The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame

UPDATED JULY 2008

What's new this month? We have added another page in the ever-growing Pirate Radio Hall of Fame ‘Seventies Supplement’, featuring those broadcasters of the era whose names begin with the letters G or H; from the sixties, we hear from Radio Caroline North's Wally Meehan; and, from Keith Martin's wonderful collection of offshore memorabilia, we take a look at Radio Caroline's 1964 programme format - from back in the day when it was mainly playing middle-of-the-road music. See the contents page and DJ Directories of the sixties and seventies for a full index of the site.

Red Sands Radio returns to the air this month, broadcasting from Red Sands Fort in the Thames estuary, formerly the home of Radio 390. On the air from Friday 4th July until Sunday 13th July on 1278 kHz AM, its programmes will also be streamed over the internet. For more information, see www.redsandonline.co.uk. Run by Bob Le Roi, the DJ line-up also includes former pirates John Aston, Eric Martin, Printz and Bill Rollins.

Don't forget the Radio Caroline North exhibition on the Isle of Man this summer and the conference celebrating the station in September. Full itinerary and travel suggestions here.

During 1960/61 some English-language programmes were broadcast from the Dutch Radio Veronica ship under the call-sign CNBC. One of the presenters on this service was John Michael who, we are sorry to report, died from a heart attack on Wednesday 4th June. You can read an obituary and details of his later career on Canadian radio here. (Our thanks to Hans Knot for passing on the news.)

OFFSHORE RADIO IN EUROPE IS FIFTY YEARS OLD THIS MONTH!

11th July 1958: Radio Mercur began broadcasting test broadcasts on VHF/FM from the mv Cheeta, anchored off the Danish Coast. Regular programmes began the following month.

m.v.Fredericia

Britain's first offshore radio station, Radio Caroline, began broadcasting at Easter 1964 from a ship anchored just outside UK territorial waters. She was followed by a host of other radio stations based on boats and marine structures dotted around the coast.

These “pirates” rapidly won an enormous and enthusiastic audience. There are other web-sites which tell the stories of the various offshore stations but
The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame
has been set up to honour the stars, the broadcasters, from that golden era of music radio.

This site is a tribute to the people who endured a daily battle with the elements to provide a soundtrack to the swinging sixties.

The inductees in The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame are listed alphabetically. More names are being added all the time. To find your favourite voice from the sixties either select it from the drop-down list below, search the site using the Google box or click on the appropriate page from the table of contents beneath. For broadcasters from the seventies, go to the Seventies Supplement (still under construction).

Please note: Offshore stations continued operating from around the British coast until 1990 but The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame mainly covers the first decade, the sixties. The Seventies Supplement, which lists the DJs who worked offshore during the second decade, is currently under construction. Eventually we hope to cover the later years too.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed information, recordings or memorabilia to The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame. We are always on the lookout for more so, if you have any items of interest, please get in touch.

60s Disc-Jockeys A	60s Disc-Jockeys He-Hu	60s Disc-Jockeys Q-R
60s Disc-Jockeys Ba-Bl	60s Disc-Jockeys I-J	60s Disc-Jockeys Sa-Sp
60s Disc-Jockeys Bo-Bz	60s Disc-Jockeys K	60s Disc-Jockeys St-Sy
60s Disc-Jockeys Ca-Cl	60s Disc-Jockeys L	60s Disc-Jockeys T-V
60s Disc-Jockeys Co-Cu	60s Disc-Jockeys M-Mi	60s Disc-Jockeys Wa-Web
60s Disc-Jockeys D	60s Disc-Jockeys Mo-Mu	60s Disc-Jockeys Wes-Wy
60s Disc-Jockeys E-G	60s Disc-Jockeys Mac-Mc	60s Disc-Jockeys X-Z
60s Disc-Jockeys Ha	60s Disc-Jockeys N-P	Anorak gift guide
Charts	Contact us	Credits
Disc-Jockeys' photo albums	Disc-Jockey spotlight	Fans' memorabilia
Guestbook hosted By Bravenet.com	Guestbook archive 2000-02	Links
The Tom Lodge story	Odds and Ends	Plans
Programme schedules	Site contents	Site contents - by station
Sixties DJ Directory	Seventies supplement	We need your HELP

Many of the photos, stickers and recordings are beginning to show their age so apologies for some of the less than perfect quality. Many of these photographs were distributed freely by the various radio stations and were intended for as wide a circulation as possible. Others have been donated to The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame that are of unknown origin. Where photos have been scanned from books, newspapers or magazines, we have given credit. However, if anybody believes that their copyright has been inadvertently infringed by the publication of a photo on this site, please get in touch and it will be removed immediately. Similarly, anybody who has supplied audio for The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame has been credited but tapes get passed from collector to collector and often there is no way of knowing who made the original recordings. Apologies to anyone who thinks their work has been used here without due acknowledgment.

You will need a Real Player to hear the airchecks on The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame. There are two types of Player. The free one is perfectly adequate for listening to these clips although the Real.com site will encourage you to pay for the more exotic version. Either can be downloaded by clicking on the left icon below. The Real Player can also be downloaded from a very informative page on the BBC web site. Some correspondents have also suggested another player, the Real Alternative, although we do not have first-hand experience of using it. It can be downloaded free from www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm.