Maart 2004
Ook deze maand staat Hans Knot in zijn International Report weer uitgebreid stil bij het nieuws en de ontwikkelingen rond het heden en verleden van de zeezenders. Deze maand met onder andere nieuws over Radio 227, MusicMann, de Radiodag 2004, Tony Blackburn, Johhny Walker, Offshore Music Radio en nieuws uit Israel. Verder in het Report bijdragen van onder andere Bob LeRoi en Paul Rusling en aanvullingen op de lijst met vrouwelijke zeezender DJ's.did promise to search for my list with presenters of the Radio Caroline North program ‘Star Verdict’ which was going out during weekend in 1965 and 1966. Stars did present their favourite songs in the show and I did find back the list. Therefore we can add the following female presenters to the list of female offshore radio presenters: Kathy Kirby, Julie Grant, Twinkle, Alma Cogan, Cleo Laine, Cilla Black and Patty Labelle. From Mike Brand we did hear, next to the already known Terra Jeffries, that a certain Linda Mason worked for a period of a month on the Voice of Peace. Bart S from Holland mentioned that we also had to name to girls who have worked on various RSL’s from ships. Well in my opinion that has nothing to do with this list as those mentioned already were either on the ships in international waters or from tape on those ships. The RSL’s from ships are only recreations of the good old days. Bob Lawrence did send in the name of his former girlfriend, Monique van Dijk, who did some programs on Radio Caroline around Christmas 1979. Well Bob she did already appear on our list some months ago.
Radio 227, lead by former Radio 227 deejay Look Boden, can be heard already in certain parts of the Netherlands and hopefully more and more cable stations will be added soon. The station brings a very unique easy listening program with music from before 1990. Also between eight and ten in the evening music specials can be heard. Just do have a listen to the station which also can be heard on internet and give Look an e mail who you did like the program: www.radio227.nl
Another site to have a look and listen is put on internet by one of the former Marine Broadcaster (site) Mark de Haan: www.kolderopzolder.tk on a regularly basis he will add new audio to the site.
An e-mail from Keith K tells everything why he was happy again after receiving the last report: ‘Fantastic info - too much to digest in one - so have popped it into word and will transfer to my organiser on the next hot sync. Thanks for your work it is a real treat each time it is issued.’ Keep enjoying it the time to come Keith!
Then here is some news from the Dutch Radio scene. The so called ‘Senioren Omroep’ which first planned a place in the Public Society Broadcasting System now wants a 24 hours a day radio station on AM runned as a commercial organisation. In that way they think it’s the only way to reached their target public, which is 55 plus. When they should go for a public licence they would only get some hours a week on radio and some a month on television. Not only easy listening and programs specially aimed at the needs of the target group are planned but also programs which have disappeared from the radio since many decades. Of course they’ve to search for financial backers. A rich man has already rang that he can avoid a certain amount of money as well as a complete new studio in the surrounding of Meppel, which is in the eastern counties of The Netherlands.
Dutch government has decided that there will be no restrictions on radio and television for commercials on sweeties and the so called junk food. Questions were made on this subject after Minister for Cultural Affairs in Belgium, Demotte, had decided that lesser airtime for such commercials would become a hot item on radio and television. This in the ongoing fight to get the child of today thinner and thinner.
In Holland on Radio 2 in February ‘The week of the Sixties’ was organised once again. one of the topics was the popularity of the radio station in the mind of the listeners. I did mention it last time already. Next to that also interviews with ‘stars from the radio days’ like Lex Harding with interesting memories to Radio Dolfijn and Radio 227 as well as Ad Bouman on Veronica days. The master, as he is known too, still is active in radio Radio 192. There are plans to have a reunion once again with former people working on the offshore radio station Veronica in August. It will be once again a closed reunion and I’ll hope to attend and inform you afterwards.
Much mentioned regional stations in my last few reports were RTV Rijnmond and RTV West. Well the future for those two, both in the Province of South Holland, is now much more saver after the Provincial Government decided to give them 7 million Euro. Partly the money is given as a gift and partly as a loan.
