Hans Knot's International Radio Report - July 2008 (2)
During the last weeks
so many things came in that I decided to do one extra issue with two
longer items. First we go way back in time to the period 1964-1966. An e
mail came in, which resulted in exchanging e mails for a few days with
several people involved within the Radio Atlanta as well as the Radio
Caroline merger in 1964. Let’s start at the beginning.
Question time again from England this time from Manchester: ‘Hi Hans
greetings and I hope you're well. Someone recently asked the question on
Anorak Nation if anyone knew how/why the name ‘Radio
Atlanta’ was chosen for Allan Crawford's station in 1964. I know
Colin Nichol is a regular
on your list and I'm wondering whether he might know the answer. Many
thanks, Alan Milewczyk aka The Pole with Soul.’
Well an e mail to Australia was enough for Colin to give an answer and
also some of former colleagues he still is in contact with: ‘I do wish I
could help with an explanation as to how the name of Radio / Project
Atlanta originated. The fact is, we all (we early Atlanta pirates) just
took the name at face value – it seemed an obvious and very good name to
use. Obviously, there are connections with the Atlantic Ocean,
trans-Atlantic and particularly, I thought at the time, with Atlantis.
It did niggle me a little that the ship was not in the Atlantic, but
near enough I supposed. Just as well it wasn't! I'll ask
Ken Evans soon, but doubt
he could add anything.
Following are extracts from my interviews with
Allan Crawford and
Richard Harris, which
touch on the name, but don't really help with an explanation as to its
origin. These from my interview with Allan Crawford on 5 February 1984,
speaking first of the structure of Atlanta, then of the merger and the
change of name from Atlanta to Caroline South:
AC: No, Hengown Limited was the company that employed the disc jockeys.
CN: Hengown paid me..
AC: Yes, and it got so much every month from Lichtenstein, from the
company there, and the company selling the advertising was Project
Atlanta Limited, PAL, and it was that formula that was used by both sets
of companies, the one with North Caroline and South Caroline.
And also:
AC: Nevertheless, someone had to be cooperative, and I swallowed my
pride, having been the creator and I was losing my own created name
(Atlanta). So we became Radio Caroline, North and South, with the
agreement that his ship (Ronan's) would go 'round the Irish Sea off the
Isle of Man and we would operate as a network and share the income.
Extract
from interview by Colin Nichol of Richard Harris on 8 February 1984,
speaking first of Allan Crawford: .. He and I used to have regular
evening meetings after we had both finished work, usually in Chinese
restaurants, to discuss the setting up of the studio, programme format,
how it was going to be and eventually I sort of became General Manager
of Project Atlanta Ltd, which it was called then. He formed a company
called Project Atlanta.
CN: Do you know which date it was he formed that, which year?
RH: I don't know – it was certainly going when I joined him, officially,
which was …
CN: Late 1963 ..
RH: Mid '63. I think. Mid '63. Because it was a corporate, he, um – the
ship was the Mi Amigo and Project Atlanta Limited was PAL (my friend,
pal) and he liked this, he used to keep saying, “I love it”. He used to
keep on about the fact that the Mi Amigo and the PAL was a thing and he
liked the name Atlanta and indeed, so did I. And that's how it first
started. The time came in mid '63 when eventually I left ATV and went to
work for him full-time.
The Times July 3rd 1964 Sunday
Telegraph 1964
Colin Nichol Archive Colin
Nichol Archive
Dermot Hoy / Bryan Vaughan
comments: ‘I must say that I always took the name for granted and don’t
know its origin. I probably assumed that Atlanta had some connection
with the Atlantic Ocean. Many of the disc jockeys were said to speak
with a ‘mid-Atlantic accent’ and we did program with an eye to what was
happening in the US (as well as Australia). If you ever track down the
reason, I would love to know.’
‘Keith Martin is unable to provide an explanation.’ Regards, Colin
Nichol.’
Well thank you so much for the long reply Colin and also the one from
Bryan Vaughan. Once again it’s good to have you old Atlanta presenters
in my readership too. So who wants to tell more in this subject is free
to send the comments to HKnot@home.nl
And it’s Alan in Manchester, after receiving the Colin Nichol answer by
e mail with the next one: ‘Thanks so much for asking the question on my
behalf and please thank Colin especially for his reply. I certainly
didn't give the name any thought all those years ago - like Bryan
Vaughan says, it sort of fitted with ‘mid/trans-Atlantic’ accents!
Can I extend the discussion/questioning further? I was brought up in
Manchester which was in the catchment area for Caroline North, although
I could hear the South ship albeit with a much weaker groundwave signal
during the day. What has puzzled me for some time is the difference in
the music policy of the two ships, especially for the first 15 months or
so post merger. We know that Radio Atlanta was Allan Crawford's vehicle
for his music interests, so post merger the South ship often played
records that Crawford had an interest in, rather than the original hit
versions - whereas from the outset the North ship off the Isle of Man
was very Top 40 oriented, playing the original hit versions and also
heavily promoting tracks from the American Hot 100. I believe that, in
this London-centric world, the South ship has always had more publicity
at the expense of her Northern sister - in my view, the North ship's
programming and music policy was brilliant and has been totally
under-rated over the years. We also know that after Radio London came on
air, Caroline South's audience figures suffered dramatically.
I understand that the Crawford venture went bust in late 1965, which was
when Ronan took over and put in Tom Lodge, who had been Head DJ on the
North ship, to turn around the fortunes of the South ship. Pre merger,
Christopher Moore was Programme Director for Caroline - did he take over
the same role for the South ship post merger in addition to the North
ship? The ‘merger’ seemed to be a marketing convenience and I know that
both ships adopted the same programme names, The Early Show, Top Deck,
etc, yet the music policy was so very different. So who decided on the
actual music content of the two stations in the period July 1964 to end
1965? Was that down to Christopher Moore for both ships or was Tom Lodge
given that freedom in his position as North ship Head DJ or did Allan
Crawford and Ronan merely continue to run their own ships their own way.
In short, why is it that the two ships had such a different music policy
despite operating under the same banner? I hope some of the people
behind the scenes might be able to help. Thanks again, Alan.’
