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The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame needs your
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Tom Anderson had previously broadcast on Radio Caroline during the seventies (see entry in The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame
‘Seventies Supplement’). One of the DJs to be rescued from the mv Mi Amigo the night she sank, Tom was closely involved in the fitting out of the new ship and presented the first show from
the Ross Revenge when the station launched on 20th August 1983. At the end of 1984 he left the ship to work for the station on land although he returned to the air a year later to run the ‘Caroline Overdrive’ rock service.
This finished in January 1987. Tom was heard occasionally after that but eventually left the organisation to work for Sunshine Radio on the Riviera. When he returned to the UK he joined radio syndication company PPM, moving
to the BBC's Greater London Radio in 1991, working mainly as a lecturer on a radio training scheme but also presenting a Saurday evening show on the station. When the training scheme ended a year later, Tom moved back to the
south of France and Riviera Radio, later becoming Programme Director. He still lives in France. (The photo shows Tom in the brand new Caroline studio at the time of the station launch in 1983. It is taken from ‘Monitor’
magazine. There are more photos in Caroline Martin's album.)
A rather low key Tom Anderson reopens Radio Caroline from her brand new ship at 12 noon on 20th August 1983. At that time the music was played in sweeps of up to 20 minutes with
minimal chat from the DJ. This is an edited version of a recording available from www.azanorak.com. Our thanks to
Ray Robinson (duration 1 minute 45 seconds)
A much more lively Tom Anderson from the following June, presenting one of his regular early evening shows. The clip is edited from a studio recording donated to
www.azanorak.com by Bill Rollins. With thanks to Bill and Ray Robinson (duration 3 minutes 44 seconds)
Alton Andrews A former club DJ, Alton joined Radio Caroline in September 1984. His first stint aboard ended on 27th October and, when he returned in January 1985, he used
a different name as the authorities had begun to take an interest in the station. He was then known as Mark Summers. He left the following month to join the in-store radio station at the Oxford Circus
branch of Top Shop in London. Alton later worked for Riviera Radio in the south of France, spent two years on Radio Luxembourg, was with Liberty Radio in London for five years and British Forces Broadcasting, including a period
serving in the Middle East during the Gulf War. He tells us he was the first ever British Forces DJ to work on AFRTS, American Forces Radio Television Service. Alton presented the afternoon show on Red Rose Radio in Preston
for about 4 or 5 months, before moving to the Breakfast Show. He has also been heard on European Klassic Rock and Thames FM, Big L in Frinton and presented various shows on BBC Radio Cambridge. He says: “I walked away from radio
in 2008. I still do the odd voice-over and write stuff for people. I now live in the countryside in a very, very small village. I am enjoying the quality of life with my wife. We keep chickens and ducks and, yes, life is pretty good.”
Alton can currently be heard on Saturdays on Red Rose Radio and German internet station novumfm.de. (Thanks to Alton for
his assistance and to Philip Champion for some information. The photo shows, left to right, Alton, Nick Richards and Tony James. It was taken by Leendert Vingerling
and kindly supplied by Keith King. There are more photos in Caroline Martin's album.)
Alton Andrews on the Radio Caroline Breakfast Show on Sunday 14th October 1984. This is an edited version of a recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive
(duration 3 minutes 41 seconds)
Mark Summers from a marathon eight hour programme on Radio Caroline International, 17th January 1985. This is an edited version of a recording posted by Vincent on the Internet Radiocafé, now known as the
Radiotrefpunt (radio meeting point) forum. Our thanks to him (duration 4 minute 7 seconds)
David Andrews A former bank clerk and hospital radio volunteer from Chelmsford, David joined Radio Caroline on Saturday 29th June 1985, presenting his first show at 2am
the following day. One year later, minus a day, having put in many, many hours on the air, he left Caroline to join the Dublin pirate Energy-103, where he was known as Alan Burns. In July 1987 he moved to Riviera Radio in the south
of France followed by Chiltern Radio then Capital Gold. David can currently be heard presenting weekend mornings on Gold. (Photo from
‘Monitor’ magazine.)
