The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame

UPDATED JULY 2009

What's new? Last month we heard from Colin Dale, one of the original DJs on Radio Sutch. This month he has kindly written a fascinating account of his time with the station; we have added another page to the steadily expanding ‘Seventies Supplement’. This time we look at offshore broadcasters from that decade whose names began with the letter L, including RNI's Arnold Layne and Michael Lindsey and Caroline's Mark Lawrence; and two Britain Radio colleagues are reunited after a gap of 42 years. See the contents page and DJ Directories of the sixties and seventies for a full index of the site.

Pop Went The Pirates II

Mary Payne of Radio London has contributing an excellent article on offshore radio to Saga magazine. It can be read on-line or downloaded from the Saga web site. Many thanks to Fred Dellar for plugging The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame in the latest Mojo magazine (issue 189, cover date August 2009).

Keith Skues's newly updated Pop Went The Pirates II is now available from www.popwentthepirates.co.uk and Amazon. Paul Harris, author of When Pirates Ruled The Waves has just published his autobiography. Called More Thrills Than Skills, it too is available from Amazon.

Dennis Godding has started an online petition on the No 10 Downing Street website to grant Radio Caroline an offshore broadcasting licence. It reads “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to grant an offshore broadcasting licence to Radio Caroline. Radio Caroline has proved her sustainability and popularity. She retains a ship (the Ross Revenge), capable of being refitted for broadcasting. The granting of an offshore broadcasting licence would recognise her popularity, and undo the injustice of a heavy handed government attitude in the 1960's. This country urgently needs a ‘feel-good factor’, and the granting of this licence would instantly provide one.” If you wish to ‘sign’ the petition, go to 10 Downing Street.

m.v.Fredericia

Britain's first offshore radio station, Radio Caroline, began broadcasting at Easter 1964 from a ship anchored just outside UK territorial waters. She was followed by a host of other radio stations based on boats and marine structures dotted around the coast.

These “pirates” rapidly won an enormous and enthusiastic audience. There are other web-sites which tell the stories of the various offshore stations but
The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame
has been set up to honour the stars, the broadcasters, from that golden era of music radio.

This site is a tribute to the people who endured a daily battle with the elements to provide a soundtrack to the swinging sixties.

The inductees in The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame are listed alphabetically. More names are being added all the time. To find your favourite voice from the sixties either select it from the drop-down list below, search the site using the Google box or click on the appropriate page from the table of contents beneath. For broadcasters from the seventies, go to the Seventies Supplement (still under construction).

Please note: Offshore stations continued operating from around the British coast until 1990 but The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame mainly covers the first decade, the sixties. The Seventies Supplement, which lists the DJs who worked offshore during the second decade, is currently under construction. Eventually we hope to cover the later years too.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed information, recordings or memorabilia to The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame. We are always on the lookout for more so, if you have any items of interest, please get in touch.

60s Disc-Jockeys A	60s Disc-Jockeys He-Hu	60s Disc-Jockeys Q-R
60s Disc-Jockeys Ba-Bl	60s Disc-Jockeys I-J	60s Disc-Jockeys Sa-Sp
60s Disc-Jockeys Bo-Bz	60s Disc-Jockeys K	60s Disc-Jockeys St-Sy
60s Disc-Jockeys Ca-Cl	60s Disc-Jockeys L	60s Disc-Jockeys T-V
60s Disc-Jockeys Co-Cu	60s Disc-Jockeys M-Mi	60s Disc-Jockeys Wa-Web
60s Disc-Jockeys D	60s Disc-Jockeys Mo-Mu	60s Disc-Jockeys Wes-Wy
60s Disc-Jockeys E-G	60s Disc-Jockeys Mac-Mc	60s Disc-Jockeys X-Z
60s Disc-Jockeys Ha	60s Disc-Jockeys N-P	Anorak gift guide
Charts	Contact us	Credits
Disc-Jockeys' photo albums	Disc-Jockey spotlight	Fans' memorabilia
Guestbook hosted By Bravenet.com	Guestbook archive 2000-02	Links
The Tom Lodge story	Odds and Ends	Plans
Programme schedules	Site contents	Site contents - by station
Sixties DJ Directory	Seventies supplement	We need your HELP

Many of the photos, stickers and recordings are beginning to show their age so apologies for some of the less than perfect quality. Many of these photographs were distributed freely by the various radio stations and were intended for as wide a circulation as possible. Others have been donated to The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame that are of unknown origin. Where photos have been scanned from books, newspapers or magazines, we have given credit. However, if anybody believes that their copyright has been inadvertently infringed by the publication of a photo on this site, please get in touch and it will be removed immediately. Similarly, anybody who has supplied audio for The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame has been credited but tapes get passed from collector to collector and often there is no way of knowing who made the original recordings. Apologies to anyone who thinks their work has been used here without due acknowledgment.

The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame links to MP3s which can be downloaded by UK-based customers from Amazon. As in a traditional record shop, Amazon offers multiple versions of some songs. It isn't always easy to identify precisely which version is which. We have endeavoured to ensure that each link leads to the appropriate version of the relevant track - the one that was played by the offshore DJs of the era - but please listen carefully before purchasing. If you discover that any of them are later re-recordings, please let us know.

You will need a Real Player to hear the airchecks on The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame. There are two types of Player. The free one is perfectly adequate for listening to these clips although the Real.com site will encourage you to pay for the more exotic version. Either can be downloaded by clicking on the left icon below. The Real Player can also be downloaded from a very informative page on the BBC web site. Some correspondents have also suggested another player, the Real Alternative, although we do not have first-hand experience of using it. It can be downloaded free from www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm.

The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame is partially funded by commission on items bought from Amazon via links from this site and by revenue provided by Google adverts. Please note that Google, and their advertisers, may use information (which does not include your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements they think will be of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice, please visit The Google Privacy Centre, where it is possible to opt-out.