We go to February 24th and a big congratulation to Paul Rusling, Rodney Collins and all the other people at MusicMann as it seems that after 7 years we can expect transmissions by Long Wave from the Isle of Mann in the not too distant future. This came in today: ‘A short time ago at Douglas Courthouse, Isle of Man International Broadcasting PLC was told it could proceed with its plans. Bride resident, Nick Cussons, had attempted to block them by lodging a petition of doleance challenging the Communications Commission's decision to award a substantive long wave broadcasting licence to IMIB. However, Acting Deemster, Roger Kaye, threw out the petition and said he saw no reason why the licence should be revoked.
IMIB chief executive Paul Rusling is delighted with the verdict. After his petition was dismissed, Mr Cussons said he was disappointed with the findings and is considering his options. He now has six weeks to consider whether or not to file an appeal.’ Let’s hope Cussons will be thinking like a wise guy and will not appeal anymore. In a few weeks we do know more.
One of the many people who did write in on the subject Music Mann was Philip Coleman: ‘I have been meaning to e mail you for some time being a follower of your monthly report and an avid fan of radio, both offshore and 'ether'. I will e mail you as soon as possible with some Caroline memories but thought you would like to know Manx Radio have just reported that MusicMann won their court case yesterday. In an interview Paul R said the station would be aimed mainly at the UK and the station hoped to be on the air by the end of the year. You can listen to Manx Radio over the internet - do not know their e mail address but I am sure you do. From tomorrow the Isle of Man papers should carry the story. Try www.thepaperboy.com. It asks you to search by paper/city or country.’
Thanks Phil for the info, also on the newspapers. Of course I was informed yesterday. The strange thing when I was already writing for 5 years on the subject radio - way back in 1973 I did went out with a tender to the Mi Amigo, February 26th 1973. on that same tender was a very young chap with a three piece suit on. Normally in those days you went out as a deejay with a sweater, t shirt and jeans. It was Young Paul Alexander and from that day on we did keep an eye on each other, do see each other once a year and have a lot in common (that's Rusling and me) Keep enjoying the monthly report and our on line magazine www.soundscapes.info
It was Jean Pierre Berckmans from Belgium who did sent me info on his weekly music show, muziekmuseum. (Musical Museum) In this program he really does play a lot of good records. Weekly the playlist can be found and so you can get an impression of this grand dad from Belgium: www.radiopros.be.
My friend for many years, good old Bob LeRoi, wrote in with some news about the old days:
‘Strange old world isn't it, not sure if I told you this one. I worked with my father in law at his Radio TV company SERED in Canterbury in 1970. Searching out some material for publication, I've some pictures & audio somewhere. I was recently reminded about a small land based station I ran for a little while from my parents farm with my cousins after Radio City closed. I tested the rig in Canterbury & recall blocking the 405 line BBC TV signals on the top of St Thomas's Hill. But that's not the story. I met my former father in law recently who's now in his late 80's. Years ago he'd given me some gash reel to reel tapes & bits of it contained recordings obviously from Radio 390. He reminded me of his old friend Lawrence Bean was chief engineer on Red Sands. He's now in his 70's & still lives in Kent. I've asked him if we could meet up as I'm sure we can share some good stories.’ Thanks Bob and hopefully some fine memories can be shared with the readers of your site. Success!
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bobleroi/Home/Home.html
Bob will also be one of the many co-authors for the book on Radio Caroline’s 40th birthday, which will be published later this year. Already 20 chapters are ready including the stories of big names from the years gone by. If you want to get information on the publishing date, the costs and so on, just simply do write me an e-mail and as soon as information is available I will let you know: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
February 26th the next message came from Israel: The Ministry of Information has denied Israeli media reports to the effect that it issued a license to a joint Palestinian-Israeli radio station. In a statement issued today, the General Press and Publications Department, which is the only authority in charge of issuing licences to the mass media, said that it has not granted a license to any joint Palestinian-Israeli radio station. It explained that it had only issued two three-month licenses to a Palestinian radio station called the Voice of Peace, noting that the two licenses expired on 22 February. Hani al-Masri, director of the department, said that the ministry's policy is based on cultural and political pluralism, noting that the department encourages creativity and all initiatives that call for the achievement of a just peace. He, however, noted that this does not allow any side to impose the policy of the fait accompli.
