Peter Quinn made his radio debut at the United Biscuits Network in Isleworth, Middlesex, but wasn’t there long before moving back to his home town of Nottingham for the opening of Radio Trent where he hosted mid-mornings from day one. After two years he got itchy feet and left to explore The Mediterranean with a stint on the Voice of Peace. On his return he became the first UK DJ to work on multiple stations, combining shows on the likes of Beacon Radio, Radio Tees, Swansea Sound and BBC Lincolnshire. Peter joined Radio Caroline in November 1983. As with many of his colleagues, the lack of a regular salary finally persuaded him to move on and he left in June 1984. Since then he has presented on Southern Sound in Sussex, Island Sound Malta, The Hot FM, London’s Country 1035AM, Arrow-FM in Hastings and The Super Station operated by another former Caroline DJ, Dave Miller. Today Peter can be heard on a number of stations including The Mighty KBC and Atlantis. (Thanks to Peter for his assistance. He says: “I don't have any airchecks myself and it was a pleasure to hear the one you found. Thank you for all your hard work keeping the memory of offshore radio alive.” Photo from ‘Caroline 319 - Into The 80's’, published by Seagull Press. There is another picture of Peter in Stevie Lane's photo album.)

Peter Quinn on Radio Caroline from the morning of 27th May 1984. This is an edited version of a recording shared on the Internet Radiocafé, now known as the Radiotrefpunt (radio meeting point) forum by Vincent. Our thanks to him (duration 4 minutes 12 seconds)

Bill Reid An American DJ, birthday January 22, Bill was heard on Laser Hot Hits from 16th to 24th March 1987. Unfortunately problems with the antenna then forced the station off the air for a time, cutting his offshore career short. Before joining the ship, Bill had been heard on KCMU-FM and KJET-AM, both in Seattle. Following the demise of Laser Hot Hits, he returned to the States and, after a brief stint in San Francisco, returned to Seattle. After a year with KISW he moved to KNDD, The End, where he hosted afternoons for nine years. This was followed by six years as DJ and commercial producer for 96.5 K-Rock. Bill now does production/voicework for Jack-FM Seattle and is boss of his own video production company.

Bill Reid on Laser Hot Hits from the morning of 22nd March 1987. This clip is taken from a recording posted on The Offshore Radio Club Forum by Hans Hendriks. Our thanks to him (duration 4 minutes 19 seconds)

Chuck Reynolds An American, born in Lexington, Kentucky, Chuck was heard on Radio Caroline for one stint in November 1988 before leaving for Capital Gold. He says: “when I was in university we had what's called Major area of studies and Minor. A common expressing in America is ‘what's your major?’ Anyway my minor was what was called Telecom with lots of related courses like journalism, speech, etc. plus working at the Uni's radio and TV stations broadcasting (on campus only in those days) at Kent State University. I also had to do an internship. I did part of it at WIXY 1260 Cleveland. I then got a break to come to London. I was just out of college when I started to try and live in London. It took about 6 years before I was allowed to work here. Before leaving to go out on the (Caroline) ship I sent a demo to Capital Gold. I saw they were going 24/7 as opposed to just weekends and thought if I got really lucky I'd get a gig. I saw the format was all ex-household names so I didn’t think I had much chance. Then after about a week on the ship they called my home and talked to my girlfriend who said I'd just gone onboard Caroline and wouldn't be back for about 3 weeks would that still be OK. They said yes, fine, so she didn't tell me the few times I was able to talk to her via, I recall, a fishing boat's ship-to-shore phone system. She didn't want to freak me out so I didn't know about the job until I got home at the end of November. I was going to stay with Caroline but I was offered a deal I couldn't refuse, as they say. As much as I liked it at sea and the romance of the whole thing I think I made the right decision. Because, if it wasn't for Richard Park (PD at Capital FM & AM at the time) giving me, a complete unknown, a break, who knows what I'd be doing now. Everything has come from that moment. I'm just glad to have been a part of the Caroline thing, albeit a very small part. I know how important it is historically and about it's heyday back in the sixties. Indeed how important the entire ‘pirate’ thing was to British radio. Obviously that's why there's still so much interest in it and there are sites like yours. Fantastic.” Chuck broadcast on London's Capital Gold (aka Gold London) as Randall Lee Rose and was also heard on Country-1035, Virgin, EKR and the station known as Big L which broadcast to the UK from an AM transmitter in Holland. While at Capital Gold he put together an excellent compilation CD based round a feature on his show called Doo Wop Shop. He is now a professional voiceover artist. (Many thanks to Chuck/Randall for his assistance.)

Chuck Reynolds on Caroline-558 from the afternoon of 11th November 1988. This is an edited version of a recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive (duration 4 minutes 2 seconds)

Dave Richards Like many Radio Caroline DJs of the eighties, Dave had previously worked on the Israeli offshore station, the Voice of Peace. He joined Caroline in April 1984. There is a video of him on the air on YouTube. He was with the station for more than a year but left in June 1985 to marry fellow DJ Fiona Jeffreys. He made a return visit to the ship for a few weeks in July/August 1988 when he was known as Michael Grant. He was back on Caroline the following year but this time reverted to his old name. Dave has since been heard on Contact-94, broadcasting to the Channel Islands from France, Invicta Radio in Kent, and CD-603 in Cheltenham. Although no longer in full-time broadcasting, Dave continued to present a weekend show on the internet incarnation of Radio Caroline for a time but is now on Quasar Radio. (Photo kindly provided by François Lhote of Offshore Echo's magazine. There are more photos of Dave in Caroline Martin's album.)