I then did send the new questions from Alan to Colin Nichol in Australia
and to Tom Lodge in Canada who both came back with very interesting
answers. First of all the long answer from Colin in Australia: ‘Hello
again Hans, I am consulting with others, again, over your latest request
for information, but my answer is, that while the two ships carried the
same or similar advertising etc, music programming continued separate
ways for a while after the merger as the two ships were run as they were
before the merger, until Allan moved out at the end of 1965. Then the MV
Mi Amigo went aground in early 1966 and after I had helped get Cheeta II
into shape for broadcasting, Tom Lodge came aboard with others and put
the south ship's programmes into line with those of the north. (I left
at that point and shortly after, joined Britain Radio / Radio England,
then Luxembourg, BBC, BFBS). Chris Moore earlier tried to influence the
south ship's programming, but had failed up to that point, as Keith
Martin recalls and I feel that was so. Allan Crawford had his ideas
about programming and Ken Evans had the job of implementing them and
later moved on board the ship to make sure they were carried out. Yes,
we did have to play Allan's records, just as later both ships had to
play those of Phillip Solomon, but it was above board in both cases, as
they were owners of both the stations and of the record companies.
As a side-issue, later stories of payola in association with DJs being
paid for playing records was not something I never knew about on the
south ship in my time, although after a while we heard rumours of it
happening on Caroline. When income was difficult to come by, there were
official 'paid plays', which was where a record company or publisher
would pay the station to have a record promoted. These were accounted
for and shown on the advertising schedules. That was not dissimilar to
the arrangement at Radio Luxembourg, where record companies bought
air-time to showcase their material. I am not conscious of knowing much
about the north ship's programming during that time but I was aware we
were not always as progressive as we might have been, especially when
Radio London came along and we then didn't have the audience all to
ourselves. Up to then, it hardly mattered what we played, fortunately
for us. However, we did have good programming and it covered what was
happening and introduced many new artists, publishers and record
companies. But it must be remembered, Radio London may not only have had
some impressive programming and DJs, it had massively more output power
(once it sorted out its early transmitter problems) and that was a
decider. They also had the advantage of building on what we were doing
and of learning from us on Atlanta / Caroline South, just as Caroline,
although it came on-air before Atlanta, learned from Atlanta once we
started broadcasting, at least in the early stages. Those of us, like
myself, who had extensive previous experience in broadcasting, were not
entirely happy with the south ship's early output, but we had no
influence in the matter, neither did programme manager Ken Evans, to any
great degree.
Indeed, I was recording a rather poor standard of breakfast programmes
at the Dean Street studios in early 1964 because I had little heart for
the music we were playing. These were when we intended to use taped
programmes and not operate 'live' from the ship. I tend to 'bounce off'
the music I play and there wasn't much bounce in what we had to spin.
Our output improved when we went 'live'. The Caroline trainee DJs at the
time – Simon Dee, John Junkin and all those others who came to our Dean
Street studios to be instructed and learn about broadcasting, recorded
programmes using the same discs as were using for the first pre-recorded
Atlanta shows, which were broadcast before it was decided we should move
aboard ship to broadcast live. I suppose some of their tapes were played
on Caroline in their first days, when Simon was short of staff on board.
However, they were not just Allan's records – but being the first and
not yet transmitting, we
were
having great difficulty getting any records, much less anything
particularly good or special. Promotional copies of records were not
plentiful in those days, especially for a radio station that was not on
the air. Ken had to go around London, cap in hand, to beg for whatever
he could get. It should be said that although Caroline led in terms of
getting on the air, it followed in terms of programming and
presentation. And the point has to be made, that the reason Ronan was
anxious for a merger was, research showed advertisers preferred Atlanta
and Ronan's main backers were getting worried. Atlanta's programming and
presentation in those early months were seen as superior to those of
Caroline and later criticisms of Atlanta / Caroline South, after the
event, are not really justified.
More of great interest on that can be found on the Pirate Radio Hall of
Fame site, July update, at:
http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/keith7.htm
That site provides Keith Martin's copy of the Chris Moore format, not
used at the time on Caroline South but possibly used on the north ship.
Bryan Vaughn Photo: Freewave
Archive
Dermot Hoy / Bryan Vaughan
has also read my notes and has replied as follows: ‘Hi Colin, like you,
I am also annoyed that history is being re-written. There was a little
bit of the same thing at the 40th Reunion last year. I think that your
draft reply sets out the situation very well indeed. The early Atlanta
programming was limited by the availability of actual records and also
was not really formatted for an overall sound. The early recorded shows
featured a whole host of different music genres set for different times
of the day. Alan and Ken were fr
om
the old school of radio and felt that variety was important. Ken’s days
at 2CH reflected these ideas. I think you, Tony Withers and I were much
keener to play a fairly extended Top 40 format (which after all had been
in the US since mid 1950s and 1958 in Australia, so was hardly new).
Anyway our views didn’t prevail at least in the early days. Once we were
broadcasting live on Atlanta and then Caroline South, we did still have
a variety of programmes but a little more current pop inspired. As you
know, I did the breakfast show for the vast majority of 1964 & 1965 and
mostly played the Caroline Top 60 (I think it was Top 60?) plus quite a
few oldies from the past decade plus new singles. The Drive show with
Tony Blackburn was much the same but from 9am to around 4pm there was a
lot more MOR music (soundtracks, big name older artists, big bands &
orchestras etc.). The North and South stations were quite separate even
after the merger and only really shared most advertising. I am happy for
you to use anything I have said in your reply and would be interested to
be kept in the loop. It really was such a wonderful time and it is still
great to be talking about it all these years later! Cheers Dermot/Bryan’
Caroline South program schedule
June 18th 1964
But Colin
had also some material from his archive: ‘Also this from the Richard
Harris (Atlanta General Manager) interview I made with him in 1984:
CN: Do you remember the date we switched on? I'm having a little trouble
with that at the moment. I will find it. About how long after Caroline,
do you think – a month, six weeks, less?
RH: I could be up to 6 weeks, I think. It could be about six weeks. But
I know that our programmes were that much better, and this was brought
about – because I still had – I mean, there was no revenue coming in at
all, to start with. We, both ships, had to live 'off the hump', what
we'd got - because no-one was advertising. From my connections with
Independent Television, I still had tremendous contact with people in
advertising and they were all saying, “We're just listening to see which
one we're going to put our money with”, and there's no doubt that we
were winning hands-down, I had that on very good authority from some of
the big advertising agencies. It also got around to people, like Jocelyn
Stevens who were backing Caroline, that the agencies were much more
favourably impressed towards Atlanta.
CN: He was at that time doing what?
RH: Who? Jocelyn Stevens? He was one of Caroline's biggest backers.
CN: But his business was, er ..
RH: Publishing.
CN: Yes, he was the owner or the editor of Queen Magazine? RH: He was
Harpers and Queen, wasn't he? The owner? I think he was the governor.
