![]() They included Blackburn, who became the first to broadcast on Radio 1. Shrewdly, the BBC also employed many of the one-time pirate DJs who had helped to make Radio Caroline a success. ![]() The operation then continued, despite disagreements between O'Rahilly and some of its DJs over what the station should be playing He station re-started for a second time in August 1983 from new ship the MV Ross Revenge. When the MV Caroline left for the Isle of Man, the Mi Amigo remained in Felixstowe.īetween them, the stations were covering most of the British Isles.Īs its popularity began to blossom, the British Government looked at ways to curtail the station's influence. However, in July 1964, the owners of the two stations opted to merge the operations. O'Rahilly had initially competed with another pirate station broadcasting from the MV Mi Amigo. 'He said that's the name for my radio station,' he added.Īfter the Fredericia was renamed the MV Caroline, it sailed from Felixstowe to the Isle of Man and laid down its anchor in open water around three miles from land. Above: A Radio Caroline DJ at work in the 1970sįormer presenter Johnnie Walker said in an interview on NPR last year that O'Rahilly thought it was a 'wonderful image' of 'happiness and laughter disrupting the works of government'. The station was backed by wealthy investors which included Jocelyn Stevens of the popular Queen Magazine. While on a trip to America, O'Rahilly had seen a picture of Ms Kennedy laughing and smiling as she sat in the footwell of her father's desk in the White House's Oval Office. In February 1964, O'Rahilly obtained the Fredericia and converted it into a radio ship at the Irish port of Greenore, which was owned by his father.īacked by wealthy investors which included Jocelyn Stevens of the popular Queen Magazine, the station was bizarrely named after Caroline Kennedy – the daughter of assassinated US President John F Kennedy. O'Rahilly and Drummond were inspired by the Danish Radio Mercur, which in 1952 became the first station in the world to broadcast commercial radio from a vessel in international waters without permission from the authorities in the country that it broadcast to. The pair's aim was to circumvent big record companies' control of the broadcast of popular music, as well as the stranglehold which the BBC then had on the airwaves. ![]() Radio Caroline was founded by Irish businessman Ronan O'Rahilly and George Drummond. From its two vantage points, Radio Caroline's presenters – who included future BBC stalwart Tony Blackburn (second from right) – regaled Britons with pop songs which they could only hear on conventional stations for a few hours a week Within months, the unlicensed operation had merged with another station broadcasting from a separate boat near the Isle of Man. ![]()
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