THE "UNOFFICIAL" DVD
This DVD features the 60’s most successful Offshore Radio Station:- Radio London, and is about 30mins long. The silent version of this film—on VHS Tape, was discovered in a suitcase many years ago.
The movie, presumably, originally filmed on Cine 8, has been digitally cleaned, and has had a number of photographs, narration and authentic 60’s music soundtrack added.
The film was taken around 1966, and you will see tender arrivals and departures, shots in the studio, DJ’s on deck, and an insight into what life was like at sea on board the Radio Ship—Galaxy.
You’ll also see a short clip of the Cheeta 2, the ship that came to Radio Caroline’s aid, when their ship, the ‘MI AMIGO’ went aground off Frinton on Sea in January 1966.
Also included is another short clip of the “Laissez Faire” - the ship from which “Swinging Radio England” and “Britain Radio” broadcast, and shows DJ Ron O’Quinn in the Radio England Studio.
There is also a 5 minute promotional film taken around the time of Big L’s closure in 1967, Featuring Big L DJ’s John Peel, Mark Roman, Willie Walker, and Paul Kaye.
(This DVD presentation is exclusive to Pirate Memories and is the Intellectual Property of Pirate Memories 2013)
BIG L - Galaxy Poster
SORRY OUT OF STOCK
A brand new reproduction B/W wall poster of the Radio London Ship 'Galaxy' at sea .....
Measures 15" x 20" ( 38cm x 51cm) on heavy matt paper....
To keep the price down we are offering the poster 'as-is' with no frame or mounts - Choose your own!
Will be shipped in a hard card tube to avoid creasing....
THE RADIO LONDON STORY - CD
This CD tells the story of the most successful offshore radio station of the 60’s - Radio London.
The Big L Senior Tony Windsor spends an hour explaining how Big L worked, who was behind the scenes and who set it all up……
There are some top audio moments from over two and a half years of broadcasting – December 1964 to August 1967, with presenters and staff speaking candidly about the station….. And of course there are some of the most famous jingles in the world by “Pams”…..
Audio Quality - Very Good
Running Time :- Around 60 Minutes.
RADIO LONDON ARCHIVES
Lets start in December 1964, and hear Paul Kaye, with a recording which ranks as one of the earliest available from Radio London.
Paul presents the evening show on December 24th 1964, the station’s second day on air….and it shows….there are some obvious nerves, missed cues, background noises, and little of the professionalism that was to make Big L famous…. Having said that, it is a classic recording….lasting nearly 30 minutes.
After a Big L jingle, lets listen to Tony Blackburn’s theme tune, ably assisted by “Arnold” Tony’s on air dog…. Tony still used this theme when he moved to BBC Radio One.
Next up is a montage of recordings featuring Kenny Everett, Keith Skues, Ed Stewart, Paul Kaye, Norman St John, John Peel, and the unmistakable Tony Windsor….. In this mix you’ll hear the Fab 40 top ten rundown from December 1964…..Big L news bulletin…..Kenny and Cash excerpt…..T.W. with Windsor’s Castle…..The Roman Empire….Big L Beatles show promo…..Radio London sales promo…..Tony Blackburn show excerpt…..John Peel’s Perfumed Garden…..and Radio London Closedown Information…..running time for this segment…...about 29 minutes….
Moving on - Here’s Kenny again telling everyone about the first play of the Beatles fantastic new Album “Sgt Peppers”, and how to find the Big L stand at the Ideal Home Exhibition…..
Track 7 features a promo / trail called "Save the Pirates", and was aired during the final months of Radio London, when the station was encouraging listeners to boycott the closure of the Offshore stations by writing to the UK Prime Minister.
Finally, track 8 is a spoof recording featuring "Radio East Anglia" - on April 1st 1967, Radio London was 'taken over' by a ficticious radio station, as an April Fool prank.....Staff at the Radio London offices were not amused!
(Overall running time about 70 minutes)
PAUL KAYE AUGUST 1967– CD
This is a recording of Radio London’s longest serving presenter - Paul Kaye, from August 1967.