Anyway, Ronan's big shot, and he started getting a bit worried because
Ronan was getting nowhere and he also got the word, so I understand,
that the agencies, the big (advertising) agencies were beginning to
suggest to their clients, the Cadbury's, Schweppes and people of this
world - that they should put their money with Atlanta, and it was then
that he said to Ronan look,
you'd
better do something about this or else, and it was then that Ronan, so I
understand, Col, came to Allan and said look, this is crazy we are
working together we should combine, we should call the stations Caroline
because we were on the air first and everyone associates with us, forget
the name Atlanta – and Allan agreed to all this and of course, once he'd
agreed to that, then Ronan said again, I think we ought to make certain
changes. He was the one who said that the programme format should be
changed, he tried to introduce Chris Moore, who in those days knew
nothing about programming, as his Programme Director, and Allan listened
to him. The rest is history of course. Atlanta disappeared and Caroline
took over and we had Caroline North and Caroline South.
CN: Do you remember how Ronan came by the name Caroline? Did you hear
the story at the time?
RH: Yes, I heard the story; you probably heard it as well. He was
dating, so the word had it, Reggie Maudling's daughter who was called
Caroline, and he named the station after her. Did you hear that?
CN: Mm (yes).’
Caroline North program schedule
Colin Nichol Archive
Keith Martin has
contributed as follows: ‘During my recent researches, I discovered a
letter from Christopher Moore sent to me on board, asking me to see him
as he wanted to “do things with my voice.” Included with this letter,
was the new programme policy with programme titles without DJ names in
them. This new format was never used on the South ship. As Jon (Myer -
Pirate Radio Hall of Fame) mentioned in an emailing to me, it was C.
Moore trying to get one over Allan Crawford who was still controlling
the south ship music output. But Christopher M. continued to be the
person who dispatched new voices south - I can confirm that fact as all
of them bunked-up in my sharp end of the Mi Amigo (He was consigned to
the anchor hold in the bow). I remember a bingo caller with a very
strong Rab C Nesbit type voice who only lasted on-air for three days - a
letter must have arrived from Christopher Moore informing him that there
were one or to things “need to be done” with his voice. He was never
heard again on Radio Caroline, but he may still be calling numbers
somewhere, somehow. Allan Crawford underlined his control when he sent
his two full-time song makers and record producers from Dean Street -
Allan Zeffert and Alan Day, out to Radio Caroline South as replacement
disc-jockies. It was certainly a sickeningly-steep learning curve for
me! If you hear me, thanks Allan!
Ken Evans was an original radio pirate Programme Manager for Radio
Atlanta and later Radio Caroline. These are excerpts from his interview
with Colin Nichol (Colin Nicol) in London on January 28th 1984: At Radio
Atlanta I was operating a system which I had operated in my past: you
always had a great big star as an opening and I have always said this,
come straight in after you have had your big familiar standard cope
straight in with something that is exciting and maybe a little newer but
the tempo is still up then bring in something new. This is where Allan
Crawford wanted his own particular records played, and I used to make
the programme playing: standard, recent oldie, instrumental - and I
can't really remember the combination now - but it used to be about six
different types of records alternating and then just turning over, Top
40 record or something from the NME or the Melody Maker chart, and just
having a variety coming through the whole time.
The Caroline system was much different to that. When record plays were
being bought – payola, call it what you like - onto Caroline North and
South. I used to sit and I used to do, every week,
two
huge charts and it might be a case of a record being bought for twelve
or fifteen plays a day for one record, and I would make a colour scheme
and each record had a particular colour and when I had worked out
everything – a record for this particular company and a record for that
particular company or that particular artist and there might be as much
as 20 - 30 records being bought in over a particular period; they might
be bought on a week's basis, two week's basis, four week's basis -
mainly two weeks was the general thing and they would receive 12, 14 or
maybe 18 plays in each day and I would try and work out so that there
wasn't going to be a repeat under about two hours and so a record was
going across the whole programme spectrum.
Ken Evans Photo: Colin Nichol
The records were
records that might have a chance of becoming hits and they were from
promoters who knew that getting them onto the BBC was either next to
nothing, they might get one or two plays if they were extremely
fortunate - but here was a method by which they could have a record on
the air over an 18 hour time-span, and that was very attractive and they
were sure of getting it on. Here was one of the things I used to make
these graphs up and I used wonder whether or not they were actually
played on the ship. One day Christopher Moore said to me, “Ken I want
you to go to the Northern ship,” this was December of 1964, “I want you
to go up to the ship and I want you to take an inventory of all the
records that are up there and then we want you to make the programming
system identical for the north and south ships.”
Now Col, this was absolutely impossible, they had records up there which
the southern ship didn't have and the southern ship had records which
the northern ship didn't have, we would have to have scrapped umpteen
hundreds of records. I
remember
seeing Buddy Greco's (discs) up on the northern ship which were not in
existence down in the south, there were Dean Martin LP's because these
were, as we remember, the people who were very popular at the time - a
lot of the cabaret type of artist - and they were mixed in with the
current pops on both ships.
My reason for being there was to make a list of all the records and I
had a helper who had been brought in from the Isle of Man. There was a
company up there who supplied a young assistant and it took about four
days with that raging (Force 12) gale to make a list of all the records
on board the ship. The dual system that this was supposed to lead to
never came about.
It was just impossible, they had too much stuff of their own on each
ship and they were two very different stations; that was Caroline North
and this was Caroline South with Atlanta undertones, if that makes
sense. They were very different; they had their own team up north.’
Tony Blackburn and Colin Nichol
Photo: Freewave Archive
So far it was the very interesting answers from Colin Nichol with
assistance of his former shipmates from Atlanta and
Caroline
days. Thanks a lot to you all and it will bring Alan in Manchester the
answers he asked for. In one of the next issues we take the views from
another source, Tom Lodge.
I told you some issues ago about the sad and sudden death from
Keith Ashton, who worked
worldwide in radio and also had an offshore past at Radio Hauraki, Radio
Caroline and the Voice of Peace. On the later one he worked very close
together with Don Stevens. In cooperation with Don I’ve decided to
republish one of the chapters from the book about Abie Nathan’s work and
the history on the Voice of Peace:
Keith Ashton Photo: Freewave
Archive
‘Another frequent
visitor to the Don Stevens home in 1974 was a man who would prove to be
the most influential person in the story of The Voice of Peace and in
the life of Abie Nathan, but none of us knew it at the time. Keith
Ashton had arrived in Britain in September 1974 and someone had given my
name to him as a contact in the alternative radio world, and Anne and I
grew to love this outgoing bouncy guy from down under. He was like the
character Tigger in the Walt Disney films, full of life, ideas and
concepts and wanted to do everything at a hundred fifty miles a second.