Dave Richards on Radio Caroline International, as the station was then called, from the afternoon of 24th November 1984. This clip is taken from a recording posted on The Offshore Radio Club Forum by Hans Hendriks. Our thanks to him (duration 3 minutes 37 seconds). There is another clip of Dave here.
Michael Grant on what was now called Caroline-558 from the afternoon of 5th August 1988. This is an edited version of a recording shared on the Internet Radiocafé, now known as the Radiotrefpunt (radio meeting point) forum by Vincent. Our thanks to him (duration 2 minutes 58 seconds)

Nick Richards was one of the Radio Caroline DJs rescued by lifeboat from the sinking Mi Amigo (see entry in The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame ‘Seventies Supplement’). After some time on South Coast Radio in Ireland, Nick joined the new Radio Caroline on the mv Ross Revenge in January 1985. He stayed for the rest of that year before heading back to Ireland, to WBEN in Cork. He was later on HMV's Oxford Street in-store radio, KISS-FM in Ireland, Q96 in Paisley, City Beat in Belfast and, after many years on Cork's 96FM, he currently presents the afternoon show on C103. (Photo kindly provided by Nick himself. More of his pictures here.)

Nick Richards on the Radio Caroline International Breakfast Show on Easter Sunday, 7th April 1985, the station's 21st birthday. This clip is taken from a recording posted on www.azanorak.com. Our thanks to Ray Robinson (duration 3 minutes 49 seconds)
Some studio quality clips of Nick Richards on Radio Caroline from 1985 kindly provided by the man himself (duration 4 minutes 16 seconds)

Steve Richards joined Radio Caroline in November 1988. He had previously been on the Mediterranean offshore station the Voice of Peace. Following his stint on Caroline he went to Radio Luxembourg where he broadcast as Steve Joy. He has also been heard on Medway FM in Kent, 2BR in Burnley, Fresh in Yorshire as well as stations in Spain and Malta. (Photo of Steve on the Voice of Peace kindly provided by François Lhote of Offshore Echo's magazine.)

Steve Richards on Caroline-558 from the afternoon of 21st December 1988. This recording kindly provided by Steve himself (duration 3 minutes 43 seconds)

Rico Formerly on a land-based pirate station in Essex and the Voice of Peace off Israel, Rico joined Radio Caroline in 1990 and was on board the ship at the time of its last broadcast from the open sea (4th November 1990). Along with his colleagues, he was airlifted off the ship by an RAF rescue helicopter later that year. According to fellow DJ Chris Adams, Rico “now works in a bank in the city of London.” (This photo is from Offshore Echo's magazine. There are more pictures of Rico in Tony Palmer's photo album.)

Rico on the Breakfast Show from Caroline-558 on the morning of 17th May 1990. The “difficult situation” he refers to was the allocation of Caroline's frequency, 558kHz, to a new station for London called Spectrum. This is an edited version of a recording shared on the Internet Radiocafé, now known as the Radiotrefpunt (radio meeting point) forum by Vincent. Our thanks to him (duration 4 minutes 20 seconds)

A full page advert for Laser-558 in USA Today, 8th January 1985. Scan courtesy of Per Alarud.

Tommy Rivers From Minneapolis, Tommy had worked for five years at a number of local radio and television stations before heading for the UK where he joined Laser-558 in June 1984 as afternoon DJ and Operations Manager. While aboard the mv Communicator, he used his spare time to complete his Masters thesis for the University of Minnesota. Known as Tommy “Whattaguy” Rivers, he left Laser in September 1985 (last show, on tape, 17th September). His last offshore broadcast was on a commercial for Arabian Sands Holidays which went out on the rival station, Radio Caroline. Returning to America, he married his English girlfriend and took a job as a newscaster on KSTP-AM, Minneapolis/St.Paul, before returning to London and a position with UPI on Fleet Street. He was the UPI Radio bureau chief and London correspondent. He later moved to NBC in the same role before heading over to CBS as a Radio correspondent. He is currently the London correspondent for ABC News Radio. He also presented weekend shows on Virgin Radio from 1993 to 1995. (This photo is from Offshore Echo's magazine. There are more photos of Tommy in Michael Dean's and Mark Stuart's photo albums. Thanks to Tommy for his assistance.)

Tommy Rivers on Laser-558 from the afternoon of 16th May 1985. This clip is taken from a recording posted on The Offshore Radio Club Forum by Hans Hendriks. Our thanks to him (duration 4 minutes 25 seconds)

Louise Roberts Nick Jackson's girlfriend, Louise joined him on the Ross Revenge as cook and occasional late-night DJ on Radio Caroline. She was first heard in June 1990. While aboard, she also helped out with repainting the ship. (Photo taken by Tony Palmer. Our thanks to him. More of his pictures here.)

