Radio Caroline
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Radio Caroline is a European radio station that originally commenced transmissions as an offshore radio station broadcasting from a ship anchored off the coast of South East England in international waters. Unlicensed by any government for the majority of its life, it was labelled as a pirate radio station.
A number of unlicensed radio stations have been located on ships anchored off Britain's coasts. Radio Caroline was the first such station to broadcast all-day using the English language. This, together with the station's tenacity in surviving for some forty years, has established Radio Caroline as a household name for offshore radio.
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[edit] History
The station has seen four distinct stages:
- 1964–1968: its founding on March 28, 1964 through to 1968 when its two ships were impounded by the shipping company
- 1972–1980: the return of Caroline in 1972 and survival up until 1980 when the ship sank in a storm
- 1983–1991: the third return of Caroline, using a new ship in 1983 until 1991 when this vessel was shipwrecked and brought into harbour
- 1991–present: Caroline's move onto land, operating as a primarily on-shore station broadcasting principally via satellite.
[edit] 1964-1968
[edit] Radio Caroline opens
Radio Caroline was founded in 1964 by Irish music industry businessman Ronan O'Rahilly. It began broadcasting on 28 March 1964 from the ex-passenger ferry MV Fredericia, anchored in international waters three miles off the coast of Essex, southeast England. The station took its name from Caroline Kennedy, daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
O'Rahilly has said in interviews that when he flew to Dallas, Texas to buy the transmitters for the radio station, he was reading a copy of Look magazine. That issue contained a now famous photo essay about the president and his two children John, Jr. and Caroline, who were playing with him in the Oval Office. O'Rahilly recalled a picture that showed young John, Jr. crawling through a miniature doorway away from the President's legs. O'Rahilly changed the subject in his retelling of this story from John, Jr. to Caroline and that is how both his ship and station gained their names. In many homes within Ireland it was not uncommon to see a picture of both the Pope and President Kennedy hanging on the wall, such was the Irish fascination with the president and his family.
When Radio Caroline started in March 1964, its first theme tune played at close down was Jimmy McGriff's Round Midnight (a jazz standard composed by Thelonious Monk which was an LP track on I've Got a Woman, Sue ILP 907 1962 UK; Sue 1012 USA). During March 1964, a Birmingham band called The Fortunes recorded the song Caroline (the B-side of You've Got Your Troubles, which entered the British charts in 1965, on Decca F11809), and this later became the station's theme song, with 'Round Midnight' confined to close down, after the syndicated religious slot from U.S. evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong.
Radio Caroline chose a wavelength announced as 199 metres (which rhymed with "Caroline".) In reality the station was on 197.3 metres (1520 kHz) at the highest end of the Medium Wave Band next to Radio Luxembourg on 208 metres (1439 later 1440 kHz). (The name of the dial position was always in metres and the band was never referred to as "AM".) The Dutch Radio Veronica offshore station was on 192 metres (1565 kHz) and Radio Atlanta (which became Caroline South), chose 201 metres (1495 kHz). The original transmitter power of Radio Caroline (which became Caroline North), was 10 kW. Broadcasting hours were initially limited from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily under the slogan of "Your all day music station", because Radio Luxembourg came on the air in the English language at 6 p.m. and direct competition was avoided. Later the station decided to return to the airwaves after 8 p.m. and it continued until just after midnight. In this way Caroline saved its fuel by avoiding direct competition with the most popular television programmes. The use of radio sets at work was an uncommon practice and most commuters used public transport. Consequently most of its pop music programmes were aimed at housewives and later in the day they were targeted towards children arriving home from school in the afternoons. Because of the lack of daytime music radio competition during the first six months of transmission, Radio Caroline soon commanded a daytime audience of several million listeners at a time when all-day pop music broadcasting in English was unknown in Europe.
Caroline was not the first offshore station; the first ship-based radio station reportedly broadcast in the USA from the casino ship Rex, moored off California in the 1930s. Later, offshore radio ships were anchored off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and since 1960 Radio Veronica had been broadcasting successfully to the Netherlands from a ship off the Dutch coast.