His radio credentials were fascinating and extensive including being one
of the first jocks to be hired by Radio Hauraki, New Zealand’s one and
only offshore station and voted number one breakfast deejay in New
Zealand for many years. He was unashamedly honest in that he was out to
pick my brains and learn all he could about UK radio, he was a man in a
hurry,
the
best salesman I ever met, taught me loads of techniques. Tony had no
time for Keith and would not come round if he was at our home, which was
every day up to Christmas 1974 by which time he was selling airtime for
Radio Caroline and trying to get Capital Radio London to give him a show
in exchange for advertising. They went for this in the end and gave him
a Saturday afternoon slot for his 'London Link' show from January 1975,
uniting Australians and New Zealanders with British families and friends
and vice versa, Keith sold all the spots on the show and took a
commission and with four hours to fill with spots I'm sure Keith did ok
Don Stevens during breakfastshow
VOP Archive Don Stevens
Keith had heard from me about Peace and Abie, I passed on Tony's stories
to him and I was aware that Keith had his options open always, but with
Capital Radio he was doing very well and his show was going from
strength to strength. Sadly, this all ended when Keith's Visitors Permit
expired, he could not get it renewed despite appearing on Page 3 of The
Sun newspaper with two topless dolly birds asking for a British girl to
marry him and let him stay in Britain. So in July 1975, Capital Radio
lost 'London Link', the host and had a major problem, Keith literally
evaporated and he could not be located anywhere in London or
England....then I got a phone call. At the beginning of 1975 in January,
Tony told me that the Peace Ship might be heading back to sea. He
thought it was in France and was at my home on the phone checking with
Nick Oakley of Script Magazine for any news of Abie. She had no
information but if she heard anything it would be passed to Tony
straight away, it was then he told her he and I were going out to the
Caroline so could she send news to the Mi Amigo. Great news, off to
Caroline and maybe Peace Ship too, this was going to be a good year,
especially as Tony strongly urged me to take Drafi Deutscher 'United'
with me and use it as a theme on Caroline. I'd played it a number of
times on the Night Service of Radio Concord and it became a favourite of
his, and later, it became a firm favourite of many Caroline listeners
during Spring 1975.
By the Summer of 1975 I was back in London, Tony was in Amsterdam
chilling out and I was at Sloopy's in Piccadilly Circus with a residency
and doing what I could onshore to support Caroline. Then, my world came
crashing down. The British authorities were trying to get Caroline staff
to supply them with information to assist them in closing Caroline down.
It was common knowledge that we DJ's were trying to get contracts with
the newly launched radio stations, but the authorities would not allow
this to happen unless co-operation was forthcoming. I had many job
offers suddenly turned down, and in the end I was arrested and charged
under the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 for my lack of
co-operation. My home was searched and all my papers and documents
removed, Anne was terrified and this was the start of a very bleak time
for us. Thankfully, Brent Walker retained me at Sloopy's and gave me a
further gig at Hackney Stadium's new night spot, but I was followed,
phone was tapped and I had frequent visits to my Sloane Square apartment
from men in grey coats, my life was under a microscope and it was
terrifying my family.
Then I got a phone call......"I have a job that is tailor made for you,
interested,? just say yes, I'll send details." "Yes" I replied, "Details
with you shortly" end of conversation, but the voice was Keith Ashton
and he was phoning from the other end of the universe, he was so faint,
but I was curious to see what my old Aussie mate had up his sleeve. It
was November 1975, and I needed a lift. Sure enough, three days later, a
letter arrived, with an Israel stamp, postmarked Tel Aviv, at a neutral
address known to Keith and I in which he laid out the details of this
'Super Station' he was in operating with a format and programming style
that was made for me. Good salesman Keith, my experience in working
Drake format style programmes since 1969 on pirate and closed circuit
radio in Britain, with my knowledge and love of formats and jingle
packages made me ideal for this new operation. He reckoned I was stifled
on Caroline and needed to work for him on a station that played the hits
and they stayed played, a station combining the best elements of KLIF
under Gordon McLendon with a cutting edge Australian take on Todd Storz,
makes Drake look like a beginner.
When he said he was reporting to Abie Nathan I was shocked, the Peace
Ship, as Tony Allan had told us, was a laid back radio service, few
commercials and very like Radio Caroline in the 1970's. Keith was
describing a tiger of a station, Veronica/Big L/England with WABC thrown
in for good measure. More music, more jingles, more commercials, more
often, 24 hours a day, we still did have that in Britain, so Israel? I
replied in a letter that Anne was keen to go back to Canada and was not
keen to get blown up in Israel and sent it off before Christmas 1975,
but Keith never got the letter. In the next post in January 1976, he
told me more about the station, the great jocks he had, just hired a
Steve Gordon and Phil Sayer to back up his backbone team of Ken Dickin,
Phil Brice, Robin Adcroft and Black Printz.
Why was I messing about he wondered. Keith phoned too, on a safe line,
and I told him about my forthcoming court appearance for Caroline, he
was afraid it may result in a custodial sentence and I should get out
while the going was good. I assured him that in conversations with
Johnny Jason and Ronan they were going to back me up and keep an eye out
for me, which they did. But further charges were pending regarding
Caroline so Keith persuaded me to attend court, and then, using my Irish
passport get out of the country and head for Israel as soon as possible,
he would arrange everything. I agreed, and on the 9th March, Johnny
Jason drove me to Heathrow Airport for the morning flight to Tel Aviv,
we had a good omen, we bumped into Loving Awareness who were off to the
States to record an album. Johnny knew them, introduced me, great guys,
they suggested sending the album out to the Ship, great stuff. We had a
few good drinks and my adventure with the crazy world of Keith Ashton
and the Voice of Peace had started on a real positive vibe.
Evening
in Tel Aviv, warm wind and it was dark as I landed at about 7pm local
time. The flight on El Al had been comfortable with a level of service
from the attendants I have never experienced before, or since. I had
left a London bathed in sunshine, clear blue skies and 2C, the blue
skies stayed with me until sunset as the Boeing 707 approached Ben
Goerion Airport and a country at war with its neighbours. The crew
wished me luck in Israel as I prepared to disembark, had Keith arranged
all of this, I had given no clue as to my business, but, crew knew my
destination and were huge fans of '1540' as they called it. Met by the
company driver and his lovely wife I was invited to tour Tel Aviv if I
was up to it, Keith had suggested it as a way of giving me an insight
into the stations reach and he insisted they make it a thorough tour.
