Laser 558

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Laser 558 was a popular European offshore pirate radio station (others include Radio Caroline, Radio Noordzee and Swinging Radio England) launched in 1984. Laser 558 used mainly American disc jockeys who had been recruited and flown over from the USA. The station was based aboard the ship the MV Communicator, which was based in international waters in the North Sea, and thus took advantage of a legal loophole which allowed them to circumvent the requirements for an official license and legally broadcast to the UK. Within a matter of months the station had gained an audience of millions - probably because of its programming format of one oldie followed by one current song. Eventually poor management and lack of advertising income starved the station off the air. In 1986 an attempt was made to return the station to the airwaves as Laser Hot Hits, but the same problems arose once more.

1 Background to the era
2 The beginnings of Laser Radio
3 Antenna problems
4 Technical info
5 Eurosiege
6 Business failure
7 The Last Broadcast
8 Aftermath
9 MV Communicator
10 Station Theme
11 DJ Themes
12 Singles
13 References
14 External sources

[edit] Background to the era

Cover from Laser 558 Story CD (1993) depicting MV Communicator.

The 1980s were musically a throwback to the climate and conditions that had prevailed in the 1960s. The UK music charts were approximately one year ahead of the charts in the USA and British music was very popular in America. At the time music videos were beginning to become popular, and MTV had created a following from viewers who were hooked by back-to-back music videos. Britain was ahead of the US in creating music videos, and so British groups gained a big chunk of the airplay on MTV and subsequently the US charts.

[edit] The beginnings of Laser Radio

One of the original funders intending to profit from the return of Radio Caroline, Roy Lindau, President of airtime sales company Music Media International, left owing to disagreements about programme format. There were also unconfirmed reports that backing had been promised by Philip Morris inc who pulled out at the last minute following pressure from European authorities.

The team originally planned to create a new offshore venture with two stations on one ship. This ambitious plan was scaled down to create a single station called Laser. The station was built on board a vessel that would use a high-flying balloon system in order to keep an extremely high antenna aloft.

[edit] Antenna problems

The early days of Laser were overshadowed by problems with their antenna. Radio Caroline had already returned to the airwaves from its new ship. When Laser splashed on to the media scene in the UK and immediately commanded attention, but the first frequency chosen (729 kHz) was a poor choice due to interference and this problem was compounded when the balloon antenna system failed completely. As a result the station was often off the air.

[edit] Technical info

Unlike most European radio stations Laser played nearly all its music from tape cartridges, rather than vinyl. Roy Lindau thought the needle on vinyl records would jump in rough seas. The North Sea, which kills far more than the Bermuda Triangle, rarely creates a "jolt" sufficient to make such a needle jump between tracks on a vinyl record.

[edit] Eurosiege

On the 9th August 1985, the UK's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), chartered the vessel the 'Dioptric Surveyor' to anchor nearby to monitor pirate stations Laser and Caroline, at the reported cost of £50,000 a month. Having suffered from being tossed about by the North Sea in the relatively small Dioptric Surveyor for some weeks (to the amusement of the Laser staff who issued reports on the DTI staff being ill over the side of the ship), it was replaced with the much larger 'Gardline Tracker'. This ship had been chartered from Gardline Surveys, whose history dates back to the time of Grace Darling, founder of the Lifeboat service. Ironically the 'Gardline Tracker' was in fact a sister ship of the 'MV Communicator', which had been purchased from Gardline whilst in Great Yarmouth harbour, at which time it was named the 'Gardline Seeker'.

Unlike Caroline, the DJs at Laser made frequent references to the DTI vessel on air, poking fun at the ship and staff, and even releasing a parody song titled I Spy For The DTI by the Moronic Surveyors (the band consisted of Paul Young, John Wilson, Rob Day and Laser DJs Erin Kelly and Liz West). The term, Euroseige, was coined by Charlie Wolf.

The song I Spy for the DTI has the same tune and almost exactly the same lyrics as I Spy for the FBI

[edit] Business failure

While the music programming was a success, the business plan could be diplomatically said to be less of a success. The backers failed to secure the deluge of advertising that they had hoped, although ads were heard for big brands like Rolling Stone and Time Out magazines. Meanwhile Radio Caroline continued broadcasting and attracting little attention from the DTI.