Louise Roberts on Radio Caroline. Audio taken from a clip posted on YouTube by ‘PaulStuartTX’. Our thanks to him (duration 1 minute 44 seconds)

Nigel Roberts Birthday 13th December. Before joing Radio Caroline in September 1985, Nigel had been heard on the Voice of Peace and Irish pirate stations Southside, Sunshine and ABC Tramore. His nickname on the ship was “Bhagwan”. With a taste for heavy rock music, he mainly broadcast on the ‘Caroline Overdrive’ service. Nigel moved on in June 1986 and ran a second-hand record shop in London and broadcast on the Rock Radio Network as ‘Skull’. (Photo shared by Nigel on Facebook. There is another picture of him in Paul Graham's album and one in Caroline Martin's.)

Nigel Roberts on Radio Caroline from the evening of 21st October 1985. This clip is edited from a recording posted on www.azanorak.com. Our thanks to Ray Robinson (duration 2 minutes 9 seconds)

Andy Robin did a couple of stints on Radio Caroline between May and October 1987, celebrating his 23rd birthday while on board (on the 27th May). Paul Graham tell us “he came from London and later worked in ILR (Independent Local Radio) I think, possibly under another name.” Steve Conway adds: “I'm pretty sure he did some work for Chiltern Radio after Caroline.” Can anyone tell us more about Andy? (This photo kindly provided by Paul Graham. There are more of Paul's photos here.)

Andy Robin on Caroline-558 from the afternoon of 18th June 1987. This is an edited version of a recording shared on the Internet Radiocafé, now known as the Radiotrefpunt (radio meeting point) forum by Vincent. Our thanks to him (duration 3 minutes 5 seconds)

Alex Rogers Joined Radio Caroline in October 1990 and was a member of the final on-air team at sea. He was last heard on 4th November 1990, Radio Caroline's final day of maritime broadcasting. He later worked on the Voice of Peace and was a broadcast journalist in the UK, being heard on Independent Radio News, Talk Radio (later TalkSport), LBC News Direct, Greater London Radio, ITN Radio and the BBC World Service, as well as making appearances on BBC TV news. In 2008 Alex began studying for his Masters in Business Administration and, having qualified, became CEO of a company building city centre retirement apartments but he returned to the BBC in 2016.

Alex Rogers on Radio Caroline from the afternoon of 25th October 1990, soon after he joined the station. This recording courtesy of the Offshore Radio Archive (duration 4 minutes 3 seconds)

Del Rogers was heard on Radio Caroline during June/July 1985. From the Midlands, he had previously broadcast on Sunshine Radio in Ludlow as Delroy Facey. (There are recordings of Del on Sunshine in June 1984 on The Pirate Archive website.) Following his time on the ship, Del worked at the disco in the Arabian Sands Holiday Village, Morocco, a Caroline advertiser. He was later heard on Birmingham landbased pirate, PCRL. Can anyone provide more information? (Our thanks to Matt of The Pirate Archive for his assistance. Photo by Leendert Vingerling, kindly forwarded by Hans Knot.)

Del Rogers on ‘Jammin' 963’ from June 1985. ‘Jammin'’ was the short-lived soul, funk and reggae programme which incorporated the sponsored religious shows and ran on Radio Caroline's 963 kHz outlet between 6 and 9pm for a few months in 1985 (duration 3 minutes 41 seconds)
Del Rogers on the 10pm-2am show on Radio Caroline International, 1st July 1985. Both clips have been taken from longer recordings shared on the Internet Radiocafé, now known as the Radiotrefpunt (radio meeting point) forum by Vincent. Our thanks to him (duration 3 minutes 22 seconds)

Mark Rogers was heard on Radio Caroline for a couple of weeks in May 1989. We had no information about him until correspondent John Burch got in touch to tell us that Mark had also been heard on London land-based pirate Rock FM (RFM). John sent us this photo of Mark, taken in 2024. Many thanks to him. Can anyone provide more information about Mark?

Robin Ross Robin had been heard on various Liverpool landbased pirates and on the Irish stations ABC Tramore and Sunshine before joining Radio Caroline when it re-launched from a new ship in August 1983. He stayed with Caroline for nearly a year, leaving the mv Ross Revenge for the final time in May 1984. He then worked for Radio Red Rose in Preston before becoming Head of Music at Piccadilly Radio, Manchester. Later he was on Marcher Sound, Fortune 1458, Jazz-FM and Magic 999. Today he is a freelance event manager, commentator, compère and after dinner speaker. His website is www.robinross.co.uk. He also has a passion for screen printing and pop art and in 2011 set up the Rock Factory Print Studio in Blackpool. (This photo is from Offshore Echo's magazine. There are more photo of Robin in Caroline Martin's and Stevie Lane's photo albums.)

Robin Ross on Radio Caroline from the afternoon of Sunday 16th October 1983. This clip is taken from a recording posted on The Offshore Radio Club Forum by Harm Koenders. Our thanks to him (duration 4 minutes 22 seconds)