Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline is a European radio station that originally commenced transmissions as an offshore radio station broadcasting from a ship anchored off the coast of South East England in international waters. Unlicensed by any government for the majority of its life, it was labelled as a pirate radio station.

1972-1980

Radio Caroline returns

Caroline made a comeback in 1972, this time from the smaller of the two ships, the MV Mi Amigo, anchored off the Dutch coastal resort of Scheveningen and serviced and operated from the Netherlands. O'Rahilly decided Caroline should adopt a rock music format similar to that found on "FM progressive rock" stations in the USA, as this radio market segment was uncatered for in Europe. This service was initially broadcast using the name Radio Seagull.

Related Topics:
1972 - Scheveningen - The Netherlands - Rock music

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Radio Atlantis and Radio Seagull

Radio Caroline could not expect to find substantial advertising revenue in the UK nor big business backing, and so the station depended mainly on the work of dedicated volunteers. To survive, Caroline shared its 259 metre broadcast frequency (actually 1187 kHz, corresponding to a wavelength of 253 metres) with Dutch language pop stations, the first of which was a Belgian station called Radio Atlantis, which used the frequency during the daytime to broadcast pre-recorded programmes. Radio Seagull broadcast during the night live from the ship's studio.

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Radio Mi Amigo

Once the contract with Radio Caroline had come to an end, Radio Atlantis moved to their own ship The Janine. Daytime programmes were provided by another Belgian-run operation called Radio Mi Amigo. In contrast to Caroline in the 1970s, this station was a commercial success, with a wide listenership in Dutch-speaking Belgium, the Netherlands and a surprisingly large following in the UK. Radio Seagull then changed its name back to Radio Caroline. Throughout most of the 1970s, Radio Caroline itself could only be heard at night, under the banner "Radio Caroline — Europe's first and only album station", which it still uses to this day.

Related Topics:
The Janine - Belgian - Netherlands

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Caroline's daytime partner station Radio Mi Amigo was run by a Belgian businessman (Sylvain Tack) who also owned a large waffle bakery (Suzy Waffels) near Brussels, as well as a pop music magazine and recording company. The station's offices and studios were based on Spain's Playa De Aro coastal resort, where it produced programmes for Dutch-speaking holidaymakers. Most of the programmes of Radio Mi Amigo were taped and rebroadcast from the Caroline ship by day and were a mixture of Top 40/MOR together with native Flemish/Dutch language popular music, presented by Belgian, Dutch and occasional English DJs. Land-based commercial radio was prohibited in Belgium at that time; thus Radio Mi Amigo had little competition and so enjoyed a wide popularity in Belgium and to a lesser extent in the Netherlands. Thus for the first few years there was a big demand for advertising on the station.

Related Topics:
Sylvain Tack - Suzy Waffels - Brussels - Spain - Playa De Aro - Top 40 - Dutch language

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Loving Awareness

Caroline's chosen format of heavy album tracks rather than top 40 now meant that, although the station served a market gap, overall listenership was smaller than in the 1960s. Caroline also promoted the concept of "LA" (Loving Awareness). This was a far-eastern inspired philosophy of love and peace defined by O'Rahilly. Some of the station's DJs were embarrassed at the idea of promoting love and peace on air, but some were fascinated by the challenge of promoting an abstract concept in the same way that they might promote a brand of detergent.

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O'Rahilly set up a group called The Loving Awareness Band, which released one album, Loving Awareness on Morelove Records, #ML01. It was, of course, promoted heavily on the station. This might be seen as a cynical marketing ploy except that the album was professionally produced and even pressed on heavier vinyl than most rock albums. All the musicians who played on the album went on to work with Ian Dury — from Loving Awareness to Blockheads!

Related Topics:
The Loving Awareness Band - Morelove Records - Ian Dury

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Caroline's constant plugging of "LA" — which it promotes to this day, together with the progressive rock album music it played — bands such as Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Hawkwind, gave the station an unusual and distinctive sound.

Related Topics:
Pink Floyd - Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Led Zeppelin - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Hawkwind

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During this time the theme of the station changed to "On My Way Back Home " by New Riders of the Purple Sage, a track from Gypsy Cowboy album.

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Dutch Marine Broadcasting Act

In 1974 the Dutch government pass laws to prohibit pirate radio. Caroline however continued broadcasting, this time moving its headquarters and the servicing operation to Spain. In practice however the Mi Amigo was tendered clandestinely from ports in Britain, France and the Benelux. Tenders and small boat owners were warned and in some cases prosecuted for ferrying staff and provisions out to the ship. Belgium had outlawed offshore radio in 1962 and the authorities in Belgium took action to prosecute the advertisers. This cut the station's revenue. In addition, Belgian courts sentenced the owner and a number of DJs to fines and jail terms in absentia — although the prison terms were later cancelled.

Related Topics:
1974 - Pirate radio - Spain - France - Benelux - Belgium - 1962

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The two stations experimented with several different broadcast frequencies. Alongside 259 (really 253) metres, Caroline/Mi Amigo also tried out 192 (1562 kHz), then 212 (1412 kHz), before settling on 319 metres (actually 312 metres, 962 kHz — the "9" was again chosen because it rhymed with Caroline). In the later 1970s, a daytime service for Caroline was established, while Mi Amigo continued on its own frequency.

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By the end of the 1970s conditions on the MV Mi Amigo had deteriorated. The ship was now 60 years old and had been used to house offshore radio stations for 20 years, since its original use as Sweden's Radio Nord in 1960. The ship drifted and went aground on sandbanks in the North Sea a couple of times in the late 1970s. Finally, in the winter of 1980, the MV Mi Amigo floundered in a storm and began taking in water. The crew were rescued by lifeboat, but the Mi Amigo sank. Amazingly, as if in an act of defiance and following the tradition of Radio Caroline, the Mi Amigo's 200 foot mast remained erect, pointing skywards out of the sea for a further six years.

Related Topics:
Sweden - Radio Nord - 1960 - North Sea - 1980

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