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Alan West Born in Kingston, Surrey, on 16th July 1947, Alan was a
civil servant with a secret ambition. He wanted to be a pirate disc-jockey. He left the civil service to work in a
record shop where he was fortunate to meet Caroline DJ Errol Bruce. Errol put him in touch
with the booker for the Hammersmith Palais and Alan embarked on a career as a club DJ. After ten months at the Top Rank in
Sunderland, he sent out some demo tapes and was offered a position with Radio London replacing Chris
Denning. Starting one's radio career as an inexperienced broadcaster with the market leader was, in retrospect, a
bit risky and Alan's stay with Radio London was brief. After just two stints on board they parted company and Alan
transferred to “Swinging” Radio England / Britain Radio. Within a month he was on the move again - this
time to Radio 390. His stay with 390 was similarly short-lived and ended when he fell out with Programme Controller
Peter James. Fortunately his next job was to prove considerably more successful. He joined
Radio 270, where he broadcast under the name of Ross Randell, “your five foot bundle of
joy.” He stayed with 270 until its close-down in August 1967. He then worked for BBC Radio Leicester before
returning to sea during the seventies with Radio Northsea International. Since then he has been heard on a number of
stations including Radios Orwell, Hallam, Hereward and Wiltshire, ABC Tramore in Ireland and the Voice of Peace, an
offshore station which broadcast to Israel, where he was known as Rob Scott. His real name is
Alan Fossey and he has more recently been involved in community radio projects in London and Wales. He has also presented
shows on Offshore Music Radio. In January 2006 he appeared
at Cardiff crown court where he was jailed for two and a half years for internet child pornography offences. Details on the
BBC news site. (The photo
was published in 1967 by the Free Radio Association and has been kindly donated by George Morris.)
A short clip of Alan from his time on Radio 390, introducing the Evening Serenade
programme. Recording kindly provided by Harm Koenders of
The
Offshore Radio Archive (duration 44 seconds)
A couple of extracts from Ross Randell's last show on 14th August 1967, the
day Radio 270 closed down forever. “Remember, kittens and tigers, you're
fantasmagorical!” Tape courtesy of Ray
Andrews (duration 2 minutes 58 seconds)
Mark West Born on 24th January 1948 in Southend-on-Sea,
Essex, Mark started playing in bands while still at school. One of them, The Specters, was managed by a certain
Vince Allen. When Vince got the job of Programme Director for a new offshore station,
to be called Radio Essex, he appointed the 17 year old Mark as one of his DJs. Mark presented the very first show
in October 1965. He stayed on as Radio Essex changed into Station BBMS (Britain's Better Music Station)
for its last few months on the air. When it closed down at Christmas 1966, Vince, who had been appointed Programme
Director of Radio 270, sent for Mark. He followed in the footsteps of other Radio Essex presenters like
Guy Hamilton, David Sinclair and
Roger Scott and transferred to this Yorkshire station. After three months he moved on
again, to Radio Scotland, where he remained until the legislation closed it down in August 1967. His theme tune was
The Cooler Side by the Dave Davani Four. After a time working in the music business, Mark returned to sea in
1970 when he joined Radio Northsea International. They already had a DJ called West, Alan West,
so Mark became known as Mark Wesley. He has continued to use this name ever since -
on Radio Luxembourg, Radio Orwell, Radio Nova International (owned by Chris Cary, alias
Spangles Muldoon) Capital Gold and others. He now runs his own
production company. There are more pictures of
Mark in Guy Hamilton's and Roger Scott's photo albums
and some more recent ones, taken at Radio Essex's fortieth anniversary boat trip, here,
and others, taken at the Radio Academy Celebration of Offshore Radio here.
Mark West with a Christmas trail on BBMS from shortly before that station closed
down in 1966. Recording kindly provided by Gerry Zierler (duration 49 seconds)
Mark West from Radio Scotland on the penultimate day of broadcasting, 13th August
1967. Tape courtesy of Ray Andrews (duration
1 minute 57 seconds)
Stephen West Born in Surrey in 1942,
Stephen had done all sorts of jobs before going into radio, spending time as a reporter,
bus driver and ice-cream salesman as well as working for Decca Records and
serving in a record shop. His broadcasting career began in 1965 on King Radio, the sweet music
station on Red Sands Fort, and he stayed on as it changed into the more successful Radio 390.
As well as presenting programmes, he also ran the station's record library. In 1967
Radio 390's managing director, Ted Allbeury, left to
take over the failing Britain Radio and he took a number of presenters with him, including
Stephen and David Allan. Together they launched Radio 355,
initially a virtual facsimile of 390. Having two almost identical stations did not prove
to be a good idea so 355 was given a further revamp and the former 390 broadcasters
returned to the fort. After his time at sea Stephen worked in television, initially for the
promotions department at Anglia TV. He moved to Thames Television in 1978, returning to Anglia
in 1987. He was a producer/director with the company until 1997. His entry on Friends
Reunited says that his “promising career as an ITV fatcat in the nineties was cut short
by Lord Hollick”, presumably a reference to the takeover of Anglia TV by Hollick's
company, Meridian. (There are more pictures of Stephen in Edward
Cole's photo album. As well as the recording below, you can hear more of Stephen on
the page of Mark Hammerton's tapes. Thanks to Graham Newman for
the help.)