With the Marine Offences Bill looming - Paul presents the Coffee Break on his morning show, from the last week on air, and interviews “Mitch” the Radio London ship’s steward, who had been with the station since 1964.
The coffee break had become something of an institution on Big L, introduced by Tony Windsor, this feature was used to promote many stars, and also to advertise “Camp” coffee….
Pete Drummond follows Paul Kaye, with extracts from his final show on Radio London…..
There is also a bonus track of a further Paul Kaye 'Coffee Break' from Sunday 6th August '67.
These recordings are a nostalgic look back at a very popular and successful offshore station. The programmes - including music, advertisements, and the unmistakable PAMS radio jingles, will make a great addition to any “Pirate Radio” collection.
RADIO LONDON FINAL HOUR
This is a recording of Radio London’s Final Hour…..broadcast between 2.00pm and 3.00pm on Monday August 14th 1967.
The last hour was pre-recorded with presenters Paul Kaye, who was the only remaining member of the original 1964 on air team, and Ed “Stewpot” Stewart, who joined Big L in the summer of 1965.
The show featured many pop stars of the day saying their farewells to Radio London, included were Ringo Starr of the Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Cliff Richard and Tom Jones.
Advertisers were charged large premiums to have their commercials featured in the final show, and Big L’s Managing Director Philip Birch closed a speech to listeners with the words, “The world will get by without Big L, but I’m not sure it will be a better place.”
After the Beatles track “A Day in the Life” Paul Kaye closed Big L with a simple statement - “Big L time is three o’clock, and Radio London is now closing down.”
Radio London’s theme tune ‘Big Lil’ was played for the last time and 266 mters went silent, so ended two and a half years of truly professional offshore broadcasting, leaving in the region of 12 million listeners without their favourite Station.
TONY WINDSOR INTERVIEW - CD
Here are two recordings of Radio London’s Senior DJ, Tony Windsor, recorded around 1972 and again in the early 1980's - talking candidly about his time on Big L and other offshore stations.
He describes his feelings on first seeing Radio London in October 1964, and how the station was put together on board the 'Galaxy'.
Tony describes how the Radio London's DJ’s were recruited and moulded into the professional team that made Big L the most successful of the 60’s offshore pirates.
Tony also recalls how he had to deal with the likes of Kenny Everett, Earl Richmond, and Dave Dennis, and plays promos recorded by Everett in the ships new studios.
He explains how the Big L top 40 was compiled and how he became famous for his “Camp Coffee Break”.
The second interview was recorded at BBC Radio London, where Tony gives his opinions on independent radio in the 1980's.
Considering the age of these recordings, the audio quality is remarkably good, but please do not expect FM quality.
The running time is around 30 minutes for each interview
RADIO LONDON - THE COMPLETE FINAL DAY - 8 CD SET
Here's is an 8 CD recording of Radio London's Final Day.
Starting around 5.45a.m. on Monday August 14th 1967, we hear the last few minutes of John Peel's Perfumed Garden. At 6.00a.m. Chuck Blair presents the final Breakfast show, and at 9.00a.m. hands over to Pete Drummond for the morning show.Each DJ plays some of their favourite songs, as well as many 'thank you's' and messages from pop stars of the day, saying goodbye to Radio London. At 12.00 midday, Ed Stewart, gets into the hot seat for his last proper show, and continues until 1.30p.m., when Tommy Vance and Lee Peters present the last 'Juicy Fruit' sponsored show until 2.00p.m.
At 2.00p.m. the very last show begins with Paul Kaye and Ed Stewart. Paul was the longest serving presenter on Radio London, and at 3.00p.m., he closed the station with the words "Big L time is three o'clock, and Radio London is now closing down"...The station's theme Big Lil played for the last time and 266 meters fell silent.
In it's 2 1/2 years on air, Radio London had become the most successful offshore radio station in the UK. The on air sound was totally professional, and the business made nearly a million pounds during it's time on air.
