Buster Pearson

Roland C. Pearson, better known as “Buster” (1928 – 1985) was responsible for the fascinating publication known as “Monitor”. Begun in the early 1970s as coloured foolscap sheets, by the early 1980s it had progressed into an A5 booklet format. Always crammed with information about Offshore Radio these news-sheets have become even more interesting as time has gone on. Here are a few more issues from 1978 and 1979. Earlier issues are available on the Interweb at various locations. Later (A5 sized) issues may appear here one day if the mood takes me.

Monitor 15

Monitor 16

Monitor 17

Monitor 18

Monitor 19

In 1984, to celebrate 20 years since Radio Caroline began, Buster and the team produced a “20th Anniversary” special edition of Monitor (available here). Enclosed in the next edition of the magazine was a sheet listing the (very few and very minor) errors that had cropped up in the “special”. Just shows his attention to detail.

In April 1986 Radio Caroline broadcast a tribute to Buster Pearson. Although I posted a recording of this previously it was taken from a cassette copy. Here is my original recording from a reel-to-reel tape. The quality isn’t much better but it is slightly longer as it includes a few minutes of programming from both before and after the documentary. (Disclaimer: I’m sure sonically superior recordings of this are undoubtedly available elsewhere.)

Radio Caroline – Tribute to Buster Pearson

PS: Here is a brief lo-fi aircheck of Radio Caroline September 1976 I’ve just found whilst looking for something more interesting….

CRAM

I don’t know how many “issues” of the Commercial Radio Audio Magazine were produced in the early 1970s. I’d love to hear them. All I’ve got is an approx 20 minute long sample tape that I sent off for circa 1972.

The Commercial Radio Audio Magazine sample tape 1972?

A to Z of Offshore Radio

When I acquired this tape 40 (!!) years ago it was mostly documenting surprisingly recent history of just 4 or 5 years earlier. Perhaps more extensive versions of these recordings are in circulation but this 90 minute tape gives you a pretty good idea of what could be found on your transistor radio in the 1960s besides the BBC. More odd stuff for my Audio Archive.

A to Z of Offshore Radio

Monitor

In the 1970s and 1980s Fanzines and Newsletters were the means of communication for info about hobbies/interests etc. “Monitor” was one of a number that specialised in the (even then) minority interest that was dubbed Pirate Radio or Free Radio or Offshore Radio.

Issues 1 – 9 have already been posted on the Internet by others and you can find them quite easily with a quick “google”. As slightly more recent issues haven’t yet been made available here are five issues from 1976-1977. Originally typewritten on coloured foolscap paper hence the hazy reproduction quality.

Monitor 10

Monitor 11

Monitor 12

Monitor 13

Monitor 14

PS: Much of the above concerns Radio Caroline when the station was broadcasting from the Mi Amigo. Of course Radio Caroline continues today from the Eurobird 1 Satellite (at 28.2 degrees east and possibly alongside the Movies4Men channel).  Living on board a satellite must be worse than being 3 miles out to sea for weeks at a time. Instead of a rusty old tender I suppose they commute via the space shuttle ??  I was amused to read that as the nation prepares to migrate to digital radio, Radio Caroline would like to return to the Medium Wave. Sounds like a good plan to me. I’ve always had difficulty in getting my Sky Decoder Box out onto the back lawn and setting up portable satellite dishes on the beach is tedious.

More Nostalgia 1975

What happened in 1975? There was an oil crisis. Inflation inflated. Some things never change. On Saturday the 8th of November 1975 the weather couldn’t have been very good either. Radio Caroline’s ship the Mi Amigo broke her anchor chain, and, (most likely un-noticed by DJs/crew) began drifting ending up almost beached on a sandbank. Without any of the modern technology that would be used to get accurate bearings of their position today they were lucky that they managed to start their engine and move into deeper water.

Announcements of their plight began around 6pm on Saturday the 8th November with requests for listeners to call the coastguard. These requests continued for an hour or so until the ship was once again afloat, although still drifting without an anchor. With the DJ Simon Barrett getting more worried as the evening progressed it made for entertaining, if morbid listening. I fully expected that Radio Caroline would finish for good that evening, a mere 3 years after their return to the North Sea. Michael Lloyd began his evening’s programme at 10pm. Shortly afterwards he was interrupted by Peter Chicago who announced that they would have to go off the air as it was suspected that they had drifted within the 3 mile limit and could risk falling foul of the 1967 Marine Offences Act.

Here is a lo -fi recording from the 8th November 1975, beginning and ending with BBC radio news items about the incident.

Radio Caroline didn’t return to the airwaves until the following Thursday 13th of November 1975. Something must have happened on November 14th …..possibly a visit from the Home Office…..as that evening and the following week or so 259m remained silent.

Here is a short recording of Michael Lloyd on Radio Caroline on the 13th of November 1975.

Radio Caroline finally returned to “normal” with regular programmes from the North Sea on the 26th of November 1975. The Mi Amigo would continue to somehow weather further storms and various crisis and Radio Caroline would continue to broadcast if not quite continuously then at least reasonably regularly until March 1980 when the stack of beer cans the ship was precariously balanced on gave way and the ship finally sank.

Tape

The Marine Broadcasting (Offences) Act came into effect at midnight August 14th 1967. I think there were only two offshore pirate stations that continued right up to that final midnight deadline before calling it a day, namely Radio Scotland and Radio 270. Big L (Radio London) had already closed down at 3pm. Radio 227 (formally Radio England), Radio 355 (formerly Britain Radio) and Radio 390 had closed down a few weeks earlier. Radio City had closed in February 1967 and BBMS in December 1966, but they were broadcasting from wartime forts rather than boats and already subject to different legislation. Radio Caroline South and Radio Caroline North had always promised to defy the act and would continue for another 6 months until financial problems silenced them.

The internet is a wonderful place these days to hear offshore radio from the 1960s. Many 1000s of hours of radio taped by “anoraks” has been uploaded to Rapidshare and the like. When I first became interested in the subject many years ago the only way to hear these “exotic” defunct UK radio stations was by purchasing tapes like this one.

Of course it was only after I’d spent a couple of hours transferring this tape to mp3 files that I thought to look around the web. It seems these recordings are already available elsewhere, but having owned this tape for 40 years and after spending all this time I may as well add them to my audio archive.

Radio Essex August 1966

Radio 270

Radio Tower

Offshore Radio clips

WABC 77 New York

PS: The pirate Radio Essex broadcast from the (rather tatty looking) Knock John Fort circa 1966. Radio Tower was a station that never got any further than testing. WABC isn’t an offshore station of course. This american fast and furious pop format was evidentally the kind of thing that many pirate stations tried to copy with varied degrees of success. Radio 270 broadcast from the Oceaan 7. Anchored off Bridlington their main audience was the Yorkshire area. They are the offshore station I remember the most as the signal was very strong in Filey, Scarborough and Whitby which were popular family holiday destinations when I was a child.