Stephen West introducing the weekly R & B Show on Radio 355 from 1967. He only stayed
with the station for a short time. Tape kindly provided by Martyn Webster (duration 1
minute 40 seconds)
Charlie White (or Whyte) We
asked if anyone could give us some information about Radio Scotland's Charlie White. His old colleague
Jack McLaughlin obliged. Jack wrote: “One of the first names signed up by
(Managing Director) Tommy Shields for Radio Scotland was a guy called Charlie White - a bus driver from
Glasgow. I think Tommy signed him up because he had a very large record collection! A lot of the pre-opening
publicity revolved round Charlie and unfortunately it went to his head. On the boat, he refused to help in the mundane
tasks such as cleaning the fire etc. and, in ‘Big Brother’ fashion, he was voted off the ship by the rest of
the jocks after about six weeks! Nothing further was ever heard of him.” Although Jack did not have any further
information, in June 2006 The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame heard from Charlie's cousin
Isabel Whyte. She had sad news. She wrote: “Charles died about six or seven years ago from cancer.” Although
Charlie's surname was spelt ‘White’ in the station publicity, Isabel points out that it was actually
‘Whyte’. “The family came from Findhorn in Morayshire. Charles enjoyed many family holidays at Findhorn in
his (and my) grandparents' house in the lovely fishing village just outside Kinloss. I remember being in the
family house in Dormanside Road in Pollock when (fellow Radio Scotland DJ) Peter Bowman
was there. For me, a young schoolgirl, this was so fantastic - me in the same room as a real DJ! I have to say I
was proud of having a cousin who was a DJ on Scotland's first pirate radio station - and, forty or so years on,
am still quite proud of this! Charles really didn't discuss what happened on Radio Scotland - and after that
time I think he was quite disillusioned with life. He kept himself very much to himself. He cared for his elderly mother
but sadly he died before her. He is survived by his brother Bill and family.” (Our thanks to Isabel for
getting in touch, for sharing this sad news and for providing the photograph.)
Charlie White from the first week of Radio Scotland. This clip is taken from the late night
Northern Lights programme of 4th January 1966. Tape courtesy of Ray
Andrews (duration 1 minute 55 seconds)
Eddie White was a promotions man working on land, behind the scenes,
for Radio Caroline before becoming a DJ on the Caroline North ship. From there he moved to Radio Scotland where one of his
colleagues was Jack McLaughlin. Jack says: “Ed was a very laid back sales guy
who did about six months on Radio Scotland and was with it at the end. During my absence from the station, Ed had the
dubious honour of presenting my programme, ‘McLaughlin's Ceilidh’ - not something he enjoyed
doing!” We asked if anyone could provide more up-to-date information about Eddie and in October 2007
we received this sad news from a relative of Eddie's, Norman Adams: “Aberdeen-born Edward
‘Eddie’ White collapsed and died at his home in Blackheath, London, in 1990. He was in his early fifties.”
We asked Norman if he could provide more information about the man and he kindly obliged: “Eddie, the eldest of
three brothers, had an infectious zest for life, so his sudden death at his home in Blackheath, London, in 1990, stunned
his family and friends. Before he left Aberdeen he worked in the print room of a local weekly newspaper. I understand Eddie
was dubbed the ‘Iron Man’ by listeners of one offshore station because of his marathon stint at the mic during a
storm. As it happens, Eddie's family had strong maritime connections. His grandfather, my uncle, was a top Aberdeen
trawl skipper. His father, a sales executive, served in the Merchant Navy during World War Two. Because of his laid-back
delivery at the mic, Eddie was known to his Radio Scotland fans as ‘The Whispering Giant’. Two of his other
nicknames were ‘Big Ed White’ and ‘Yogi Bear’ because of his trademark fur coat (see photo).
At the time of his death Eddie worked for a motor dealership. A tree was planted in his memory at Greenwich Park. Eddie
wasn't the only member of his family in the entertainment business. His mother was a film extra and worked alongside
a galaxy of British and international film and TV stars during a career spanning more than thirty years. Her agent was Mrs.
‘Freddie’ Young, mother of actor Paul Young, former Radio Scotland DJ. Eddie had
a walk-on part in one TV play.” Our grateful thanks to Norman for his assistance. (Photo courtesy of Bob
Stevenson. You can see another picture of Eddie here.)
