The Radio Rose of Texas by Derek Burroughs,
jr.
Chapter 4: Inputs from and on
Olga Patricia broadcasters.
ÓThis
is Rick Randall.[1]Ó
ÓWLCY Tampa-St.Petersburg ÔSwinging
GentlemanÕ Rick Randall in front of the Newsroom board (He says it was a
"Yard") and mike with an Ampex reel-to-reel in the background - Photo
taken in either 1966 or 1967.
My first
time to work with actual studio equipment was in a closed circuit AFRTS
facility in a military hospital in North Dakota while I was recovering from
surgery there. My commercial broadcast career began while I was still
wearing an USAF uniform at a radar site in central Montana. When I was discharged, I accepted my
first full time civilian radio gig at a great, but unstable station, KUDI, in
Great Falls, Montana.
After a
year, I placed a classified ad in ÓBroadcastingÓ, not knowing Don Pierson had
contacted this magazine for talent to broadcast from the Olga Patricia, while
the ship was still anchored in a harbor in Miami, Florida. He told me he came across my name in
the ads. He called me and asked if I was interested in going to England. The
same day I got on a plane and went down to Miami.
Though
admittedly terribly "green" at the time – I was the first
presenter as you call it to be recruited to join SwinginÕ Radio England and
Britain Radio.
I was in
Miami with Don, helping to put together the studios and transmitter facilities
for the ship for about 3 weeks before we set sail on the Olga Patricia.
When Ron
OÕQuinn came along it was clear that he knew radio a whole lot better than I,
so he was the natural leader. It was great working with him and he was a
wonderful friend as well.
Don had
originally planned basically an automated operation, but when Ron joined, he
didnÕt fancy that, wanting to play records as a dj. Therefore plans were
changed, and we put in turntables and a Collins mixing board with large round
knobs. We had a rack manufactured where we put our commercials, IDs and jingles
on tape carts.
We left
Miami in a hurry because a Miami Herald Reporter was nosing around the dock,
and as Don didnÕt want to get tied up in any legal problems, we Ógot the heck
out of Dodge.Ó
Jerry Smithwick
and myself were on board, while Ron flew to London to make arrangements ahead
of our arrival.
We ran
into a storm our first night at sea, causing our antenna to come crashing to
the deck with an eerie, reverberating sound that echoed throughout the steel
hull of our vessel. The seas were pretty rough, and I found myself
thinking that I might not make it through the night without giving up my
supper. But that did not happen, and the next day the weather calmed down
considerably, and most of the rest of our journey was quite pleasant, with some
Órock and rollÓ. It took, I believe, 11 days before we saw land again,
stopping in the Azores, where Don had arrived by air and rented a taxi to give
us a tour of that beautiful paradise. Then, because of the damage to our
antenna, we diverted to Lisbon where we enjoyed an unscheduled holiday, while
engineers crafted a new mount and design for the antenna and secured it in
place before our voyage north to our final destination. I remember it was cool
and wet.
The
finishing touches were also put on the studios and transmitters. As I had been
a radar technician in the USAF, I knew a little bit of wiring simple equipment.
There is some movie footage of me wiring the control panel, which was what I
was doing when we sailed over.
All the
while at sea, I noticed the ship listing to the port side by what I would guess
was at least 3 or 4 degrees, which seemed odd at first. But then I realized
it must surely have been because of a huge, bell shaped anchor Don had acquired
in Miami and strapped to the deck along the port railing. I thought at the
time, it was big enough for the Queen Mary. Don explained to me that the Radio
Caroline ship had suffered the fate of a bad storm in England in January and
consequently had broken free of its anchor and washed up on shore. He was
determined to make sure that would not happen to us. Finally I concluded
that once we reached our destination and dropped it, it would probably never be
raised again. I bet it is still there, a sort of silent monument to the
American Pirate Radio invasion that shook the British and European
airwaves.
On shore
leave there was hustle bustle and a lot of activities going. I stayed in an
apartment in Berkeley Square with four flat-mates. I went to ÓThe Party of the
YearÓ, and remember going to the Hilton and being surrounded by a huge crowd
clamouring for autographs. It was kind of fun to feel like a star for a little
while.
I also
did a lot of touring around the Continent, to France, Spain, Italy,
Switzerland.
But I was
a long way from my family and decided I wanted to go back to the USA. I was the
first presenter on board, but also the first to leave. I was getting kind of
burnt out from what we were doing.
I
remember getting a letter from my mom reminding me that school would start up
in the fall, so I got on thinking maybe I should return to the States and get
into college. Later, I went to the University of Florida.
Ron
helped me into work with a legendary station in the 60s, WLCY
Tampa-St.Petersburg 1380. I was working at first for a buck and a quarter an
hour, until I was put on the full time payroll at $80 a week.
I did
news in the evening shift opposite one of the several Jack E. Rabbitts (Gene
Pope) who worked there (one other of them you well know - Ron O'Quinn!),
followed by Swingin' Sweeney (Rick Morgan), and put on my "Swingin'
Gentleman" hat on the weekends.
After my
time at WLCY, I came to WFLA 970 also in Tampa, where I was the mid-day
personality between 1969 and 1972.
Other
Florida stations I worked at: I spent a couple of years at WGUL when it was a
New Port Richey AM/FM combo and 5 years at WTAN in Clearwater (also 96 Fever
and Magic 96 FM) with Rick Bruce as my on-air name. I also was on 1470 when it
was WWQT ÓNewsradio 1470Ó in the 80's with my current employer Bud Paxson
– (when the Home Shopping Network was conceived), and News Director when
it was operated out of West Pasco as WFNN.
I also
got first taste as a country jock at its sister station called "Your
Country 106", WVTY-FM.
My last
on-air assignment ended in 1992 on 570 WHNZ in Tampa where I was again in the
newsroom.
Besides
around Florida (including Gainesville, St Augustine and Panama City), I also
worked in Thomasville, Georgia(with Larry Dean); Allentown, Pennsylvania;
Toledo, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; KGA in Spokane, Washington; and of course
Montana, where it all began in 1964.
I've been
working off-air with Paxson Communications (newly renamed ION Media Networks in
2006) since the early Õ90Õs, though no longer on-the-air as what you call a
ÔpresenterÕ. Instead I am now in
network operations at our satellite uplink for PaxTV (also renamed the ÓiÓ
network (meaning ÓIndependentÓ), in ClearwaterÓ.
IÕve got
some programmes on the air called Worship for Kids. Those are the only
programmes on the air that I am aware of are on the air anywhere where my voice
is still heard, and I am the ÓVoice of GodÓ. I feel like you canÕt do much
better than that.
From an
American point of view, and as one who was involved in the pirate radio events
of the mid-60s, it is quite unexpected indeed to find there is still interest
in our adventures back then, and to learn how radio and broadcasting has evolved
since. Nothing like the pirate era has ever occurred in the US, and
few Americans are even aware such a thing ever happened.
I have
always regarded my few months in the North Sea being part of the staff of
"Boss Jocks" as unique and unforgettable. It was a privilege to
have been a part of it.
ÓThe
Larry Dean showÓ[2]:
ÓIÕd
known Ron OÕQuinn since 3rd grade, in the small town of Hazlehurst, Georgia,
where we had the same elementary school teacher. My family then moved to
Moultrie. Then, about the 9th grade, RonÕs family also moved there, so we
caught up with each other again. But Ron got into radio first, at WMGA
Moultrie. When Ron left and they had an opening, he said: ÓYouÕve got to go for
thisÓ. I got a part-time job working at night-it was my senior year at high
school.
Later Ron
and I were both working in Tampa. I was at WALT 1110, ÓTiger RadioÓ. We had a
real live Bengal tiger kept in a cage. The station would send it round to Esso
stations-Óput a Tiger in your tankÓ. But the tiger keeper got himself jailed,
and the general manager of the station called me in, and wanted me to go to
Orlando to take care of the tiger. I told him, ÓNo WayÓ. I got fired. But they
gave me a great reference.
