Chris Cary (Spangles Muldoon) 5th October 1946 - 29th February 2008

I feel deeply sorry to report the sad news of Chris Cary's death following a second stroke some weeks ago.

As a young teenager being 15 years young, I first heard "Spangles Muldoon" with his "Lunchtime Loonabout" programme on RNI just after the station had returned to the Dutch coast at the end of July in 1970. Spangles immediately fascinated me as I strongly imagined he was a tough-minded guy with a lot of humour who consequently committed himself to the idea of "free radio". On a Saturday afternoon in August - whilst on holiday in Italy along with my parents and my younger brothers - I listened to RNI on shortwave (31 and 49 metre band) and followed the dramatic events when Kees Manders tried to hijack the Mebo II with Spangles and several colleagues on board the ship. And with much sorrow I listened to Spangles' fairwell programme in September 1970. During the summer of 1972, he suddenly reappeared on the station, soon leaving to take part in the reincarnation of Radio Caroline from the MV Mi Amigo. I soon realised that Spangles played an important role within the new Caroline "organisation", but unfortunately he could be heard not too often as a deejay on the station...

More than three decades later, in October 2005, I met Chris for the very first time when he took part at the "RNI-in-1970 Reunion" on the Amsterdam Radio Day. I saw him again at the "Celebration of Offshore Radio" in London in August 2007. And then in November 2007, we were so pleased that he took part in the "Radio Caroline resisting the MOA" panel which was held during the recent Radio Day.

I have compiled several pictures as a decent help to bear Chris in our remembrance.

For messages of condolence please click here.

De Radio Van Toen – interview met Ian Damon

Op de Radiodag van 10 november 2007 heeft Luuk Meuwese een gesprek gehad met Ian Damon, oud-discjockey van o.a. Radio London en Capitol Radio. Met meer dan 50 jaar ervaring in het radiomaken had Ian heel wat te vertellen.

Zo spreekt hij over zijn verblijf op de MV Galaxy, over zijn bijnaam The Wombat en zijn vaste  begroeting: 'Hi there, you there!' Ook zijn huidige programma op zondagavond bij BigL komt ter sprake.

Het interview met Ian Damon wordt in 2 delen uitgezonden in De Radio Van Toen.

De muziek komt uit Ian's persoonlijke Top 20.

Het programma De Radio Van Toen wordt wekelijks gemaakt bij Radio Nunspeet en wordt ook uitgezonden door Radio Popular en RTW Waddinxveen.

Presentatie Luuk Meuwese, productie Swanèt Vink.

zaterdag 1 maart 21-23 uur en donderdag 6 maart 15-17 uur.

Radio Waddinxveen (105.8FM) – www.rtw.nl –

zaterdag 1 maart 10-12 uur en dinsdag 4 maart 12-14 uur.

Radio Popular – www.radiopopular.nl –

vrijdag 7 maart 16-18 uur en donderdag 13 maart 21-23 uur.

SCHIP DE "LAISSEZ FAIRE" TERUGGEVONDEN
Sven Martinsen, de Noorse documentairemaker over het zendschip de "Laissez Faire" heeft dit schip na ruim 40 jaar weten te traceren.
Op dit schip is in 1966 "Radio Dolfijn" geboren en was in 1967 de eerste Nederlandse popzender "Radio 227" gevestigd.
Lees het verslag op www.radio227.nl onder het kopje "HISTORIE- herinneringen".

WERELDPREMIERE VAN DE SONG
Vrijdag 22 februari j.l. was een bijzondere dag. Radio 227 had de wereldpremière van de song over de Olga Patricia wat de feitelijke naam van de Laissez Faire is.
Het lied werd geschreven door Ex Swinging Radio England DJ Rick Randall en gezongen door collega Keith "Keefers" Hampshire op muziek van Gordon Lightfoot. De vraag (welke dus volgens bovenstaand stukje opgelost is) was waar de Olga Patricia eigenlijk gebleven was nadat het dienst had gedaan als zendschip voor SRE, Britain Radio, Radio Dolfijn, Radio 227 en Radio 355.
Where the Heck is the Olga Patricia?

There once was a ship that was destined to be
A famous, mysterious ship of the sea
It sailed from a port in the south(ern) US
To take part in a plan to invade, can you guess?

A storm the first night sent a sound and a fright
Through the hull with a crash and a shudder
When the mast it did fall with antennae and all
As the ship rocked about on her rudder

So the trip took a turn as the world would then learn
And made stops for repairs in a hurry
First the Azores and then to Lisbon to mend
As the boss paid the bills with a worry

Portugal, it was nice and the crew once or twice
Toured the town and drank down with the best
It took two weeks, or three, to get back out to sea
And head north --- was it east, south or west?