Al-Masri went on to say that any radio station that includes foreigners and is financed by a foreign side must secure a political approval, an approval from the Ministry of Interior, and an approval from the Ministry of Telecommunications, which is the only side in charge of transmission-related issues. He noted that such a radio station must also lease a frequency.’ In the meantime Mike Brand did also report us that in no way the station was allowed to use the name ‘Voice of Peace’ and also not the jingles once used by the famous radio station, set up by peace fighter Abe Nathan.
My very good friend since 1971, Ingo Paternoster, did sent me on the 26th the next news about number once shock deejay Howard Stern: ‘America's largest radio station chain announced it was suspending shock jock Howard Stern's radio show after issuing new rules to limit indecency and address criticism of what airs on TV and radio. Clear Channel Radio said Wednesday it suspended broadcast of Stern's show after assessing the content of his show Tuesday. Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard to protecting our listeners from indecent content and Howard Stern's show blew right through it. John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio, said in a news release.
«It was vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency. Hogan said the show would not air on Clear Channel stations until officials are assured it will conform to acceptable broadcasting standards. Under pressure from regulators and lawmakers, some TV networks are delaying live broadcasts to delete offensive material and doing more to let parents know how they can block specific programs. The National Association of Broadcasters says it will hold a conference on indecency next month. The rules issued by Clear Channel Communications came on the eve of the second congressional hearing this month on broadcast indecency. Hogan is scheduled to testify along with top officials from TV networks. Congress is considering increasing the maximum fine for indecency from $27,500 to $275,000, a move that the Federal Communications Commission endorsed even before the tumult over singer Janet Jackson's exposed breast during the nationally televised Super Bowl halftime show. In the history of broadcast indecency, there have been these moments where it makes headlines,» said Jeremy Lipschultz, a professor of communication at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
«In the short term, broadcasters become much more careful. You're going to see people playing it safe. The long-term problem is the same one we've had, which is it's very difficult in the end to precisely define what is indecent or not. Under FCC rules and federal law, radio stations and over-the-air television channels cannot air material containing references to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels and satellite radio. The initiative came one day after the company fired the DJ known as «Bubba the Love Sponge,» whose show drew an FCC-record fine of $755,000. The program aired in four Florida cities and included graphic discussions about sex and drugs «designed to pander to, titillate and shock listeners, the FCC said. Infinity, which owns 120 stations and is owned by Viacom, in 1995 paid the largest cumulative fine to date, $1.7 million, for various violations by Stern.
Thanks a lot Ingo. In summer I will do a re-reading of Howard’s book.
February 28th another e-mail came in and lucky for Peter Moore, this one is pro Radio Caroline:
Hans, Firstly may I say that I always enjoy reading your reports and congratulate you on a splendid job. Secondly, I feel that I have to put forward a little in the way of defence for Radio Caroline. I am enjoying their programmes immensely at present but there always seems to be a lot of criticism about the station no matter what they do. "Why do we have to pay.., why aren't they out at sea...the music's no good....", etc. I wonder if any of the people who criticise have even tried setting up or running a radio station on land, let alone from 12 miles out to sea with the law heavily biased against them. Now I don't know Peter Moore personally so cannot comment on the type of person he is, but I do know that he has done a lot for Radio Caroline over the past few years and I'm sure without him it would still be nowhere to be heard. The fact is that the station is on air 24hrs a day, 7 days a week - something I would have not thought possible not that long ago. People have to move away from the idea that Caroline can only broadcast from a boat - I thought that back in the early days we were fighting for free radio to be legalised ("free" as in freedom of speech) and on land!! There are very few restrictions placed on Caroline’s licence, allowing them to broadcast virtually what they like within the law. To keep it this way they have had to steer clear of big investors (and conventional means of broadcasting) which, although a nice idea, has its draw backs. one is lack of finance, so presenters work for nothing - we (Caroline supporters) can ask for no greater dedication - and I am quite happy to do my bit and help keep the dream alive with my monthly subscription. Gaining advertising is very much a Catch 22 situation, firstly you need good audience figures and to do that a greater prominence needs to be sought, hence the push for a Sky EPG listing. It also requires a good sales team and, of course, sales people don't work for nothing. Gradually Caroline is fighting it's way back and I'm sure that once there, and advertising is coming in there will be no need for listener donations. No one said it would be an easy or fast journey, but I, for one, can only see better things for the future.
