Robb Eden From Hampstead, London, Robb joined Radio Northsea International on 7th August 1970, aged 18. He initially only stayed until the end of the month. He was waiting to rejoin the station when it closed down in September. A year later, with RNI now back in action, Robb returned, having in the meantime been working in a London club. He was fired from RNI on 23rd August 1972 following a misunderstanding over an incident in which some 300 Dutch records had been thrown over the side of the ship. He did return to the air on 30th November but only broadcast occasionally, as he was mainly employed as the station's UK representative. From late 1973 he presented a weekly pre-recorded show of rock music on Sunday nights, The Contemporary Music Programme. While working for RNI Robb presented one show on Caroline under the pseudonym ‘L'Angelo Misterioso’ and in April 1974 he formally switched stations, presenting his first proper show on Caroline on 3rd May. In August 1974 he left to join Liverpool's Radio City and the following September moved to Capitol Records. A year later he was seconded to EMI Europe where he was instrumental in developing synchronised release for EMI product throughout Europe. He also managed a couple of Dutch rock bands. For a while he was UK representative for the Israeli offshore station, the Voice of Peace as well as Caroline and, in 1977, started the Caroline Roadshow, a very successful heavy rock disco. He was production manager on BRMB Radio and Chiltern Radio and worked as a consultant on a number of projects for the Virgin Group including Music Box, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Radio. He was also involved with Chris Cary (alias Spangles Muldoon) in his short-lived Radio Nova International satellite station. In 1999 he started a campaign to persuade the BBC to play more unsigned music. This led to the launch of a website and, later, North Cotswold Community Radio. Robb played a lot of unsigned acts on his weekly show. The station operated for fifteen years but Robb closed it at the end of 2022. Robb attended Radio Caroline's fortieth birthday party in March 2004. There is a picture here. There are also pictures of him at the 2005 Radio Day and 2014 Radio Day in Amsterdam, as well as at a Caroline ‘Class of '74’ mini-reunion, the 2018 late 70s DJs' reunion and the ‘Spirit of the Seventies’ reunion broadcast of August 2024. (With many thanks to Robb for his help with the above. The photo is from an issue of ‘Wavelength’ magazine. There are more pictures of Robb in Paul May's and Ian Anderson's photo albums.)

Robb Eden on the Drivetime programme on Radio Northsea International, 27th January 1972. This clip is part of a longer recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive (duration 2 minutes 29 seconds)
Robb Eden opening Radio Caroline for the night and hosting his first show on the station, 3rd May 1974. This is an edited version of a recording posted by Jan-Fré Vos on the Internet Radiocafé, now known as the Radiotrefpunt (radio meeting point) forum. Our thanks to him (duration 4 minutes 12 seconds)

RNI poster issued by the Free Radio Campaign.
Scan kindly provided by James Cook, the man who designed it.

