Volunteers supporting Radio Caroline and The MV Ross Revenge celebrating 50 years as trawler to radio ship - 1960 to 2010
On a cold February evening in 1985, over a thousand people gathered outside the studios
of Radio Jackie. They were defying the authorities who were trying to close them
down.Why were so many people so passionate about, what after all was a pirate radio
station?
Radio Jackie - A Very English Struggle is a book written by Colin King that
details his personal view of a momentous battle to bring Local Radio to South West
London and North Surrey. Hilarious situations, larger than life characters and a
band of young people utterly determined to succeed against all the odds.
There are
moments of 'Milliganesque' lunacy. There are moments of abject despair.But through
it all there is humour and determination.
This is the story behind the highly popular
Land Based ‘Pirate’ Radio Station bundled with an exclusive new ‘Radio Jackie The
CD’ audio disc
Radio Jackie book
PLUS new audio CD
complete with extensive
sleeve notes on this famous
land based station that
defied the establishment
for so long
Dedicated to Chief Engineer Ernie Stevenson, Records At Sea explains how the British
fishing industry was created by the Industrial Revolution and how the industry built
and advanced, eventually creating the need for super trawlers of which Ross Revenge
was one of the biggest and most successful.
The book then moves on the to the Ross
Revenge becoming a radio ship after Britain's capitulation in the 'Cod Wars' virtually
destroyed this countries deep water fishing industry. Describing the ships radio
years Mike then gives a virtual tour of the Ross and discusses the ideals that keep
Caroline on air and the Ross Revenge in our care in 2002. He also looks at the future
aims of the organisation. Since Mike was able to persuade the Lottery Commission
'Awards For All' scheme to fund the cost of production, all profits from Records
At Sea go to the Society’s efforts to preserve the Ross Revenge.
72 pages. 24 Illustrations. Full colour gloss cover with fine shots of the Ross Revenge.
Johnnie Walker is an inspiration. One of the best-known and most beloved broadcasters in Britain, the charismatic BBC Radio 2 DJ has achieved legendary status with a hugely loyal following thanks to his tireless pioneering of new music, his warm and passionate personality and his soothing voice.
Having thrown away the rule book as a teenager, Johnnie has always made decisions from the heart. As a result, he has had a brilliantly colourful life, with more ups and downs than a roller coaster ride. He made his name in the 1960`s when he and Radio Caroline, where his night-time show was essential listening for 86% of radio listeners, continued broadcasting in defiance of Government legislation. In 1976 he walked out of Radio 1 because of his outspoken views and his insistence on playing album tracks. He made front page news when he described the Bay City Rollers as 'musical garbage' and when he was caught snorting cocaine.
In his memoir, he reveals all about his time with Radio Caroline, his drug addiction, his fight against cancer and his spiritual awakening. Honest, passionate and humorous, his autobiography will provide inspiring and entertaining listening to his million of fans.
Paperback Size : 129 x 198mm Pages : 416 Publisher : Penguin
JOHNNIE WALKER - CRUISIN' THE FORMATS examines the four decades since the pirate stations and traces the Radio 2 DJ's career from a tight US format on Radio England to freeform broadcasts on Caroline. From there he was forced to engage with the highly structured and bureaucratic programming of the BBC. In between he also experienced heady days in San Francisco - and the more mundane world of UK local radio.
Johnnie Walker represents the final national link between the pirates and today's government controlled broadcasting. As he embarks on a new chapter away from a daytime show, this timely study shows how a man of integrity has fought against dull formatted radio created by state interference.
The story behind the 60`s ‘Pirate’ Radio stations
The British 'pirate' radio stations of the 1960's were not the first, or the last,
but they were amongst the most popular and are still fondly remembered today, 40
years later.
Everyone who listened to the offshore stations can remember the personalities,
the music, the jingles and the commercials. But behind the scenes there was real
life rivalry and conflict between the stations. They were also the catalyst for a
major change in British radio and they paved the way for the introduction of land
based commercial radio. They started a revolution. This is the story behind that
revolution
A superb A4 size 104 page glossy softback book of the original Pirate Radio era of the UK coast including Radio Caroline, Atlanta, ‘Big L’ Radio London, Radio England,Radio 270, 390, Invicta, Radio City, Radio Scotland and more...
The Ship That Rocked The World by Radio Caroline original 60`s presenter Tom Lodge
In
this book, "The Ship That Rocked The World", Tom Lodge, one of the first deejays
on Radio Caroline, gives us his own direct and personal experiences on both Radio
Caroline North, Caroline South and Caroline House, his experiences with the Beatles,
the Rolling Stones and other rock groups of the day.
Tom also describes that night on Radio Caroline when they were shipwrecked and his encounters with MI5 and being intimidated by the Royal Navy. Tom's book is all about those early days, when Radio Caroline first went on the air, and how this new British experience of radio, changed the British Culture. Tom was broadcasting, as they sailed around the English and Welsh coast, with people following from the shore, flashing their headlights at night and the sun with mirrors in the day. From Tom's book, you can understand why they finished up with an audience of 23 million listeners. Chris Peterson said, "This was a unique media situation in history which yielded some of the greatest creativity and talent output of a country, ever."