IÕd been
up at WPTR Albany for about a year when Ron called me and said: ÓWhat do you
think about being a pirateÓ. IÕd read about pirate radio, and it fascinated me.
So I said, sure. I think that prior to Ron, only Rick Randall had been hired.
Then Jerry Smithwick was hired.
Ron had
flown to London to get things set up. I flew to London about a month before the
ship got there. We spent a lot of time talking to promotion and record people,
just trying to get the contacts within the industry. Before the ship arrived,
Ron and I did most of the sights in London. We would do our promotion rounds,
and then we go and take the tube and see what we could see. So we saw a lot of
London and I really enjoyed it. I had a great time. The food was marvellous-the
restaurants in London canÕt be beaten. They had such a variety, it was superb.
On land we had an apartment in Wimbledon not far from Ron.
In the
centre cargo hold of the ship were dropped the 50 kW transmitters and big
diesel generators for AC power. And in the forward hold, a prefab studio set-up
was just dropped in. No crew facilities or living facilities were put in. So we
have a full crew of announcers, go out to the ship and thereÕs no place for us
to sleep. They brought in some little canvas cots, which we had to put
together. Jerry and Rick were lucky, they went over with the ship and had a
stateroom together. The rest of the ship was occupied by crew. They eventually
built decent facilities later on. But it was pretty bad to begin with[3].
When the
ship arrived none of the equipment had been tested. We had steel cable stays on
the mast and insulators on the cables. We put the transmitters on the air, and
within a week all the stays had been burned-they would arc around and just burn
the insulators and just burn the cable in two. At the point I left, the mast
was just sticking up-there was nothing holding it up, other than the base.
I was not
used to living on a ship and being at sea. The first month or so, I ate very
little, and what I did, usually went over the side. It was a strange situation
because you had all the beer you could drink, and all the cigarettes you could
smoke. But you were so seasick all the time.
The
reaction to the radio station was very good. I think I saw some figures that
within the first month or two, it was up to 3 million a week.
But ÓThe
Swinging66 TourÓ was a disaster. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. In
Birmingham we were using wireless mikes on stage. But the local police were
apparently using the same or adjacent frequency. Our mikes would pick up some
of this stuff, and about halfway through the show, they made us stop using
them. Apparently we were coming through on their radios as well. After the
show, we went out to a local club, and a woman comedienne came on and began
doing a parody of what we had done on stage earlier that evening. It was
really, really funny. Jerry and I stood up and bowed. They invited us to a
party after hours. We partied about half the night and had a great time.
The
organisation became worse. Decisions were made without full coordination.
Management were brilliant at making money, but had their limitations in running
a radio station.
We began
to get the idea that we might go back when Ron got his immigration problems.
But after thinking about it for a while, it was another month before we
actually left. Bale out before any problems.
I went
back to Tampa and ended up working at a radio station in Thomasville, GA.
Within a few months Ron and Jerry also started working for the stations in same
area. We stayed there for a couple of years. Later I was at WQTR in Whiteville,
North Carolina where we did an AOR format.Ó
This is the radio station of News Director Frank
Laseter(since 1993), aka Larry Dean ex Radio England, Country
Station WSOC Charlotte, NC. 103,7 FM. Illustration from http://www.wsocfm.com
"They wanted us to sound slick, pacy and fast"[4]
Roger Day
started his career in 1966 on the MV Olga Patricia as a deejay with Swinging Radio
England — a.k.a. BOSS Radio — and stuck it out to the end with that
station.
How
did you become interested in radio?
What got
me going was listening to Radio Veronica. I didn't know what it was and I
didn't even know it was on a boat. I used to live in south-east England and
Radio Veronica used to bounce in. There were no English stations apart from
Radio Luxembourg, and Radio Veronica was playing music and it was great. I only
found out later that it was on a boat when I started working for the stations
themselves. At school I was known as Juke Box Joe because I was so besotted
with the radio.
Radio
Luxembourg and Radio Veronica did deviate from what you heard on British radio
in those days?
Well, in
England it was two record shows a week and when I listened to Radio Luxembourg
I thought that I'd like that job because I love music and I really did want to
play it. I guess I was about 13 and I had no idea of how you went about it. I
practised with a tape recorder in my bedroom.
In
1966 a group of American businessmen started two radio stations on the MV Laissez
Faire: Swinging Radio England and Britain Radio. How did you get involved with
them?
I had
sent some audition tapes to Radio Caroline and Radio London and, like everyone
else, I was rejected. I met Dave Cash, who worked for Radio London and I asked him
whether there was any chance of a job on the boat. He said that it was unlikely
because I had no experience but there was a new station starting up run by
Americans who'd just flown in that day and were staying at the Hilton Hotel in
Mayfair and why didn't I go and see them. So with my girlfriend, we went to see
them and they asked me what I wanted. I told them that I wanted a job and
because I was the first English person they'd had, they said I could have one[5]. They didn't know whether I was
good, bad or indifferent!
Some
of the other guys on Britain Radio were Brian Tilney and Colin Nicol. I heard,
that Brian Tilney also hadn't done any radio before ...
No, Brian
was a bingo caller! Good qualification! I used to be an accountant and Johnny Walker
was a car salesman and, apparently, that's why they picked us because they
didn't want us sounding like the other English deejays who they thought were
bad. They wanted us to sound slick, pacy and fast like the Americans and they
wanted to teach us how to sell like they do and I'm very grateful because I
never got into the bad British habits.
American
style radio was introduced to Britain by Radio London. Swinging Radio England
was meant to go even beyond that. Did you have to listen to tapes just like the
Radio London jocks did to learn the trade the American way?
Yes, we
listened to tapes from WFUN in Miami and I'd never heard American radio until
then and I thought it was superb and they wanted to sound like that. Swinging
Radio England is still one of the best stations there's ever been.
WFUN
survey from October 25th, 1964, from http://www.las-solanas.com/gallery.php The coming radio ship Galaxy
has just left Dade Drydock in Miami, bound for San Juan, Madeira and the UK.
Almost 1 1/2 years later WFUN disc jockey
Jack Armstrong hears a knock on the door by Rick Randall representing a man
called Don Pierson who soon will have another radio ship ready. He also started
the first...[6]
Swinging
Radio England and Britain Radio were created by some of the Texan backers who
had broken away from Radio London. Among them was Don Pierson. So Pierson had
also been involved with Radio London. Was that fact known to the staff of the
station?
Well, I
didn't know and it was only later on that I found out that he'd set it up and
they'd done the dirty on him.
Did
Don Pierson or Bill Vick often visit the ship?
Bill Vick
not so much, but Don Pierson was always on. He'd come on with his wife and
every time he came on, he'd ask to play "The Yellow Rose Of Texas"
which was hardly the sort of music we played. Well, Britain Radio did! They
were fabulous characters, just like you see in Dallas, if they wanted it, they
bought it.
How
big was the cultural gap between the British and the American deejays?
They
didn't understand us, but I don't think we understood them either. It used to
really annoy the American deejays, who used to work for really professional Top
Forty radio for years. They were better deejays than Johnny, Brian and all the
other guys, including myself. But who was getting all the mail? We were! Simply
because we were English and the English are always strange about foreigners.
How
were the conditions on the MV Olga Patricia when you first went on board?
It wasn't
really ready when they came over and the first place I slept was in the mess
room. There used to be a big refrigerator and we thought it had been a body
boat from the Vietnam war. We were convinced there were ghosts on board.
Friendly ones, though. I slept in the toilet, the bathroom and I think just
before I left, they built the cabins.
You
made your programmes for Swinging Radio England. Did you also do any programmes
on Britain Radio, as the station was airing from the same ship?
Yes, I
did. But I don't think any tapes exist, thank God! I was a rock 'n' roll fan
and I didn't like doing the "Hello, This is Britain Radio" in a posh
voice.
Much
has been said about the concept of BOSS Radio. They didn't understand Europe
very well, though, did they?