Keith would see me later at the hotel. In the car, the background hum of
a radio, cassette maybe of WABC, kept us company as my new husband and
wife friends introduced me to their homeland, they spoke perfect
English. Then, suddenly, typical Israeli, the driver cut the
conversation, said how rude it was of him not to let me hear 1540, up
went the volume and there was 'The More Music Sound of Ken Dickin' with
'G'days' and 'Dicko here' and a montage of sound, strewth! All of this
at 10pm at night, when European radio was winding down, I came to the
rapid conclusion that I might be out of my depth, this was a radio sound
like no other, big, brash and fast moving, was there time to re-board
the plane?
Ken Dicken on the VOP Archive Don
Stevens
The tour of the city continued, my wonderful guides suggested food and
offered a western style restaurant but I was keen to try the local food,
much to the obvious delight of my new friends. I ate a hearty meal in an
overcrowded restaurant and then we walked up Dizengoff to the Kikar and
sampled the atmosphere. In to the car, up to Kikar Atarim, Ibn Gvirol
and then to Kikar Hamedina, everywhere we went, every radio in cars,
shops, wherever had 1540 blasting out. I was able to follow the
programme walking down the street and I did not have a radio, it was the
most intimidating event of my life. Even in the hey days of Big L you
would never have that situation happen in Oxford Street, it was a
revelation.
Finally, to my hotel, oh, and this was another surprise. Booked into the
Tel Aviv Sheraton with a pool side apartment and an invite to join Keith
at Schmulicks in Ben Yehuda, the favourite watering hole of all the
drinking class in Tel Aviv. Keith did not stay long, told me I had an
early morning departure to the Ship and filled me in on my role. We
discussed salary and the ongoing accommodations for shore leave which
was always the Sheraton, and then he shot off to close another
commercial sale, the guy was fizzing, and very pleased to see me. We met
up later at the hotel bar and Keith filled in the gaps. Keith gave few
details of the background to his arrival with Peace, just that he
implemented the new style shows once the ship had got back from Port
Said on September 22nd 1975 and he had retained the services of Black
Printz, Robin Adcroft, Phil Brice, Jules Retrot, Ken Dickin and then
Steve Gordon and Phil Sayer. But it was very clear that he ran the
entire operation for Abie who stayed in the background and used the
revenues to assist the poor and weak in the region. Keith was pleased
that he could provide this service for Abie, and I was told how the
money was spent and all those details, it was clear that an ideal was
being served by commercial thinking.
The format was similar to 'Boss Radio' in the USA, but the pattern was a
harder edged Australian product, honed and sharpened at Gold Coast Radio
Queensland, 4 Double G. it was tight and ultra professional. Phil Brice
and Ken Dickin, with Engineer Jules Retrot from Australia implemented
the whole sound on ship, so everything was geared to this product. The
guys had been to Britain and thought commercial radio was a joke, this
was a chance to show how real radio was, more music, less talk, and the
jingles too were US with the late Bill Mitchell providing some
voiceovers. Phil Brice had obtained these prior to leaving LBC Radio in
London, but other jingle firms provided cuts including CPMG and TM.
Advertising was mostly through Tavas, an advertising agency owned and
operated by people who knew the power of US style radio. Keith dealt
with them almost exclusively and they were keen to work with him, he
spoke the radio language they understood and he provi
ded
a refreshing alternative to the hum drum radio on shore. Keith pointed
out that the sound of the station was generating huge revenue for Abie,
he, in turn was devoting these funds to all his good causes, it was a
good relationship. All the major firms advertised through Tavas on the
station, British Leyland was one international spot, plus Maccabiee
Beer, OK Beer, Elite Foods (all the range), Osem and Dubek tobacco
advertised most of their brands.
It was clear from Keith's comments that Abie was generating enough
income to keep the station operating for many years if the unexpected
happened and advertising ceased, it was a fascinating introduction.
Keith wanted me to do the mid-morning show, keep it tight, but slow your
English to half speed, might attract an audience whose English was a
little rusty, do a coffee break, play a couple of standards in 'own
choice' but generally, keep the show moving. No problems, I was happy to
fulfil that role and the thought of being a Mid-East Tony Windsor or
Tineke was very amusing, big black beard and shoulder length hair
notwithstanding. Keith was keen to provide the secular population of
Israel the product they enjoyed when they were in the States, and he
showed me the huge bags of mail that had arrived at the post box, he was
taking them to the office. I must confess it was exciting stuff.
Early morning March 10th 1976, out from Tel Aviv Marina in an open speed
boat heading out to MV Peace, formerly Cito, a favourite playground of
my friend Hans Knot as a lad in Groningen. I was surprised to see, on
approach, that the ship was in a very high state of repair, compared to
Mi Amigo it was brand new. The ship shone like a bright light in the
mid-morning sun, and the blue sky and sea set it off like a graceful
Swan on a placid lake. The photo I took at that moment is still one of
the best I have ever seen of the vessel, it was a perfect moment.
Climbing up the ladder on to the deck was another surprise. On the Mi
Amigo from Radio Caroline, because she is low in the water you just time
your jump and go across from the tender when the swell equalizes the
beneath the vessels. With Peace, no swell, the water was like glass,
absolutely smooth...but you had to climb up the almost 5 metre side of
ship on a rickety old rope and wood ladder, great fun when it was choppy
in winter.
I was greeted immediately by Ken Dickin who introduced me to Jules
Retrot and Steve Gordon, and these became my firm friends on board the
ship. In fact, Ken and Jules, once they found out I was Irish, were more
than happy to share a consignment of Maccabiee Beer with me and bring me
up to speed with the situation on ship. Jules was due to leave in a few
weeks time and Ken was thinking of leaving too, Phil Brice had already
departed and was at Beacon Radio in the English West Midlands so
the
team that brought Israel 1540 was disbanding. I understood then, why
Keith wanted me on board, to at least have one presenter in the team who
understood the concept of more music radio.
Shown the studio by my hospitable new pals and I was impressed, for the
time it was a functional and very professional set-up with a huge Gates
Diplomat Mixer with big pots for driving the shows. Gates cartridge
machines and Gates turntables with Gates arms completed the set up,
with, mercury switches which were a problem when the swell was high, and
an audio rack with processor behind. The studio was freezing cold due to
an over active air conditioner, so we adjourned to the bowels of the
ship to the lounge with its huge sofa's, television and games table. I
was able to renew a friendship with Bill Danse whom I had worked with on
the Caroline the previous year. We used to have some stimulating
discussions about many subjects, and I learnt a heck of a lot from Bill.
He was proud of his work on the Peace Ship, with good reason, he kept
the station on the air when the nearest spare part was ashore, he was
good at solving problems that would bring others to their knees. On the
Caroline, Bill had told me a great deal about the Peace Ship and Abie
from his previous tour aboard in 1973, but, the station I was listening
to was nothing like the one Bill Danse and Tony Allan had spoken of.