Nigel Elgin was a student at London University who worked on Radio Caroline from 30th July to 6th September 1975 during his summer vacation. He injected some scripted humour into his presentation which was somewhat at odds with the more naturalistic style of the other DJs. The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame was delighted to hear from Nigel, who told us about his time with the station: “My first involvement was when I was asked to submit a demo tape by a mate of mine who worked for Phonogram Records. I was then asked to meet him in a pub in Fulham one evening. There I was introduced to (station founder) Ronan O'Rahilly. The main topic of conversation was ‘Loving Awareness’ and a few days later I was given instructions on how to get to Radio Caroline. The journey to the mv Mi Amigo was memorable as the sea was like glass. 1975 was a HOT summer and I used to finish my show around 2am and then go up on deck and watch the stars and, when conditions were right, the electric storms from afar. Indeed it was so hot I was happy to attempt an all-over tan during the day - the only task being to keep popping in the pre-recorded tapes for the Flemish Radio Mi Amigo which was the mainstay of daytime broadcasting. Apart from that, I used the vacant studio to pre-record novelty items and jingles for inserts within my shows. The humourous content didn't always go down well and I was admonished once by, I believe, the ship's captain (or maybe Peter Chicago?) but I held my corner as the theme was no different to my audition tape which, presumably, had led to my involvement. I had brought a number of records with me including Jasper Carrott's Funky Moped and we were the only radio station playing the B-side Magic Roundabout, which was a regular item in my show at 1am. I believe it had been banned by the BBC so it was fun watching Funky Moped zooming up the charts and Jasper having to sing it on Top Of The Pops, knowing that there was every chance that it was Radio Caroline that was breaking it via Magic Roundabout. (I believe it also got plenty of exposure at night clubs/discos so I won't take all the blame/credit.) One day we were treated to a low flying plane with what looked like Dutch Air Force colours. There was someone hanging out of the door filming us. We waved! When our six weeks were up, the tender that picked us up had, amongst others, Ronan O'Rahilly on board. As we were about to enter Boulogne (?) harbour, the harbour police intercepted us and we were held until the early hours in their jail - although not behind bars. We feared the worst but, in the middle of the night they let us go. The impression given was that they did not take kindly to being told what to do by Interpol and we stuck to our story that we were just sightseers and argued that we could not have been on board because the same DJs were broadcasting that night as had been for many weeks. Of course we did not divulge that these were our pre-recorded exit shows. In the morning, rather than going back to England and potentially being greeted by UK Customs officials on arrival, Michael Lloyd and I decided to stay on the Continent for a while. I headed for Belgium as I had met and interviewed Raymond Vincent, lead violinist with the Wallace Collection and Esperanto, and I knew that a relation of his (brother-in-law?) was involved with Radio Mi Amigo. Fortunately I was able to find his palatial residence and he kindly lent me some money so that I could get home via a different route. The journey back across the channel was uneventful. I made sure I was the first off the ferry and strolled boldly through the ‘Nothing To Declare’ exit. Then I could start breathing normally again! I was unable to go back after my six-week break as I was still a student at London University, although whether I would have been asked back is open to question. Just as well I didn't go back as I would have landed up in clink, along with Michael, as this next stint resulted in the ship drifting into territorial waters in November 1975.” (With many thanks to Nigel for the information and the photo. Thanks also to Ian Biggar and Bob Lawrence for pointing out that Nigel's theme tune was Catalan by Greenslade.)

The start of a Nigel Elgin show in the early minutes of 1st September 1975. The recording is taken from a cassette called 21 Years - A Lady vol.II marketed in 1985 by J.E Patrick. This particular copy is from Martin Lynch's collection and has been donated by Lynne Sims (duration 4 minutes 24 seconds)

Chris Elliott joined Radio Caroline on 9th January 1976. He left on 4th April, having celebrated his 23rd birthday while on board, on 26th March. He is not the Chris Elliot who wrote The Wonderful Radio London Story. Correspondent Bob Brown writes: “Chris became the almost resident and popular DJ in the cellar bar of Thames Polytechnic in Woolwich during 1977 and 1978. I was the social secretary for most of that time. He was also the DJ, when required, for the gigs in the main hall.” We are grateful to Bob for getting in touch but think that might have been the other Chris Elliot. Can anyone tell us more about Caroline's Chris Elliott? If so, please get in touch.

Chris Elliott on Radio Caroline on the evening of 28th March 1976, Caroline's twelfth birthday, counting down a Top 50 album chart. This is a clip taken from a recording available from www.azanorak.com. Our thanks to Jim Nantz and to Lee Mendham who donated the show to Jim's site (duration 3 minutes 55 seconds)

Debbie England Husband and wife team, Steve and Debbie England had previously run a mobile disco business together. They joined Radio Caroline in December 1972, Debbie as cook and occasional DJ, Steve as full-time broadcaster. They left Caroline when it closed temporarily in June 1973 and, the following February, signed up with Radio Atlantis. Debbie again broadcast occasionally. They stayed until the station closed down in August 1974. Debbie now runs Electromedia, a provider of video production and interactive media services based in Cheshire. There is an interview with Debbie on Dr Jo Stanley's blog Gender and the Sea. (This photo by Steve England, kindly supplied by Chris Edwards of ‘Offshore Echos’ magazine. There are more photos of Debbie in John Harding's album. Thanks to Ian Anderson for information.)

Debbie England on Teatime Tunes from Radio Atlantis, 27th August 1974, sitting in for her seasick husband. This is an edited version of a recording shared by The Offshore Radio Guide. Our thanks to Martin van der Ven (duration 3 minutes 15 seconds)

Radio Atlantis QSL card.