[edit] Creation of Radio Caroline North and South
Other offshore radio ships soon followed Caroline's example and began broadcasting off the British coast. A few months after launch, Caroline merged with the new competitor station Radio Atlanta, and until 1968 broadcast from two ships — the original vessel Fredericia, which moved to the Isle of Man to become Radio Caroline North — and the MV Mi Amigo, the ex-Radio Atlanta ship, which remained anchored off the Essex coast and took the name Radio Caroline South. Together the two ships were able to cover most of the British Isles and the western-most parts of continental northern Europe.
The first programme heard on Caroline was presented by Simon Dee. Other DJs who went on become nationally famous included Tony Blackburn, Roger Day, Spangles Muldoon/Chris Cary, Keith Skues, Johnnie Walker, Robbie Dale, Dave Lee Travis and Andy Archer. There were also a number of DJs from the USA and Commonwealth countries, such as Graham Webb, Tom Lodge, Rosko and Norman St John. Famous DJ Jack Spector, of the WMCA Good Guys in New York, contributed a show, taped specifically for Radio Caroline (not syndicated), on a regular basis. Syndicated shows from the USA as well as prerecorded religious programmes were also broadcast.
[edit] The Mi Amigo runs aground
In January 1966 the Radio Caroline South ship MV Mi Amigo drifted in a storm and ran aground onto the beach at Frinton-on-Sea. Transmissions ceased as the boat entered British territorial waters and the crew and broadcasting staff were rescued unharmed, but the ship's hull was damaged and it had to go into dry dock for repair. While the repairs were being carried out, Caroline South broadcast from the vessel Cheeta II, which was normally in use by a Swedish offshore station called Radio Syd, but which was off the air at that time, due to severe weather in the Baltic.
The Cheeta II broadcasts brought with them a change in frequency from 199 metres to 259 metres (actually 253, but called 259 to rhyme with Caroline). This was an astute move for the station, as it meant that Caroline's channel was now just a hair's-breadth away from the highly popular competitor pirate radio ship Radio London on 266 m (1133KHz) on the one side of the dial, and the BBC's Light Programme mainstream music and entertainment service on 247 m (1214 kHz) on the other. This gave Caroline a higher profile and helped the station capture new listeners away from these other two channels. Radio Caroline North subsequently moved to 257 m (1169 kHz) but also called it 259. Caroline would continue to utilise the "259 m" (1187 kHz) wavelength until the late 1970s.
[edit] The Radio City death
In June 1966 Radio Caroline embarked on a joint venture with rival pirate Radio City, which broadcast from a World War II marine fort off the Kent coast, seven miles from Margate. One of the directors of Caroline, Major Oliver Smedley, agreed to pay for a new transmitter to relay Caroline's programmes from the fort, while Reg Calvert, the owner of Radio City, would continue to run the operation but this time on behalf of Radio Caroline.
However, Radio Caroline then withdrew from the deal when it was heard that the government intended to prosecute those occupying the forts, which were still Crown property. Smedley, however, had received no payment from Calvert for the transmitter.
A raid on the Radio City fort was subsequently launched by Smedley, and the station's transmitter was put out of action. Calvert then visited Smedley's home to demand the departure of the raiders and the return of vital transmitter parts. A violent struggle developed during which Smedley shot Calvert dead. During the subsequent trial, Smedley was acquitted on grounds of self-defence.
[edit] The 1967 Marine Offences Act
The British government responded to the presence of Caroline and the other offshore stations in 1967 by passing the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act which made it an offence to advertise or supply an offshore radio station from the UK. All the offshore stations off the British coast closed, with the exception of Radio Caroline, which moved its supply operation to the Netherlands where offshore broadcasting had not yet been outlawed. She was the only UK offshore station to do so. However, the expected advertising revenue from overseas sources was not forthcoming, and less than a year later the station was forced off the air when the Dutch shipping company which tendered the two Caroline ships seized the vessels on grounds of non-payment.