From Tom's book, you can clearly understand, how and why, Radio Caroline was and still is today supported with such deep and heart felt enthusiasm.
‘Ships in Troubled Waters’ is the long awaited book from Nigel Harris, one of Radio Caroline’s longest serving presenters.
Storms, raids, police chases, near drowning and a knife attack. All part of an amazing offshore radio story with some rare photos of it all.
Nigel writes:
The book covers my boarding school days leading up to my joining the Mi Amigo. Aberdeen is the next port of call for the Cedarlea project with various other Caroline staff. Then it goes to Germany where I join the fledging Radio Paradise and sail to Dublin for the conversion of the ship. Then it’s off again to the North Sea and many years onboard the Ross Revenge. Finally, it’s Tel Aviv, and the Voice of Peace.
This book is imported from the author in the USA so subject to exchange rate variations outside our control.
Paperback: 230 pages featuring
50 B & W photographs
Publisher: My Way Publishing
Dimensions: 21.0 x 14.8 x 2.4 cm
There can be few modern day adventure stories as gripping and romantic as the story of Radio Caroline, a legend in her own time. In 1964 Radio Caroline was the very first shipborne ‘pirate’ radio station broadcasting to listeners in Britain.
Although Radio Caroline continued broadcasting after the British government introduced legislation to silence ‘the pirates’, the floating radio station was seized and impounded in the late ‘60’s. The Caroline ship the MV Mi Amigo lay rusting in a harbour until 1972 when she was sold at auction for conversion into a ‘pirate’ radio museum. By the end of the year ‘The Lady’ as she was affectionately known, was at anchor again off the Dutch cost and a whole new chapter in her broadcasting career had begun.
The author has written here the inside story of everyday life aboard - often stripped of its romantic aura. Drugs, sex, intrigues, hijackings, mutinies and storms at sea all feature in this extraordinary tale.
Eventually in March 1980 the Caroline ship was to sink in a violent storm in the North Sea, but from August 1983 the station rose phoenix like from the ashes and resumed broadcasting from a new ship.
This is a book which will fascinate not only those readers interested in broadcasting and music radio, but all who can enjoy a real life adventure story of drama on the high seas.
New edition of this classic Offshore Radio Book with new chapters by the author,
26 photos and a total
of 278 pages in paperback format.
NEW EDITION
‘’SHIPROCKED’ Life on the waves with Radio Caroline’ by Radio Caroline’s Steve Conway
Steve Conway joined Radio Caroline in February 1987 as a newsreader, and later a DJ. By 1988 Steve was the station's Programme Controller. In 1991 he was one of the final crew on board on the day the last pirate radio ship disappeared from the coast of the UK. Now, after years in preparation, Steve's story of Caroline's final turbulent years at sea is being published by Liberties Press.
In this gripping memoir, Steve Conway tells of his time aboard the Ross Revenge:
the excitement, and danger, of living on board ship for long spells, the constant
challenge faced by the crew of keeping complex electronic equipment working in sometimes
treacherous conditions and the efforts to rebuild the radio station following the
collapse of the ships 300 foot broadcast tower. As well as recounting the strange
and isolated lifestyle and the camaraderie of working alongside people who, like
him, were completely committed to the radio station, Steve tells of many events behind
the scenes that helped or hindered the ship and its crew in those final years. In
the dramatic climax to the book, he tells of the final violent storm, and of how
he and his few remaining companions feared drowning after the ship ran aground on
the notorious Goodwin Sands in hurricane-force winds in November 1991.
224 page paperback including 8 pages of photos from the author and from the John Burch collection. Signed by the author
Radio Caroline and Free Radio books...
'SHIPROCKED - Life on the waves with Radio Caroline - SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR
£10.99
Last Of The Pirates - EXTENDED JUBILEE EDITION Bob Noakes
£22.95
'Ships in Troubled Water' by Radio Caroline's Nigel Harris - Copies signed by the author
£13.99
'The Ship That Rocked The World' by Tom Lodge - For limited time copies signed by the author individually by the author
£14.00
THE BEAT FLEET by Mike Leonard... individually by the author
£9.99
Johnnie Walker - Cruisin' The Formats by Bob Preedy - DIRECT FROM THE AUTHOR
£6.99
Johnnie Walker The Autobiography - Penguin Paperback edition
£8.99
'Radio Jackie - A Very English Struggle` by Colin King - THE BOOK COMES WITH EXCLUSIVE NEW AUDIO CD
£17.99
RECORDS AT SEA by Mike Weston... ALL profits go to help preserve The Ross Revenge
£5.99
In 1964 twenty cigarettes cost 5s. 10d. (29p), and a pint of beer cost 1s. 2d. (6p).
