jacqueline Hoes, Isabelle, Joekine van der Valk who also used the name Joekie, Tony Bouwman, Anita, Margot, Dimitra, Marjon Berg, Erny Köhlers, Madelon Heyen, Linda Goedhart, Annette, Calvo Roderiquez, Yoka Berretti, Adele Bloemendaal, Sylvia de Leur, Marijke van der Zon, Hanna Berk, Marjan Berk, Nienke, Mieke Verstraete, Hansje van Twist, Mieke Bos, Trees Gerards, Maria Ballings, Conny Stuart, Corinne Mude, Lies, Elisabeth Mooi ,Enny Mols – de Leeuwe, Doctor Fantastica, Yvonne, Silvia, Laura, Edith Pels, Stella Priest, Loes en Marga, Maria Casella, Eydie Gormé, Anneke van Hooff, Miep Koopman, Denise Maes, Louise Reeder, Mieke van Veen, Marlies van Alcmoer, Jerry Bey, Rosita en Ria Vrolijk.

Voice of Peace: Tara Jeffries, Linda Mason, Else and Sally Cahm

If you missed o­ne please don’t hesitate to mention it to Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

Another mail came in from Alan Bailey about an appendix to his publication o­n Radio Luxembourg: ‘You may (or maybe not) interested to know that more research o­n my photos of HMV discs following page 112 in my book about 208 has revealed the following information:-

THE GREYS ARE o­n THE AIR
Broadcast from Radio Luxembourg 1293 metres Sunday Evenings 10.30pm until 10.45pm. The first programme of the series was broadcast o­n 17th April 1938 and the last o­n the 1st January 1939. The Band was H.M Royal Scots Greys (by Permission of G H Gaisford St Lawrence M.C and conducted by A W Crofts with Raymond Newell and the Greys Singers. The programme was sponsored by Godfrey Phillips Ltd makers of Greys Cigarettes. Greys Cigarettes number 25 (in the book) is an excerpt from a Programme broadcast 2nd October 1938.
Greys Cigarettes number 28 is an excerpt from the programme broadcast 23rd October 1938.

THE RECKITTS DISC
From the programme ‘Out of the Blue’ broadcast Fridays at 8.45am with Quentin Maclean at the organ.

CARROLL LEVIS RADIO DISCOVERIES
Sponsored by Quaker Oats and recorded at the Odeon, Leicester Square.

Henk from Leeuwarden went to a market were second hand gear is for sale and saw there were also old printed t shirts for sale. That brought him o­n the idea to look for a forgotten box in his house where he has some old t shirts, he bougt in the seventies. He’s asking the readers who has also t shirts from earlier radio days? If so, please take your photo camera and send us a picture.

Two of the 1973 t shirts from Henk from Holland

In our March edition we already revealed the plans for opening a special retirement centre for former Offshore Radio People and their fans. In the April edition it became known that it was all an April 1st joke, which came up in the brains of Martin van der Ven, Rob Olthof and myself during a early August stay in London last year. o­ne of the many people mentioned in the article was former offshore technician Bob Noakes, who has worked for stations like Radio Caroline, RNI and Abe Nathan's Voice of Peace. Bob does read the Hans Knot International Report too and by snail mail he sent me a handwritten contribution as a response o­n the story.

'Now that the plans for a retirement home for former radio personnel have been made public, I feel that the time may be fortuitous for a brief contribution from myself upon the project in hand. Firstly, although my own appointment has been referred to as that of 'janitor' I should like to point out that my official title will be 'chief technical liaison officer'. Not o­nly will all the technical equipment – from the auditorium to the relaxation area - be under my direct control, o­nly o­n exceptional occasions may I also be required to oil hinges, or clean drains.

The official opening ceremony of Radio Amigos will take place o­n Saturday 5th July next. The speakers will be mayor Jelle Brandmeester, Louise Quirk and Tineke de Nooy, who will also cut the tape. The proceedings will be filmed by Geert Wilders and the evening will conclude with a dinner and dance to the sizzling sounds of Tony Blackburn and the Josti Band. Make sure you're there!

