Rick Randall was the first presenter to be signed up for “Swinging” Radio England, having previously worked on various stations in Montana, USA. Now based in Largo, Florida, he has contacted The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame. He remembers: “I was recruited by (station founder) Don Pierson to join Radio England and Britain Radio while the ship was still anchored in a harbour in Miami, Florida. Next came Ron O'Quinn who, in turn, hired Jerry Smithwick and Larry Dean. The four of us comprised the first American DJ crew on Radio England, beginning in May 1966. Jerry Smithwick and I sailed across the Atlantic on it in a voyage that took approximately 2 weeks and hit rough seas in a thundering storm our first night out. That caused our radio antenna to come crashing down to the deck, which added another two weeks in port in Lisbon while engineers rigged up a new one, and added finishing touches to our studios and transmitters for both stations. Don and Jerry and I took advantage of the delay by enjoying an unscheduled holiday in Portugal. One incident that comes to mind in that journey was Don's fears about our ship ever breaking free from its anchor, which - as I understand it - had happend with Caroline at one time. To prevent this he bought a separate anchor big enough for the Queen Mary, which was sitting on the port side of the deck all the way across the ocean. But it was so big and heavy that it actually caused the ship to list to that side by a few degrees, resulting in a kind of an odd feeling while cruising at 10 or 11 knots a thousand miles or so away from land. Larry Dean and Ron O'Quinn came on board after we finally arrived in the North Sea and dropped anchor in the vicinity of Radio London and Caroline. Ron was by far the most experienced and, in my opinion, most talented among the four of us. He had known both Jerry and Larry in Georgia and convinced them to join our staff, along with the rest of the British crew that immediately followed, including Johnnie Walker, Roger Day, Colin Nicol, and Graham Gill among others. I remember a wide variety of visitors who inevitably showed up just about every day. Since we were all males, and most of us single at the time, we generally relished most those visits made by what I soon learned were referred to in your country as ‘birds’. In fact, it became apparent to me, and I am sure my American comrades, that there are a number of distinctions between our separate versions of the language we share in common. I found myself stumbling over a few words, which I shall not recall here, which were simple slang in America but considered rude and vulgar in the UK, and perhaps in much of Europe as well. I'm afraid the four of us probably offended a large number of people without realising it because of our ignorance and careless slips of the tongue. Perhaps it is not too late now, three and a half decades later, to offer our apologies?” Things did not run smoothly for Radio England and the four pioneer presenters did not stay long. Rick recalls: “I was the first American DJ to sign up with Radio England, and the first to leave, departing in August 1966 and returning to the United States. I first enrolled in a local junior college in Florida and soon thereafter resumed my career in radio at WLCY "Radio 138" Tampa Bay, after which I worked at various other stations in the bay area and around Florida, as well as in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado and California. I no longer sit behind a microphone but am still cranking out music over the airwaves so to speak, programming a couple of satellite television channels over North America, one of which plays non-stop Christian music videos on a network we have fondly named Praise TV. My other channel is called Worship, which is aired overnights nationwide on PaxTV.” Since writing this, Rick has retired. For more about Rick, see www.teddwebb.com. (Many thanks to Rick for getting in touch, bringing us up to date, signing the guestbook and forwarding the photo, originally given to him by Steve England. He has also written about his memories of British offshore radio for our feature on Radio England and Britain Radio. Rick returned to the UK in 2006 for the 40th anniversary reunion of “Swinging” Radio England and there are photos here.)

three clips of Rick Randall from the early days of “Swinging” Radio England, including an extract from very the first day on the air: 3rd May 1966. Recordings courtesy of RBL and Alfasound (duration 2 minutes 39 seconds)