The next day, on air, and Ken Dickin had spent the previous night, after
his show, making up a couple of identification jingles so I may sound
blended in to the format, never had to use the jingles Peter van Dam
made for me on board the Mi Amigo when I voiced his 'Gangboord' jingle
in English, that was a shame, Peter would enjoyed Israel hearing him.
The studio was easy to use compared to the Caroline, and the only real
problem was learning enough Hebrew to 'hear' the out cue from Kol
Israel's news which we broadcast top of the hour. Steve Gordon helped me
a lot through this one, and cautioned me for false out cue which Israeli
newsreaders often did to throw us. If you missed the outcue then you had
a further five minutes of local news and weather for every region of
Israel....this was a massive tune out factor for our Cyprus listeners,
so ears alert. I soon learnt a lot about the station and its running in
the next few weeks, the practical jokes played on each other. Fire
alarms and simulated sinking in a storm all contributed to making the
Voice of Peace a great place to be, a fine crew and a great bunch of
jocks. I quickly settled into a good friendship with Ken Dickin and
Steve Gordon often having a few beers in the production studio whilst
Ken sorted out the weekly playlist and chart, we had our own Top 40.
One particular day, Ken wanted to go ashore for a break but it was going
to be difficult, he had a two daily shows and he was our Number One
jock, everybody in the Middle East listened to his shows and he was
disappointed he could not get a 24 hour break. We knew the tender was
due on the day he wished to go ashore at about 6pm, when his afternoon
slot finished but he still had a night time slot to fill from 1
0pm
to midnight so it was out of the question. Being a Caroline jock and
used the activities of the British Government tracking our movements I
suggested Ken record a set of links using his catch phrases, make a 12
or so, load them on to a cart, and I'd drive the night time show and
play the cart loaded vo's between tunes. It worked a treat, Ken was in
Tel Aviv and everybody thought he was aboard ship, great fun. He was in
Schmulick’s listening to his own show, Schmulick thought it was the
sharpest trick he had ever come across, and he knew some tricks.
It came time for Jules to leave the ship for the last time, and he was
due to attend a celebration party in Tel Aviv, but, knowing my birthday
coincided with this he somehow arranged for me to get an early shore
leave and go too. It was a real surprise to meet Israeli's and discover
how popular the station was, I'd forgotten after my initial introduction
the night I had arrived. Jules saw my surprise, and informed me that
Voice of Peace was the biggest pop station bar none not just in Israel,
but in the Middle East, and why not, it was the very first format of its
type ever heard outside Australia and the US. I learnt that we were so
popular that BFBS on FM out of Cyprus was revamping its format, Radio
Monte Carlo in Cyprus was suffering too and they began to increase their
music rotation, and then the Government of Israel announced plans to
start a pop service to be known as Reshet Gimel. Even Jordan Radio in
English began to use English disc jockeys by April 1976, a testament to
1540's sound. Walking around the city and hearing the station from every
shop was amazing, and I soon learnt to be careful when I spoke in
public, the listeners heard us so much they could identify us by our
voices. No mean feat when you consider the majority did not speak
English very well, but, as a lifelong listener to Dutch radio and I do
not speak the language I was aware that they could replicate my own
ability to discern Rob Out from Lex Harding or Peter van Dam. If you
were unmasked it caused a major public disturbance with everybody trying
to hold you, catch your clothing, and I love this, invite you home for a
meal to meet the family and friends. It resembled Beatle mania, but the
one broadcaster they all wanted to see was Ken Dickin, he was far and
away the most popular talent on the station, everybody liked his show,
men and women boys and girls. I often wonder what would have been the
history of the Peace Ship if Ken had signed on for another three months,
he was also the advertisers’ favourite, and all his slots were fully
booked.
Good news for the projects that Abie was assisting, including the
Children’s Ward at Tel Hashomer hospital for sick Arab children from all
around the region. While I was ashore, Abie took me to view this
facility and explained to me that our overt pop service was not
obviously a peace service, it was generating income for peace projects
and this would have a long term benefit for the region. We were
photographed with the doctor in charge for a national newspaper, but
Abie refused publication rights so I ended up with the picture. In
hindsight, he was spot on, he created a mood among people leading by
example and giving with no expectation of a return, and beneficiaries of
this spread the word of their good fortune and encouraged our
listenership.
Back to the Ship and Abie came out too with Keith Ashton to spend a weekend on the ship and to make a couple of live broadcasts on The Peace Show, he was also keen to talk to Ken Dickin he hoped to persuade him to stay a couple of months longer. That night, Abie had a get together with the DJ’s and crew to find out how they were feeling, who was staying and whose contracts were up for renewal. I recall Abie telling Ken and Keith that he wanted a more MOR style and was insisting upon a change in format, and then he said ‘that’s what I’d like, but I don’t know a lot about radio’ suddenly Keith said something like ‘Well yeah Abie, you don’t really mate so leave to us professionals and we’ll keep it right’ and stopped Abie in his tracks. The format never came under discussion again until Keith left the station. Abie clearly failed to hold onto Ken who was sad, Steve Gordon agreed to stay on for a further 3 months which was great news, but Phil Sayer had a job to start at Piccadilly Radio and was unable to be with us. Then Keith asked me what my plans were, and I agreed to stay on for another 6 months to maintain some continuity of the station sound.
Into April 1976 and the station was gaining more advertising, Tavas were
really going flat out and Keith was selling like a devil, good times,
but on the horizon was the talk from the office that Abie was keen to go
MOR and the Knesset had approved the immediate launch of Israel’s first
pop music station with a start date of early May 1976. Tavas Advertising
were totally against Abie changing a successful radio station and
literally handing over the market to the new Reshet Gimel, Keith agreed,
it would be impossible to sell space with an obsolete music policy and
feelings were running high in the office. Concern was voiced that Abie
was under pressure to give the airwaves to the new service by his
‘friends’ in Government, and it was true to say that he was very happy
with the way things operated until Reshet Gimel was proposed. Tavas made
it clear that if the format changed they would pull all advertising as
it would be a waste of clients money to be on an MOR service. Abie
suggested that I be retained on the station right through 1976 and go on
the breakfast show with a brief to keep it fast moving and Tavas
continued to buy space in that show, in addition they would give him a
full advert roster on the Sabbath, if the station went MOR.