The Beatles had three No. 1s, and spent a total of 50 weeks in the Charts. Their
great rivals, the Rolling Stones had two No. Ones spent 42 weeks in the charts.
Radio
stations had strange names like the Light Programme, the Home Service, and the Third.
In the main, these stations played stuffy music, although Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman had
his weekly Pick of the Pops programme, and Top of the Pops had just started on television.
In addition there were the nightly broadcasts from Radio Luxembourg but reception
was often pretty awful, and Luxembourg only played part of a record.
In 1964 twenty cigarettes cost 5s. 10d. (29p), and a pint of beer cost 1s. 2d. (6p).
The Beatles had three No. 1s, and spent a total of 50 weeks in the Charts. Their
great rivals, the Rolling Stones had two No. 1s and spent 42 weeks in the charts.
Radio
stations had strange names like the Light Programme, the Home Service, and the Third.
In the main, these stations played stuffy music, although Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman had
his weekly Pick of the Pops programme, and Top of the Pops had just started on television.
In addition there were the nightly broadcasts from Radio Luxembourg but reception
was often pretty awful, and Luxembourg only played part of a record.
‘Radio Caroline
on 199, your all day music station’. These few words started a revolution in radio
entertainment and popular music. All of a sudden pop music was being played all through
the day, and then round the clock, 24 hours a day, instead of just one day a week!
More stations followed, to us the listener, it was fantastic, young men and women
sitting on an old boat (or fort), playing what we wanted to hear, when we wanted
to hear it. Sales of radios quadrupled, and interest in radio trebled. Although most
of us did not know it at the time, behind the scenes of these latter day buccaneers
there was a darker, more sinister side. Ultimately battles broke out between some
rivals, which unfortunately (quite literally) led to death destruction, and mayhem.
The Government closed down the stations, but then the highly successful formula was
copied, using ex-pirate DJs and staff on the newly-launched Radio One. Pirate stations
came and went but one name outlasted all of the others, Radio Caroline, Britain¹s
first and last, offshore radio station. It survived storms, drifting, piracy, rebellion
and the loss of her beloved ship, the Mi Amigo. The Jolly Roger no longer flies,
but the influence of Radio Caroline Lives on. This is her story and the events that
helped shape popular music Radio broadcasting as we know it today . . . Caroline
Continues.
The book is to A5 format, it consists of 208 pages with more than 80 illustrations. It is printed on art paper throughout, with a colour laminated card cover with a square-backed spine.
'Radio Caroline,
The Pirate Years'
This book details in a new fresh way, the story from conception through the sinking of the Mi Amigo in 1980 to the re-launch of Radio Caroline on the Ross Revenge in 1983. With many untold stories and an insight into the behind the scenes activities of the world's most famous radio station, this book is a must for any radio enthusiast.
Radio Caroline - The Pirate Years by Ralph C Humphries BACK ON SALE!
£13.95
When Pirates Ruled the Waves 6th Edition Paperback by Paul Harris BACK ON SALE!
£16.95
Intrigues, threats, boarding parties, smuggling, shipwreck, danger and adventure on the high seas - they all form part of the remarkable story of the pop radio pirates.
During the 1960s and '70s, they broadcast their programmes from storm-lashed radio ships anchored off the coasts of Europe. As the popularity of the stations grew - first in Denmark and Sweden and, later, in Britain, Holland and Belgium - and they multiplied in number, competition among them reached cut-throat level.
The story is told of how the dramatic events around the Radio City fort in London's Thames Estuary resulted in the shooting to death of its owner; of the rivalry between Holland's Radio Veronica and the psychedelically - painted Radio North Sea International which culminated in the night bombing of theNorth Sea ship; how Radio Caroline, Capital Radio and Radio Veronica broke free from their stormy anchorages and were driven aground; how Radio North Sea International became the centre of an espionage scandal involving the security services of several NATO countries, and played its part in influencing the 1970 British General Election. Blackmail and armed boarding parties were the order of the day as rival gangs of pirates literally fought to take over each other's radio ships and to carve up lucrative advertising markets. Successively, the governments of Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Britain and The Netherlands legislated against the pirate broadcasters.
On the positive side, the activities of the pop radio pirates led to innovations and improvements in the established government monopoly radio services. Pirate disc jockeys, crewmen and radio engineers were pursued by police throughout Western Europe and many prosecuted for daring to provide their diet of relentless pop music from a wallowing, rusty radio ship bearing a huge aerial mast. They were, perhaps, the last real romantic outlaws in a world which has little time for those who seek to operate outwith the reach of the all-embracing tentacles of government.
Paul Harris has worked variously, since his days in pirate radio in the late '60s and early '70s, as a writer (more than forty books), publisher, international printing consultant and journalist.
This edition - incorporating much of the text of Paul Harris's first work, When Pirates Ruled the Waves, a bestseller on publication in 1968, which subsequently ran to four editions - has a new preface by the author. It is illustrated throughout with over 100 photographs of the radio ships and the personalities associated with them.
NEW STOCK!
NEW STOCK!