The day finally came when the wind and the rain
In the North Sea were met by those bad boys
There were Yanks, and some Blokes, and a Aussie with jokes
Would would soon fill the air with their noise

Radio Caroline, and well, yet another – Big “L”
That were just off the Felixstowe sea shore
When the “Boss Jocks” arrived with their fast talk and jive
They would soon play their music, and “much more”

This ship it was true, with not one sound, but two
But not destined to be there for too long
For on land was a fight, about what’s wrong and what’s right
And the law would soon silence their sea-song

With the Maritime Act it would simply be fact
That the days we remember are past us
The American sound that was heard in London town
Would die out, though the memory would last us

Here we gather again to look back with a grin
To a time that we faintly remember
A tale that was born with the sound of a horn
On a ship that is vaguely familiar

So here’s to the lady we loved and we knew
Was her name...Bonnie, or Jenny?
Oh yeah, I recall, it was Olga, ya’ll
A friend who is gone with our memory

For now nowhere we see is our old friend at sea
There are stories we just can not follow
They weave plots with no clues, like a clown with no shoes
CIA...Laissez Faire...all sound hollow

What happened when the fun, it was all said and done
And the boat and her crew they did sever
Did she sail off in fright to mysterious night
Or sink to the bottom forever?

There is no end that we know to this story, and so
The truth may never to told her
How the real story ends, or if destiny bends
Around Olga as we all grow older

Let’s call out the Air Force, the Navy, and then
Let’s call out the Army militia
We’ve all got to know, before we all go
Where the Heck, is the Olga Patricia

(c) Richard Crandall (Rick Randall) 2006. Recorded by Keith ”Keefers” Hampshire 2006.
Based on ”The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot, (c) Reprise Records 1976.

Radio Waddenzee gaat met het radiolichtschip een paar dagen buitengaats en vanaf zee uitzenden. Op dinsdag 29 april wordt de Jenni Baynton voor anker gelegd ter hoogte van het waddeneiland Griend (niet bewoond vogeleiland tussen Harlingen en Terschelling). De rechtstreekse uitzendingen vanaf het schip zijn op donderdag 1 mei (Hemelvaart), vrijdag 2 mei en zaterdag 3 mei. In de uitzending van 2 mei is er extra aandacht voor de befaamde sloepenrace Harlingen - Terschelling. Het radiolichtschip ligt voor anker langs de route. Op zondag 4 mei keert het schip terug in de Harlinger haven.
Foto (gemaakt door Geert Kroes)? Klik hier.

Bezoek aan schip op zee mogelijk!
Op zaterdag 3 mei kunnen belangstellenden de Jenni Baynton bezoeken. Hiervoor zal een veerboot vanaf Harlingen naar het schip varen (en uiteraard weer terug). Exact tijdstip en de aan deze reis verbonden kosten zijn nog niet bekend. Je kunt al wel je belangstelling kenbaar maken door een e-mail te sturen. Zodra de exacte gegevens bekend zijn stuurt Radio Waddenzee dan een email retour met de mogelijkheid om te boeken. Wie nu al zijn belangstelling kenbaar maakt (zonder verplichting) krijgt echter wel voorrang bij het boeken. Het is uiteraard niet uitgesloten dat het aantal belangstellenden groter is dan het aantal beschikbare plaatsen voor deze bijzondere trip. Belangstelling? Stuur een mail. Via deze site melden we verdere ontwikkelingen over dit bijzondere radiogebeuren.

The "Unofficial" Radio Report

My reports used to concentrate on Radio Caroline and featured on the www.radiocaroline.de website. Martin, the webmaster of both the German Radio Caroline and this web site, agreed to move me here, to make way for official reports from the Caroline organisation. I note that the last update was one written by Mark Stafford dated the 6th April this year. Come on guys, where are the promised regular “official” reports that were supposed to be replacing my unofficial ones?

My wife Jill and I had the pleasure of being in Germany at the end of November to experience the city of Cologne and its Christmas Markets, six in total, including one on a cruise ship and the medieval one (which we both thought was disappointing and was the only outdoor market that we had to pay an admission fee). Due to our hotel been in close proximity of the Cathedral, we were woken by the bells ringing for ten minutes at 07.00 hours each morning and boy were they loud! We went to the top of the cathedral tower, climbing 509 steps and saw the offending bells on the way up. The many cologne beers we sampled were great, as were the very popular brew houses and the traditional German food that they served.

I also went to Malta at the beginning of December for a two day business trip. Whilst travelling on the bus back to the rental car pick up at Heathrow Airport I heard the familiar voice of Nick Abbot on the drivers’ radio. I discovered that he is now doing a weekday evening show on London’s LBC, so as soon as I got into my hire car I tuned in and despite this being on FM I got a good signal all the way to Ashford in Kent, and then it broke up. Not bad for a London station, although I have picked up others as far as this, such as Magic. I found Nick as entertaining and funny as ever. I have been trying to think what was the last station that I heard him on and am not sure if it was Virgin or possibly Talk Sport? Whilst on the subject of London radio stations, I notice that many of the Pirates take advantage of RDS technology, by sending out data not only with the station name, but other information such as phone numbers and web site addresses. How Pirate Radio has moved on since my day!