Not
really. They heard Radio Caroline and Radio London and they thought those were
crap and that they could do it better. I have to agree. Compared to what we
were doing, these other stations were boring. We moved, we were pacy. I think,
we were too early. The station was at least ten years before Britain was ready
for it, and that's why we didn't pull in a great audience. They made some wrong
decisions with frequencies but, even to this day, it was still a great radio
station,
The
ship was equipped with a Carousel unit. Was it difficult to use?
Well,
this was one of the first stations to have automation. I mean, you have it now,
but we had it in 1966! I used to sit in the studio, at night and watch this
thing go round with announcements that "This Is Britain Radio",
etcetera.
Apparently
the Swinging Radio England organisation hired an advertising agency that,
before that time, had only sold advertising in cinemas?
And they weren't
very successful for us. That was another bad decision. They made a lot of bad
decisions. They had new ideas but they didn't come off.
The
Radio England broadcasters were expected to read the news on their sister
station Britain Radio and vice versa. Was it difficult for you to read the
news?
Yes, we
had to read the news over this jingle backing and trying to read as fast as the
music. The weather one was the fun because it used to have a countdown in it so
by the time it got to 1, there was a big explosion and off into some music. I
used to be so nervous doing it that I read it that fast that I'd finished by 8!
The
types of music aired by the offshore stations were different. What can you tell
about the music of Swinging Radio England?
We used
to play things a lot earlier. A lot of stuff was American and we were always
the first with Motown Records. A lot of the young people liked us for that. We
played a lot of Beach Boys too, which was great, and we were way in front of
everyone else. The trouble was, we used to drop things before they were
released in England. Musically, we used to be very quick and had a prediction
chart like Radio London, but we were way ahead of them.
How
was the BOSS Fun 50 compiled?
Sometimes
by me! I thought that a record was good so I put it in. Never mind research.
Research is the biggest enemy of radio.
You
all shared the same tender with Radio London? How did you all get on with each
other?
Well,
on-air we were rivals but off-air we were all friends. We would get stuck in
Harwich so we'd have a few beers. The first time I met Tony Blackburn was when
we went out on the tender. Now this is a man I listened to and he was a god to
me.
There
was some rivalry , though, as the jingles of Radio Swinging England were stolen
by Radio Caroline and Radio London?
We were
the first radio station to have our jingles custom made whereas Radio London
had their jingles doctored so that sounded like they were Radio London's but
they weren't. They put Radio London over the top of them. We had two great
packages, which for a radio station that was only on the air for six months was
amazing. When we used the first package we were so naive that we played the
jingles on air without talking over them and Radio Caroline and Radio London
recorded them and they were on-air before we used them. Stupid, or what?[7]
Gary
Stevens, who worked for one of the top stations in New York City (WMCA), was
sending taped shows across the Atlantic to go out on Swinging Radio England.
Was there any contact between him and the guys on the ship?
No, I
never met him. We used to run a tape which he used to start with "Hi
everybody, it's whatever day it was" except one day we put the wrong tape
on the wrong day so it might have be a Sunday but it was Tuesday.
One of
the guys on board was Graham Gill, who came from Australia?
Yes, he
was a great guy. He was a little bit more reserved than the rest of us and he
didn't take part into many of the jokes that we played on each other.
At the
end of the year the owners decided that Swinging Radio England was to become a
Dutch station. On 13 November 1966 Radio England closed down and some days
later, on 14 November the new station Radio Dolfijn went on air, aimed at the
Dutch public. How did you react on that?
The way
we found out was absolutely awful. The tender came along and we were on the
deck and Johnny Walker was reading the paper and he said that we were going to
be a Dutch station. And that's how we found out. Literally Johnny said that he
was off and he jumped on the tender there and then and went back. I wished I
had joined him at the time. He got on Caroline before I did, the swine!
Your
next station was Radio Caroline South. Did you apply for a job there or did
they ask you?
No, I didn't
apply. I stuck it out to the end with Radio England and then I went back to
work in the clubs. About June, 1967, a lot of so-called superstars got cold
feet and I knew the guys at Radio Caroline and they knew me. I got home one day
and my Dad told me that Terry Bate from Caroline had rang and wanted me to call
him. They were desperate for anyone who'd had radio experience and he asked me
when I could start and I said tomorrow. So I told my disco "Bye, I'm off
to the boat."
Johnnie
Walker remembers Radio England whilst at Radio Caroline South
ÒLet
me tell you something about the work on Radio EnglandÉ.(from?)11 oÕclock. Radio
England(news) at 7.15, Britain Radio at 8. Radio England at 8.15, Britain Radio
at 9. And Radio England at 9.15, and then at about 9.40 I used to go to bed. I
couldnÕt sleep very long because one of the big snags thatÕs always been with
the radio ships has always been that the crew onboard tend to forget it is
housing a radio stationÉ.make lot of noise and banging thru the dayÉI used to
find it very difficult to sleepÉdid not get any meals thru the nightÉif you
wanted to eatÉ3 hours get up and eat and then have 3 hours sleepÉpretty hard
sceneÉcrew on Radio EnglandÉsome Spanish, some DutchÉpretty hard on that shipÉRoger
Day would verify that.(Play)Radio England aircheck from about let me think
September of last year(played recording we have placed here on October 8th,
1966 see diary.) Played Remember this Golden Classic Jingle without Swinging
Radio England at the end, and remarked Naughty Caroline pinched the
jingles...Radio England pinched jingles too.[8]Ó
ÒYou
are listening to the Jerry Smithwick program!Ó
ÒI sailed
from Miami on the Olga Patricia once the outfitting for the two radio stations
was completed. The trip turned into an extended sailing venture when the mast
collapsed at sea between New York and Bermuda.Ó
ÒThe mast
was bolted on a plate to the deck and the top heaviness of the mast with the
antenna added probably created enough force that it just snapped the bolts and
it fell over the side. Once that happened I think our top speed was about six
knots so it took us forever!Ó
ÒWe had to
put in at the Azores Islands for several days and then limped on to Lisbon for
2, maybe 3, weeks of repairs before sailing on to our site in the North Sea off
Harwich[9].Ó
ÒRon
OÕQuinn, Larry Dean and myself all came from a little town in Georgia called
Moultrie, and all of us were involved in the radio business. At that time I was
working in Gainesville, GA. Ron was down at WFUN in Miami and was approached by
the leader of the project team putting the ship together in Miami, to become
programme director and one of RonÕs responsibilities was hiring disc-jockey
staff. So he called myself and Larry and I thought it sounded really great. I
left my job the next day and flew to Miami and that was the first time that I
had ever been on the ocean!ÓÉ
ÒThe
studios were completely built and operational, except that the actual
frequencies for Britain Radio and Radio England hadnÕt been selected, so Ron
and I got on top of the London Hilton with a transistor radio and we just sort
of dialed through until we hit a silent spot, and thatÕs how the frequencies
were decided! We got on top of Radio Moscow and we had to re-adjust one of the
frequencies but that was the only thing that had to be done once we(made)the
stations operational.
Jerry
Smithwick on the tender in May 1966(r) with Dick Sharp, a staffer of 32 Curzon
Street.(l). Photo from the Pierson family collection,
kindly provided by ©Grey Pierson.
Ron and
his wife had a little flat in Wimbledon and allowed me to rent a bedroom from
them. WeÕd work a couple of weeks on the ship then we had a week off to visit
and meet folks and it was absolutely wonderful. It was the first time I had
been to England and I loved it.
32 Curzon
Street was the office for the radio operation on the ship and Don Pierson and
Bill Vick set up their offices there. The sales operation was actually based
there as well. It was also where we got our pay cheques! For those times, we
were making fairly decent money, about 150-200 dollars a week.
There was
some internal strife with the management between Don Pierson and Bill Vick,
which made things a bit uncomfortable for some of the Americans. Rick Randall
actually left before the three of us did. Ron and I were on the same flight
coming back and Larry a week later.
