The Radio Caroline Story

The pirate radio ship, Mi Amigo, broadcasting as Radio Caroline South from the North Sea.

The exterior of the Radio Caroline offices in Chesterfield Gardens London, Caroline House. Inside, hand held shots, covering several flights of stairs, show sound-insulated walls, busy offices and a record library. A poster declares, ' I LOVE CAROLINE ON 199'. Another wall has a montage of press cuttings: 'Borders repelled – says Caroline' from the Daily Mirror; another headline affirms 'Victory for those Pirate Pop Ships'. On board the m.v. Mi Amigo, the living and working conditions are basic. People browse and organise the record library. There are shots of DJs on air, notably Keith Skues, and shots of the technical equipment required for music broadcasting, including the transmission mast. The ship's lifeboat, out for a trip, has Alan Crawford on board, owner of the m.v. Mi Amigo.

Featured Buildings

Caroline House, Chesterfield Gardens, London

Keywords

DJs; Pirate radio; Pirate ships; Popular music; Radio broadcasting

Other Places

London

Background Information

The information describing the following video, on sale at www.radiofab.com, mentions the London office, shown at the beginning of the film. 'From the Sixties The Radio Caroline and Big 'L' Films' - "This video contains two rare, highly collectable sixties films on the subject of Offshore Radio. Firstly, the Radio Caroline film made by Paul Kramer in the Caroline Office in Chesterfield Gardens and on board the 'm.v. Mi Amigo' in 1965. You will see the faces of Alan Crawford, Brian Vaughan, Carl Conway, Don Allen, Keith Skues and many more Caroline personalities in this black and white film, narrated by Carl Conway..." (from www.radiofab.com) Information from the Radio Caroline official website: "To ensure reasonable co-operation between the two projects it was agreed Radio Caroline was to anchor in the Irish sea, broadcasting to Ireland, Scotland and the North of England. Radio Atlanta from the MV Mi Amigo was to head for the British coast off Essex, from where it would cover London and the South East. In a move that Crawford described as 'the ultimate treachery', Ronan sent his own ship south.... ...The furious Alan Crawford put Radio Atlanta on air right next to Caroline's wavelength, but Caroline had the audience and a merger was inevitable. Crawford's ship stayed off Essex and became Caroline South, while the MV Caroline travelled to her original intended destination near the Isle Of Man and became Caroline North. Now O'Rahilly had almost all of the UK plus Southern Ireland and substantial parts of the continent in range of his transmitters". (from www.radiocaroline.co.uk/history)