Steve England and his first wife Debbie had run the Zap mobile disco business in Deal, Kent, before joining Radio Caroline in December 1972. They left Caroline when it closed down temporarily in June 1973. They returned in October, although this time Steve was based on land helping create the Radio Mi Amigo jingles and working as a studio engineer recording taped shows. He wasn't happy with some of the internal politics of the Caroline organisation and quit after three weeks. The couple returned to the UK. In early 1974 Steve joined Radio Atlantis and, in February, was appointed Programme Director of the English-language International Service. Despite suffering from low transmitter power and limited resources, Atlantis proved very popular with those who could receive it. However it only lasted until August 1974, closing when the Dutch introduced their anti-pirate legislation. Steve then joined Piccadilly Radio in Manchester and soon became Commercial Production Manager. He later set up his own company, Alfasound, to record radio jingles and commercials. After eighteen years a dispute with his partners led to its closure in 1998. He then set up the audio production company S2blue which he ran with his son Simon until retirement in July 2011. He can currently be heard on an oldies station also called Atlantis. (Our grateful thanks to Steve for the information, the recording and the photo. Steve has very kindly provided a number of photos which appear throughout the ‘Seventies Supplement’. There are also some more here as well as a video. His memories of Radio Atlantis are here. There are also more photos of Steve in John Harding's album.)

Steve England on the English-language International Service of Radio Atlantis from 1974. Recording kindly provided by the man himself (duration 2 minutes 26 seconds)

Barry Everitt worked in and around the music business for many years. Back in the sixties he was a drummer in blues bands Hobo James and The Farm. A sports journalist on The Romford Times / Stratford Express, he became interested in the burgeoning ‘underground’ press of the late sixties and contributed to some of the publications, including Friendz, International Times and Oz. In 1970 he was heard on the freeform hippy station from Monte Carlo, Radio Geronimo (as was Ian Anderson). Sadly Geronimo did not last. Barry then travelled to New York and helped launch WPLJ-FM. In 1972 he started Revelation Records with John Coleman. They released the Glastonbury Fayre triple LP recording of the previous year's Glastonbury festival. In July 1973 a number of ex-Geronimo DJs, including Barry, launched Radio Seagull from the Caroline ship, then anchored off Holland. Barry broadcast on Radio Seagull until September that year, then moved to America where he was heard on various radio stations (KSML, KFAT, KDKB and the syndicated Rock Around The World programme) returning to the UK in 1981 to work at London's legendary live music venue, Dingwalls. Following that he worked as a sound engineer, producer, tour manager, agent and did numerous other jobs around the London music scene, spending many years as promoter at The Borderline club. He also hosted the House of Mercy radio show which was broadcast on a number of different stations around the world. Following his marriage to musician Bex Marshall he became known as Barry Marshall-Everitt. Sadly he was diagnosed with a rare form of urethral cancer and died in April 2017. (This is a recent photo, kindly provided by Barry. Can anyone provide one of him from his offshore days?)

Barry Everitt on Radio Seagull from August 1973. This clip is part of a longer recording kindly provided by www.radioseagull.co.uk. Our thanks to webmaster Chris B for his permission to include it here (duration 2 minutes 17 seconds)

John Farlowe From Brighton in Sussex, John was on Radio Seagull for just one stint lasting a fortnight in August 1973. He had a technical background and John tells us that station owner Ronan O'Rahilly had asked him to go out to the ship not only as a DJ but also to see if anything could be done to the antenna to increase the station's output power. Unfortunately there was a storm, John had an accident and had to be brought ashore. He was friends with DJ Graham Gill, then working for Radio Northsea International, who said “don't go back. It's too dangerous on the ship. Come to Northsea” so John also spent a period on the Mebo II working on RNI's aerial. When he returned to the UK John says he “turned a hobby into a business”. Correspondent Mark Keable tells us that John started a company called Exposure Electronics in 1974 to make high quality audio equipment. He retired in 2002 and moved to Thailand where, 20 years later, The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame made contact with him via Facebook. Some time ago Graham Gill had told us that John was the younger brother of singer Chris Farlowe. We asked John if that was correct. His reply: “I am not his brother. I thought Graham knew that it was a joke.” It seems he didn't. (With many thanks to John and Mark for their help.)

John Farlowe on Radio Seagull, shortly after 3am on 18th August 1973. Recording kindly provided by Ian Biggar (duration 1 minute 28 seconds)