I thought
the response was phenomenal. We came out of small-market radio and it was
almost inconceivable when we put Radio England on the air and after people
found us, to have the tender draw alongside the ship and have sometimes
thousands of letters each day. It was just unbelievable. The DJÕs were as
popular as the musicians of the music we were playing. When we came off the
ship in Harwich, there would be two or three hundred people there wanting to
see us. We all liked it and I donÕt think any of us were stars but personally I
didnÕt know how to deal with it because I had never been faced with it before.
The thing
that really sealed it for me was there was a lot of effort to put the ships out
of business. One of the things we heard was that the FCC indicated it would
revoke the US licence of any Americans associated with the pirates. This meant
itÕd be difficult to get a job in radio when we got back to the States. But I
didnÕt really want to leave. The ship was beginning to come into its own. We
had built a faily loyal listener base, which was increasing from month to month
and the DJs were becoming known. We would probably have become more accepted if
we had stayed around longer.
Following
Radio England I worked at WFUN for a few months and then moved around various
stations and in late 1968 I went back into the Army. After that I went back
into radio until 1974 and then went into TV in sales, programming and later on,
General Manager. In 1987 I came to Panama City, FL as President and GM of the
NBC-affiliated TV stations. But in 1996 I went into politics.Ó[10]
Phil
Martin reporting.
Phil Martin is from London, but was a student in Bristol. Back in
London he worked for Lintas, an ad agency which was a division of
multi-national Unilever. He lived in a flat at Bruton Place off Berkeley Square
with some mates working in the PR trade.
Through these, Phil was introduced to Rick Randall, working for SRE and BR. He
was given a script to read, Randall said: ÓSounds fine to me, come along and
join usÓ[11], and took a
three week holiday and went out to the Olga. He stayed on, and broadcast on
both stations, being newsreader on Ó227Ó and also making it to Programme
Controller on Britain Radio , where he stayed on after SRE went away. When Radio 355 appeared Phil went back
to the ship for a couple of months, but did not stay for the close down.
Later Phil worked as a journalist of the Daily Express, after
which he went back to broadcasting in the form of morning presenter of BBC
Radio Newcastle and then to producing TV at Tyne Tees.
In an interview in 2004, Phil said about his time on the Olga: ÓIt
was an exciting, hectic, amazing, fun era, that gave us familiarity with the
microphone.Ó
Phil
Martin at the Carousel[12].
Summer
1966 brings Òthe Second US WaveÓ[13]
to the Ò227Ó microphone.
In Don Pierson's files[14],
there is a note written by Don dated July 8th, 1966. This mentions the
following new personnel for the station:
Klingeman-25
Claremont Dr. Harrisburg, PA
Phillips-RFD
1 Nashua, New Hampshire
Curtiss-1139
Second St.,No.4, NW Roanoke, VA
Henry-713
W 4th St., St.Louis Town, PA[15]
Berry-77-28
Manor Dr., Harrisburg, PA
From
now existing information it is evident that
Klingeman-was
Robert(Bob) Klingeman, the late Boom
Boom Brannigan.
Phillips-was
Rick Phillips, the late Chuck Blair(appeared
on promos and ads on SRE/Britain Radio(like the 3 "Music, in the air
everywhere" ones on Britain Radio) even after he went to Radio London)
Curtiss-is
Jack Curtiss
Henry-unidentified.
Who could he be? Some sources mention a Jim Henry briefly on the Laissez
Faire,we have never heard him.
Berry-Bill
Berry(Now WKPQ Hornell, NY 1320)
This
July 8th note does not say anything about the third US wave of Boss Jocks:
The
late Tom Hatala, broadcasting as Tom Cooper-and
Greg Warren? A recording from July 29th,
1966 from Britain Radio seems to indicate they are the same person. However, he
reads the news on Britain Radio on November 8th, 1966 as Tom Cooper.
Ron
Rose?, broadcasting as Mark Stevens and Ted Delaney. Replaced Johnnie Walker? Mark Stevens was in the lead in the final
show on SRE Nov.13th, 1967 from 2300-2330. He then interviewed Bill Berry and
said he had come from PA while he(Mark)came from CA. Heard doing 2300-0600 in
October, 1966, and reading the 8.15 news on October 28th. Continued
on Britain Radio which left in January, 1967, and returned to California where
he came from.(San Francisco)
Other
additions to the staff were
John
Ross-Barnard, see separate chapter. Read news
on SRE at least until October 22nd.
Gordon
Bennett was earlier on Radio Caroline as Gary
Kemp, and worked also for the BBC at the same time under another name![16]
Now seems to live in Tulsa, OK as Gary Kemp. He has worked there on KVOO 1170.
Alan
Black, the cartoonist of the Olga, see separate
chapter. Alan Black joined the Olga in September, 1966, and appeared on SRE at
least until mid-October 1966. Then Britain Radio. On the final day of Radio
355, Alan was Senior dj and was the longest-serving dj on the ship, his voice
had been on both channels and on all 5 stations.
Canadian
Errol Bruce was earlier on Radio Caroline,
went to Britain Radio, later on AM1430(then CKFH call letters) in Toronto. On
air on SRE on November 13th until 1515. Might have gone ashore?
Later re-appeared on Britain Radio.
Johnny
Dark(Harry Putnam) , see separate
illustration. Of Britain Radio's R&B Nite Ride he was also a salesman and
is the voice on the Oscar's Groovy Grotto ad on SRE, as well as on a BOH ID.
Graham
Gill, see separate illustration. He joined SRE
in June 1966 from Radio London, later only on Britain Radio? Summer 1967 on
Radio 390. Later on Radio Caroline and Radio Noordzee Int. off Holland. Then
Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. Now retired, lives in Holland.
Phil
Martin, see separate chapter. He read news on
SRE and was dj on Britain Radio until its end on Feb.28th, 1967. Later back on
Radio 355.
Bruce
Wayne(David J Bennett).
SRE
Boss Jocks Roger Day, Bill Berry and Bruce Wayne
were called Britain Radio djs in a newspaper AD for The Uppercut Club as of
December, 1967.
Willy
Walker of Radio London gave Jerry King(Fred
Riley)(ex ZBM Hamilton, Bermuda just like Big L djs WW, Duncan Johnson, and
Mike Lennox) an Olga role[17].
Jerry went at any rate to Radio Caroline North.
"Boom Boom Brannigan"
or Bob Klingeman
ÒBoomerÓ broadcast on "Swinging Radio
England" from sometime in August 1966 to 12th of November 1966. He was a
very good presenter, much loved by his listeners[18].
1966-1967 scribbling at a school in
NorwayÉ
The person we are dealing with here is not the ÒBoom BoomÓ
who was on WPTR 1540 in Albany, NY, but his identity came from a jingle tape
copied by Larry Dean who came to Radio England in the spring of 1966.
On
Sunday, November 13th, 1966, in the final programme on Swinging
Radio England, which started at 2300, Phil Martin went through a list of all
the ÒBoss JocksÓ having worked on the station. Martyn
Webster adds: Ó Well listening to the last half hour I think that Phil Martin
mentions that Boom Boom Brannigan "of the B B Spree" left the ship
yesterday I think.Ó This would point to him leaving November
12th, 1966 the day before closedown.
Phil Martin has described Boom Boom in this way:
ÒÉvery much a dj before his timeÉÓ who ÒÉhad a lot of personality.[19]Ó
In
this chapter we will try to take a closer look on the fascinating ÒBoom BoomÓ
character, along with a peek at what might be called the second US wave of
Boss Jocks for Radio England.
Suggested real names for Boom Boom, or ÒBoomerÓ were
from 1966 Bob Wayne, and "Steve Mathews" or "Mathers". The
note in Don Pierson's files[20]
mentions KlingemanÕs address as 25 Claremont Dr. Harrisburg, PA.
But
the late Boom Boom Brannigan was Robert(Bob) Klingeman. The address above is hopefully a lead to find Boomers' family. We
hope to track his relatives down if that is all possible, and let them know how
much he and his station is still remembered fondly by those who heard him so
long ago. If we could uncover his Social Security Number (SSN) then we might be
able to match it with any remaining payroll records on file. Surely thre must
be many that would like to tell them we remember him and his station with
fondness.