This set contains 8 CD's with over 9 hours of off air recordings. It is a piece of broadcasting history and is a must for collectors of 'Pirate Radio' memorabilia.....
The sound quality is good, but please don't expect crystal clarity from a recording made over 40 years ago......
RADIO LONDON - SCRAPPING THE GALAXY - PICTURES
Here’s a series of 11 colour picture prints depicting one of the saddest moments in Pirate Radio History.
When Radio London closed in August 1967, the station’s ship the ‘Galaxy’ was taken to Hamburg where it was berthed for some years.
In 1968, Radio Caroline Chiefs looked at the vessel to bring about the return of this station, when their ships were towed away by a Dutch Salvage Company. The Galaxy was in very poor condition, so the Caroline men left empty handed.
In the 70’s the ship was vandalized, and much of the interior was stripped by Souvenir Hunters and Scrap Metal Dealers.
In the early 80’s the ship was moved to Kiel Harbour and was surrounded by a rubber a barrier, as the Galaxy still had around 30 tonnes of fuel oil on board. In 1986, the ship had sunk and was listing, when divers moved in on the wreck, and began work to raise the ship for scrapping.
These pictures show the condition of the vessel, when it was lifted and finally scrapped.
They show the sad end to a fine vessel which started life as a minesweeper, and came to fame as Britains most successful offshore radio station.
(Pictures show interiors and exteriors of the vessel)
Each picture measures 13.5cm x 9cm
These pictures will be sent to you in a hard backed envelope.
KEITH SKUES ON RADIO LONDON - CD
This is an unusual MP3 CD recording of Keith Skues from Radio London dated Sunday 23rd July 1967.
During his show, Keith takes time out to run through a verbal history of the station, with some interesting facts and figures of the many presenters who worked for Radio London.
There is also quite a lot of background information that we didn’t know too!
Altogether, an interesting and informative insight into the 60’s most successful offshore pirate station - Radio London.
Running time is around two and a half hours, and is reasonably good quality for an AM recording which is over 40yrs old.
RADIO LONDON - THE STORY OF A LEGEND - DVD
Here is the story of Radio London in pictures and video - duration : nearly an hour...Also includes the 5 minute promtional film produced by Radio London just as they closed down in 1967....Picture quality quite good considering the films age....(THIS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT VIDEO TO THE "Unofficial" FILM ADVERTISED ABOVE....)
RADIO LONDON - THE COMPLETE FINAL DAY - 1 DISC / MP3 VERSION
Here's is a recording of Radio London's Final Day. Recorded on MP3 Disc.....
Starting around 5.45a.m. on Monday August 14th 1967, we hear the last few minutes of John Peel's Perfumed Garden. At 6.00a.m. Chuck Blair presents the final Breakfast show, and at 9.00a.m., hands over to Pete Drummond for the morning show. Each DJ plays some of their favourite songs, as well as many 'thank you's' and messages from pop stars of the day, saying goodbye to Radio London. At 12.00 midday, Ed Stewart, gets into the hot seat for his last proper show, and continues until 1.30p.m., when Tommy Vance and Lee Peters present the last 'Juicy Fruit' sponsored show until 2.00p.m.
At 2.00p.m. the very last show begins with Paul Kaye and Ed Stewart. Paul was the longest serving presenter on Radio London, and at 3.00p.m., he closed the station with the words "Big L time is three o'clock, and Radio London is now closing down"...The station's theme Big Lil played for the last time and 266 meters fell silent.
This MP3 set also features a SPECIAL FINAL TRACK with a studio version of the final hour broadcast (note that the last news bulletin is missing)
In it's 2 1/2 years on air, Radio London had become the most successful offshore radio station in the UK. The on air sound was totally professional, and the business made nearly a million pounds during it's time on air.
This set is contained on one CD disc, with over 9 hours of off air recordings in MP3 format. It is a piece of broadcasting history and is a must for collectors of 'Pirate Radio' memorabilia.....The CD come with a printed label and a neat slim-line case with colour insert.....The audio quality is good, but please bear in mind the recordings are over 45 years old!