Martin Fisher From Chelmsford, Essex, Martin was introduced to the joys of radio listening by his grandfather at an early age. Martin was a fan of the offshore stations of the sixties and, on leaving school, followed his father and grandfather into the Marconi company where he became a technical apprentice. He was listening to Radio Caroline in 1976 when he heard an advertisement for a transmitter engineer. Fired up with enthusiasm he wrote off - and heard nothing. A few weeks later he noticed that the station was now giving out a different mailing address. Thinking his original application may have got lost in the change-over, Martin wrote again. A week later he was contacted and invited for an interview and, within a few more weeks, he was out on board the Mi Amigo. He had applied to be an engineer but was invited to be a DJ too. His first show was in the early hours of 11th January 1977 and he quickly became one of the station's regular presenters while still looking after the technical side as well. He had been told he would be working one month on the ship, one month off, but when his first stint aboard lasted eleven weeks, he realised that this was wishful thinking! Martin's last show from the Mi Amigo was on 26th June 1979. He tells us: “I remember having a bit of a break after that, but I did go back to the Mi Amigo once more, for just one week starting 15th September 1979. I was persuaded to return. The station was off the air. When I arrived on board at 9.30 in the morning the ship was like a ghost ship with nothing running. By 3pm we were back on the air! I had repaired a problem with the voltage regulator on the Henschel generator, and it was this generator that largely kept the station going during the last few months from the Mi Amigo. I did not present any shows during that last week, as there were a lot of jocks on board, all trying to squeeze into a few hours each evening. I had an interview lined up at the BBC the following week. I joined BBC TV as an engineer in October. After nearly 3 years with Caroline, it was sadly time to move on. Caroline had been a fantastic experience but clearly the Mi Amigo was not going to last for ever and for various reasons it was time to move on.” After his time with BBC television, Martin went on to work as an engineer in commercial radio although he still found time to make a short return to Caroline in the eighties when it was broadcasting from the Ross Revenge. He presented a few shows as “The Night Owl” in July/August 1985 (see The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame ‘Eighties Supplement’). He can currently be heard on the internet incarnation of Radio Caroline. There are some recent photos of him, taken at a 2018 DJs' reunion, a 2022 broadcast and a 2024 one. There is an interview with him here. (This photo shows Martin on the air. He says “Those orange T-shirts - we were all wearing them at the time. They were like the Caroline uniform. Actually they were Miss Sheila T-shirts, one of Radio Mi Amigo's advertisers. We did not get many perks on the ship at that time, so when a load of T-shirts arrived we all had one.” Our thanks to Martin for the information, the photo and the audio.)

Martin Fisher opening the English service of Radio Caroline for the night, 5pm on Friday 1st June 1979, a studio recording kindly provided by the man himself (duration 4 minutes 13 seconds)

Ed Foster Previously on south London land-based pirate, Radio Kaleidoscope, where he had broadcast under the name of ‘Keith Ross Jenson’, Ed was on Caroline from August 1976 to July 1977. His musical tastes leant towards the heavier end of the rock spectrum which polarised opinions: some listeners loved it, others didn't. It is thought that it was this difference of musical opinion that led to his parting of the ways with Radio Caroline. We lost touch with Ed after his time on air and asked if anyone could provide information. In August 2014 we heard from Janet: “I am Ed Foster's sister and I've just come across the reference to my brother on your site. Sadly my brother was killed in a motorcycle accident about 10 years ago. He is very much missed by his family. He was a wonderful man, and much loved by all his many friends. To the last he was a great proponent of heavy rock: Hawkwind's Silver Machine was played (loudly!) at his funeral, together with some Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. As well as playing a lot of great heavy rock (on Caroline), I remember Ed quite often played Morris dance music too - so a very broad spectrum of music choice there. So great to see his picture on your site. So many happy memories - and one really scary one. Ed was on-air the night the ship slipped her anchor in a storm and began to drift. I was listening that night as Ed broadcast the Mayday message - so calmly! It was terrifying for me and my husband. I didn't dare let our mum and dad know; they would have been scared out of their wits. After Caroline, Ed left broadcasting and became an electronics engineer, working on fighter aircraft - all very hush-hush stuff. He married, though he and his wife had no children. They adored their dogs and they spent many hours walking by the Pen Ponds in Richmond Park. He absolutely loved his Honda motorbike, using it to travel to his work, and he often used to visit us in the country just so he could take the bike on a long run. He was a very careful driver and his accident was a freak, according to witnesses and the police. Apparently there was a small oily patch on the road which caused him to slide into the path of the on-coming traffic. A few inches either way and he would have missed the patch and carried on unharmed.” (Our thanks to Janet for sharing this sad news. The photo was taken by Ed's Dutch DJ colleague Marc Jacobs and kindly provided by Hans Knot. Thanks also to Bob Lawrence for some of the above information.)

Ed Foster on Radio Caroline on the evening of 28th February 1977. Recording kindly provided by Stuart Russell (duration 2 minutes 26 seconds)