BoomerÕs
short life is summarized in this copy from Peter AlexÕ book ÒWhoÕs Who in Pop RadioÓ(1966),
out of print long ago, but a copy is on the web at
http://www.paulplu.demon.co.uk/whos_who/england.htm
Picture:
SRE publicity photo headshot taken in London. Boom Boom Brannigan(Bob Klingeman) from Peter AlexÕ book ÒWhoÕs Who in Pop
RadioÓ(1966), out of print long ago. Unknown photographer. As far as we
know, the only picture of Boomer anyone has besides the picture from a Roanoke
gig in early 1967.(below)
April
4th, 1967: Boomer's accident, by Jack Curtiss.
Jack,
formerly
General Manager operating the twin stations Radio England/Dolfijn-Britain
Radio) trading in the UK/Holland in 1966/67 and now living in Australia has
given a very valuable input on Boomer:
ÒBoom-Boom
(Bob Klingeman) as I recall may have also used the Wayne jingle before settling
in under the Brannigan monicker.
Boomer and
I toiled on the pirate radio ship Laissez Faire off the English coast in the
summer and fall of 1966.
I do
remember telling my later SRE crewmates (including Boom Boom) how very much I
enjoyed working at WROV in Roanoke, what a splendid chap Burton Levine was, and how highly
I regarded him.
How ironic
that Boom Boom, who as far as I could tell had never heard of Roanoke till I started
talking about it, headed there after returning home. He was still in
England until mid-November 1966, not a whole lot of time to get back to, maybe
spend the holidays with family in Pennsylvania and then work at two different
stations WROV and then WPXI. Here at ÒChannel 91Ó, or ÒPixieÓ, he would play
the same jingles as he did in the North Sea:
http://www.roanokeradio.com/WPXI/
If
my hunch is correct that Boomer didn't arrive in Roanoke until January, then he
would have spent scarcely three months between the two stations. Sadly, Boomer
did not remain at WROV but joined another new station across town, WPXI at 910
on the dial. While working there, he was killed in an accident.
The last known picture of Boomer making
a publicity appearance for WPXI just before he died on April 4th,1967.
Marty Shayne(Boomer's roommate at the time) ,"Pixie Girls" Valeria
Cook & Michele Lowe, Boom Boom Branegan,
along with fans. (Boomer changed the spelling when he got to Virginia). Marty
Shayne supplied the photo. Marty has told that he Boomer
were dating these girls at the time and he drove them both to his funeral in
Harrisburg. Valeria later became Marty's wife and is now a successful attorney.
Michelle died apparently in 2003 from health problems.
Jack Curtiss concludes:
ÒIn a way, I think Boomer's life was truly emblematic
of sixties pirate radio itself... brash, cocky, bursting with adolescent energy,
full of promise.. and cut short way too soon before its time. If you get a chance, raise a glass in fond recollection of
the "B-B Spree" and its host.Ó
And then itÕs over to Perry Woods, former
Operations Manager at WPXI:
ÒBob was brash, but I always attributed that to
youth.Ó I had only been on WPXI a few weeks(I think I arrived sometime in March
with the title Operations Manager) when the accident happened.
I was supposed to program WPXI-ÒPixieÓ and WCFV in
Clifton Forge. With Buford Epperson, everybody had a title. You could take it
and 10 cents and go to a restaurant and get a cup of coffee with it. I believe
Bob did have the title of PD. He did a regular weekday show from 2pm until
sign-off. I know I spent most of my time in those days explaining to BufordÕs
creditors that they would have to see him about the money he owed them. We made
do with what we had and BoomerÕs death was the beginning of WPXI having less
and less of everything. By the time I left WPXI they owed me a couple thousand dollars
(which I never got). The good news was, we ran the radio station the way we
wanted to because Epperson was too busy hiding from his creditors to put in
much time at the station. WE had a great sound, and nobody to go out and sell
it. I only knew Bob for about a month or 6 weeks. He was easily the most
talented member of the staff and with him doing afternoons, I felt we had an
honest chance to hold our own in the market. After BoomerÕs accident, things
really started to go down hill even more rapidly. People kept wondering when
they were going to get paid, since there was no sales staff, there just wasnÕt
much happening to give anyone much to be optimistic about. Because I had two
small children to take care of, I ended up going to WROV, at least there I got
a check on a regular basis. ThatÕs really the story, by the time I arrive, WPXI
had become sort of the skid row of radio station. We could have done very well
in Roanoke had Buford stayed out of whatever he was into. The sound was fresh,
it was clean and we were holding our own against WROV. I wish I could paint a
better picture for you, but that is the way it was. Marty and the rest of them were kids, they would have worked
for free (come to think of it, they were working for free). From a standpoint
of the work, Pixie was a great place to work because there was no interference
from management. But from the standpoint of a father trying to raise a family,
it left something be desired.
But from an operations standpoint, Pixie was terrific.
From a management standpoint, well, letÕs just say I got there a little late. I
do remember coming in one morning to do the show and Bob and Marty had spent
the entire night moving everything around (including the console) to make the
control room more efficient. I remember the panic I felt when I saw what theyÕd
done and thought to myself, well weÕll never get on the air today. But to my
surprise, everything worked like it was supposed to. I guess what I am really
trying to say here is that we had really wonderful people on the air staff.
They were truly the most inventive and resourceful group of people I ever had
the privilege of working with.
To be honest, April 4th, 1967 wasnÕt one of my better days. I was
still in the process of getting to know everyone when the accident happened. I
remember it was in the afternoon. Bob Klingeman was killed in a motorcycle
accident just two blocks from the station. He did not own a motorbike but had
borrowed the motorcycle from another jock, David Warf, working at sister Station
WCFV. Warf apparently had brought it to WPXI(probably from a dealer)where some
of the staffers each took turns riding it. Everybody wanted to. I was scheduled
to go next after Boomer. The result was, IÕve never been on a motorcycle since.
Bob was sitting on it at a stop sign at an
intersection when a lady did not see him. Her vehicle drug him about a block. I
remember going to the accident scene and I remember holding Bob before the
medics arrived. As IÕd left my
medical degree in my other pants that day, I canÕt honestly say if he died in
my arms or not. I knew Bob wasnÕt going to make it, for all intents and
purposes, he was not responsive and not conscious but he was still
breathing. So I know he was still
alive when I got there and when the medics got there, they took over and told
me after he had been put in the ambulance that he was gone. Officially he was
pronounced dead at the hospital. Bob LackeyÕs dad actually saw the wreck and
came to the station and told us about it.
I was the
one who had to go back to the studio and do BoomerÕs shift that afternoon. As I recall, I had been on the air only
a few minutes when I got the official word that he had died. It certainly made for a long afternoon
for me and I know it wasnÕt pleasant for Boomer either.Ó
Finally the word passes to Steve Richards(Steve
Nelson), also formerly of WPXI:
When
Boomer left Radio England he went to Roanoke and worked at WROV (where Jack
Curtiss had been a DJ prior to joining the ship). Boomer had brought with him a
copy of Herman's Hermits' No Milk Today and the song was played there as an
exclusive. The record company released it in the States and it became a big
hit. Marty Shayne, with whom he shared a flat, urged Boom Boom to leave WROV
after a short time and subsequently joined Marty at rival rock station WPXI,
also in Roanoke.[21]
Roanoke Times for April 5th,1967 reporting of BoomerÕs
death.
Radio England ÒBoss JocksÓ in ©LIFE
International Magazine October 31st, 1966.
War on the Radio Pirates. Front
Page of ©LIFE International
Oct.31st,1966.
Submitted by Lars Holm.
Will Radio Pirates Walk the Plank? ©LIFE International
Oct.31st,1966.
How djs enjoy the freedom of
the seas. ©LIFE International
Oct.31st,1966.
Submitted by Lars Holm.
Ron OÕQuinn
and Larry Dean in the messroom. Jerry Smithwick, Brian Tylney, and Rick Randall
behind.