At management level, it was decided at a recent meeting that, in order to maintain hierarchy and illustrate the status of the individual residents, we should all wear navel piercings to illustrate in colour-code the contribution that we have personally made to the fascinating world of radio. A pink piercing, for example, will indicate that the wearer has held a management position, whilst brown represents a presentation capacity. Radio Caroline veterans will wear a blue 'C', Radio London a red 'L' and Radio Luxembourg a yellow 'X'. Any resident who has the right to wear more than two piercings may have them inserted into the bodily parts of his or her own choice, upon condition that these parts remain visible at all times within the building, and abroad upon the occasion of any official function.

Bob Noakes o­n Amsterdam Radio Day 2002 Photo Martin van der Ven

On the social side, Graham Gill has taken it upon himself to make contact with boys' choirs throughout Europe. It is the intention that choirs should visit o­n a bi-monthly basis to perform for the residents. Afterwards they will be invited to stay for a few days so the residents can get to know them better. During the summer months residents will be able to take the boys o­n educational walks in the nearby woods, thereby planting the seeds of lasting friendship.

At the time of writing a team of Bolivian landscape-architects is planting a privet maze, which will be the finishing touch to the extensive residential gardens. It is hoped that with the blessing of congenial weather residents will spend many a pleasant hour there, trying to find the way in.

More and more radio veterans have taken the trouble to contact the organisers, stating their keen desire to contribute personally to the cultural well-being of the residents. Andy Archer, in between making programmes for the BBC, is studying hard for the priesthood and is be expected to be granted a bishop's license in the coming summer. That way he can provide spiritual guidance to the residents whenever necessary. Well done, Andy!

Paul A. Rusling is preparing a speech to be entitled: 'How to put a long-wave station o­n the air without really trying', which will fit snugly between other presentations which have been planned, such as Gerard van Dam's speech entitled 'Radio o­n a shoestring', and Dennis King's talk entitled 'Radio with no strings at all'. o­n a philosophical note, Brian Anderson is preparing a discourse with the cryptic title 'My bonny lies under the ocean – memorable offshore romances which fell into the water', to be followed by veteran disc-jockey of countless offshore stations Sietse Brouwer's speech: 'Fantasy Radio'. The undersigned is preparing an informative lantern slide evening entitled 'How to bring down a mast without injuring anyone', and countless enthusiasts have already enrolled for Dick Palmer's country dancing classes, although Dick has confided in me that he is still looking for someone to play the ufonium.

And talking about music, it is hoped that a full Geriatric Radio Orchestra can be formed, especially now that Mike Hagler has been commissioned to compose the anthem for the retirement home. He is working o­n a variation upon the themes 'Nation shall speak peace unto nation' and the Suzy Waffle tune. Nice work Mike! Under the untiring baton of Peter van Dam, the Geriatric Radio Orchestra will be available to play timeless evergreens from the fifties and sixties at civic events in the nearby towns, ably filling the void left by the musical war veterans who have mostly passed o­n. Many of these concerts will be recorded for broadcasting o­n Radio Waddenzee, which will be sure to catapult their audience into double figures.

Following the Amsterdam Radio Day in November a panel of international media experts and managers will participate in a two-day forum to be held at the residence, entitled: 'Tack's Tax Tactics' with guest speaker Steve England o­n the influence of neo-Gothicism upon the Radio Atlantis jingle package. It is not yet clear however, which musicians will be providing entertainment during the intervals, following a tiresome rumour that Rob de Nijs may be breaking up.

So, dear friends, you can see that life at Radio Amigos will be o­ne big barrel of fun in which we shall all take our own turn. Come and join us! Let us take you out of the squalor you live in: you can spend the autumn of your days in the gay excitement that we live in! Hoping to see you soon at Radio Amigos, I remain Bob Noakes, Chief Technical Liaison Officer, Radio Amigos (also available for Christenings, Wedding parties and Bar-Mitzvahs.'

Well thanks a lot to Bob Noakes. We had some big laughs again, Bob, with this supplement to our first of April Joke.
If you have any memory or story to tell us please feel free to send it to Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

The next o­ne is from a lady who was mentioned a lot in the international programs from RNI in the seventies. She even made wonderful drawings o­n the envelopes. Liz Poole is her name and wrote the next line to me: Dear Hans,

Could you please ask if anyone is interested in Veronica 538 magazines from 1973 to 1976? I have a collection in very good condition but have decided it's time to dispose of them. Thanks. Liz Poole. Anyone interested can write to Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken. and I will forward the e mail to Liz.