Unfortunately my daughters, like many others, failed to get me tickets for the Led Zeppelin reunion concert at the O2 Arena in London for my birthday. However Radio Caroline’s Pandora got press passes for her and Station Manager Peter Moore and they managed to blag their way into the arena itself and saw the whole gig, whilst other members of the media watched back stage on a small TV screen. You can read Pandora and Peter’s account of this memorable evening on the official www.radiocaroline.co.uk web site.

I went to a concert myself a few days before. This was Jeff Wayne’s “War of the Worlds” at the NEC, Birmingham. I had previously seen the concert on DVD (worth having), but the visual effects and sound were even better live. Thanks to my daughters Caroline, Sarah and Rhiannon for buying me the tickets for my birthday. However, a word of warning about the promoter they bought the tickets from, which was via the official War of the Worlds website. The company, Trinity Street Direct stated that the tickets would be in blocks and rows closer to the stage than what we were actually sent, without any prior notification and these only arrived a few days before the gig, which was worrying. Their website stated that the tickets would only be allocated in the specified blocks on a first come first served basis, but we did not mind as they were all good seats. We complained and eventually got a response which basically hid behind some small print and legal “cop out” stuff that was lurking somewhere in the depths of their web site. This gave them licence to change their prices and seats to whatever and wherever they liked, without notifying customers. My advice to you is avoid using this promoter and use companies like Ticket Master, who show you the actual seats you are buying at the time of booking and if you don’t like them, you do not need to proceed and the tickets are sent to you straight away. I have since read various internet forums, and we are not alone in our dissatisfaction with Trinity Street. Needless to say they have not heard the last from me!

So it off my soapbox and back to radio. Probably the best news since my last report is the fact that Worldspace have continued broadcasting using their old satellite technology, which was supposed to cease at the end of November this year. And here’s the even better news. Many of the radio stations, including Radio Caroline, are now free to air. Many original ex Worldspace subscribers have been retrieving their receivers from the depths of cupboards and lofts and are now listening again. There is also a revived interest in purchasing receivers on Ebay. Here is some more consumer advice from me. If your thinking of buying one yourself go for the Hitachi model, which is not only a great reliable Worldspace receiver, but when the transmissions do end, it is also a useful FM/AM and SW radio.

Is it my imagination or atmospheric conditions, but has Big L’s 1395 AM reception improved. It certainly seems to have here in Kent. I checked out the official website at www.bigl.co.uk and there is no mention of the transmission site being brought closer to England, which the station stated was their plan, or a reported increase in power. The signal is clearer during the day and less prone to interference, even when near the Eurostar and Eurotunnel in Folkestone. If only they could sort out not being able to broadcast on AM for the three hours every night.

It’s also great to see that Rosko has joined the Big L. He can be heard every Saturday from 17.00 to 19.00 hours. Last Saturday (15th) he mentioned something about a listener’s poll of their favourite Big L DJ and it did not surprise me that Ian Damon was number one. Despite the mistake he makes, you can’t help but love him and he plays good, not so common, old stuff and he’s also an original Radio London DJ. I was surprised that Ray Anderson was the runner up. Ray has a polished professional presentation, but I thought the likes of Adrian John or Mike Read would have been positioned higher than him. I could not find details of this poll on the Big L website, but I did see that they have published details of their Christmas and New Year schedule. One notable programme is Wolfman Jack's Christmas show being aired on Christmas Eve from 17.00 to 19.00 hours. I used to love listening to him in the 1970’s on the American Forces Network and certainly will be tuning in on Monday.

Radio Caroline seems to have finally cured its audio problems, but the EPG is still twenty-fours behind schedule. Like Big L they have in the last day or so published the Christmas schedule on the official web site, but this is only up to Sunday 30th December at the moment. The Christmas Day line up includes a live morning show from John Brocks, who last Saturday sat in for Johnny Lewis (otherwise occupied playing a dreadful small rotation of Christmas songs on KMFM), a repeat of the August the 14th special programmes in the afternoon and finally to round off the day, Barry James is doing the 60’s and 70’s show “live” from his home. I notice that the schedule still lists Tony Christian for Friday evenings 18.00 to 20.00 hours, but I don’t think he has done a show since the station moved from Vinters Park. Maybe someone forgot to tell him where the secret location is!

