I 1ST EVER HEARD CAT STEVENS on radeo caroline back in 1967....mathew and son and i love my dog... i was a school kid and stayed awake at night just to hear the songs...thankyou to all who was concerned in the pirate station..... you were an inspireation and played all the song we teens wanted to hear...THANKYOU
I ran a marine company in the 80’s and was very proud of the fact that I looked after their dinghy and outboard and supplied them with food on some occasions. There was a maximum prison sentence of 2 years if you had any thing to do with Caroline which was totally insane. I had a long standing affection going back to the 60’s when they started. Most teenagers in the south east felt the same. It has to be remembered that in the 60’s there were no other pop stations except Radio Luxembourg which had the annoying habit of fading out! The BBC Light program played older people’s music and totally ignored the younger listeners.
In Northern Canada, In 1967 I had a big areal and an old Telafunkin radio and I could listen to this, bounced off the Ionisphere. I also listened to Wolf man jack from Mexico.
John Robertson is correct, Radio Caroline began broadcasting from the MV Frederica. She then sailed North to the Isle-of-Man. Only then did the Mi Amigo take to the airwave as Caroline South.
I wasn't there, but feel the fun and excitement! The closest I came to hearing a pirate station was when I was in New Zealand in the early 70s. Everyone reminisced about Radio Hiraki, which was legal by the time I arrived. I can vouch for the high "lame factor" of government run radio! 3ZC in Timaru, although a private station, stank! They were notorious for playing only parts of pop songs. New Zealand in the early 70s was another world. Thanks for sharing these!
I miss seeing the "old girl" leaping like a gazelle in a Force 12, anchored a mile away from our ship in the Knock Deep, between Long Sand Head and the Kentish Knock...her original radio tower stood tall and danced in the mist of hurricane strength winds! Man, I miss those days and the lads!
I read an article a long while back about how Ronan, then retired, would sit in a cafe in Kings road, telling anyone who would listen how he changed the face of British Culture, and have often wondered how many of his listeners really understood that he did. Caroline and others did their job so well that there was only one option for the BBC, the demand was too high and Radio 1 was born. Sadly, these glory days will never be experienced again.
Radio 1 in its early days was a pale replacement though! Who remembers them playing - in prime time - "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" by ...... The Northern Dance Orchestra!
