Radio Caroline without doubt changed British radio broadcasting for ever. The station came on air easter 1964 from a ship anchored 4 miles off the essex coast. Within weeks it was joined by other pirate stations and for the next 3 years the air around Britain was filled with magic. The British government banned the pirate stations in august 1967 but Radio Caroline continued until it ran out of money and closed down at 5.21am on Sunday March 3rd 1968.
Then...... in 1972 the ship was bought by a boutique owner from the Hague who took it out to sea, anchored off of the Dutch coast, refitted it..... and turned it on! It is debatable as to what the "recreated" Radio Caroline was trying to achieve. To pay its way the daytime airtime from 6am until 7pm was sold to a Belgian company who pre recorded programmes on land so in the daytime the station was called Radio Mi Amigo. Caroline, when I was there was an evening station and I could and maybe one day will tell some interesting stories about those crazy days! I was on board in the summer of 1973 when my first job was to scrape the paint off the walls in the toilets and showers! I rejoined again in January 1974 and stayed until the end of August when the Dutch government banned the pirate stations operating from the Dutch coast.
After I left I never again listened to it. What would have been the point? Life moves on. It is all now just a distant memory. I was so much older then.......... I'm younger than that now.
Radio Caroline 1973 and 1974 photos….. More will be added. Mi Amigo Day 2016 VIDEO
This will open in a new window
Just a few of my souvenirs……. more will be added when I have time……
When I left Radio Caroline I lived in the Hague for 4 months getting stoned and eating cheese rolls. AMAZINGLY myself and Norman Barrington were the only ones on board in 1974 who could - or could be bothered to - EDIT!!! We were the only ones who recorded and saved material.
We recorded a documentary LP about our time on board and when I returned home at the end of 1974 I sent a letter to everyone who had ever written to me asking if people would like to buy it! I still have a big bag of those fan letters today!
I also have a collection of studio quality recordings made during my time on board the Mi Amigo including the master of the FIRST "LA" ( Loving Awareness ) promos,
EXTRA BITS AND PIECES.......
The summer of 1970 was almost as amazing as the summer of 1967....... Its a long story - which I will go into at some point in the future - but TENS OF THOUSANDS of these leaflets were circulated around the south of England in the early summer of 1970!
Another long story.......
As a VERY naive 18 year old I saw an advertisement in Disc And Music Echo saying that DJ's were wanted for a new Pirate Radio station.
I sent off a tape and 3 days later received a reverse charge phone call from the Programme Controller CRISPIAN St JOHN offering me a job.
The station was a figment of his imagination but through meeting him my crazy career in Radio began.....
