Thameside Radio

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Thameside Radio 90.2 was an influential, popular and groundbreaking pirate radio station in London. It broadcast between 1977 and 1983.

Contents

[edit] The early days

After a number of daytime test transmissions Thameside began full time broadcasting in the Winter of 1977. Initially these shows were just one hour long. They were presented by Bob Edwards who had a dry, matter-of-fact style. He played MOR pop with a Beatles record in every show. He also had listener competitions (typical prizes - a Thameside pen , badge or a packet of Spangles) and letters. Bob's shows were tightly formatted - the competition at 10 past the hour, the Beatles at 35 past the hour etc. Occasionally there was a second show presented by Tony Lloyd. Tony had more laid back rocky tastes. In contrast to Bob's rigid singles based format Tony would think nothing of playing a complete side of a Pink Floyd album.

One of the early hints that there was more to Thameside Radio than just the music was their first outside broadcast. To celebrate their birthday they invited listeners to a "birthday party" in Hyde Park. A large group of listeners turned up at Lancaster Gate tube station. This was exciting enough - generally priates were fiercely anonymous. But instead of just the chance to simply meet fellow listeners and perhaps a DJ they were surprised to discover that Bob had a microphone with him and was presenting live, on-air, with the records being mixed in back in the studio.

This was no mean feat from the logistical, technical and risk viewpoint. The use of radio links for live broadcasts was a first. Most other stations relied on pre-recording their shows and running the transmitters from a time switch.

Thameside's reliability was partially due to their very modern transmitter designs. The few other pirate stations were still using valve technology with each transmitter built by using whatever components were to hand and often constructed inside old biscuit tins. Thameside in contrast had its own high power solid state transmitters designed by Richard Courtenay using printed circuit boards for reliability in purpose built cases. Careful choice of the transmission sites also helped reception.

Even when not running outside broadcasts Thameside's technical facilities were excellent. Their early information sheets describe the purpose built studio with three record decks, integrated telephone facilities to take listeners calls, jingle machines and reel to reel facilities. They were also early users of the Dolby FM standard to reduce background noise and improve reception. Sadly Thameside didn't keep their original information sheets up to date - so many of their technical advances went unrecognised.

During this year the London pirate movement had started to grow. However most of the stations had poorly constructed transmitters which caused interference. They would often goad the authorities on air. The people running the stations sometimes caused damage to the locations they transmitted from. As a result most London pirates were raided on a regular basis. All this time the regulatory authorities left Thameside alone. By not acting like a pirate Thameside wasn't treated like one.

[edit] Years of success

After the first year the shows grew to three hours. The final hour was called The Intrepid Birdman Show. Dave (The Birdman) had for a while been producing jingles and inserts for the station. He now started producing finely crafted one hour shows which mixed comedy, sketches and music.

The Birdman attracted a number of new listeners who formed a fan club. Characters like Mazzie, Margaret. Neil and the Latymer gang became regular contributors. They supported not only The Birdman but also Bob and the station as a whole. Listeners would contribute material including, notably, a complete set of professional theme tunes. The special broadcasts became more common - some from public venues, some from listeners' homes.

The station's personality grew and matured. The Birdman's jingles added a sense of humour. Listeners could buy t-shirts and sweatshirts as well as car stickers, pens and badges. The music policy became more up to date. Slowly there were fewer Beatles tracks and more by bands in the new wave movement like Squeeze and Ultravox. Again in contrast to the other stations now filling the weekend airwaves Thameside was unashamedly populist. Most London pirates had an agenda to promote a particular type of music, usually soul; Thameside simply aimed to give its listeners a good time.

Alongside the improved content came an improvement in transmission power. Thameside now reached most of London and many areas to the south and west.

The popularity of a radio programme can often be judged by the amount of listener input. Thameside soon reached the point where there was at least one listener letter between each record, substantially more than any of the other London pirates, and more than most of the commercial stations at the time.

In addition to the broadcasts Thameside ran a growing number of special events for listeners. The station was breaking down the barriers between the presenters and the audience. For example there was a weekly "fast food survey" where listeners would meet at a fast food restaurant to review the quality of the food - the highlights were broadcast on air. They would promote bands and concerts. The news slot had an increasing number of personality interviews in addition to the light hearted news features presented by Sarah and Alex.

Extended hours also became a more common feature. The Birdman - always a maverick - would tease listeners by announcing the end of his show and then carrying on just before the end of the one minute silence that preceded the transmitter automatically closing down.

As Thameside became a more accepted part of the FM band they started to receive more attention from the DTI who were responsible for patrolling the airwaves. Every so often broadcasts would finish early because a transmitter had been "raided". Because the station used radio links to connect the studio to the transmitters, and could even change transmitters mid way through the broadcast they generally managed to avoid personal attention but simply lost equipment. However transmitters aren't cheap or quick to build - this was beginning to have an effect on the economics of the station. There were a number of new people such as Pyers and Ian the engineer who were becoming involved in the technical side of the station.

A high point was the fourth birthday party. Pervious parties had been broadcast live from the open air or from halls. This one was held on a boat cruising up and down the Thames. Not only was the atmosphere wonderful but the sheer technical achievement of linking from a moving boat to a fixed site was incredible. Even the BBC had problems broadcasting the Boat Race live on the Thames, but Thameside managed to pull it off.

After the birthday the shows became longer. Instead of just running from 7-10pm they would go past midnight. A number of new presenters such as Paul James, Terry Anderson and The Curly Man appeared - and some old ones disappeared. The station began to broadcast in stereo.

[edit] Decline

However the growth in quantity was not matched by audience growth - there were fewer letters and special events. There was a growth in competition. Some of it came from the original members of Thameside who set up Hilltop Radio which pioneered the (now more common) "zoo" format in contrast to the personality driven approach commonly used. Finally the BBC realised that there was a need for rock/pop shows on Sunday evenings and launched the Annie Nightingale Show on Radio 1 in direct competition to Thameside. Annie had exactly the same format as Thameside: strong listener involvement - especially through letters, an identical music policy and even used the same competitions and quizzes. Increasing numbers of raids meant that Thameside's legendary 100% reliability was no longer there. The presenters became less innovative and enthusiastic and the station gradually wound down.

In one final blaze of glory Thameside pulled off another technical first - they set up the first pirate TV station. Broadcasting to north and west London Bob and Sarah ran a Christmas special and showed the Beatles Yellow Submarine. While this was a major technical feat, and received coverage in the national press it was a one-off. After that Thameside was no more.

[edit] Where are they now?

Given the professional approach that Thameside took it's no surprise that many of the people involved went on to work in broadcasting.

Last heard of:

  • Bob Edwards was developing digital recording studios.
  • The Birdman has appeared on other radio stations, mostly licensed RSLs (stations with a 28 day licence). These have included Radio Cracker, The Clockwork Wireless Company and Bromley Local Radio.
  • Alex was working for the BBC.
  • Paul James was making radio programmes.
  • Ian the engineer moved to TV.
  • Pyers Easton went onto found SBS Broadcast which owns the Eddystone and Raycom brands [1]
  • Sarah was a newspaper journalist.
  • Terry Anderson is an actor and writer, living in California, USA.
  • Tony Lloyd disappeared without trace (unless you know better).
  • The Curly Man was in the US

[edit] See also

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