Rob Randall was born in London and trained as an actor. As a youngster, he appeared in the film Escapade which starred John Mills and Alastair Sim, as well as featuring a young Peter Asher, later to be half of singing duo Peter & Gordon. He toured the nation's theatres, appearing in various stage shows, but in 1965 was working as a disc-jockey in Surrey when Mike Raven approached him about joining the offshore station he was running, King Radio. This operation had virtually no money and, when Rob discovered how little he would be earning during his time at sea, he turned the job down. A few months later King Radio was taken over and, with major backing now in place, Mike began recruiting for the replacement station, Radio 390. He came back to see Rob with a better, if not over-generous, offer and this time it was accepted. Rob joined the team on the Red Sands Fort in time for the launch of Radio 390, presenting “Eve, the woman's magazine of the air.” He was working on the station when, in February 1966, a television crew visited to film for ITV's Danger Man series. (Promotional photos for the episode, called Not So Jolly Roger, can be found in Edward Cole's photo album.) Rob stayed with 390 for about a year but left after a disagreement over his shore-leave entitlement. Following his time at sea he was heard on the south London land-based pirates Radio Jackie and Radio Sovereign but, in 1988, went legit when he joined Guildford's County Sound AM Gold service. He now works as a show-business publicist. (Many thanks to Rob for his help in compiling the above information. The photo was taken by The Kent Messenger and is reprinted from “Offshore Radio”, published by Iceni Enterprises.)

Rob Randall starting a Sunday night edition of Stateside '65 on Radio 390 (duration 1 minute 5 seconds)

Mike and Mandy Raven Born on the 15th November 1924, Mike's real name was Austin Churton Fairman. Prior to getting involved with offshore radio, he had worked as a photographer, conjuror, ballet dancer, interior decorator and flamenco guitarist, among many other things. A cousin of Oliver Smedley, the chairman of Radio Atlanta, Mike joined that station from its start in May 1964 and presented a programme called All Systems Go. From there he moved to King Radio where he was Programme Controller. Based on Red Sands Fort off the coast of Kent, this sweet music station suffered from severe under-funding. It was never able to put out a strong enough signal to get sufficient listeners and sadly did not last long. It was taken over. The new investors installed a more powerful transmitter, better equipment and relaunched it in September 1965 as Radio 390. This was a much more successful operation and quickly won a huge audience for its middle-of-the-road programmes. On both King and 390 Mike presented programmes with his wife, Mandy. Blues enthusiasts also fondly remember his evening R&B shows. Although somewhat serious in his presentation, Mike's love for the music was apparent and, at a time when the blues was all but ignored by the mainstream media, he won a devoted following. The section of the Offshore Echos web site listing DJ theme tunes says that Mike used Liverpool Drive by Chuck Berry and Soul Serenade by Lucas and the Mike Cotton Sound as his themes but Hans Klomp has been in touch from The Hague to say that Mike used the Phil Upchurch Combo's You Can't Sit Down and that Soul Serenade was only used later, when Mike joined the BBC. (Does anyone have any recordings that will confirm this?) Mike's last programme on Radio 390 was on 28th November 1966 and he then presented EMI-sponsored soul shows on Radio Luxembourg. He also released two compilation albums called The Mike Raven Blues Show on Transatlantic Records. When Radio One opened in September 1967 Mike was part of the original team. His Sunday night R&B series was essential listening for every self-respecting blues fan. He also briefly presented a religious chat show on television. However Mike had a fascination for the occult and, in 1971, gave up broadcasting to become an actor in horror films. Tall, bearded and normally dressed all in black, he had the perfect appearance for the genre and featured in a number of movies, one of which, Crucible Of Terror, crops up occasionally on late night television. He lived on a Cornish farm for many years where he took up sculpture. Mike died on 24th April 1997. One of his sons runs a web-site which includes examples of his art. (With thanks to Wendy Haberl for the photograph of Mike and Mandy on board Red Sands Fort, to Mike Davis for the information about the LPs, to Hans Klomp and to the Radio London web site.)

Mike Raven from the very earlest days of British offshore radio, on Radio Atlanta. The precise date in uncertain but it is from some time in June 1964. The recording has been generously donated by Harm Koenders of The Offshore Radio Archive (duration 1 minute 28 seconds)
Mike Raven's R&B Show on Radio 390 (duration 2 minutes 49 seconds)
Mike and Mandy on their Saturday lunchtime show, also on Radio 390 (duration 1 minute 45 seconds). Many thanks to Martyn Webster for providing the two Radio 390 tapes.

