After a brief hiatus time to delve once more into my Sound Archive.
So the most famous of the sixties off shore pirate radio stations has “gone legit” having gained a 5 year broadcast licence and frequency clearance for a medium wave AM transmitter (what was that about “lack of frequencies… Oh it’s a BBC cast off channel, but let’s save that discussion for another day!)
Of course Caroline ended their pirate says back in 1990, and have been “legit” via various temporary and “permanent” means since with Restricted Service licences, Satellite broadcasts, webcasts and DAB carriage in various areas on and off since then.
As we approach the 50 year anniversary of the Marine Offenses Act, which silenced most of the sixties pirates, I’ll be uploading a few bits of archive audio. There is much Radio Caroline related audio around the interwebs, so I’ll try my best to bring you a few bits you haven’t heard before.
As an original recording I’m guessing that this will tick the box as something not shared online before.
In August 1997 Radio Caroline operated an AM Restricted Service Licence for a month, I’m guessing to mark the then 30th anniversary of the Act coming into force.
This was recorded off air while visiting family in Basildon, Essex, the week before August Bank Holiday 1997.
This page by Caroline historian Tom Read gives details of the broadcast as following:
9 – 31 August 1997 RSL from Ross Revenge off Isle of Sheppey, on 1278 MW
Please forgive the slight fault with the recorder at the start of this clip. However the other general noise and interference on the recording is AM radio in all it’s glory. It does make you think who would listen to such quality broadcast these days? A quick glance at the atlas shows that I was around the 15 mile mark away from the transmitter site and they were operating with a nominal one watt radiated power. Remember this is 1997 with a great deal less electronic devices around to add to the general background noise. Let hope the 2017 one kilowatt radiated power will be enough to over come the worst of this noise.
In this recording we hear presenter Chris Kennedy playing requests, an interesting promo for the soon to launch commercial station Medway FM, and I assume some sort of contra-deal sponsorship of the weather by Port Werburgh.
Programming Note: Things have been quiet on additions to this site recently, as an extra curricular activity it does come after work and family commitments, however I have continued to digitize or transfer my boxes of audio cassettes, mini-discs and video tapes and I will try to more regularly post some interesting archive bits, along with the selection of more current interesting links and the odd opinion piece. “Don’t touch that dial” as we might have once said …
Photo Credits: “MV Ross Revenge” by Paul Easton