Six weeks after the Marine Offences Act was passed, the BBC introduced its national pop station Radio 1, modelled largely on the successful pirate competitor station to Caroline, Radio London. The old BBC Light, Third and Home channels became Radios 2, 3 and 4 respectively. It was to be another five years until the first on-land commercial radio stations began to appear in the UK. It is interesting to note that because Radio London 're-wrote' BBC news broadcasts, which were mostly broadcast on the hour that Radio London did most of its news casts on the half hour. Also, Radio Caroline used a similar method and called their newscasts 'Caroline Newsbeat'. To this day, on BBC Radio 1 the news is broadcast on the half hour and the extended casts are called 'Newsbeat'.
[edit] 1969-1980
[edit] Radio Caroline International
When the original two ship stations of Radio Caroline International eventually ran out of money in early 1968, a salvage company towed them away for unpaid bills. For a time nothing more was heard of Radio Caroline, then a new and very powerful offshore radio station aboard the MV Mebo II anchored off the coast of Southeast England in time for the British General election.
It was at that moment in time when this station which was called Radio Northsea International - (RNI), suddenly changed its name to Radio Caroline International, by arrangement with Radio Caroline's original owners, and it began to lobby for the introduction of licensed commercial radio in the United Kingdom. As a result of this development the British Government resorted to jamming the station with a succession of increasingly powerful transmitters on the same frequency. After the election Radio Caroline International fell silent once more and the radio ship moved back to Holland where it became Radio Northsea International once again.
[edit] Caroline Television
There were several major news stories in the European press announcing the start of Caroline TV from two aircraft using Stratovision technology. One plane was set to circle over the North Sea in international air space near the coastline of the United Kingdom, while the other one was kept on standby to take over duties. Although these stories continued for some time and included details of cooperation by a former member of the Beatles and a sign-on date was given, nothing more was heard of the venture once that date came and went. It has been suggested that the entire event was a publicity stunt in an effort to keep the name of Radio Caroline in the news, but the technology behind this story was both valid and perfected by the Westinghouse company which invented Stratovision.
[edit] 1972: Radio Caroline returns
Caroline made a comeback in 1972, this time from the smaller of the two ships, the MV Mi Amigo, anchored off the Dutch coastal resort of Scheveningen and serviced and operated from the Netherlands. The ship had restarted broadcasting as Radio 199, but soon became Radio Caroline once again with a Top 40 line up that included DJs Chris Carey (who was also station manager), Roger 'Twiggy' Day, Andy Archer, Paul Alexander (Paul Rusling, who later set up Laser 558), Steve England, Johnny Jason, and Peter Chicago. The ship carried programmes for Radio Veronica for a short time (while the latters ship was being repaired) and at one stage in summer 1973 broadcast two separate stations (English and Dutch) simultaneously.
O'Rahilly decided Caroline should adopt an album format similar to that found on "FM progressive rock" stations in the USA, as this radio market segment was uncatered for in Europe. This service was initially broadcast using the name Radio Seagull.
[edit] Radio Atlantis and Radio Seagull
Radio Caroline could not find substantial advertising revenue and so the station shared its 259 metre frequency (actually 1187 kHz, corresponding to a wavelength of 253 metres) with Dutch language pop stations, the first of which was a Belgian station called Radio Atlantis, which used the frequency during the daytime to broadcast pre-recorded programmes. Radio Seagull broadcast during the night live from the ship's studio.
[edit] Radio Mi Amigo
Once the contract with Radio Caroline had come to an end, Radio Atlantis moved to their own ship, the MV Janiene. Daytime programmes were provided by another Belgian station, Radio Mi Amigo which was officially launched on January 1, 1974. In contrast to Caroline in the 1970s, this station was a commercial success, with a wide listenership in Flemish-speaking Belgium, the Netherlands and a surprisingly large following in the UK. Radio Seagull then changed its name back to Radio Caroline. Throughout most of the 1970s, Radio Caroline itself could be heard only at night, under the banner "Radio Caroline — Europe's first and only album station", [untrue as album stations Radio 428 & Radio Geronimo hold this title from 1969/70], which it still uses to this day.