Ken Dickin by now had departed and Steve Gordon and myself maintained
the station sound, nothing appeared to be changing and then with the
launch of Reshet Gimel only a days away Keith left the station and a few
days later Crispian St.John arrived from London to implement the MOR
format, this resulted in Tavas Advertising informing Abie that they
would only book spots on breakfast and on Shabbat, when Israeli radio
did not run commercials, thus implementing what must have been a cut and
dried deal. It was great to see CSJ out on the ship but it was so unfair
to him
that
the office told him how we must implement the MOR format as the station
needed to be successful. Years later when Crispian was at Metro Radio
Newcastle we used to meet up at my house, he would dine with us and it
was clear to Crispian pressure was being applied to Abie. As he had been
brought out to fill Keith Ashton’s shoes he carried out Abie’s policy
and did the best he could. With the MOR sound active and breakfast using
the old style it was a constant source of friction on board. Abie had
not made CSJ aware of the instructions I was receiving via Motorola
radio from shore, which was adhere to the normal format. Poor old
Crispian and I were placed under awful pressure and I offered my
resignation to Abie, which was not only refused, but he insisted I
undertake to guarantee doing another three months right up to November
1976.
One of the more unusual recruits to the ship, who did not arrive through
Broadcast Placement Services, but from Steve Allen at UBN, was Tara
Jeffries our first female broadcaster who arrived aboard in late Spring,
mid May 1976. Tara was an accomplished broadcaster for UBN and wanted to
work on an offshore radio station, but preferably a station like The
Voice of Peace, a station with a mission. For Tara, this was a great
adventure and an opportunity of working in a new and fresh environment
with a group of idealistic young people. I mention Tara because her
story is unknown but her name is well known in association with the
Peace Ship. Tara did not stay long with the station and eventually left
Israel and took up a broadcast position back in England, but her
departure from the station was a loss in many ways to the audience and
Abie, at the time he could not see that. As a young woman arriving on
board a radio ship with a very strong male culture life was never going
to be easy. If she had joined when Ken, Phil and Keith had been around
her time would have been easy, these were radio folk who had worked with
female broadcasters before. Her easy on air manner may not have fitted
in with the style of that period but she would have found the company
very pleasant.
As it was, she joined when the British guys were the mainstay of the
ship and they brought with them the 1970’s attitudes of young lads from
the London of the time. Tara, who was a sincere and gentle person had
difficulty settling in almost immediately, the lads were unsure of how
to deal with her, she was, after all a well educated and well travelled
young woman, a major problem for most lads of the day.
I spent many hours over the weeks talking to Tara, making her feel
comfortable and trying to get her to settle in, but she made it clear to
me that she felt she was not welcome on the vessel. To make matters
worse, we had some late Spring swell and the ship was riding high out of
the water, and Tara suffered from bad sea sickness. She was keen to go
home, things were not as she expected, and despite my urging her to stay
a bit longer she made plans to leave. Steve Gordon too made every
attempt to settle her in, but we both understood that she was not at
ease. When she did broadcast she adapted well to the self operated
studio and she had a wonderful microphone manner and a superb voice full
of honey, as listeners to LBC would testify. In her last couple of
weeks, the weather got better and Tara seemed to be okay as photos of
the time testify, but, she went ashore for a break and eventually I
heard she left for Britain to resume her career with independent radio.
More
staff joined but now these were exclusively drawn from the UK radio
market and most were provided by Broadcast Placement Services, an agency
owned and operated by Maggie and Tony Stevens from Hampstead, London.
Newcomers included Norman Lloyd and Gavin McCoy and Kenny Page who was
clearly influenced by Kenny Everett and a host of other old friends.
Phil Mitchell and Kelvin O’Shea came out too, guys I’d worked with in
London. Talk between tracks increased and the overall sound was very
middle of the road with all output strictly controlled, causing revenue
to drop and listeners tuning in to Shosh Atari with Tony Fine and the
gang over at Reshet Gimel. Gimel played the hits we had played only
weeks earlier and the commercial spots were loaded, to me it made very
sad listening.
Abie Nathan, Robin Adcroft and
Jules Retrot Photo: Freewave Archive
By late November 1976 my contract was coming up for renewal and Abie
asked me what my plans were for Christmas, was I going to stay with the
Ship. We had a good long conversation about the station and my time on
it, he told me Keith Ashton had abandoned him in his time of need and it
was typical Abie, he was great at getting sympathy, loved his style. As
I was on my last shore leave I was invited to dine at Abie's new
apartment in Tel Aviv with his friends, and so I had the opportunity of
meeting a number of very interesting people who gave me another insight
into the Peace Ship and how it was viewed in Israel. Clearly, the
station was seen by a number of these folk at the party as an
anachronism, a museum piece playing music for a minority market, poor
Abie with friends like these. After everybody left Abie and I had a
drink with a couple of ladies and talked about the future, I was keen to
see England for Christmas and Abie was insistent that I remain in
Israel, at least until January 1977. I offered to return at the
beginning of January but this was not agreeable and so the evening ended
on a sour note. Next day in the office, Abie gave me extra cash to enjoy
myself so I headed off to my girl friends home in Holon and I had a good
shore leave, but this was before mobile phones and I was not due back to
the office for three days, unaware that Abie wanted me back on the ship.
When I returned I was despatched to the ship straight away and a day
later a television crew from Japan came out and filmed the ship and my
live show, it was a great piece of promotion for the station, and Abie
had an opportunity of showing the crew around the ship. He was so happy,
best I'd seen him for months, and he also made a special Peace Show for
them so somewhere in Japan is an extremely interesting film.
My final day and I left the ship, said goodbye to all and sundry, got to
the office and Abie was in a funk and refused to see me. The staff
explained he felt let down by me, I should stay on longer, but I was
mystified, as were they by this sentiment, the reason for his irritation
became clear in January 1977 by which time I was back in Israel as a
private visitor. The staff wished me well, I picked up my return ticket
and went off to Holon to be with my girlfriend and her family and seven
days later in late November 1976 I flew to London with my girlfriend.
What happened next was interesting and explained Abie's mood. January
1977 saw me return to Israel as a private visitor, my girlfriend finding
Britain and its people too cold for her taste she left and returned to
Israel on New Years Day. I followed her out two weeks later for a brief
visit and to make sure she was okay. She was fine, but our relationship
was a thing of the past and her thought was to move on, but as a
goodwill gesture, she showed me a copy of LahiTon, Israel’s national pop
magazine and translated for me the results of the Annual Readers Poll of
favourite disc jockeys carried out in November 1976 and I was voted by
the readership as Top Foreign Language DJ, and in the Top 10 of
favourite National broadcasters. Big surprise for me especially the
publication of this poll had only just been released the previous week
so it was hot news. Ronit, my girl friend was very perceptive and
suggested that maybe this readers poll was the reason for Abie Nath
an’s
strange behaviour prior to our flight to London a month earlier.
