The Offshore Chunk  

Radio Caroline South

This is the Mi Amigo - the longest serving Caroline Vessel, Home to a Swedish Radio station,  Home to Radio Atlanta and when merged with Caroline Radio Caroline South.

After the Mi Amigo ran aground the Caroline organisation hired the Cheeta II and broadcast from it whilst the Mi Amigo was checked over, and returned on 259 mtrs with a massive new mast and power of 50 kilowatts.  Radio Mercur was a Swedish radio station.  For once the lead for commercial broadcasting did not come from the USA but from Sweden which had experienced an offshore boom in the early sixties.

 

RADIO CAROLINE SOUTH

Located on the Mi Amigo in international waters

Frequencies 199 and in 1966 259 mtrs

 

I was a Caroline fan when the ship was just known as Radio Caroline and broadcast from the MV Frederica.

The boat was visible from the shore,  Radio London was white and in the rare sunshine that Clacton received it glared at you from the sea.  Caroline seemed much closer to the shore than the MV Galaxy.

Radio Caroline seemed to be forever going off and coming back on the air.  This added to the excitement and each re-appearance was heralded by the splendid them "Caroline" by the Fortunes.

Tony Blackburn did a superb breakfast show on the station.  I also remember that when the Cheeta was no longer needed for broadcasts, Tony was one of the only deejays left on board to do programmes and announce that the Station had returned on 259 on the Mi Amigo.

The jingles were exceptionally good, especially the set that they used on the Frederica which were rather jazz sounding with saxophones and other instruments.  "Caroline the sound of the Nation, The Sound of the Land.  They also used a variety of american jingles which were not necessarily made for Caroline but great all the same.

They had a Countdown of Sound, which was their own home produced chart of hit records.  The station also took paid sponsorship though the music it played.  This was most apparent when they changed the name to Radio Caroline International after the Marine Offences Bill outlawed operations off the UK coast.  The company which kept them afloat financially was Major Minor Records.  On one hand the company promoted Neville Dickie (a pianist), a folk group the Dubliners and the rather excellent David McWilliams with "Days of Pearly Spencer".  There is no doubt that "Days of Pearly Spencer and "Seven Drunken Nights" by the Dubliners would never have reached the UK audiences without their saturated play on the Mi Amigo.

Pictures courtesy of the Offshore Radio Site