Some news just in, is that apparently the Tuesday night 60’s and 70’s show will start to be broadcast live from the Ross Revenge in the New Year. If they use a studio fitted with turntables, then may be they will be able to use the onboard record library. One of the co-presenters of this show is Clive Garrard and last Saturday morning he announced that he was taking over the Sunday afternoon show from Dave Foster and Dave would be doing the breakfast show, but I am not sure what days as I only caught the tail end of this. Clive was recently nicknamed “Captain Catastrophe” by Johnny Lewis, due to several mishaps and disasters that have plagued the presenter, starting with him losing a bag at Radio Day. This name seems to have stuck and even other presenters, such as John Brock have referred to him as this.

Unfortunately from last Saturday Bob Lawrence’s show was moved back by one hour, so it now starts at midnight. It was sometimes hard enough saying awake until 01.00, but 02.00 hours will be impossible for me. I think even more people will be listening to Buzby on their Ipods/MP3’s, but unless Santa brings me one and a broadband package on Monday night, I will have to use my “old technology”, a VHS-Hi-Fi Video Recorder! I certainly do not want to miss the show, because for me this is one of the highlights of the week on Caroline.

About a month ago I was travelling back to Northampton and on my journey I listened to Dave Cash on BBC Radio Kent doing his Saturday night double Top 10 show (one 60’s and one 70’s Top 10). Number One in the 70’s chart was Gary Glitter, who Dave refused to play. This started a bit of a debate, but the majority of his listeners agreed with his decision. I know that Barry James (Radio Caroline) has played Glitter and Jonathan King on his 60’s and 70’s show and have in the past pointed out to him that it is not politically correct to play such artists. What do you think? One of his listeners argued that Glitter was no different to Jerry Lee Lewis (who Cash does play), because he married a girl aged 13. Cash’s response was that this was done in a country were it was legal and anything sexually he did with her was by consent. This may have been so, but it certainly the Rock n’ Roll stars career a lot of damage at the time, especially in countries such as Britain. I also read that the teenage girl he married was his cousin! What about Pete Townsend? Police found that he had visited and used his credit card on a Child Pornography website, which he said he was doing so for research purposes. He was cleared of any charges, but was put on the sex offenders register for 5 years. Can you imagine what it would be like if we were not be able to hear rock legends the Who on our radios? Glitter and King are insignificant by comparison.

Staying with political correctness for a moment, a few days ago BBC Radio One made fools of themselves by editing out the words “Scumbag” and “Faggot” from Pogues Christmas Classic “Fairytale of New York”. The band heard the news, whilst on tour. I bet they loved the publicity and there is even speculation that this may boost sales enough to make it this year Christmas number one in the UK. Anything would be better than another year of an X-Factor Winner!

On Monday 3rd December Ronan O’Rahilly was at the Hall of Fame Lunch and apparently surprised and delighted to receive his Fellowship of the Radio Academy. Well done to Ronan. This was a long overdue recognition of your achievements in the radio industry. After making a short acceptance speech, Ronan, as usual, went back to blending in with the audience. Ralph Bernard, who made the presentation, incorrectly stated that if he had seen Ronan forty years ago it would have been his duty to arrest him. Why? Does he know something that we don’t?

Thanks to Peter Moore and all the volunteers at Radio Caroline, on the Ross Revenge, Caroline Society and everywhere else, for keeping the dream alive for yet another year. We really do appreciate it. And even though Big L is not my first choice in music format, it is nice to have an alternative and someone challenging the Borgs on normal terrestrial radio. I don’t know how you can keep going with such high AM running costs, but I hope you can continue throughout next year. Also, Radio Seagull it would be good to hear you more clearly in the UK on your 1602 AM frequency in 2008. Across the South of England, recognition and thanks must go to Roger Day, who on BBC Local Radio is getting away with being different. He actually plays a lot of Caroline format music, including album tracks. Roger mentioned that this week he went to the hairdressers and was forced to listen to a commercial radio station and he said on air how crap it was! Case in point, on my way to work this morning I briefly tuned in to the Invicta Breakfast Show with James Hemming, who as part of an outside broadcast was having peoples trees trashed (cut down with a chain saw) if they picked an envelope containing a piece of paper where it was written that this was their trees fate. What sort of people are entertained by such drivel? KMFM, Kent’s other commercial radio broadcaster are far better by comparison, even with their current rotation of about a hundred Christmas songs!

Tomorrow night I am going off out with a mate of mine from Ashford and we are taking Barry Crompton for a Christmas meal and drink. His choice, like last year, is an Indian. When I saw Barry last month, I got him to do a Top 5 and this is planned to be aired by Captain Catastrophe on the 60’s and 70’s show in January, so listen out for that one. Then on Sunday I am heading up to Northampton to be with my family. Whatever you are doing over the festive period, I hope you enjoy yourself. I’ll be back on this website in 2008.

Until then,

LA

Steve Szmidt, Hawkinge, Kent, England.

(Please add one hour to the above quote times for your local German time)