In July 2003, Caroline South's Keith Hampshire contacted us. He had discovered
this photo of a sunbathing colleague from 1966. Keefers thought he was an American newsreader, possibly called John, but
couldn't remember his surname. We asked, on his behalf, if anyone could identify him.
The only newsreader called John from that era that we could recall was a John McDonald (or MacDonald?)
but we had no information about him at all and he doesn't sound American on this recording
from 13th August 1966.
After hearing the bulletin, Keith agreed that he didn't sound American. He wrote: Seems to me my guy used
to say noos instead of nyews, if you know what I mean. I guess that's why I thought he was
American. Your guy says nyews so that kind of makes me think perhaps he isn't the guy we're
looking for.
After seeing the picture Caroline engineer Carl Thomson wrote: it looks
like Robbie Dale to me. However that can't be right because Robbie and the mystery
man appear together in another of Keith's photos, below, along with an engineer known as Wombat and the
curly-haired kid in the third row Steve Young.
Caroline's news supremo at the time was Graham Webb but he could not
remember hiring any American news readers. He wrote: Old age and memories play tricks but while I don't have definitive
memories of John McDonald, he is there way in the back of my memory. As I was News Director of the two Carolines at the
time of his employment, I would've taken him on. I don't recall putting on an American as we didn't want
to compete with the others (the DJs) who went for the mid-Atlantic accent.
And there the matter rested until October 2008 when correspondent André de Raaij got in touch with The
Pirate Radio Hall of Fame. He wrote: There was a newsreader on Caroline South in 1966 - a
one-shifter named Al Singer who sounded a bit American. Not a John, but it seems Al Singer never gets a mention and so it may
be him...
We contacted Keefers to ask if André had solved the mystery. Keith replied: Yes it may be him..............
My memory isn't quite as sharp as it used to be!
So have we solved the mystery? Is it Al Singer? Can anybody
confirm
if Al is the nearly-naked newsman? Our thanks to Keith, Carl, Graham and André.