   

Earl Richmond Real name John Dienn, he was born in Highgate, north London, in 1928. Earl first worked in radio in 1948 with British Forces Broadcasting in Trieste. He was also heard in Cyprus before moving to America to study television. In July 1959 he joined ITV as a transmission controller and, before becoming a pirate, had also worked for Southern TV in Southampton. When Radio London started at the end of 1964, Earl presented the 9am-noon show and was the ship's administrator. He was known as “The Earl Of Richmond” and his theme tune was a version of Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat. Earl left the ship during the spring of 1966 but continued to make the occasional promotional appearance for Radio London on land. After his pirate days, he was with Yorkshire TV and Thompson International before moving to Thailand where he worked on English language radio and became involved in the hotel trade, at one time owning and running a restaurant called the Beefeater. He died in May 2001. Correspondent Alan Field contacted The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame after finding a news cutting on the net. From a column written by Bernard Trink, dated 18 May 2001, it read: ‘John Dienn, everybody's favourite MC at parties, passed away midweek in Pattaya. He was 75. Bi-lingual in English and Thai, his suave voice was clear and pleasant. A radio personality and hotelier.....’ Richard Buckle has written from Thailand: “John worked out here in Bangkok for almost 30 years in radio and in the hotel management business. We were on the same Bangkok radio station, 95.5FM, for a couple of years in the early nineties. John was a bit of a loner and sadly passed away last year after suffering a heart attack.” There is a fuller obituary of Earl Richmond on the Radio London web-site. There is another picture of Earl in Gordon Sheppard's photo album. (Many thanks to Alan and Richard for getting in touch. If Earl was 75 when he died in May 2001 he obviously was not born in 1928. Either the Radio London press office knocked a couple of years off his age, which is quite possible, or the Thai news cutting is inaccurate.)

Earl Richmond on Radio London, sitting in for Dave Cash on the 3-6pm show, 21 August 1965. Tape kindly provided by Chris Baird (duration 2 minutes 35 seconds)

Mark Roman was a marketing concept before he became a real person. In 1965 Radio London Programme Director Ben Toney decided he was going to hire a DJ who would be known as “Mark Roman” and whose programme would be called The Roman Empire. Senior DJ Tony Windsor suggested Tony Blackburn, who was then working on the rival Radio Caroline South. Blackburn was desperate to move but, having established a reputation for himself, did not want to change his name. Some of the other Radio London DJs recommended Graham Wallace. He had previously spent a week on Radio City, using his real name, but was now working at the Wimbledon Palais. This was a regular venue for Radio London promotions and Graham had met a number of the presenters there. He was only too happy to change his name if it gave him his big break and, in October 1965, “Mark” assumed leadership of The Roman Empire. His catch-phrase was an echo-laden “hail citizens” and each show ended with the fervent hope that “in the words of my old Aunt Matilda: from ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, good Lord deliver us.” His theme tune was Wipeout by The Surfaris. Mark stayed with Radio London until the station close-down and then joined the new Radio One. He also released a single Cuddly Toy but it was not a hit. He did not stay long with the BBC and the following year left to work in Australia. A recent publication called Don't Touch That Dial - Hits 'n' Memories of Australian Radio includes this Christmas card featuring a picture of Mark with the rest of the 1968 team on 2UE Sydney. After some time in Australia, Mark returned to the UK and work as a freelance voice-over. He was one of the people behind the re-creation of Radio London which took place for a month during the summer of 1997. See the Radio London site for further details. Mark has now moved to Spain where he continues to do his voice-over work. For more pictures, including one of Mark in full Roman regalia, see Gordon Sheppard and Willy Walker's photo albums. (Thanks to Mary for pointing out a mistake, now corrected.)

