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Dave MacKay Born in Ilford, Essex, and educated at Warwick
public school, Dave got into offshore broadcasting by pure chance. He was working as an air traffic controller at
Gatwick airport and one day went to a pub with some colleagues. The conversation got round to pirate radio and
Dave expressed critical comments about a Radio City DJ. A stranger overheard and asked if he thought he could do
better. This man turned out to be Eric K Martin, Radio City's station manager. As a result of this chance
encounter, in February 1965, Dave was invited out to the Radio City fort to present a few shows. He used his real
name of Dave Gillbee. Reg Calvert, the owner, was suitably
impressed and over the next few months Dave combined his shifts at Gatwick with periodic trips out to Shivering Sands,
although he never joined the City staff full-time. Bitten by the radio bug, Dave sent off applications to
all the other offshore stations. In August 1966 he got accepted by Britain Radio but changed his name to Dave MacKay
when he joined the station. He stayed when, in March 1967, it became Radio 355 and, in fact, he remained with this
middle-of-the-road station right up until it closed down in August 1967. Following the closure, he
joined forces with fellow 355 presenter Tony Monson to start a mobile disco businesses
and in 1971 they opened a record and hi-fi shop in Brighton, Sussex. While living in the town he also broadcast
on BBC Radio Brighton (now known as Southern Counties Radio) using his real name. He has since been heard on
Essex Radio, BBC Essex, Melody and Primetime Radio. We have some recent photos of Dave, taken at the Radio England /
Britain Radio 40th anniversary reunion, here, and at the Radio Academy Celebration of Offshore
Radio here. (At that Radio England reunion we discovered that we had been spelling
Dave's surname incorrectly. It is MacKay, not MacKaye. We have corrected it now. Many apologies.)
Dave MacKay starting his last show on Radio 355 at 3pm on 5th August 1967. Apologies
for the interference. This is an extract from the Offshore Echo's tape Offshore Classics vol.27 used with
kind permission (duration 2 minutes 25 seconds)
Allen Mackenzie Born in Glasgow in 1943, Allen was educated in
Canada but returned to his homeland and, for a short while, worked on board Radio Scotland. Unfortunately we do not have
much information about his stay on the Comet. We asked if anyone could provide some and Jack
McLaughlin has responded: “I read you piece on Allen with interest. We were together for a short time on
Radio Scotland before I headed down south to Britain Radio and 390. He was not a good sailor and spent most of his time
on production in the HQ at Cranworth Street.” Although Allen's time on Radio Scotland was short, he went on to
a long and successful career in broadcasting, working both overseas and in the UK. He was a journalist at Capital Radio
and LBC, then in management at Beacon Radio in Wolverhampton and Radio Tay in Dundee. He later moved into academia,
working for the University of Dundee as Director of Development throughout the nineties. The Pirate
Radio Hall of Fame attempted to contact Allen via the University in 2003. Although he had left the job by that
stage, the letter was forwarded and he replied. He wrote: “Well done on the website. If you give me a little
time I will get some information to you about my time at Radio Scotland. If I get a chance and dig deep enough in the
attic I might even find some off-air tapes and also publicity material from those halcyon days of broadcasting!
Right now I am very busy with a new publishing venture which is taking most of my time but I promise to keep in touch and
I will get some material to you as soon as I can.” Sadly he never did have the time. His partner in the publishing
venture, Derek Smart, tells us that Allen suffered from poor health and died in February 2004. (If anyone can
provide information or recordings of Allen from his time on Radio Scotland, please
get
in touch. Many thanks to Jack McLaughlin, Tony Meehan, Derek Smart and David Burke for
their assistance.)
Ian MacRae Born in Melbourne, Australia, on 22 June 1943, Ian
started in radio at station 3AW in his home city as a panel operator and record librarian. He wanted to be a broadcaster
and eventually got a gig with station 3CS. Deciding it was time to see the world, he set off on his travels and arrived
in the UK in 1966. He joined Radio City in February and quickly became one of the station's most popular presenters.