Best regards Johnnie Lang, Caroline Supporter.
Thanks a lot Johnnie and in a personal mail I’ve already mentioned that lucky enough my report is for positive as well as negative response on this subject and so your mail will be published too. In a special chapter in the forthcoming publication ‘The listener from past and present’ will get their own chapter. So reader of this international report let your suggestions and ideas coming in at Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
Talking about Johnnie’s its good to hear our good old Johnny Walker is back on the radio again. A pity however, that on March 1st there were so many traffic reports and other info, which had to go out during drive time. Elsewhere we could have heard more from him. Hopefully your condition will be going upwards more and more Mr. Walker.
In some of the newsgroups a discussion was made in which someone wrote that he hoped the people at the Long Wave station at the Isle of Man would not make the mistake to use the name ‘Radio Caroline’ for their project. Others liked the idea and suddenly there was news from the Isle of Man: ‘Thank you for the comments about bells and platform, but the name of the Platform is already now notified and agreed to be ‘CAROLINE ISLAND’. It was necessary to give the structure a formal name, so it can be marked on Admiralty charts which are then on ships all over the world. At the time we thought that 'Caroline Island' would be a good name, recognizing the Lady's almost four year stay in Ramsey bay, the name Fredericia – as the Caroline North Ship had on her - would not be known to many, or mean very much at all. The name Caroline was well known, but not Fredericia. The ship had Fredericia painted over at one time and 'Caroline' painted on. All the local people remember Radio Caroline - nobody much remembers Fredericia’.
This was written by Paul Rusling. His comment on the bell refers to a mentioning from my site that there is still some people who think that in the museum on the Isle of Man is the original bell of the Fredericia. But there’s another one which I’ve seen on two occasions on the Van der Marel shipbrokers at Ouwerkerk in Holland. The owner of the bell was the shipbroker, who had bought the MV Fredericia in 1972 at an auction. So I did suggest taking this bell and putting it as a token, to a rich history, on the platform now named ‘Caroline’
Then some lines I’ve got from Steve Allen: ‘I have been an avid free radio listener since I was 13 in 1964 and today try to keep up to date with all the latest happenings via the internet. There are two points that I would like to mention. Firstly, reference was made to having to pay to listen to Radio Caroline in your international report on www.mediapages.nl.
I have found several Caroline sites on the internet and the best one is www.radiocaroline.de/caromain.htm It has pictures of all the deejays, including Roger Day. A very clearly laid out programme schedule and a click to listen live free! The so-called RNI2020 seems to broadcast Radio Caroline most or all of the time now, as well. My second comment concerns my favorite radio station, Radio 192. Perhaps surprisingly, you don't seem to make much mention of it, yet surely it is the ultimate that we have all always wanted - a total recreation of a real pirate station (zeezender), in this case, Radio Veronica. You said in your last report that Radio 10Gold was much liked by the English when it was on 675 kHz but perhaps the English are not all aware that www.radio192.nl exists, complete with the Top 40 of exactly 30 years ago and with original jingles etc. Oh, and half of the deejays are from the offshore stations too. Like Peter van Dam of Radio Mi Amigo who always plays the Caroline bell and lots more from the days of the radio ship Mi Amigo. Real 1 Player works best for Radio 192. I hope you find this contact helpful. I must lastly thank you for your always interesting report. You must put a lot of work into it, but it is much appreciated by people such as myself. Sincere best wishes, Steve.’
Well thanks a lot Steve and in the name of Director Michael Bakker and all the other people at Radio 192 in Hilversum thanks for your plug. Of course I know about the station and did give them a few mentions too during the past years. Even did present some programs there with the music which was played on Big L but never made the chart, except the Fab 40 on Big L of course.