During the past weeks o­ne of my tasks was scanning some 100 photographs which are from the Fred Bolland Communicator archive. They’re all taken during the period 1989-1990. In some weeks they will be o­n the internet and I will inform you in time. there were in the parcel also two photographs which were not from that period. o­ne shows captain Tim Lavendaler (left) and the man with the ‘mask’ o­n is Paul Dean. The photo is from the mid eighties.

The other o­ne shows an unknown woman in the messroom of the MV Communicator, the home of Laser 558 and Laser Hot Hits. Who know this lady and can supply us with her name: all info to Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

Time to mention some of the other interesting monthly updates starting off with Bob LeRoi:

Welcome to the May 2008 Update
Another Big o­ne Scrapbook has more from Red Sands Radio with visitors at the Forts & coverage of the WWII & Sea Fort Weekend.

”One Subject o­ne Link” a contribution o­n the localness of Radio, the fight continues, is there any such thing as a proper Local ILR let alone a Sallie?

With lots of requests we’ve made available the Radio Nova CD, this has the Tony Allan produced jingles & the Irish Closedown Carts from the original tapes & is released in memory of Tony & Chris.

With Lot 8 remaining open yet to make reserve we invite you to bid for Lot 9 our Leonard Cohan Collection.

Finally, more vinyl & CD Compilations available from the Record & CD Store.

Enjoy Your Visits.
www.bobleroi.co.uk

Followed by Jon at the Pirate Hall of Fame:

New this month:

•     after the two Caroline ships were towed away in March 1968, they languished in a Dutch harbour. We have photos of the MV Mi Amigo and some fascinating documents found o­n board;
•     we catch up with o­ne of the DJs who was heard o­n Caroline South after the Marine Offences Act - Ray Cooper.
•     we have added a 'Caroline Countdown of Sound' from 1966, kindly provided by Keith Martin. (There is more great stuff to come from Keith in future updates);
•     there is news of a celebration of Radio Caroline North, taking place o­n the Isle of Man this summer.
•     and to prove we are not just interested in Caroline, there are also a couple of Radio Scotland audio clips.

The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame
www.offshoreradio.co.uk

And don’t forget to visit the site from Chris and Mary Payne and their everlasting love for Radio London. Surely they’ve another nice update at:
http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/

If you love the old time history of the radio as equipment surely you like the next internetsite:
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Old-time+radio

Herman Boel from the Netherlands has also made an historic webpage and is asking for people to work together with him. Just have a look at:
http://radiohistory.hermanboel.eu

At the end of April this was sent to me from a member of the BDXC:
This from Peter Moore, Caroline station manager, following the station's recent 9290 shortwave broadcast: ‘The Radio Caroline shortwave transmissions o­n 9290 with 20kW brought 16 replies from the UK, Italy, Norway, Japan, Greece, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Sweden and South Africa. I also received a report from Germany for 945 and from the United States for 6925. They were all from QSL seekers not listeners in the true sense, the music and presentation was noted for verification not for enjoyment.

I spent three hours writing replies and forwarded the reports to Raimonds in Latvia. Some people sent recordings o­n cassette or mini CD disc. I have 10 dollar bills and 8 IRC’s. Raimonds gifted us the airtime so we will probably break even and of course the geographical spread of the signal was interesting but aside from state broadcasters shortwave really is just a novelty.

Radio Caroline may have a further dabble to see if listeners would come to a permanent shortwave music channel but mostly this is a project we are trying to complete out of respect for our departed colleague Rob Leighton. It has to be considered of course that o­nly among a small anorak clique did anyone know about this broadcast; the reports were from people who discovered the signal and o­nly had a three hour window to do so.

One could assume a better response if the signal was o­n full time. Rob Leighton loved shortwave and had built, at the time of his death, an almost complete and very efficient transmitter with a final output of 1 kW.

We had a loose arrangement that Raimonds in Latvia would link it in to the big aerial for 9290 and run a regular Caroline service. In his memory we will do our best to finalise that. Of course it will not be a mighty 100 kW but it will be an affordable project.’ Peter Moore.

Ton van Draanen shot the next photograph from a poster, which was o­n a poster everywhere in Holland’s radio city Hilversum. It shows that someone is 60 years old and available for phonecalls with congratulations. The guy shown is Tony Berk, o­nes the love of many housewives in Holland when working for RNI in the seventies. Thanks Ton for sending the picture and to share it with us.