Caroline's daytime partner station Radio Mi Amigo was run by Belgian businessman Sylvain Tack. The station's offices and studios were based on Spain's Playa De Aro coastal resort, where it produced programmes for Dutch-speaking holidaymakers. Most of the programmes of Radio Mi Amigo were taped and rebroadcast from the Caroline ship by day and were a mixture of Top 40/MOR together with native Flemish/Dutch language popular music, presented by Belgian, Dutch and occasionally English DJs with frequent commercials. Land-based commercial radio was prohibited in Belgium at that time; thus Radio Mi Amigo had little competition and so enjoyed a wide popularity in Belgium and to a lesser extent in the Netherlands. Thus for the first few years there was a big demand for advertising on the station. After the closure of Holland's Radio Veronica, Radio Mi Amigo poached a number of Veronica presenters and shows.
[edit] Loving Awareness
Caroline's chosen format of heavy album tracks rather than top 40 now meant that, although the station served a market gap, overall listenership was smaller than in the 1960s. Caroline also promoted O'Rahilly's new concept of "LA" (Loving Awareness), a far-eastern inspired philosophy of love and peace. Some of the station's DJs were embarrassed at the idea of promoting love and peace on air, but some were fascinated by the challenge of promoting an abstract concept in the same way that they might promote a brand of detergent. At least one disc jockey, however, was an enthusiastic supporter of the concept. Tony Allan developed a cult following among listeners as he also combined his promotion of "Loving Awareness" with a professional style and rich radio voice.
O'Rahilly set up a group called The Loving Awareness Band, which released one album, Loving Awareness on Morelove Records. It was - and still is - promoted heavily on the station, and was rereleased by the Caroline organisation in 2006 on CD with a replica of the original sleeve. The musicians who played on the album went on to join the Blockheads and work with Ian Dury.
Caroline's constant plugging of "LA", together with the progressive rock album music it played — bands such as Pink Floyd; Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Led Zeppelin; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; and Hawkwind - gave the station an unusual and distinctive sound.
During this time, the theme tune of the station changed to "On My Way Back Home" by New Riders of the Purple Sage, a track from the Gypsy Cowboy album which included the words "Flying to the sun, sweet Caroline".
[edit] Last of the Pirates
The book Last of the Pirates by engineer and occasional DJ Bob Noakes (Edinburgh, Paul Harris Publishing, 1984, ISBN 0-86228-092-3) describes this period as one of poverty, makeshift equipment, disorganisation and severe personality clashes amongst the DJs and office staff. It must be borne in mind that we only have his word for this, and some of his claims may be exaggerated for literary effect.
According to Noakes, some of the station's equipment was acquired on credit which was never repaid, tenders had to keep changing ports to avoid customs raids, and there was a high turnover of DJs due to inexperience or personal conflicts. Noakes claims that some of the best Loving Awareness promotions were made at a time when DJs were at each other's throats (sometimes almost literally).
Noakes struggled to keep the station on the air despite the poor condition of some of the equipment, describing days of back-breaking work in appalling weather, assisted by most of the English-speaking staff but never the Dutch, who apparently considered maintenance work beneath them. When the station managed to get on the air many of the Seagull and Caroline DJs presented programmes while high on marijauna.
Finally in 1974 some of the staff planned a coup, which would have involved taking over the ship, sailing it to the coast of Belgium next to the Radio Atlantis ship Janiene, and continuing to broadcast normal Caroline and Mi Amigo programmes so the public would be unaware that anything was going on. Noakes and his fellow conspirators planned to set up a simultaneous daytime Caroline service on 389 metres (773 kHz) broadcasting a Top Forty format which could have attracted major advertisers, while retaining Caroline's nighttime album rock format on 259.