Than we go over to another regular reader which is Robert A James: ‘Hans, Many thanks for the latest International Report. Fascinating reading as ever. I really appreciate both the effort that you put into the report and your great knowledge of offshore radio. one question I would like to ask you is regarding the registration of the MV Ross Revenge at the time of the raid in 1989. At the time it appeared to be stateless although Ronan denied this. I remember that in the following year several issues of the Caroline Movement bulletin alluded to the fact that the Ross Revenge was not properly registered and had not been since Caroline purchased the vessel. I seem to recall that John Burch had organised some investigation and presented his findings to Ronan although he never said in the magazine as far as I can remember what this information was. Anyway I think the Caroline Movement then fell out with the people running Radio Caroline and the trail went cold. Do you know what the actual status was of the Ross Revenge at this time? I expect this might be quite a complicated story! Kind Regards Robert James’.
Well Robert, I did hear a few stories on this subject too and did research in a period before the raid took place. I think I will come back to that at a later stage. Let’s first see what other experts have to write about this subject and so I would like to ask John Wendale, John Burch and Herbie the Fish to write in their comments for the next issue. Thanks on fore hand.
A message from Graeme who did read my last report that I did visit England and heard Easy Radio London and loved it. Graeme went all down from Scotland to do a visit to London again and listened in to the station too. And he came to the conclusion that it was not the station he hoped to find on the dial. He also wrote me that he is in regular contact with me since 1980 and that this, for the first time, is a moment we do disagree with each other. Well Graeme after coming back to Holland I did put the station to my favourites on the computer and listened to it again. But after a few days I did retune to another station, Prime Time Radio. And after that I never returned to Easy Radio London as it also upset me at the end.
Message from Mike, our regular contributor from Israel: ‘Israel radio has suspended three senior, long serving, news presenters, for stuttering, and mixing up words. Many journalists have come out against this strange act by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and have voiced harsh criticism at the suspension. It is just inconceivable that three long terms, senior news readers, can be suspended for minor stuttering and mistakes that can happen to anyone every now and again. The IBA management cannot act this way to such senior staff. In reply, the IBA stated that a series of incidents, like one of the presenters did not wake up on time, and another " ran out of air " in the middle of a news broadcast. The IBA announcers have always been of the highest level, and our actions have been to keep this level. The management is not against the presenters, but with them.’
Next news from Offshore Music Radio, an internet station run by David and Lynn. They wrote in and told us about their plans: ‘We've set our launch date for 18:00 GMT on Saturday the 20th of March. We're hoping that it goes better than the programme we planned for the 28th of February, with only 5 hours to go before transmission, we received word that the presenter Colin, had been admitted to hospital - thankfully Paul Rusling was able to sit in at extremely short notice, but it was a very nail biting afternoon. Thankfully Colin was soon discharged from hospital having been diagnosed as having a peptic ulcer and is now on the road to recovery.’ Well best wishes to Colin and good luck to the start of the station. A pity I can’t tune in on that day. Offshore Music Radio Now on test, for more info go to http://www.pirateradiosales.co.uk/acatalog/radiostation.html
As promised last time more on this year’s Radio Day. It will be held on Saturday October 2nd at Hotel Casa 400 right next to the Amstel Station in Amsterdam. It’s the last stop of tram number 12 from Central Station. There’s also a private parking place next to the Hotel. The room is open at 10 o’clock, while the program starts at 11 o’clock. As I’ve personally decided, after doing the interviews for 25 years in a row, to stop with this part of the program, there will be guests interviewers from the (Offshore) radio world interviewing other radio persons. We will try in the forthcoming months to tell you what will happen. one light goes on this time: Wim van Egmond, who worked for one of the Dutch stations on the MV Ross Revenge, will have an interview with Look Boden with the topic ‘Radio 227 from 1967 up till 2004’. one of the other people who has promised to try to come over, and we really hope he will succeed this time, is Andy Archer. He has got a lot of memories from his days at the several radio stations in international waters, he worked for. Next month there will be more on this subject.
Steve Allen went on writing on another subject: ‘You may be surprised at this, as I have not written to you before, but I have only had a computer for a few months, so couldn't do E Mails before. I have always had a tremendous interest in pirate radio and once had my own land based pirate station in Northampton in the Midlands. It was called ABC and I used PAMS WABC jingles with the 'W' taken out. Believe it or not, PAMS sent me the jingles and I still have them - 8 whole tapes with 'PAMS' written on the box.. Thhis was in the days when RNI was on the air and one day their transmitter broke down. As I had a crystal for their frequency (1367kHz), I went straight on the air on their frequency for a few minutes and the results were fantastic. I had RNI's listeners and one letter I received was from 70 km away.’
