onlineshopxyz | Radio Caroline

The heyday of Radio Caroline and British Offshore Radio. Caroline's first era 1964-1967 Previous: Don't Get Mad, Get Even Next: Defiance, Defeat and Retribution Listening to historic recordings, the early programmes from Radio Caroline now sound bland, awkward and amateurish. But to the population, all day pop music radio was a revelation. No speeches, lectures, gardening tips or cookery suggestions. No 'Woman's Hour' or 'Listen With Mother.' No music shows where massed banjo bands murdered current pop hits. By the autumn of 1964 Caroline had more listeners than the three BBC networks combined. MV Caroline 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. Caroline boss Ronan O'Rahilly (left) with Alan Crawford announcing the merger of Caroline and Atlanta With Caroline as the catalyst and its audience of tens of millions, new music and youth fashion accelerated at astonishing speed and hundreds of new bands achieved massive and sometimes lasting success. Jonathan King, broadcaster and pop pundit recalls his simple throwaway pop song 'Everyone's Gone To The Moon' that within weeks of initial air play on Caroline projected him from obscurity to starring on prime time television at the prestigious London Palladium. Unknown actor Simon Dee, head hunted from Caroline, became one of the first superstar chat show hosts on British TV.