However, the plot was discovered, Noakes was fired and took a job at RNI, and, as he claims, the backstabbing and disorganisation at Caroline continued.
[edit] Dutch Marine Broadcasting Act
In 1974 the Dutch government passed laws to prohibit pirate radio which came into effect on September 1. However, Caroline continued broadcasting, this time moving its headquarters and the servicing operation to Spain and its ship from off the Dutch coast to a position in the Knock Deep Channel, approximately 30 km from the British coast. On September 1 a small motor launch ran into difficulties in rough seas and tied up alongside the Mi Amigo until help could arrive. Radio Caroline broadcast appeals for help, giving the ship's position as 51° 41' N, 1° 35' E. A coastguard vessel was sent to escort the boat back to shore, but the authorities were unhappy that Caroline fans had jammed the emergency switchboards.
After August 31, pre-recorded shows for Radio Mi Amigo were delivered on cassettes which were much smaller and lighter than reels of tape although the sound quality was greatly inferior.
It was claimed that the stations were tendered from Spain. In practice the Mi Amigo was tendered clandestinely from ports in Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Tenders and small boat owners were warned and in some cases prosecuted for ferrying staff and provisions out to the ship. Belgium had outlawed offshore radio in 1962 and its authorities took action to prosecute the advertisers. This cut the station's revenues. In addition, Belgian courts sentenced the owner and a number of DJs to fines and jail terms in absentia — although the prison terms were later cancelled.
[edit] Wavelength changes
The two stations experimented with several different broadcast frequencies. In May 1976 Caroline began a daytime service on 1562 kHz (192 metres, the old Radio Veronica frequency) using the 10 kW transmitter, while its existing overnight service continued to share the 50 kW tx with Mi Amigo's daytime programming on 1187 kHz (253 metres, announced as 259).
In December of that year Mi Amigo moved onto 1562 kHz on the 50 kW tx, leaving Caroline on 1187 kHz 24 hours a day on the 10 kW. The reduction in power caused Caroline to experience greater interference at night, and in an attempt to improve the signal it was decided to move Caroline to a new frequency. On March 3, 1977 (coincidentally the 9th anniversary of the Caroline ships being towed away in 1968) Caroline closed down, announcing that it would return six days later on an improved wavelength of 319 metres. To allow Radio Mi Amigo to continue broadcasting by day, the engineering work necessary for Caroline's move had to be carried out at night after the 50 kW transmitter was switched off, accounting for the six day closure.
Caroline returned on schedule on March 9 on a frequency of 953 kHz (actually 315 metres but called 319, again because 319 rhymed with Caroline). This frequency produced very strong heterodyne interference because the transmitter crystal was off-channel, and Caroline soon moved to the adjacent channel, 962 kHz (312 metres but still called 319). this was a relatively clear channel that had previously been used by Radio Atlantis, and Caroline's reception in England improved.
Meanwhile Radio Mi Amigo experienced interference on 1562 kHz (as had Veronica before it) and announced another frequency change. The 1562 kHz service closed on July 23 1977 and Mi Amigo reopened on 1412 kHz (212 metres) two days later. This channel produced strong sideband interference.
Finally it was decided to move Radio Mi Amigo onto 962 kHz. date required (the same frequency as Caroline) this meant the ship could no longer broadcast two services simultaneously, and so Radio Caroline was once more relegated to a night-time only service. The upside was that both stations were once more sharing the 50 kW tx, which meant that Caroline began to receive mail from all over Europe.
To the chagrin of fans, Caroline then began broadcasting sponsored evangelical programmes in order to supplement its income. Such programmes had been a staple of the 1960s pirates, but Caroline was broadcasting as many as three hours of them each night after Radio Mi Amigo closed, pushing the start of music programmes back to 9 PM.