And
Australian ÒBoss JockÓ Colin Nicol climbing a rope. Unknown
photographer. ©LIFE International Oct.31st,1966. Submitted by Lars Holm.
ÓRedundancy
to you, buddyÓ.[22]
A format change on 227 and Bill Berry shows leadership.
In Mid-October 1966, a promo on SRE announced a format
change to Swinging Radio Holland in Dutch in Tom CooperÕs evening show. Also so
in Bruce WayneÕs Midnight Early Show
on October 22nd, 1966. And Johnnie Walker mentioned the change in his
farewell show on October 15th, 1966. But on November 11th, the new
station was unnamed in the Errol ÓBoss CatÓ Bruce afternoon show, while in a
promo in the same show on November 13th, the last day, also no name was given.
ÒSwinging Radio HollandÓ to come. From Dutch press via ©Hans KnotÕs
archive.
John
Ross-Barnard of the Radio England news staff has his story:
ÒI left SRE/Britain Radio in October 1966 to join BBC
2 TV. But on the day I received the word from my wife that I had been offered
work with the BBC, the information that SRE was to close, very soon, was
delivered by (I think) Brian Tylney who had formerly been a broadcaster on the
ship but joined the Supply & Tender company as a manager. When the news
broke everyone was devastated so I realised that my good news would not go down
very well. (My own memories are included in Keith Skues's splendid book 'Pop
went the Pirates'.) It was the first experience for many on board to be part of
a station close-down. But of course the American DJs were very used to format
changes, station closures etc and I recall that Bill Berry got the boys (we
were hardly more than boys) together and gave us a good talking-to, right there
on the deck of the Laissez Faire. "Life will go on" he said "You
will survive this experience, you will have a career in radio if you are
persistent and if you are not you might as well forget radio as a career."
It was a salutary lesson and lecture and one which I have never forgotten. In
fact Bill Berry was an unsung catalyst to those of us who had very little
experience of what "real" radio was all about. Many of us took his
words to heart and not only survived in radio & TV but some even succeeded!
I am sorry to hear that Tom Hatala has died. He too
knew what English radio would become in the future. The US Boss Jocks must have
thought we were very naive. But they had the good manners not to say so. We did
not deserve the courteous treatment we received from Don Pierson and others,
well from most of them in fact.Ó
The Olga Patricia carrying the ÒLaissez
FaireÓ name and the new station IDs on the side spring 1967.
©Eric Gilder. Used with permission.
David
Gillbee, also known as Dave MacKay came to the Olga Patricia as News Editor for
Britain /Dolfijn in November, 1966, replacing Chuck Blair, who went Òover the
roadÓ to Radio London.
Dave
MacKay had then been in aviation for a time after leaving Radio City Ò299Ó on
Shivering Sands. He relates something quite unknown before:
ÒWhen Ted
Walters, the Chief Engineer was on shore leave, Alan Black, Phil Martin and
myself opened up again the Radio Dolfijn transmitter who usually closed early
and made Swinging Radio England come back for a couple of hours some nights. We
played some music and SRE jingles and said the transmission was coming from
ÒRonanÕs mushroom farmÓ, relating to the fight between Caroline and Roy Bates
for Rough Towers, now better known as Sealand.Ó
When
asked about the Carousel automation system onboard the Olga Dave recalls that
the ÒDerek BurroughsÓ tapes were originally 10 inch and were categorized into
instrumental, vocal, male and female. The tapes were made by ÒOvation
ProgrammaticÓ in the USA.
Dave also
remembers when the OlgaÕs antenna mast was damaged on February 28th, 1967.
Going over with the ship to Wijsmuller in Zaandam, he and Alan Black became
sailors and took their stint at the wheels. While at the wharf they had Òplenty
to eat drink, but no moneyÓ. It was in Holland they heard that Peir-Vick Ltd.
was insolvent and that Britain Radio was no more.
Some of
the Britain Radio staff remainded after the name and format change to ÒRadio
355Ó in the evening of March 16th, 1967, but with Ted Allbeury taking over from
Bill Vick as Managing Director, also former Radio 390 announcers took to the
high seas. Dave recalls some culture differences between the two groups and the
feeling that the new boys were Òa bit unseaworthy.Ó
The new
format did not last long, and Radio 355 took on Britain RadioÕs format. Also Radio
227 changed back to the format used by SRE. On 355/227 Dave was production
director, and made the new versions of the SRE Pams #27 jingle set into
ÒSwinging Radio Double 2-7Ó and ÒRadio 227Ó in 8 hours overnight at the end of
May,1967.
When
asked about the evening related in the diary of this essay on July 29th, 1967,
where ÓDerek BurroughsÓ is Ógoing homeÓ, Dave explains some of the staff were
ardent card players and had a ÓNorth Sea Canasta ChampionshipÓ. Here ÒTWÓ was
an eager contender, whilst ÒDerekÓ had a Ògreat handÓ and was a Ògreat caster.Ó
And David OÕBrien, a Newzealander present that evening, was the Sales Manager
of the 355/227 operation.
But who
gave the ÒDerek BurroughsÓ name to the Carousel announcer? ÒI think it must
have been Ted Delaney or Jack Curtiss.Ó And then Dave gives us the identity of
ÒDerek BurroughsÓ: ÒIt was Jack WagnerÓ, a bespectacled comedian in the ÒRowan
and MartinÓ US TV Show ÒLaugh-InÓ.
Dave
stayed on the Olga for some time after the closedown in the morning of August
6th, 1967 being involved in the run-down process of the radio stations that had
been there.
Alan
Black, assistant programme director on Britain Radio from December 1966 and
senior dj on Radio 355 in 1967 was also the great cartoonist of the Olga Patricia
and ÒRadio NewsÓ.
Alan
Black joined the Olga from Radio Scotland(there from January 1966) in
September, 1966. From
Radio News(in London Weekly Advertiser and National
Advertiser) of January 31st, 1967.
Alan
Black appeared on SRE at least until mid-October 1966. Then Britain Radio. On
the final day of Radio 355, Alan was Senior dj and was the longest-serving dj
on the ship, his voice had been on both channels and on all 5 stations. In his
farewell speech on the final transmission on 845 kc he mentioned the friendship with Boom
Boom Brannigan. Bill Berry, Bruce Wayne, Mark Stevens, Ed Moreno, Phil Martin,
Jack Curtiss. ÓI hope theyÕve all gone on to greener pastures... When I first
came to the Laissez Faire I worked for the other station Swinging Radio
England. We really had to swing. We played the Tamla Sound.Ó (The Elgins Put
yourself in my place. )ÓJust one fine example of the sounds you could hear on
Radio England. But of course in November of 1966 England swang no more and was
replaced by Radio Dolfijn. And when they said ÓPostbus 1390 in
AmsterdamÓ(Postal address of Radio 227-editor) the listeners on the continent
really did respond.
An
appearance by a Dolfijn in November, 1966. From Dutch Press. From ©Hans KnotÕs
archive.
From Radio News(in London Weekly Advertiser and
National Advertiser) of February 7th, 1967.
Is #2
from left Alan Himself? From Radio News(in London Weekly Advertiser and National
Advertiser) of February 7th, 1967.
The
general feeling onboard the Olga in late 1966? Which US call letters are in the
wall? From
Radio News(in London Weekly Advertiser and National Advertiser) of February
14th, 1967.
From Radio News(in London Weekly Advertiser and
National Advertiser) of February 21st, 1967.
Texas Radio
in Europe seen through a ScotsmanÕs pencil. From Radio News(in London Weekly Advertiser and
National Advertiser) of February 28th, 1967.
Look
Boden, formerly on Radio Dolfijn and 227 writes:
ÒÉa great job
(done)putting all this information on your site, some of the time I was on
board of the Laissez Faire. -I'm gonna use it for my programme "Laissez
Faire" on the new 227. By the way, Jos van Vliet was the one who brought
the ship to IJmuiden and Lex Harding was the one who brought it back to
England.Ó[23]
Look
Boden acknowledgement. From Bert Bossink in Boxtel in the Netherlands and ©Hans
KnotÕs archive.