His main programme was Monstrous Macca's Music Show (“mic-side, Ian MacRae with the hits of
the day”) but he also co-presented the legendary Aunty Mabel Hour comedy show with
Alan Clark. Ian was on Radio City's Shivering Sands Fort the night it was taken over
by a boarding party in June 1966. His was the first voice back on the air after the raiders had departed. When the
station closed down in February 1967 he joined Caroline South and stayed until the legislation in August. Ian returned
to Australia and a job on top station 2SM Sydney. Others to benefit from his talents have included 5AD and KAFM in
Adelaide. More recently he was heard again on 2SM and Radio 2, but is currently presenting a weekly show on 2UE. He
also operates the Ian MacRae Radio School, training the next generation of disc-jockeys. Ian has written an
e-book The Beginners Guide to Becoming a Radio Star. The press release includes this comment:
“There's been some great times and some bad (really bad!) times. Highs and lows and some boring
bits in between..... but one thing that has kept me going is the love of radio and all it can offer. Whether you're
a beginner or about to begin, I've designed this book to help you master all you'll need to know to guide you
toward becoming a radio star.” For more information about Ian's e-book, see
www.allaboutradio.net. There is also a fan page devoted to
Ian at www.debbiekruger.com. A
recent publication called Don't Touch That Dial - Hits 'n' Memories of Australian Radio
contains this photo of Ian, celebrating ten
years on the 2SM Breakfast Show. Like a number of DJs Ian has made a record: The Ballad Of Lady Di by The
Hon. Nick Jones and Ian MacRae was released in the UK by Stiff Records in 1981 at the time of the wedding of the Prince
and Princess of Wales. (Many thanks to Ian for getting in touch. Regarding his record he says: “We
actually came to London and filmed (a performance of ‘The Ballad of Lady Di’) for ‘Top of the
Pops’ but it was never shown because, the very week we were there, there were a number of threats against the Royal
couple and the BBC took all of the Lady Di songs off the air. That's show biz!” In fact, although it was
never shown at the time, the clip has been seen since on ‘Top Of The Pops 2’. With many thanks to Ian's
old Radio City colleague Ross Brown for providing the photo. There are other pictures of
Ian in Keith Hampshire's photo album. Thanks also to Mary Payne.)
“Monstrous Macca” on Radio City from the summer of 1966. Recording courtesy
of Martyn Webster (duration 2 minutes 2 seconds)
Ian reading the 10am news on 27th June 1966, the morning after the raiding party had left
Shivering Sands. Many thanks to Harm Koenders of
The
Offshore Radio Archive for the recording (duration 1 minute 57 seconds)
Jack McLaughlin Born in Glasgow on 11th July 1943, Jack attended
Glasgow University. After a variety of jobs, including salmon fisherman, bingo-caller and teacher, Jack joined Radio
Scotland. Known as “Yak MacFisheries” he presented the very popular Ceilidh programme of traditional
Scottish music as well as the usual Top 40 fare. He was invited south to join Britain Radio and then poached by Radio
270 where he broadcast under a different name, Steve Taylor. He says: “Steve Taylor
was actually me heavily disguised as an Englishman!.... My experience at 270 was not a happy one. (Managing
Director) Wilf Proudfoot treated all his jocks like ‘serfs’ and the ship was appalling. It used to come
into harbour and they would have guided tours when you were trying to catch up on your sleep!... Two weeks was
enough and I left to join 390 under my own name.... After 270, Radio 390 was a real luxury. It was a very well run
station through I would not say I agreed with their music policy. However conditions on the fort were first class.”
390 closed down at the end of July 1967 and Jack then returned to Radio Scotland for its final week. Jack goes on to
say: “My career, following the ‘pirates’, was split between radio and television, where I was lucky
enough to win the Scottish TV Personality of the Year Award and do a number of network TV quizzes, including Now You
See It. I recently set up an internet broadcast company, Radio Scotland Worldwide, which covered a number of
important events. These included the state opening of the new Scottish Parliament which we did for Microsoft, the Open
Golf from St. Andrews and the Edinburgh Festival. We are moving into new premises just south of Edinburgh and developing
the concept. I live between Edinburgh and Malaga, Spain, and have been broadcasting on Radio Clyde from both Glasgow and
Marbella.” On 7th November 2004 the legendary McLaughlin's Ceilidh made a return to the airwaves when a
one-off edition of the show was broadcast on the short wave and internet station Radio Six International. (Many thanks to Jack for his help and for providing this photo. He
says “this is the very first PR shot I had taken when I joined Radio Scotland. I was still at University and it
was taken at Queen Street Station.” He has also provided some information about a few of his Radio Scotland
colleagues. See the entries for Charlie White, Eddie White
and Cathy Spence. You can find more of Jack here and
here as well as a picture in Edward Cole's photo album.
There are also some more recent photos of him at the Radio Academy Celebration of Offshore Radio.)
Jack McLaughlin on Radio 390 with short clips from two programmes: Music
From the Shows and The Marie Simone Hour (duration 2 minutes 51
seconds)
Jack McLaughlin's Ceilidh on Radio Scotland from 12th August 1967. Tape kindly
provided by Martyn Webster (duration 1 minute 17 seconds)
A rare recording of “Steve Taylor” reading the news on Radio 270 from March 1967. The DJ forgetting
Steve's name is Paul Burnett. This clip is part of a longer recording
available to members from The Offshore Radio Archive (duration 1 minute 48 seconds)