Photo taken by Ton van Draanen

Saturday May 3rd it was a early rising and awaking and next watching outside brought a big smile o­n my face as it was totally blue sky at seven in the morning. Together with Martin van der Ven we had decided to use the possibility, made available by the organisation behind Radio Waddenzee, to go out with a small party of people for a day o­n the MV Jenni Bayton, the transmitting vessel from Radio Waddenzee. During three days the ship, which lies normally as a attention point in the harbour of Harlingen, at an anchorage at the Griend, a bird island between the isles of Vlieland and Terschelling. A trip out from Harlingen harbour takes an hour and the very nice weather (sunshine, flat sea and 20 degrees) brought happiness to all involved: The crewmembers o­n the radio ship, the tender MV Javazee as well as with the group of visitors. When we arrived around 10.30 in the fishing harbour of Harlingen, the first thing we saw was the passengers list, which brought us more joy and the believe that this day couldn’t be bad at all. Some of the names o­n the list brought us Jan Parent (Veldkamp o­n Monique), Martien Stapper, Charles van Doorneweerd and Trevor Adams from England. More than two years ago Martin and I, accompanied by Rob Olthof and Juul Geleick, brought for the last time a visit to the former lightship, which was towed from Rotterdam to Harlingen. And we must be honest as we thought after that visit that we put big question marks if the idea of initiator Sietse Brouwer, to built his dream radio ship out of it, would be realised. A very big plume for all the hard workers through the past years, who worked all voluntary, to make Sietse’s Brouwer his dream to realise. Also a big thank you for the very nice day out o­n sea for all involved and that is not o­nly the people o­n the radioship but also those o­n the MV Javazee. See the photo impression and feel how we enjoyed this wonderful day at the MV Jenni Bayton www.offshore-radio.de

Hans Knot and Martin van der Ven o­n the way to Radio Waddenzee (photo Jan Parent)

THE RADIO CAROLINE STORY - THE 1970'S
With the Mi Amigo's return off the English coast, Radio Caroline entered a darker period with strong attention from the British authorities. Deejays and those involved with the station came under surveillance, there were court appearances, a boarding of the radioship, and even Caroline fans were fined for displaying car stickers promoting their favourite station. Radio Caroline's story continues through the mid-1970's, and includes pictures, audio, press reports and official documents. Visit the continuing Caroline story at www.offshoreechos.com

The people at OEM sent me also a new DVD called The Offshore Radio Years Volume 15. This issue highlights Caroline’s history in the second part of the eighties. Many shots in the 82 minutes long video are taken by deejays and crewmembers aboard the radio ship Ross Revenge and show action o­n Caroline as well as some o­n sister station Radio 558/819. Amazing someone had the clear moment to take the camera when the big arial came down in 1987. During very heavy weather the next day Peter Chicago and captain Ernie had to break the last parts to get the mast into the sea. If they hadn’t done so the people o­n the ship would had enormous problems. A DVD which should be in your collection.

The Offshore Radio years Volume 15 is the latest documentary DVD in a series about offshore radio.

The cost of the DVD is £19.99, and it can be ordered o­nline from www.offshoreechos.com or by post from Offshore Echo's, PO Box 1514, London W7 2LL, England

Radio Caroline North
‘Pirates of the Irish Sea’ Exhibition And 40th Anniversary Convention
19/20/21 September 2008 Douglas, Isle of Man

Radio Caroline North was anchored off the coast of the Isle of Man for three and a half years from 1964 – 1968 and, during that time, a very good relationship developed between the broadcasters and the Islanders. Now, forty years after the station's demise, Manx National Heritage is paying tribute to the Island’s former offshore friends.

An exhibition, ‘Pirates of the Irish Sea’, is being mounted this summer and Manx National Heritage needs your help. If you have any Caroline North memorabilia, memories or association with the station, please contact the exhibition curator, Matthew Richardson at Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

More details are at:
http://www.gov.im/lib/news/mnh/mnhradiocaroline.xml
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART56105.html

A convention is to be held o­n the Isle of Man over the weekend of 19th, 20th & 21st September. It will play host to former Caroline North deejays, engineers, executives and fans who will visit Manx National Heritage’s ’Pirates of the Irish Sea’ exhibition and Caroline North’s former base in Ramsey. Plus, at a conference to be held o­n the Saturday delegates will discuss the station’s part in the Island's radio and political history - and in the wider British broadcasting background. The company handling travel and accommodation is Isle of Man Travel. Details are at:
http://www.isleofmantravel.com/_specials/080428_radio_caroline.php

If you prefer to make your own travel and accommodation arrangements and just want to buy a ticket for the event, delegate places can be obtained by contacting; Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken..  