And then itÕs over to
Dick WeedaÕs Radio 227 Memories[24]
Hans Knot
relates:
ÒAt the Dutch
broadcasting museum(121-131 Amerfoortseweg) in Hilversum, where there are
several collections and the museumÕs own broadcast archive, Arno
Weltens(handed)me a few pieces of paper belonging to Dick Weeda, who was a dj
on the Laissez Faire in 1967. HeÕd given these to the museum some years ago.
Dick Weeda began his memories at the end on August 5, 1967:
Reception
ÓUnfortunately after dark Radio 227 was inaudible in
Holland due to the fact that Radio Leipzig, an East German Propaganda station
broadcast on the same frequency 1322 kc with 150 kW whereas we only had a
maximum of 50 kW. Our station closed early evening because after
eight oÕclock we where blown away by GDR propaganda.Ó
Radio
ship
ÓThe
Laissez Faire also housed Radio 355 and was used during the Korean war as an
American transport ship for fallen American personnel.
The owner
of the ship as far as we could find out was Pierce Langford III, (and?)a
senator from Texas. On board the ship however, we heard strong rumours that the
real owner was Lady Bird Johnson, wife of American President Lyndon B.
Johnson.Ó
Programme
director and djs
Tony
Windsor(Tony Withers)(ÓTee-Double-UÓ/ÓTie DubbeljoeÓ) who was the programme
director of Radio 227 had big plans to steal the audience from other stations
which he was unsuccessful at doing. He was hoping to attract the audience in
Holland, who listened to Radio London[25].
Lex
Harding (Lodewijk van Hengst)(Hitwerk)
Tom
Collins(Tom Droog)(Easy Listening)
Look
Boden(Country and Western)
Harky(Harold
van Gelder)
Dick Weeda was a DJ on Radio 227 from first
of May 1967 until the closing of the station in august Õ67.
He presented two programmes- from 5.00 to 6.30 Folk Time and from
18.30-19.00 Only Dutch (Louter Nederlands).
John van
Doren(Jaap Paardekoper, but with 3 other names)was a land-based DJ on radio
Veronica before coming over to Radio 227, He worked for a beat group, which
came from Amsterdam and the Hague called DaddyÕs Act, which had a record
contract with EMI. He had several hit singles in Holland. One was a very slow
version of ÒEight Days A WeekÓ by the Beatles whilst ÒBabyÕs in BlackÓ was
another. Also under his own name he recorded two solo singles in 1967, ÒLast
NightÓ and ÒWe Waren Zo OptredensÓ (We Were So Very Happy). John went to Paris
in 1969 where he became a very big star and made a
great career in France with several concerts in the Olympia in Paris. He was contracted to
the Riviera label. In October, 1969, he had a big number one hit with "Oh
Lady Mary", but that was recorded under his other name, David Alexander
Winter, recorded for the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg. After that he
recorded "Vole S'en Vole" and in December, 1973, "Laissez-moi
LeTemps". He didn't have any more hits and sadly died in the 90's In
France.Ó
There was
no tension between the DJÕs outside the studio. Evidence : Not only I but also
other DJÕs from the Òpirate-time Ò of 227 have joined the new 227.
Salary
and logistics
"The deejays of Radio 227 had good salaries. We
were two weeks on, one week off. On board we had four DJÕs, each doing a three
hour show. We earned
210 guilders net a week after paying tax and national insurance. As a 17 year
old I earned 350 guilders a month gross.Ó Whilst the DJ's were on board the
ship they didn't have to pay for anything as it was provided. After being on
board for two weeks we left the ship for a week and went home to our parents.
(We) travelled from Holland to the ship by Channel Airways, which was a very
important advertiser on the station, from Zestienhoven, near Rotterdam to
Southend airport. (We) then went by taxi to Harwich and to the ship by a small
boat. If it was low tide we couldn 't get to the ship from Harwich, we went by
taxi to Felixstowe. Our tender did not come everyday, but once a
week when two DJÕs came on board and 2 left for a week time out.
The
format of Radio 227
The
format of the station was the same as Wonderful Radio London-with one
difference. We tried a Fabulous 50 instead of the 40 records played on Big L.
Next to the Fab 50, we had a Tip chart of 15 records. It meant we played 10
records every 30 minutes. We had to play two records out of the Top 10, two
from the Tip list, one golden oldie, one request[26]
and four records out of the 10-50 range. When the
new records came in, we listened and then decided whether they would make an
entry in the Fab 50 or the tip parade. Between 0600 and 1800 we had three-hour shows. I often
presented programmes after 6pm. The Fab 50 and Tip list were made by all the
deejays and the programme director and not record sales. As a British company
the people behind Radio 227 received a lot of flexi-discs, which were like
promotional records from the record compares to see if they were successful.
Therefore Radio 227 played a lot of records earlier than the other Dutch
language stations. For instance, A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum and All
You Need is Love by The Beatles were played as soon as the flexi-discs came on
board and we had them immediately at no.1 the following week,
making these records smash hits and not only in the Netherlands.
To prove
the point that if one played a record often enough it would become a hit long
after other radio stations had neglected it.
We picked
a Dutch carnival record that flopped(ÒDan moet je mijn zuster zien" by Ria Valk)
and played it continuously in June, 1967. It had been released seven or eight months earlier
but didnÕt do anything. We decided to play it 12 times a day and it became a
no.1 hit in Holland and all the other Dutch stations began to play it.
Censorship
"During
Folk Time, it was forbidden to play protest songs about American politics and
America's involvement in the Vietnam war so Phil Ochs couldn't be played at
all. Also "What Have You Learned In School Today?" by Tom Paxton
couldn't be played either. " It seems Weeda was reprimanded by the
programme director for playing this. On May 18, Rod McKuen's "Seasons In
The Sun" had its first airing but "Soldiers Wanna Be Heroes" was
refused because it was anti-war. But I discovered
it for the Dutch listeners. That number became McKuenÕs first hit and went to no.1 in August 1971,
and stayed in the Veronica Top40 for 17 weeks. His number Freight Train by the
Folk Singing Harpsichord was the theme tune for the programme Freight Train.
The
concert of JosŽ Feliciano.
Ó In July 1967 we had Jose
Feliciano on board of to do a live and an exclusive concert in the
studios of 227 and 355 for a joined broadcast . An absolute unequalled
technical achievement, also because Jose is blind and handicapped. Alan Black of Radio 355 had been
to London to interview JosŽ but his tape recorder broke down and JosŽ being
quite sympathetic thought that it was quite romantic about broadcasting from a
pirate station so he offered to do a concert for nothing from the ship. So he came
out to the ship with his secretary on the tender but not only was he blind he
was also partially disabled and couldnÕt climb the rope ladder to get on the
ship. So he was hoisted on board. But our studios were down
in the belly of the ship. So we also had to lower him and after the show the
vice-versa. He did
the concert, which was hosted by Alan Black and Tom Collins. John van
Doorn(another DJ who also used four other names) tried to chat up the secretary
on board and he was partially successful. She didn't want to go to his cabin
but she promised to go out with him the next time he was in London. Otherwise
we never had woman aboard.
The
ÓmutinyÓ attempt
This wonderful happening ended in a disaster as a part
of the crew started a mutiny, leaving us a few dreadful hours until they left
the Laissez-Faire for IJmuiden. During the concert, the Dutch crew of the Laissez Faire
went to join their companions on the tender and started drinking. By the time
JosŽ was set to leave, two members of the crew were very drunk and didnÕt want
to come back on board. The British Captain who only gave the crew three cans of
beer a day warned them that they had to get back on board. One of the
crew,Éwent to attack the captain but was karate chopped to the deck, which
sobered him up. He had to be restrained by the rest of the crew when he went
after the captain again. During the night an extra tender came and replaced the
crew on board with a relief crew.Ó
The
end
ÓOn 21st
July, 1967 all of the Dutch djs left the ship and went back to Holland, leaving
only taped programmes to be played later.Ó
"Due
to the fact that Great Britain had signed the Act of Strasbourg as the fourth
country which made working, advertising, supplying and tendering from the UK to
the offshore radio stations illegal.Ó
ÒLex
Harding, Tom Collins, Harky and myself left the ship for the last time. Harky
didnÕt travel with the others to Holland but went to London to get his last
payment in cash which was a sensible decision because the other people never
got their final wages for the three-week period on board the ship.Ó
John Aston takes the microphone[27]:
On Radio
355,we always refered to Derek Burroughs as the voice on the automation tapes.