David Andrews on Radio Caroline on the afternoon of 28th August 1985. This clip is part of a longer recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive (duration 3 minutes 53 seconds)
John “Rock'n'Roll” Anthony Born 6th October 1964, John was 22 years old when he joined Laser Hots Hits. An American, from Worcester, Massachusetts, he had previously
worked for station WORC. Two of his friends, Jay Mack and Craig Novak, had previously worked on Laser-558 so he was aware of British offshore radio and, on lst December
1986, John became the first DJ on the station's successor, Laser Hot Hits. At the time he was, in fact, the only DJ and John put in many marathon sessions behind the microphone while the engineers put the finishing touches to the
equipment. He was used to long shows - his WORC shift had been midnight-10am! He was last heard on air on 24th March 1987 and John then returned to the USA. He went to live in Florida, where his parents were based, and, after enjoying
a vacation, started DJ-ing in clubs. This led to him playing music in strip clubs which he described as “the easiest thing I had ever done and the money was sick”. Unfortunately he received a massive electric shock from
a faulty lighting board in the club. John thought that a fellow DJ, who had just been fired from the club, had sabotaged the board. He woke up in hospital, alive but in severe pain. He had to endure a number of operations. He told
The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame in 2012 “I am currently cutting tapes for cable voice-overs and trying to edge back into radio.” He never did return to radio. He continued DJ-ing in a
strip club in Clearwater, Florida, but sadly his poor health continued and he died on 7th October 2014, the day after his fiftieth birthday. (Thanks to Chris Edwards and François Lhote of Offshore Echo's for the photo.)
John “Rock'n'Roll” Anthony on Laser Hot Hits during the afternoon of 9th December 1986. This is an edited version of a recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive
(duration 3 minutes 46 seconds)
Andy Archer is the only DJ to have worked offshore in the sixties, seventies and eighties (see entries in the main section and
‘Seventies Supplement’ of The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame). Following his time with Caroline in the seventies, Andy was heard on Radio Orwell, Devonair, a
number of Irish stations and Leicester's Centre Radio but, when this last station went bust, he was free to join the new Radio Caroline in time for its re-launch in 1983. As in the previous decade, Andy was caught coming ashore and,
again, was fined under the Marine Offences Act. He left Caroline in January 1984 and, after a short stint on Guildford's County Sound, returned to Orwell. This was followed by jobs on a number of stations including Invicta, Mellow
1557, CN-FM, North Norfolk Radio and BBC Radios Suffolk and Norfolk. He is now enjoying a well-earned retirement. There are some recent photos here. (This photo of Andy on the deck of the Ross Revenge was
taken for the East Anglian Daily Times and is reprinted from ‘Caroline 319 - Into The 80s’, a book he compiled, published by Seagull Press.)
Andy Archer on Radio Caroline during the afternoon of 29th August 1983, soon after the station launch. This is an edited version of a recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive (duration 3 minutes 41 seconds)
Dave Asher Birthday 23rd May. From Oxford, Dave had worked on the Mediterranean offshore station, the Voice of Peace, for many years before joining Caroline in May 1988. He
was on board at the time of the Dutch police raid on the Ross Revenge in August 1989 which did so much damage. Together with Caroline Martin and engineer Peter Chicago,
Dave was part of the team who managed to get the station back on the air again after the raid. Since his time at sea, he has been heard on numerous stations including Contact-94, a French-based station broadcasting to the Channel
Islands, CN-FM, XTRA-AM, Piccadilly, Invicta Supergold, Red Rose in Preston, Magic 999 and The Bay. Dave spent a number of years on NRJ Radio in Beirut, Lebanon, before moving to Cyprus where he worked for Sunshine Radio and Rock FM.
After a period at Hi FM in Oman, Dave returned to Cyprus and hosts the Breakfast Show on Viva FM. He can also currently be heard on the internet station
Quasar Radio. (This photo is from Offshore Echo's magazine. There are more photos in
Caroline Martin's and Chris Cooper's photo album.)
Dave Asher on Radio Caroline during the afternoon of 5th October 1989. This is an edited version of a recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive (duration 3 minutes 43 seconds)