And to Steve his surprise I did write him back that I did hear of the station in the past. In the seventies I did tune in to a lot of short wave pirates and had (some are still there) several contacts within that part of the radio industry.
Steve came back to the subject with another e-mail: ‘Thanks for your reply. I'm beginning to feel guilty that I am taking too much of your time, but I can't believe that you've heard of my station ABC-your weekend music station. Many of the jingles were done specially for me by Alan Bowley who was Dave Lomax on Radio Caroline North and ran the SIS studios in Northampton. I should be more than happy for you to make reference to it on your site. He made them in return for me lending him my PAMS jingles. I understand that he now works with a station in Spain. Another of my friends is Peter Lenton in Kettering who used to get all the Dutch and German records for us in England. He still likes Radio 10Gold, but then, he hasn't got the internet and cannot listen to Radio 192. As far as ABC is concerned, I should love you to give it a mention on your newsletter page and I am thinking of starting it up again on the internet. I know loads more and have other contacts in the world of free radio. I also spend a lot of my internet time surfing for radio info. I have listened to the internet transmissions of Radio 227 since the beginning of the year but it's not for me. Easy listening is boring. I like really boppy pop music. I could keep writing for ages but I'll leave it there for now. once again, I have to say that I am amazed that you have heard of ABC. one last thing in the guest book of Radio 192, I wrote a message to Edvard Niessing one day and I was delighted that a few messages after mine, came a message from a feller in Amsterdam - "Fantastisch. Een Engelsman die in het Nederlands kan schrijven. Complimenten!’ (Fantastic an Englishman who can write in Dutch) I thought that was really nice. Bye for now, Steve’
Talking about Short wave, here’s another one coming in from Jan in the Merseyside: ‘Hello Hans, I would like your help with to collect some information from any of your readers on the subject of short-wave listening! I'm trying to find out what people listen to when listening to short-wave pirates, do they take notice in the content of the programs transmitted?, or do they take a quick listen and then move on and not return! Or do they send in reception reports and a request...then wait for a reply then disappear? If a station such as Radio Fax or something similar were to return on the short-wave, would the station get any genuine listeners, or would there be no call for such a station. I would like to hear from all the readers to you site and read your news letter to send an email with there views, would be very grateful for all information collected. There is a genuine reason for asking, one is interest in the short-wave and is the listening habits. Or do such listening habits belong to a dieing breed or are there scope for something totally different and would anyone be interested in such a project?
Many thanks Hans, I hope short-wave pirates continue for as long as possible...hope to get quite lot of replies. Jan.
Well, get the answers to Jan his questions coming in guys. I know some former FAX people are reading the international report as well as the main man behind the Free Radio Service.
And you can sent the replies and comments to: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
Naud Nellissen from the beautiful Province of Limburg did send me an email after reading some messages from me in the Anorak UK Group on internet: ‘I had pressure to write due to the fact I saw some message from you on internet. And I must day I totally agree with you. one was about the so called Scandinavian ‘Offshore Project’ in which was told that it could take a few months to tuning the arial mast, which the people told had bought from a broker in Turkey. Well of course you’re right this is totally nonsense. Another message was about Radio Mi Amigo 9290 using a well respected name. Indeed those people are not creative not choosing an original man. It’s very cheap to use again the name of Radio Mi Amigo. This station from Latvia (Riga) has really nothing to do with once one of Europe’s most popular stations from the seventies of past century. I could go to the owners of the transmitter in Riga and pay them some money for some hours of airtime. Start my own station as ‘Radio London, one of Europe’s most popular radio stations returns to the airwaves as a short-wave broadcaster. 100% simplicity! And I’m lucky we have the same idea on this both subjects.’
