Radio Caroline is the world’s most famous offshore radio station. It began in 1964, has used five different ships and once had over 20m listeners. Radio Caroline was responsible for many innovations in music radio and was Britain’s first all day music station, its first album station, and helped launch the careers of many major music stars. Caroline’s last radio ship is the Ross Revenge moored on an Essex river and broadcasts on medium wave, DAB and online. 

 

 

Hardback       978-1-900401-19-7   Publication on 30 September 2019

Softback        978-1-900401-20-3   Publication on 30 November  2019

EPub/Kindle  978-1-900401-21-0   [Publication is  scheduled  in  2020]

 

 

 

Radio Caroline is the world’s most famous offshore radio station. It began in 1964, has used five different ships and once had over 20m listeners. The station was responsible for many innovations in music radio and was Britain’s first all day music station, its first album station, and helped launch the careers of many major music stars.  Caroline’s last radio ship is the Ross Revenge, now moored on an Essex river. She still broadcasts on medium wave, DAB and online. 

 

 

 

 

 

 a UK registered company.

 

 

To those who have ever been involved with Radio Caroline, it can be infuriating to read mythical stories and far-fetched fantasies, apocryphal misinterpretations or just complete works of fiction about the station. Many of these fables result from poor journalism.

 

This book sticks to the authenticated aspects of the story of Caroline. It’s a story of intrigue and mystery, often including deliberate illusions having been spun to protect those behind the original incarnation of Radio Caroline. Some didn’t want their identities, nor the reasons for the station, being exposed. The reason is, they were part of the Establishment; Radio Caroline was set up to be rebellious and some Establishment figures thought it could be fun to stir things up a little.

 

Those founders with some business acumen were driven by the idea of liberating the airwaves so they could bring about commercial radio in the UK. Like ITV before it, they assumed that independent radio would be a licence to print money. A third reason was to promote certain music to the British public.

 

The book is simply a historical chronicle of the life of the world’s most famous offshore radio station, that puts the major events into some semblance of order and explains why some odd events took place. This is NOT a fan book for DJ enthusiasts and it's NOT a gallery of DJ photos. While many DJs are of prime importance to the Caroline story, their personal lives and habits have had to be omitted, mainly for brevity. Many have their autobiographies published and a bibliography of these is included in the book.

 

Some erroneous material published elsehwere has been due to failing memories and some popular tales that have become 'gospel' are simply myths, created in those far off days simply to obfuscate the truth. Spoof stories were put out as a smokescreen, what today would be called ‘fake news’! In mitigation, it must be remembered that, when operating on the edges of legality, one must take care to not to help one’s enemies. In Caroline’s first three phases, staff had to act covertly as no one could be sure what the Government’s reaction might be. Indeed, some politicians and civil servants were very anti-freedom and hated the rebellious young Caroline. They vented their venom on DJs and listeners who dared to sport a Radio Caroline badge!

 

Many of the Caroline family knew only part of the story as information had to be strictly controlled, on a “need to know” basis. Like any business the public’s perception of Caroline was carefully manipulated. Many stories were illusionary and sometimes the facts were deliberately obfuscated. After the introduction of anti-radio ship legislation, all Caroline’s operations had to be carried out covertly, so staff followed the common entertainment practice of using false names.

 

There are several different versions of the story of how Radio Caroline started, the who, where and when details are often confused. The story unfolded here is as close to the truth as possible and is based on the corroborated word of several of those who were actually there. They played active roles in the birth and the life of the “world’s most famous” and certainly the most fascinating radio station – Radio Caroline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The important contributors have included Colin Nicol who was there before the birth of Radio Atlanta and was in the midst until mid 1966. Of tremendous help was Oonagh Karanjia who was Ronan's PA for fifteen years and who administered Radio Caroline in its most hectic years. I am also indebted to Kate Cary who administered Caroline in 1972 and 1973, to Ben Bode who set up a new credible organisation after Radio Mi Amigo deserted Caroline, and then  made a fortune with his own ship. My special thanks are due to Vincent Monsey who gave Caroline a breath of fresh air with new funding in the 80s; a new ship (the Ross Revenge)  a New York office and a new beginning. Thanks also to Peter Chicago, Rob Ashard and Allan Beach who helped with the technical information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of all, my thanks to Ronan O'Rahilly, without whom all this book would never had been possible. Nor, I suspect, would some of my own adventures in radio land.  I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity that Radio Caroline provided and all the help you've given me through the decades.

 

I must also give a very special thanks to Peter Moore who keeps the Caroline torch lit and the flag flying. We recently passed the point where Peter has been in charge of Caroline for more years than he hasn't - over half of Caroline's life!

 

It's now possible to hear Radio Caroline far more widely than ever, an enormous tribute to Peter and his team who are too numerous to mention. Peter was a great help in the production of the Caroline Bible by proof-reading,  and under a tight schedule.

 

 

 

 

PHOTOGRAPHS are used in the book to aid the reader and are either from my own personal archives, or from others, as acknowledged. Of special note are the images provided by Colin Nicol, Robin Adcroft, Lion Keezer, Rob Olthof, Martin van der Ven and Sir Hans Knot, plus Boudewijn Dom, Chris Edwards and François Lhote. Where the photographer is unnamed or the source is unknown, all rights are acknowledged. Graphics are used simply for informational purposes, it's not intended to be a gallery. Our other friends have produced several of those, see the bibliography for details.