The tapes we supplied by Alto Fonics of
Palo Alto C.A. The playout system consisted of two 6 ft cabinet
racks,the left hand rack housed two Scully Tape Machines,the right hand one had
One Scully Tape Machine at the bottom with a Carousel Multi Cart Machine above.
The
programme tapes were supplied on 14 inch NAB spools and their format was 7 1/2
IPS Mono Half Track. Inaudible cue tones were placed to start/stop and trip
into next player or carousel and as such continue ad infinitum, this way the
system played song one with its back announcement and cue tone,this in turn
started tape two, meanwhile machine one ran until its song start cue tone
placed it in pause mode...........tape two in turn started tape three and this
in turn could be routed through the carousel for Ads or ID's...and then back to
tape one,and so on.At the end of the tape the unit would reverse direction and
play the other track(one capstan and pinch roller either end of the head
block.)
The
biggest fault with the system was the Tape Tension Switch,it was fine on 14
inch NAB's but not so clever on 7 inch or smaller spools. The units also
required longer leader tape on the smaller spools.A 3 inch spool would be too
small and the tape would stretch and break!
Our
religious programmes (World Tomorrow etc ) would sometimes break, as they were
recorded on very low quality acetate backed tape. Other than that they were
State Of The Art Machines.
Martin
Kayne was the last dj who did breakfast on the Olga[28]:
Studios
The radio
conversion on the Laissez Faire was
constructed differently that other pirate radio ships. Rather than the studio and transmitters halls being
constructed within the vessel.
With the Laissez Faire both the transmitter hall and the 2 more or less
matching sound proof studios were built on land. Looking like 2 large Portacabins, one contained
the 2 studios with a connecting
door, the other the two transmitters. These Cabins were lowered through
the 2 big hatch covers into the the ships hold, one in front of, and the other
to the rear of the main mast. Resting on specially constructed supports they were welded to the lower
deck, in fact there were several
steps up to get into the studio block. The funny thing about the
studios was the fact that they
were like a soundproof box, you couldn't hear the generators but the air-conditioning could usually be heard
on air.
Studio
equipment
I think
the studio equipment is already well documented. It was one hell of an
experience for me working in austere conditions of Radio Essex, then suddenly
being confronted by what was then
the latest broadcasting kit. Though the enthusiasm and ethos behind the people on the station was exactly
the same, I certainly never expected,
in my wildest dreams, to be hired by and work with the legendary
Tony Windsor. In fact Tony seldom
operated his own equipment preferring to
use a radio engineer. However new DJ's were given this job to give
them technical operators experience.
At first I thought this was a baptism of fire, but soon realised there was no
mistake one could possibly make
that Tony would not only recover from, but turn into a jolly good joke.
Accomodation
The ships
marine crew were accommodated at
the rear of the ship in the cabin area originally constructed with the vessel.
The DJ's quarters came as an afterthought, I have heard that in the early days radio staff slept
wherever they found a suitable space.
However by the time Radio 355 arrived there was a sort of shanty
town of timber constructed
accommodation at the bow of the vessel. There were no windows or doors on the cabins, though laundered bedding,
comfortable mattresses provided a
quiet place on the ship fine for sleeping, perhaps aided by the pitching motion of the the vessel at anchor
Anchor
trouble
Experiences
like dragging the anchor when the captain took the bold decision of lower both
bow anchors to prevent the vessel
entering UK waters. Unfortunately due to the wind and tides the ship turned and for some time the
twin anchor chains were badly
entangled to the extent they could not be pulled up! Another temporary
anchor arrived along with what seemed miles of very heavy chain. This anchor was placed on the port side of
the ship and the chain duly arranged
in a ziz-zag pattern on the forward hatch cover and secured by rope every few metres. The idea was for a
sort of controlled decent for this emergency anchor. However once this anchor
was pushed over the side, using a
wooden plank, the chain followed...the rope that had been indented to control the decent snapped like string.
The sight of such power was awesome,
fortunately the far end the chain had been shackled to a bollard
which held tight, causing the ship
momentarily sway to the port side. It took several days for the crew untangle
the original anchor chain whilst it
was gradually hoisted on deck by winch.
Johnny
Dark
I
remember Johnny Dark/Harry Putnam as Sales Executive at Radio Essex, the money
was poor but job titles were cheap:-)
I believe it were he that provided Radio Essex with an impressive collection
of American RandB records. I know
little of him as we only met briefly in Southend-On-Sea, but he did produce and
voice many Radio Essex commercials while he was there.
ÓGodÓ
tapes
On the
Laissez Faire in the summer of 67 it was the British 'Radio 355' and 'Radio
227' in Dutch. I usually have a good long term memory, but am stuffed over
things that happened yesterday. I
remember the recorded religious programmes like Garner Ted Armstrong, and a guy
that Revived Your Hearts for 15 minutes each breakfast show on 355 called Eric
Hutchings, of Eastbourne. Actually
playing back the 'God' tapes on the Carousel could be a nightmare unless you
first checked it was set to play the tape in 'forward mode' as the prerecorded
Carousel tapes were double track and when a spool came to the last tune it
would switch tracks and play backwards from right to left on the second
track. Certainly a wonderfully
innovative machine, a music box that never stops....happy radio?
355
'live read' radio commercials
I
have dug us some 355 'live read' radio commercials. How things have changed since 1967, the wages for a start
and London phone numbers were much shorter then. HereÕs one:
STAFFORD
HOUSE.
Here's
news of an exciting career offering immediate high salary prospects and
requiring no previous experience or qualifications.
If
you are under 35, Stafford House Computer Courses Ltd will in a 20 week
part-time course qualify you as a computer programmer. Graduates are given every assistance in
finding employment in the computer industry, where a drastic shortage of
programmers has caused salaries in this field to soar, and well over £2,000 per
year is within every programmers reach.
If
you are ambitious, telephone this number for details...FREmantle
3746...Freemantle 3746.
A
visit by Roy Bates
During
the last week of transmissions I was taking a snooze on my bed when I was
awoken and told "Roy Bates is
outside and wants to speak to you". Immediate thoughts were we are almost 4 miles offshore how can
he be 'outside'? Anyway it transpired
that he was alongside in a fishing boat with half a dozen other people. Everyone was a bit nervous, the
military had just blown up Sunk Head Tower, Radio 390 and Radio City had recently closed and the MOA was
only a few weeks away, so what
would he want here? Anyway on my way up to the deck I was told, you don't invite them aboard, you don't get
off this ship and you don't stand
in line of sight between the bridge and their boat. Well the first two commands
I understood, but queried the line of
sight business. In fact the captain had refused permission for Bates
and his entourage to come aboard
and intended to open fire if they tried.
A short but polite conversation took place, after which Bates and
crew then sailed away, but I never
really believed this was a purely a courtesy call.
ÕMay
Each DayÕ
I am
always reminded of my time on the
Laissez Faire each time I hear the Radio 355 evening closedown record. Andy Williams singing 'May Each
Day' I also get the feeling that
the floor should be rising and falling beneath my feet with the gentle swell of a rising tide.
ÒTony gaat van 227 een zogenaamd format station
maken.Ó ÒTie Dubbeljoe en zijn broer John in de Hitburelem gekiekt met de
Polaroid.Ó(Weekblad no.35 18 Mei 1967. From ©Hans KnotÕs archive)) (John
Withers was Tony Windsor(Withers)Õs half-brother, editor.)