In October 1978 a combination of technical and financial problems put the Mi Amigo off the air. Unhappy at the loss of advertising revenue, Radio Mi Amigo terminated its contract with Caroline in November and set about equipping its own ship. Caroline finally returned to the air in April 1979, broadcasting in Dutch under its own name by day. Radio Mi Amigo began broadcasting from the MV Magdalena later that year, but this was short-lived.
[edit] The Mi Amigo sinks
By the end of the 1970s, conditions on the MV Mi Amigo had deteriorated. The ship was now 60 years old and had been used to house offshore radio stations for almost 20 years, since its original use as Sweden's Radio Nord in 1961. The ship had drifted and run aground on sandbanks in the North Sea a number of times.
One particularly serious grounding occurred in September 1976 when the ship broke its anchor chain in heavy seas, the studios were flooded, the antenna feed cable broke and the hull was breached below the water line. On that occasion the crew had managed to patch the hull and keep the ship afloat until a tender arrived with welding gear and a new (and according to some reports, stolen) anchor. Six days after the grounding the stations were back on the air almost as if nothing had happened, but it was not to be the last such incident.
As early as 1972 serious doubts had been voiced as to the ship's seaworthiness, but by the end of the 70s some of the boat crews that visited the Mi Amigo were describing it as a floating death trap, so badly rusted that it was only being held together by its paint.
Finally, in March 1980, the Mi Amigo foundered in a storm after once again losing its anchor and drifting for several miles, and began taking in water. The crew were rescued by lifeboat. A small generator had been left running to power the pumps, but the generator failed and the Mi Amigo sank. The Mi Amigo's 160-foot mast remained erect, pointing skywards out of the sea for a further six years in what some fans called a gesture of defiance.
[edit] 1983-1990
In 1983 Radio Caroline returned to the air for a third time: this time from its biggest and most robust ship yet, the MV Ross Revenge, a sturdy ex-North Sea factory fishing trawler. The name Revenge was not considered entirely appropriate for a station devoted to Loving Awareness (the ship was originally built during the Anglo-Icelandic cod wars, hence the name), and it was originally intended to rename the ship Imagine after the John Lennon song. However, for legal or financial reasons, this was never done. The station's antenna was 300 ft (90 m) high and was the tallest mast on any ship in the world, and well over 100 ft higher than the mast of the Mi Amigo. Officially Caroline was now run from offices in North America with most of the advertising coming from the US and Canada. In practice, day-to-day servicing of the station was carried out clandestinely from France and the UK. From the ship's original anchorage in the Knock deep the Mi Amigo's mast could be seen on the horizon.
O'Rahilly wanted an oldies station. This met with opposition from some DJs and crew who had previously served on the Mi Amigo. Caroline returned to the air with the former Album format as on the old ship.
The MV Ross Revenge was more than twice the size of the old vessel and was fitted with more elaborate transmitting equipment than the Mi Amigo had seen. This enabled her to transmit not only Radio Caroline, now with a format that settled down to a mix of pop and rock oldies and the latest top 40, but also a number of other services. As in the 1970s Caroline tried out several frequencies, among them 963, 576, 585 (briefly), 558 (after Laser 558 closed) and later 819 kHz. (By this time European mediumwave channels had been reallocated to exact multiples of 9.) In the evenings on 963, in addition to the main Radio Caroline service on 576 or 558, some alternative music programmes were tried, including the reggae-oriented "Jamming 963", and then throughout 1986 and early 1987, a separate programme of progressive and indie rock called Caroline Overdrive.
[edit] Radio Monique
Once again, Caroline had a Dutch operation. The Ross Revenge broadcast the taped and live programmes of a Dutch music radio production company by day under the name Radio Monique and later Radio 558. These programmes featured mainly Pop and Euro-Pop style music, aimed at the mainstream Dutch radio listening audience, which gave Radio Monique wide appeal throughout Benelux.