The cost of the ticket (£50) will cover admission to the conference at the Manx Museum in Douglas and the ’Pirates of the Irish Sea’ exhibition at the House of Manannan in Peel as well as a morning at ‘Caroline Corner’ in Ramsey. Transport between all three is included in the price. There is an optional dinner o­n the Friday evening.

Next an interesting e mail from the USA and Rick Crandell:
Dear Hans, My wife, Joy and I are back in Florida, after a weekend trip to Fort Worth, Texas to join up with various former colleagues from Radio England and Britain Radio to view the recently completed docudrama about our exploits in your part of the world more than four decades ago. There were probably two hundred or more people present for the event, staged by Don Pierson's son, Grey at an impressive modern art museum in that city. I assume many of the guests are friends of the Pierson family or Grey's business associates. I was especially pleased to see Don Pierson's friend and partner, Tom Danaher, as well as Bill Vick's son, and Don's wife (Grey's mom) Annette. Among the Radio England group present were Ron O'Quinn and John Ross Barnard, along with Mary Payne and Steve England. John Ross presented Annette Pierson with a bouquet of "Yellow Roses from England" in commemoration of the infamous song title, Yellow Rose of Texas. I think Ron O'Quinn enjoyed the most prominence in the film, though there were also clips with Jerry Smithwick (whom I haven't seen since 1966) and Larry (Frank Lasseter) Dean, and a number of people whom I either do not remember or did not recognize. The biggest surprise for me was seeing a short interview with ship captain Julio Alonso. Grey mentioned after the viewing that just a few months after the interview that he learned that Julio had died, which I guess must have occurred sometime last year. I especially enjoyed seeing Ron O'Quinn again, and he and I along with the colleagues I've mentioned above (and a couple of others) all had dinner afterward at a local restaurant. Mary will, of course, have pictures and stories o­n her website sometime in the near future to give you a glimpse of what it was all about.

Texas 2008: Ron O’Quinn, Mary Payne, John Ross Barnard, Stuart Aitken, Rick Randell
Photo with thanks to Stuart

For what it's worth, I will be retiring in August and have plans to spend a few weeks or a month or so in France beginning sometime in September. Joy and I will do some travelling around the continent, and if possible, we may visit in your area. If that happens, I will make a point to let you know, and perhaps we might enjoy your company again, as we did a couple of years ago after the Radio England 40th anniversary event. I don't believe we will be there long enough to join up with Radio Days in November, but then again, anything is possible. Ron O'Quinn, by the way, had many nice things to say about last year's Radio Days, as did both Steve England and Mary Payne. I regret that I was not present for that event, but do very much want to join up with you o­n o­ne of those occasions sometime in the future. Regards to all my friends in The Netherlands and around Europe and the UK. Rick Crandall

Well thanks a lot Rick for sharing this nice story and memories with us. As you see Stuart did his work to by sending us photos as soon he was back in England. Good to hear you’re travelling with Joy to Europe again. Yes we also have good memories to the early morning breakfast we had in Amsterdam in 2006. Hope we will meet up and there’s always a guestroom free at Knot’s place in Groningen.

Another tip for people interested in humor is a new publication from former Radio 270 deejay Mike Hayes: www.irish-humor.com

Then an interesting e mail from Svenn in Norway: Dear friends,
To give you an understanding of what trade the former radio ship of Don Pierson (USS Deal FS-263/"Olga Patricia") now deals in as the Earl J Conrad Jr, here is a tip.There is a documentary o­n PBS-"A fish tale":
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/229/index.htm
The menhaden documentary starts @8.00.
The Earl J. Conrad Jr is not o­n there, though, but the sister ship John S Dempster Jr(FS-?)that is exactly like the EJC in appearance is featured from 16.00-16.10. It gives a good insight in the business that the EJC is a part of. Maybe also a shot of the JSD at 13:35. At 14.33 the small boat stems from the John S Dempster. Other (sister ships) are also featured in the documentary.
More about these and other Virginia fishing ships(and other FS/AKLs) in the next update of the Radio Rose of Texas!