Shortly after the start of Laser558, Radio Caroline began simulcasting with a 5 kW transmitter on the nearby frequency of 576 kHz, although this channel suffered more interference.

[edit] The Last Broadcast

Due to the blockade and the lack of a sound business plan to supply the successful station with income, the MV Communicator was eventually forced into a British port (escorted by her sister ship 'Gardline Tracker'), where the ship and its broadcasting equipment was seized by the authorities.

The day after Laser's closure Radio Caroline moved from 576 to 558 kHz, a move that angered some Laser fans but gave Caroline much improved reception, even with 5 kW.

Eventually the MV Communicator was bought by East Anglian Productions and they were left mainly unhindered during restoration to a functioning radio station in Essex, and sent back out to sea and went back on air in Autumn 1986 as Laser Hot Hits. Because Caroline had claimed the 558 frequency Laser was forced to use 576, reversing the original situation.

Laser Hot Hits lasted for far less time than the original venture, and was generally thought to be inferior to the original Laser 558. The station then went off the air sometime in the Spring of 1987.

[edit] Aftermath

Charlie Wolf was the most memorable and popular of the former Laser DJs. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, he was working and living in Salt Lake City, Utah, when he answered an advert in Radio & Records Magazine (a weekly industry paper in the USA). Wolf has told friends that he almost did not take the job -- ultimately signing up because it would be a free six-month to a year's trip to London. He now lives in the UK, where he has worked for a number of radio stations in the GWR Group (now GCap). He presented several shows on TalkSport Radio (2000-2006), and is known for his outspoken on-air views.

Dave Lee Stone who was the only original 558 DJ to return with a pre-recorded show on Hot Hits on Sundays, died in 1997 after a drinking binge.

Jessie Brandon who actually travelled on board the MV Communicator from Ft. Lauderdale, FLorida on its transAtlantic crossing to Europe, went on to work for Radio Nova, Capitol Radio, and Radio Luxembourg. She returned to the states and worked in rock, jazz, and lastly with Simon Marks' FeatureStoryNews based in Washington, D.C.. Jessie is not currently on the air.

Steve Masters was last heard of working for the Voice of America and running a consulting business back in the US.

Rik Harris left Laser in 1985 to work on Radio Nova.

The most surprising appearance on Laser Hot Hits was that of Andrew Turner as a DJ. Andrew Turner had first appeared as a newsreader on Radio Caroline North and was the only UK resident to stay on board after August 14th 1967. During initial test transmissions he was almost single handedly doing the presentations.

[edit] MV Communicator

After Laser Hot Hits went off the air, the MV Communicator was once again impounded by UK authorities. This time it was stripped of studio equipment, although the transmitters and generators were intact. The ship was sold many times, until the early 1990s, when radio station Holland FM bought the ship and broadcast from it to the Netherlands. Later the Communicator was sold yet again, this time to the Veronica Broadcasting Society, who then sold it to Quality Radio. The ship was then sold to Dave Miller's The Superstation.

Following an incident where the ship took on sea water, Dave Miller sold the ship for just 1,000 pounds. The Communicator is now 'beached' and the new owner plans to scrap the ship. The generators have already been removed by the new owner and the hatches have had their covers removed, exposing parts of the ship's interior to the elements.

The MV Communicator currently lies near St Margaret's Hope pier in Orkney. The mast has been removed and the hull has been partially cut up for scrap. A tribute to the ship (complete with a photo of the ship being broken up) appears on the Radio Caroline website - http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/communicator.asp

[edit] Station Theme

The station 'theme song' for both Laser 558 and Laser Hot Hits was Thank You For The Music by ABBA.

[edit] DJ Themes

Charlie Wolf's theme song was Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf? by The Three Little Pigs.

[edit] Singles

I Spy For The DTI, a parody song by band called The Moronic Surveyors was released on the 23rd September 1985 (Farce records 7" single DTI 007, 12" single DTIT 007).

Laser Radio, by The Communicators. This song, praising the station, was recorded and written by Laser fans Roger King and Yanni Tsamplakos.

Laser Rap by Jazzy E. The music for the station's promotional video.