In addition, Caroline transmitted paid-for programmes of various Dutch and American religious evangelist broadcasters such as Johann Maasbach and Roy Masters. these were broadcast Medium wave (and later on short-wave as well) under the name "Viewpoint 963/819" (or "World Mission Radio" in the case of the SW service).
In 1985 following the arrival of another station Laser 558, the British government launched a surveillance action lasting several months, anchoring a vessel on board which were officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The DJs nicknamed the action 'Eurosiege 85'. The action was thought to have been primarily targeted at Laser but Caroline was somewhat affected as well. Vessels and persons attempting to supply the two stations from land were subject to harassment and prosecution.
In November 1985, the competitor offshore station, Laser, dragged its anchor in a storm. Laser broadcast a Mayday call, which the DTI answered and escorted the Communicator into harbour, where they impounded the ship. With Laser off the air, Caroline moved from 576 kHz to Laser's 558 kHz frequency, now broadcasting a Top 40 music format similar to Laser's under the name Caroline 558. Thus when Laser briefly returned as Laser Hot Hits, it was in turn forced to use Caroline's former (and somewhat inferior) frequency of 576.
[edit] The mast collapses
In 1987 a massive storm hit southern England, causing loss of life and severe damage to buildings and trees. Unable to take shelter inside territorial waters, the MV Ross Revenge was forced to weather the storm in the North Sea. Unbeknown at the time, the storm had weakened her 300 foot antenna mast, and it collapsed in a further storm some weeks later (a video taken aboard the ship at the time by Nigel Harris is widely available). Caroline quickly returned to the airwaves Initially with a makeshift aerial which gave less powerful signal (and as a result, a much reduced audience) For several months only one transmitter could be used leading to the loss of the crucial income-generating Radio Monique although a substitute Dutch daytime service Radio 558 (later Radio 819) was eventually established.
[edit] 1989 Joint Anglo-Dutch Raid
On land, the UK Thatcher government sharpened the 1967 anti-offshore broadcasting law further, this time to permit the boarding and silencing of stations operating even in international waters, if British nationals were involved. On August 19, 1989 (Months before the new law had even made it through parliament) James Murphy, an investigator for the Office of Official Solicitor acting on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry, led colleagues and counterparts from the Netherlands Radio Regulatory Authority to carry out a raid on the Ross Revenge in which vital equipment was wrecked or confiscated. It was claimed that Caroline's use of a short wave frequency 6215 kHz for the transmission of paid-for religious programmes was causing interference to maritime communications (although the shortwave transmissions had stopped on the day prior to the raid). That station was called World Mission Radio and its on air announced address was in California. Another possible reason for the raid is that the Dutch station Radio 819 ran catchy adverts for a cigarette brand, Texas Cigarettes. The blatant advertising of a product banned from being advertised by European Union law further compounded the authorities venom for the unregulated broadcasts that were eminating from the Ross Revenge. The main reasom according to most people was the Dutch state radio station found out that 1.5 million people were listening each day to radio Monique, transmitted from the Ross revenge. The station complained , to do something about that because they did not want less advertising money.
Part of the raid was broadcast live before officials finally cut off the transmitters. Dutch staff were arrested and taken back to the Netherlands, together with most of the broadcasting equipment that had been used for the Dutch language broadcasts. Although the British staff were not arrested and were left on the ship, Radio Caroline was no longer in a position to broadcast.
The legallity of the raid (as well as accounts of what actually took place on board that day) is something that is still hotly disputed between the Caroline Organisation and the authorities. Caroline claimed that the boarding of the ship and removal/destruction of equipment was an act of piracy on the high seas under international maritime law (A crime which at the time still carried the death penelty) . The Dutch claimed that as the ship's Panamanian registration had lapsed in 1987 it was not under legal protection from any country and that its transmissions were a breach of international radio regulations which since 1982 have prohibited broadcastng from outside national territories.