Finally, please observe that the owner of the EJC, Omega Protein Inc. might not have any interest in enquiries of radio pirate broadcasting vessels. But SRE Boss Jock Rick Randall's question has been answered: "Where the heck is the Olga Patricia!?" It's a Chesapeake Bay fishing boat! And still sailing after all those years! I am pleased that o­ne of my many correspondents, Ben Miller of www.bayweekly.com, found the story so far to be so interesting he wrote a magazine article about it. Still Serving after All These Years. How World War II ships came to catch Chesapeake menhaden a Bay Weekly exclusive Volume 16, Issue 7 - February 14 - February 20, 2008. I am very pleased of Ben's well-written and interesting article.

http://www.bayweekly.com/year08/issuexvi7/leadxvi7_1.html

But most of the 1966-1967 heritage has gone for good! Regards
Svenn Martinsen, Radio Historian

Less than half a year to go and we have the annual Radio Day. Organiser Foundation for Media Communication has a special offer:
DUTCH AND BELGIAN READERS: MAY WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? YOU CAN WIN A MEMBERSHIP FOR A YEAR ON THE MEDIA MAGAZINE FREEWAVE IF YOUR ANSWER IS CORRECT ON THESE 2 QUESTIONS:

1) IS BIG L STILL BROADCASTING ON NOVEMBER 8TH 2008? (WITH BROADCASTING WE MEAN o­n 1395 AM AND/OR ON SATELLITE)

2) IS THE NORDERNEY IN THE HARBOUR OF SCHEVENINGEN ON NOVEMBER 8TH?

SEND YOUR ANSWER ( 1 PER PERSON) TO HANS KNOT IN GRONINGEN.

DURING THE RADIODAY IN AMSTERDAM HANS KNOT WILL PICK FROM THE CORRECT ANSWERS 10 LUCKY WINNERS, WHO WILL GET A YEAR LONG SUBSCRIPTION. ALL ANSWERS UNDER ‘RADIODAYCOMPETITION’ TO Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

Then more about a summer project: It’s a blast. The reputable pleasure craft operator ‘Bayblast’ has joined the Offshore party.

‘Bayblast’, who run five high speed RiB’s (Ridged Reinforced Boats) from Herne Bay and Whitstable, has become a select sponsor of Red Sands Radio.

Said John Harrison of ‘Bayblast’ “We took crew and supplies to and from the Fort last year. Bob Le-Roi often comes out with us o­n conducted tours to explain the history of the Radio Forts. Everyone along the coast was listening last time, we’re pleased to be behind the local station that plays more than the just the same few songs day in & out”

You can book a ‘Bayblast’ pleasure trip by ringing 07800 754 493 or popping into their booking huts at Herne Bay or Whitstable Harbours. Radio Red Sands launches o­n 4th July 2008. For more information telephone 07961 601 893
Bob Le-Roi - Programme Director.

Once again time for nicknames. Sometimes there are three in a row, which happened while listening to a 1971 recording with Mark Slate o­n RNI. He talked about his shipmate Arnold Layne and within minutes three ‘nicknames’ were mentioned. Arnold Layne, ‘Mr Sexy Omen leg’, followed by Arnold Layne ‘the number o­ne in far most disc jockeys’ and ending with Arnold Layne ‘the devil himself’. Surely the last thing is not true as Arnold (Greg Bance) is a very amiable person.

During the past months I’ve informed you about all kind of interesting books and internet sites former Radio 270 deejay Mike Hayes has published. Well especially for all the readers of the Hans Knot International Radio Report he has opened :

On this page you will find several publications which can be obtained at a very special low raid for the readers of the report, so go and have a look at:

www.mike-hayes.nl/knot/

Just before ending this issue we learnt that for the Caroline movie from Saskia de Visser, as mentioned earlier in the report, a second radio ship will be used. Therefore the production company hired the LV18, the radio ship which was several times used for RLS broadcasts off the Harwich coast as well as last year for the BBC Pirate Radio Essex special programming. The LV18 will be painted yellow and will be the base for a station in the movie, called Radio Sunshine.

Till next time, all the best from Groningen and keep the memories coming at Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.