Rosko Remembers |

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I have been asked to think back to Caroline days and share a few thoughts with the fans who still carry the torch! Like everything in history, pirate radio arrived and was conceived at the right time and right place - no laws and no competition!! That’s right, the BBC was not considered competition as they did not play enough pop to qualify.
Luxy (208) at night was far more of a threat. Their signal however was only good in certain areas. We had the sprit, a better signal, and lots of pop. Could it happen today? No, now there are laws which say all too good of things must be regulated! The cutting edge today is different, the Carolines of today are the Internet download outfits - they are doing what we did but in a different way and the govt is doing their best to enact laws that will shut them down or make them legal in a corporate sense. Look at Napster as Caroline and say, Lime wire as London, etc.
As these sites deliver the wherewithal to get your music open, they get shut down, a bit like the boats. I wonder what will be the next frontier. Food for thought! I was asked what I remember from 259, the answer is I am one of those people who only remembers stuff when I am drinking with old friends – that’s when the flood gates open and the memories gush out. It is not just on the subject of pirates, but anything, I have trouble rememberinging a gig 6 months down the line today - probably too much pot when I was a youngster, who knows?

Let me clarify once and for all as the story that was recently told by a fellow DJ Tony Blackburn on Classic Gold - it concerned Alfie the mynah bird that used to be on my show when he wasn’t crapping on my shoulder!! He would say Sounds fine, it’s Caroline, 259, and Rock and Roll. It is true when I was off the ship one week he was thought to say F*** YOU! The guys thought it was very funny, I was less amused but as he was never that clear I was able to say things like no Alf, no fudge for you today or, muck off yourself etc.
The villain was Tony Prince or so he now says. He claims credit, I always thought of him as a bit to goody to be the one, Princey had the personality, in hindsight it was probably the two in collusion me thinks. So let us put that to rest, Alf then joined me on French Luxembourg where he continued ‘til he died.

By the way, The F word in French means seal, so I was ok over there even if he let loose a clear one. Everyone would say, oh isn’t that cute! He likes sea animals! I know I got my own back on the two of them but damned if I can remember what I did - see what I mean??

Time-line Of Events In UK Pirate Radio History

1964
March 28: Radio Caroline, the first UK off-shore pirate radio station, goes on the air.
May 9: Radio Atlanta pirate radio ship - moored of the coast of Essex, England - goes on the air.
May 27: Radio Sutch founded by Screaming Lord Sutch - later a regular parliamentary candidate and founder of the Monster Raving Loony Party - goes on the air from the Shivering Sands Fort in the Thames Estuary
June 3: Radio Invicta, another UK pirate radio station, goes on the air from Red Sands Towers in the Thames Estuary.
June 5: Manx Radio broadcasts its first programme from a caravan. The initial potential audience for commercial radio programmes was estimated to be 2,500.
July 2: Atlanta and Radio Caroline merge. mv Caroline sails to the Isle of Man. Mi-Amigo stays put.
July 13: Radio Caroline North starts transmissions on 197m offshore Ramsey, IOM.
September: Radio Sutch changes its name to Radio City.
November 24: Manx Radio, the first legal land-based commercial radio station in the British Isles, officially goes on the air.
December 18: Radio Invicta closes down.
December 19: Radio London, goes on the air. Regular programmes began on December 23.

1965
King Radio: pirate station goes on the air from the former Radio Invicta installation at Red Sands Tower in the Thames Estuary.
September 25: Pirate station King Radio is renamed Radio 390.
September: Radio Essex pirate station goes on the air from Knock John Tower in the Thames Estuary.
December 31: Radio Scotland pirate ship goes on the air at 23:55.

1966
May: Radio England and Britain Radio stations go on the air from a ship in the Thames Estuary.
June 4: Radio 270 pirate ship goes on the air, broadcasting to northern England from off the Yorkshire coast.
November 14: Radio England pirate ship begins transmissions in Dutch and changes its name to Radio Dolfijn.
December: Radio Essex pirate station is successfully prosecuted in UK but is renamed BBMS (Britain’s Better Music Station) pending appeal.

1967
January: BBMS pirate radio station closes after the failure of its appeal against conviction.
February 8: Radio City closes at midnight.
March: Radio Dolfijn pirate station becomes Radio 227 and starts broadcasting in English again. Britain Radio becomes Radio 355.
July 23: Radio 227 closes.
July 28: Radio 390 closes.
August 6: Radio 355 closes.
August 14: Many stations plan shutting down due to impending introduction of Marine Broadcasting (Offences) Act at midnight. Radio London station closed at 15:00; Radio Scotland and Radio 270 closed just minutes before midnight.
Radio Caroline became Radio Caroline International and kept broadcasting....
August 15: The Marine Broadcasting (Offences) Act comes into force. This has the effect of outlawing pirate radio in UK, and making criminals of any person or businesses involved in any way with the broadcasters.
August 30: The Marine Offences Act become law in the Isle Of Man, and Caroline North is forced to close.

1968
March 2: Both Radio Caroline ships were raided in a well planned operation organised by the Wijsmuller company (who were owed £30,000 for tender services for the ships).
A short message was read out to DJs, staff and crew, then both ships were towed to Holland. Eventually they were put up for auction in May 1972.

1970
January 23: Radio Nordzee International test transmissions start from the ship Mebo II offshore Holland. Official start of broadcasting at 6pm February 28 on MW (1578kHz - 105kW), FM (102Mhz - 1.2kW) and SW (6210kHz - 2 x 10kW).
UK Government commence jamming of RNI.
June 13: Radio Caroline International used RNI MW transmitter on 1230kHz for a week prior to UK General Election.

1971
Both of the Radio Caroline radio ships remain in harbour in Amsterdam, Holland.

1972
May 29: The radio ships mv Caroline and mv Mi Amigo were put up for auction.
Caroline was sold for scrap and broken up. The Mi Amigo was also sold but saved from the scrapyard by a Dutch Free Radio enthusiast.
September: The Mi Amigo was sailed into the North Sea and re-fitted. From it Radio 199 started test transmissions.
December: Radio Caroline returns on 199 metres for a few days from mv Mi-Amigo with a mix of English/Dutch programming before the crew took over the ship and had it towed to Amsterdam.

1973
January 2: mv Mi Amigo returns to sea and Radio Caroline transmissions resume, with Dutch programmes during the day and English at night.
April 2: Radio Veronica got washed up on the beach after hurricane force winds. Radio Caroline provided an emegency service for Veronica for about 10 days.
May: Radio Caroline International began test transmissions on 773kHz (389 metres) after the installation of a new aerial mast. By the end of May Radio Caroline was successfully transmitting on two frequencies (259 and 389 metres).
July: The 259 metres transmitter was used by Radio Atlantis for day-time programming to Holland and Belgium. In the evening the station changed name to Radio Seagull and played album tracks to an English audience.
October: mv Mi Amigo's new aerial collapses, Radio Atlantis/Seagull continue on low power until Christmas while a new is antenna was constructed.
Original Caroline 199 sticker

1974
January 1: Radio Mi-Amigo replaces Radio Atlantis.
February: Power is increased to 50kW. Radio Caroline comes back on 259 metres replacing Radio Seagull.
August 31: prior to the introduction of Dutch Marine Offences Bill Radio Nordzee International closes down. Dutch broadcasters Radio Veronica, Radio Mi-Amigo and Radio Atlantis also close.
Radio Caroline continued on 259 metres for another remarkable but difficult four years ([reportedly] being supplied from Spain) until March 1980