Mark Roman on the Radio London Breakfast Show, from 8th August 1967, less than a week before the station closed down. Tape kindly provided by Stuart Russell (duration 2 minutes 4 seconds)

The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame needs your

Emperor Rosko Real name Michael Pasternak, he was born on Boxing Day 1942, the son of Hollywood film producer Joe Pasternak. Rosko got his first taste of broadcasting while serving in the US navy and, after leaving the service, took a broadcasting course in San Francisco. He moved to Europe and worked on French radio before joining Radio Caroline South in 1966. He brought with him a personality which combined a number of the gimmicks and techniques he had heard while growing up listening to American Top 40 radio. They might not have all been totally original but they were new to a British audience and he immediately won a large following. He also had a mynah bird, Alfie, who joined him on the air. In 1967 he left Caroline to return to France, where he hosted a hugely successful afternoon show on the French Radio Luxembourg, this time not as an “Emperor” but as “Le President Rosko.” He sent over taped shows to Radio One, later joining the station full time. During the seventies he was a major radio star and made hundreds of personal appearances but in 1982 he returned to the States. Since then he has sent over pre-recorded shows for a number of stations including Virgin, Classic Gold and the satellite stations EKR. In 2008 he was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame. He can also currently be heard every Saturday on Forest FM among others. There are a couple of Rosko web-sites: starcomp.net/rosko and a newer one at EmperorRosko.com. There are some pictures of Rosko on Radio Caroline here and some more recent ones, taken in 2007, here. (Thanks to Rosko for the email. He says: “Keep up the good work, Emp.”)

Rosko with Alfie the mynah bird on Radio Caroline South (duration 1 minute 32 seconds)

John Ross-Barnard John's first broadcasting experience was on the early pirate station Radio Invicta. This low-powered sweet music station had only the most rudimentary equipment and the living conditions on the anti-aircraft fort, on which it was based, were extremely basic. There is a fascinating chapter by John describing his life at sea in Keith Skues's book Pop Went The Pirates. On Invicta he broadcast under numerous names as well as his own. He was also JRB, Larry Pannell, Pete Ross and Peter Barraclough. Radio Invicta was replaced by the slightly better-equipped King Radio, then by the much better Radio 390. With a decent transmitter, proper studio equipment, not to mention habitable living conditions, Radio 390 was an enormous success. John stayed throughout these various incarnations but, in 1966, he moved to Britain Radio, your “hallmark of quality” station. He also read the news on its Top 40 sister station, “Swinging” Radio England. From there he joined the BBC as a television continuity announcer. Since then he has held a number of posts including head of BBC video, chief executive of Coventry Cable Television, managing director of Satellite Media Services and is now a broadcasting consultant. John has also been heard on the various Radio London restricted service revivals. There is a recording of an audition tape, made by John in 1966, in the John England collection and a studio quality recording from the previous year on the the page of Mark Hammerton's tapes. We also have some recent photos, taken at the Radio England/Britain Radio 40th anniversary reunion. (Many thanks to John for the email and kind comments.)

John Ross-Barnard on two different stations: presenting Melody Hour on King Radio in 1965 and reading the news on “Swinging” Radio England the following year. Many thanks to Stuart Russell for providing both tapes (duration 3 minutes 45 seconds).

Thanks to Hans Knot for this Radio 390 car sticker.

Sheena Russell. David Gibson writes to point out that Sheena should be included in The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame. He says: “Sheena Russell may not have been a deejay but, having a beautiful broadcasting voice, she did most of the station pre-recorded links and voice-overs for all commercials made by Radio Scotland's associate advertising agency, TV Shields Publicity. When the station ‘sank’ she went to work as a columnist for five years for the UK-wide Weekly News entertainments newspaper owned by DC Thomson, which sent her to the US, much of Europe and all over Britain. She moved to the Sydney Morning Telegraph then went on to work for radio station 2UW in Sydney, Australia, back home to Radio Clyde (as head of commercial traffic, those very important people who schedule the advertisements), to Broadcast Marketing Services, London, and to Southern Television, as commercials coordinator. Sadly Sheena died in October 1999 but, as a real mainstay of the station, between administering the advertising, recording the links and the commercials, if anyone deserves a mention in the Hall of Fame, she does.” Many thanks to David for writing and for providing the photo.