[edit] 1990-1991 After the Raid
Following the police raid, a low power Radio Caroline service restarted from the Ross Revenge on 1st October 1989. This survived until 5th November 1990 when lack of fuel and supplies (and the loss of the valuable 558 frequency to a new British licenced station) finally put the station off the air. Most of the previous broadcasting staff had by now left. A skeleton staff of volunteers remained on board for a year as caretakers, whilst fresh funding and equipment was supposedly being gathered on land (In reality the organisations few remaining resources were being consumed by internal rivalries and power struggles) .
In November 1991 hurricane force storms caused the ship to break anchor and drift onto Goodwin Sands in the North Sea. The crew were rescued by RAF helicopter. The Ross Revenge was later salvaged and brought into harbour in Dover.
[edit] 1991 onwards
Radio Caroline is now broadcasting over the airwaves, via satellite and on the Internet. The station now uses onshore studios in the south-east English town of Maidstone in Kent. A website and internet audio stream are also available. Caroline began broadcasting via Astra satellites from 19 and 28 degrees east, covering the whole of Western Europe, first with an analogue, and then later digital service.
In the summer of 2006, Sky finally put Radio Caroline on its own frequency listing on its Electronic Programming Guide as Sky Channel 0199
[edit] Caroline Television
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[edit] Footnotes
- Frequency/wavelength conversions: To convert medium wave frequencies to wavelengths, divide 300,000 (the approximate value of the speed of light in metres per second) by the frequency (in kilohertz) and then round off to the nearest whole number. The result is the wavelength in metres, as used by almost all European mediumwave stations until the 1980s, when frequencies in kilohertz began to be given instead.
[edit] Pop Culture References
- On his album The Golden Age of Wireless, British musician Thomas Dolby recorded a song entitled "Radio Silence", where he makes cryptic references to a woman named "Caroline" and lamenting a lost love like an empty radio frequency. It is presumed that this is a "love song" of sorts for Radio Caroline.
[edit] See also
- Pirate radio in Europe
- Ronan O'Rahilly - Brief biography about the person who founded the original Radio Caroline in 1964.
- Alan Crawford - Brief biography about the person who founded Radio Atlanta, which became Radio Caroline South in 1964.
- Marine Broadcasting Offences Act - The law which ended the hey-day and commercial viability of offshore radio between March 1964 and August 1967.
- Tony Benn - As Postmaster-General, he led for the government on the Marine Broadcasting Offences Bill in 1967, and was responsible for enforcing it once it was enacted on August 14.
[edit] External links
- www.radiocaroline.co.uk - official web site
- Ross Revenge radio ship official website
- Horizon magazine website
- Short video interview with former DJ Tom Anderson on sinking of Mi Amigo (YouTube)
- azanorak.com - site featuring numerous downloadable programmes from Caroline and other pirate stations
[edit] References
- Radio Caroline, by Venmore Rowland, John. - Landmark Press, UK. 1967. - The original book about Radio Caroline. Contains interesting information about the stations.
- When Pirates Ruled The Waves, by Harris, Paul. - Impulse Publications, UK. 1968. - The first book published in the wake of the Marine Offences Act of 1967 at a time of uncertainty. There are factual errors in the book which is mainly based upon press cuttings.
- History of Radio Nord, by Kotschack, Jack. - Forlags AB, Sweden. (Swedish) English version published in 1970 by Impulse Publications, UK. - Radio Nord used the MV Mi Amigo which was later used by Radio Atlanta which merged with the Caroline Organization to become Radio Caroline South. This ship sank in 1980.
- From International Waters, by Leonard, Mike. - Forest Press, Heswall, UK. 1996. ISBN 0-9527684-0-2 - An encyclopedia about the history of offshore broadcasting until 1996. Contains extensive coverage about the history of Radio Caroline.
- Mass Media Moments in the United Kingdom, the USSR and the USA, by Gilder PhD., Eric. - "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu Press, Romania. 2003. ISBN 973-651-596-6 - Contains academic studies of government reaction to the advent of pirate radio in Europe and details of how Radio Caroline influenced Texans to start Wonderful Radio London.