During that first week back in Tel Aviv I just socialised and relaxed a
little with friends, popped around to Tavas and was approached with an
idea to act as station manager and restore the old sound. Abie, I was
told was unaware of this plan, but he would be told if I got on board, I
could not see how this idea would fly, Abie was committed to the low key
approach to radio. I had tried to phone Abie to let him know I was in
Tel Aviv, but the office staff clearly did not pass on the message.
Thanks to Tavas I was connected to Ian Wiener at CBS Records Israel to
assist them in launching the new disco concept in the country by helping
with releases and advising on the construction of night clubs with full
sound systems and lights. I was also contracted to provide the start up
shows too once the projects were open. I also presented a Top 40 show
with Eli Israeli on Israel Army Radio using English and Eli in Hebrew,
it was a great idea. Unknown to me, Abie was trying to contact me, but
after the Army Radio appearance Abie would avoid talking to me even at
Kikar Atarim for Israel’s Independence celebrations when the Mayor of
Tel Aviv announced our names in the same breath and Abie barely
acknowledged me. He was upset and probably felt I was against him, Abie
often felt this way, but a year later and Abie sent a message to me.
The rest of 1977 was a great year for me in Tel Aviv and I was making
public appearances up and down the country in various night clubs and
even appeared many times with Reshet Gimel's Shosh Atari at Le Club in
Tel Aviv. I was under a contract with Sheraton and ran my own shows at
The Forum Palace in north Tel Aviv, the disco boom was helping me a
great deal and as the disco star rose so the Peace Ship declined. In
January 1978 I was performing at a venue and Abie was a guest, he
approached asked if I was well and could we meet up, I readily agreed to
see him at his office at a time of his choosing. We met a few days later
and Abie suggested I would enjoy going out to the ship and host a daily
disco radio show, very avant garde idea for any radio station and for
Abie Nathan a stroke of genius. He wanted a typical disco show, as if in
a club, but play commercials if he could get them, and he would expect
me to present the breakfast programme too and he thought he had a
regular commercial sponsor. I loved the idea, Abie said it would help
him, so we agreed I would go out in 10 days time which gave me enough
space to recruit jocks to cover some of my contracts which were not
'name' critical, they only wanted disco service. The project was a
success and we ran it for 3 months playing all the latest dance hits
from Europe and the USA which I obtained from my own finances directly
from overseas. We played full length mixes too, including the full 50
minute mix of 'Romeo and Juliet' by Alec R Costandinos and a host of
other great tracks, Abie's idea was that the listeners could organise
dance parties around the radio schedule.
We had run party nights before on the ship, Phil Sayer and Ken Dickin
used to do a Friday night party show in early 1976 and it was a huge
success but it was geared to a radio audience. Abie was trying to create
a new type of radio and it appeared to be working, but it really needed
a local
disc
jockey, if nothing else, Reshet Gimel had created a market for Hebrew
language DJ's playing Western music. As my three months was coming to a
close Abie and I discussed the future of the show, would I continue. I
said it really needs a local guy to move this to the next stage, I had
attracted a good audience of Israeli's who could afford to travel and
spoke English and knew disco in the West, but a local jock could spread
the net wider. Eventually, after passing the show over to UK DJ's Abie
hired Gad Biton to run the show, Gad was well known to me on the night
club circuit, it was a stroke of genius, he built the audience up to
significant level during 1978 and early 1979. With Gad Biton our second
Israeli broadcaster, joining Reuven Levi who broadcast intermittently
from 1975 through to the 1980's, the Peace Ship had a chance to finally
reach a new market.
Abie and I remained in contact right through until 1980 when I left
Israel to return to Britain, I also provided some logistical support
during that time. When the money began to run out and Abie was unable to
accommodate DJ's on shore leave I extended the use of a spare room in my
apartment to anyone who wanted it. Abie took advantage of the offer, but
the guys hardly stayed as they had girl friends and such like to be
with. Abie drove me mad asking for various DJ's and I could not tell him
where they were, and I had to cover for them. 'Sorry Abie, he is in the
room with a girl' 'no Abie, they have just gone out' stuff like that,
good fun. I met a number of the Ships crew at this time including Kas
Collins who was a really good jock and succeeded in attracting the
biggest audience for any Peace Ship show since 1976, but, he left, sent
me a lovely card from Cairo and then he went back to Europe. Steve
Marshall joined, a real soul man, his knowledge of soul and R 'n' B was
second to none, and I renewed an old friendship with Keith York from my
Dynamite 235 and Radio Concord days.
Don Stevens and Norman Lloyd
Photo: Archive Don Stevens
As September 1980 drew in I went to see Abie to let him know I was
leaving Israel and heading back to Europe, I went to wish him all the
best for the future.
We agreed that maybe our relationship over the years could have been
better, to the benefit of the Peace Ship, but, we are both stubborn and
we laughed at that. Abie, ever the man with an eye to the future, asked
me if I would ever return to help him if he was in need. Clearly, I said
it was no problem, you call, and I'll come if I can be of help. Abie
shook my hand and I thought that was the end of me and The Voice of
Peace.............. That’s what I thought........
Don Stevens
That ends up this second edition of the Hans Knot International Radio
Report for the month of July. Hope you enjoyed it and for all memories
and bits and pieces you can write me at
HKnot@home.nl and for photos and other material please use the
Hans.Knot@gmail.com
Till next month
Greetings Hans Knot
During 2006 a lot of
work has been down to research not only the history of the Voice of
Peace but also the various humanitarian jobs Abie Nathan has done
through the past 4 decades. With assistance from people next to Abie,
deejays and staff of the station in the past, Hans Knot has succeeded in
writing a 250 pages book. In the book are many exclusive photographs,
but as there were hundreds of photos sent in by many people, a ‘photo
cd’ is included. The book was officially presented at the Annual Radio
Day in Amsterdam on November 2006. The book can now be ordered from the
publisher. The price for people in the Netherlands is 30 Euro, including
postage and packing. For people outside the Netherlands the price is33
Euro. You can send in your money by sending it in an envelope to SMC, PO
Box 53121 1007 RC Amsterdam. Also you can pay your money to Giro account
4065700 on the name of Mediacommunicatie Amsterdam. Don’t forget to
mention IBAN number: NL 37 PSTB 0004 0657 00 BIC: PSTBNL21. This to
avoid high costs.
Offshore Radio Programme Names - Programmanamen Zeezenders 1958-1990
Read Hans Knot's former report