Eddie White on the Night Owl programme from Radio Scotland, 4th February 1967. Recording kindly provided by
Manfred Steinkrauss (duration 2 minutes 55 seconds)
David Williams Born in Oswestry, Shropshire, David was the first
Caroline newsman to have been a professional journalist before joining the ship. He spent nine years working as a
photographer in the RAF but caught the broadcasting bug working for various forces radio stations. Shortly before leaving
the Air Force, David started looking for work in radio. Having been rejected by the BBC, Radio Luxembourg and BFBS he was
lucky enough to be put in touch with Graham Webb who was setting up Radio Caroline's
Newsbeat service. In May 1966, although still in the Air Force, David spent three weeks “testing the water”
on the Caroline South ship. Initially he called himself David Wynne in an attempt to disguise
his identity from the authorities but he kept forgetting his new name and using his real one by mistake, confusing the
listeners into thinking that Caroline was employing two news readers. After this trial period, Graham offered David the
job of launching the news service on Caroline North. He left the RAF and stayed with Caroline North, working as a newsman and
occasional DJ, until the Marine Offences Act in 1967. Immediately, on leaving Caroline, David joined Border Television in
Carlisle as an announcer but the contract came to an end when he was accused of sending a message to his pirate ex-colleagues
when closing down the station one night. Following a stint on various television stations, both commercial and BBC, David
returned to radio with BBC Radio Leeds. In 1972 he was back in television, working as a producer on Pebble Mill at One.
He also produced a number of light entertainment specials for the BBC with such artistes as Don McLean, Neil Sedaka, Peggy
Lee, Anne Murray and the Three Degrees. He stayed with the BBC in Birmingham until 1983 when he left to establish a new career
in computers. He was heard again on a Radio London thirtieth anniversary recreation in 1997. For more details of this and
for a photo, see the Radio
London site. He also attended the 2005 Radio Day in Amsterdam. (Thanks to Tom Collins
and Polyphoto for the picture and to David for the information.)
Dave Williams reading the 5pm news on Radio Caroline North, 14th August 1967, his
penultimate bulletin on the station (duration 2 minute 48 seconds)
Tony Windsor Born in England of Greek parents, his family
emigrated to Australia when he was two years old. He was a vacuum cleaner salesman before starting to sell airtime
for radio station 2SM in Sydney, then owned by the Catholic church. One night in 1953 he was asked to stand in for
an absent DJ, an event which changed his life. He went on to become one of the top broadcasters in Australia. In
1962 he came to Britain and presented a few shows on the BBC Light Programme but nothing came of them. His fellow
Australian Allan Crawford gave him a job on Radio Atlanta when it started in 1964 and he broadcast under his real
name of Tony Withers. He stayed on for a short time after the station merged with Caroline
but became Senior DJ on Radio London at its launch in December, changing his name to Tony Windsor. Initially looking
after the afternoon show, it was when he took over the 9-noon slot that Tony really got noticed. With his deep
resonant trade-mark “hel-lo,” his theme of Waltzing Matilda and his natural warmth, Tony
was one of the major stars of offshore radio. He was also an alcoholic, a fact that was never noticeable on the air,
but illness forced him to leave Radio London in February 1967. He was later Programme Director of Radio 355. Revered
by his colleagues, especially the less experienced ones who he taught so much, “TW” was one of the giants
of sixties radio. When the pirates closed down he worked briefly for Radio Luxembourg but spent the last years of
his life at St.Stephen's Hospital in London where he worked in the records department. He died in June 1985,
aged 64. A radio industry organisation, the Radio Academy, has its own
Hall of Fame honouring people who have made an outstanding contribution to UK radio. Tony was
posthumously inducted into it in December 2006. For more photos and recordings, check out Spotlight
On Tony Windsor and there are more pictures of Tony in Duncan Johnson's and
Willy Walker's photo albums.
Tony Windsor presenting The Fab 40 on Radio London on 25th April 1965, an
extract from Offshore
Echo's tape More Highlights Of Big L part one, used with kind permission
(duration 2 minutes 20 seconds)
Tony Windsor, along with Alan Black, introducing a live
session from American singer José Feliciano on Radio 355 in July 1967
(duration 2 minutes 24 seconds)
Jason Wolfe As has been mentioned before
(see Glenn Adams, Dee Harrison,
etc.) little was revealed about the disc-jockeys who made their debuts on Radio Caroline
after the passing of the Marine Offences Act. Not wishing to risk prosecution under the new law,
it was felt wiser to keep a low profile. Another of these men of mystery was Jason Wolfe. He
joined Radio Caroline North in August 1967. It has been reported that he was 25 years old and
from South Africa but even this minimal information may not be correct. Following his time with
Caroline he was one of the instigators, along with Bud Ballou and
Spangles Muldoon, of the landbased pirate Radio Free London and
it was also reported that he was working as a croupier. In June 1974 he briefly returned to sea
when he joined Radio Northsea International off the coast of Holland. Unfortunately his on-air
style was not appreciated by station boss Edwin Bollier and he only stayed a month. Sadly Jason
died of cancer in 1986. We did not know much about his post-pirate career until the
Radio London web site tracked down Jason's widow, Penny. His real name was Chris Bowskill
and you can read more about him here. Penny has also very kindly allowed The Pirate
Radio Hall of Fame to publish two pages of photos from Jason Wolfe's
photo album.