And here’s another newsflash going round on internet: ‘This does not show much...but there is enough power inside to blast our way into everyone’s ears soon from the center of Aland (Finland-Sweden) to the UK once up to full power of 300 kW’s. Wait. It won't be too long. We begin from the St Paul, soon to be renamed the Don Quixiote. Offshore radio will never be the same. Whoever said that AM was dead needs their head examined. And we have inside 21.5 kW's of FM too! Those that doubted let this be a lesson! Gather 'round folks. The party is just about to start! PIRATE RADIO 603 AM will be sailing in April from Malmo into your ears and hearts! Mike Spenser PS: remember: dreams can come true, for simple folks like me and you, just dream of what you'd love to do, put one foot in front of another......... and watch it come true’
Should we play another song? Dream a little dream from Perry Como and the Anita Kerr Singers seems to me as a very good selection at the moment. This has nothing to do with Offshore Radio. It will be a legal project – if they succeed coming on the air – from aboard a ship but not in international waters.
March 7th an e mail came in from Paul Easton: ‘Hi Hans, Just reading your International Radio Report, and you asked about Dixie Peach. In the late-1990s he was working for British Forces Broadcasting Service, under his real name of Bernie Michael, and also doing some programming work for Music Choice Europe (where I was head of programming at the time). Nice guy! If I remember correctly, his wife was offered a job in the Manchester area, so he moved up there with her, but I've not heard anything from him since. Best Wishes Paul Easton’.
Thanks a lot Paul, so my suggestion he was – and maybe still is – in the Manchester area was correct. I did a search on internet under his real name but didn’t find anything so let the search go on!
Tony Blackburn returned to the airwaves of BBC London 94.9 with a new Monday evening Soul Show which was transmitted from 8.00-10.00pm on March 8th. His new shows combine his passion for music with the familiar conversational style and interactivity that millions of fans will recognise. From 17 April, Tony will also present a second show on BBC London 94.9 when he launches his Saturday lunchtime (Noon-2.00pm) programme, a mix of the soul music, for which he has become renowned, as well as phone calls and guests.
Next an e mail came in from Geoff Hutton in England asking me if I could give him a plug for his site: www.geocities.com/offshoreradiozone ,which is the umbrella site of all of his six hobby sites, all dedicated to Watery. Oké Geoff, there you are.
Another name check is for Fred Parker who did hear one of his favourite deejays from the past lately: ‘Having not heard Roger Twiggy Day for over 30 years it was good to hear him again on BBC Southern Counties Radio a couple of weeks ago for just two evenings. I am sure that he has been busy elsewhere but what a breath of fresh air compared to the usual evening presenter!’
Good you did enjoy Roger again Fred and Roger will enjoy your comments to as he’s a regular reader to this International report too!
Tim Yares from WRN has news on a new license: ‘The Ministry of Press Radio and Television of the Russian Federation announced that World Radio Network (WRN), the London-based international broadcaster, has been granted a licence to operate an AM station on 738 kHz in Moscow. The station will commence operation in the coming months and will carry a schedule of largely speech-based programming in Russian from international broadcasters and local producers that has not before been heard in the Moscow market.WRN already runs a satellite and internet based radio service named "WRN Russkij" that comprises programming from many global broadcasters and whichalready has relay agreements with local stations in other Russian cities and the CIS. Mr Karl Miosga, WRN’s Managing Director said: "This is a proud achievement for World Radio Network. We are delighted to have been awarded a licence to operate on 738 kHz in Moscow. WRN will offer listeners in this important market place a greater range of international and local programming". The official government announcement in Russian can be viewed at http://www.mptr.ru/fkk_konkurs/contests/id/704379.html WRN will announce detailed plans for the station’s programming and a launch date in the coming months.
The Agency Telecom has announced that during the past year the so called action ‘Etherflits’ where I told you about in one of the many reports have a good result. The Agency has taken more than 400 illegal radio stations of the airwaves in Holland in the last 12 months. They think more than 60% of the illegal stations have been closed down now and Agency Telecom also declared that the fight will go on for the next year.
Next thing is off to England again next week and this time it will not be too much radio visits as I’ve other work to do over there. one yearly visit is taken on the Saturday afternoon. I will be going to see my good old friend since the mid eighties, Chris Cortez, in Cambridge and surely he will take some other friends with him to have a long talk about our favourite subject, which is of course ‘radio’.
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Also when you think you do have some exclusive photographs. Till next month with all the best wishes.