In September 1966 he joined the Caroline South as a newsreader. He worked on both ships until they were forced to be closed down. "He emigrated to Australia in 1968 on a £10 assisted passage ticket. After working on several radio programmes in Australia, Nick moved to Hong Kong where he presented a classical music show." One of the few people who left pirate radio to greater pastures across the world, I have read that many returned home or to the United States.[4]
Bud Ballou
Bud was broadcasting since he was in high-school at the age of 17. He started out by helping a country music station in Lynchburg, Virginia. Then he was hired the station across town to play pop-music; something he was not familiar with. He would do a breakfast show, then an afternoon show when he returned from school. In 1967 he took his fascination with offshore radio and set off for the UK. He boarded the Caroline South to do the weekly American Hot 100 Show. He stayed in the UK long enough to help launch Radio Free London. [4]
Mike Barron
He began his career at Radio Essex, then moved to offshore Radio 270. He was a presenter in pirate radio, after the offshore stations closed down Mike seems to have disappeared. There is speculation from his friends that he went into television during the 70s and did work for the BBC. Still not concrete evidence can attest to his whereabouts after he went ashore. During the 80s he hosted a pop/rock station in Georgia, WXTQ.[4]
Karel Beer
He was a short stay DJ for Radio City, he says: “It was in 1965 during the Easter or summer holidays and I took time off from drama school to practice my cod American accent over the airways. Can't say I enjoyed the experience much being stuck in a rusty tin can out in the channel with a rather limited selection of records to play and the distinct impression that no one was listening." While at sea he completed his drama studies and moved to Paris to become an actor for voice dubbing.[4]
Paul Beresford
Started work on King Radio under the alias of Paul Levy. The station was bought out and changed to Radio 390, and Paul's name would change to Paul Beresford for the rest of his career.
He is said to have survived a strike by lightening and he stayed with Radio 390 until its closing. Afterwards he moved to South Africa to do voice over commercials and host a game show on Springbok Radio.[4]
Bill Berry
Started his broadcast career in college, he worked at a number of stations including WHGB and WKBO in Harrisburg, KENI in Anchorage, Alaska, and WSSB in Durham, North Carolina. He then set off to do Swinging Radio in England. The intent of the station was to bring American Top 40 radio to British ears. When the station close down he went on to manage multiple music groups and solo artists; from there he purchased five radio stations, two of which he still currently owns. He even has a show today called Wolf and the Weasel, weekdays from 11am to 1pm on WHHO.[4]
Colin Berry
In 1964 he boarded the Caroline South to run the scheduling of advertising spots, Colin had worked in the advertising department of Granada in Westward television. He did audition to become a disc-jockey and even briefly acted as a relief presenter for news-readers. He had tried to become and on air personality under the alias of Robin Berry but did not fool the listeners. He did not enjoy living on the sea and spent most his time in the Caroline House.[4]
Alan Black
In 1943 he had worked as a commercial artist, then he entered a contest at Radio Scotland and The Daily Record to find a new broadcaster. He won the contest and joined Hogmanay in 1965. in 1966 he worked for Radio Britain, using themes such as: Flamingo by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and, later, Wooden Heart by the Gary Blake Orchestra. Eventually the pirate station Radio 355 was closed down and since Alan had been a cartoonist he wokred on The Beatles film Yellow Submarine.[4]
Stuart Henry
Stuart was a trained actor, he suffered from sea sickness and was never able to overcome it. This forced him to pre-record his shows on land, in 1965 he joined Radio Scotland. Since he was not stranded on the ship like the others, he was available for gigs and live shows on the road. This helped build him an audience of listeners. His theme was Soul Finger by The Barkays. [4]Simon Dee
Simon started his career in 1956 as an actor for Player's cigarette advertisements. From there he joined the Caroline when it launched in March 1964. He was the first voice to be heard on Pirate radio and he played big band Motown. May 1965 he left the Caroline and was employed by the BBC Light Programme on the pop show Midday Spin. His shows were Simon's Scene, Swing Into Summer, Stay Late. Although Simon was popular on television he continued to pursue his career in radio.[4]
Mike Ahern
He applied for a job aboard Caroline to boost flagging audiences with Tom Lodge. Better known as "DJ Mike A" he won the hearts of housewives in England, becoming a huge star during the nine to noon spot. His two most notable themes were Buckeye by Johnny & The Hurricanes and Soul Sauce by Cal Tjader. In spring 1967 Mike left to have his own show on BBC called Top Gear, it would be his last at that station. After he left for Australia where he worked on a plethora of different stations: 4BC, 6PM, 3UZ, 2KO and 7HT.[4]
Emporer Rosko
Michael Pasternak learned how to operate radio broadcasts while in the United States Navy, from there he took at course at San Francisco. He worked in French radio before boarding Caroline, his style was a combination of gimmicks and techniques he derived from American top 40 hits. Although he was biting material, it was new to the British and it won him a large audience. After Caroline was shut down he returned to France to work on French Radio Luxembourg.[4]
Tony Windsor
Tony originally sold airtime for a Church owned radio station by the name of 2SM. In 1953 he was a stand in for a DJ, this would be a career changing move. He went on to become one of the top DJ's in Australia and in 1962 moved to Britain to work for BBC. The result of his work was fruitless, he left to join Radio Atlanta. Shortly after that merged with Caroline, Tony became the Senior DJ on Radio London. Tony got noticed after taking over the nine to noon slot, Waltzing Matilda was his theme accompanied by the deep "hel-lo" he gave on air. He was an alcoholic, a problem that was not publicly known at the time, however, it forced him to leave Radio London in 1967.[4]
Roger Day
One of the original Swing Radio members, from there he played records on Billy Walker's Uppercut Club for a few months. Roger later joined South Caroline in July 1967. His opening catch phrase was “Hi, hello, how are you?” and he used The Ventures Green Grass, his nickname "Twiggy" was a recurring joke that Roger was "thinner than a record."[4]
Dave Cash
He first entered radio as a ringer for a commercial when the original actor passed it up due to being under the weather. No less than a month later he was signed to do more radio commercials. From there he found himself more radio work, he spent time doing grunt work at CFUN in Vancouver, co-presenter, news reader, and coffee maker. After a meeting with Ben Toney, Dave joined pirate radio as the first Programme Controller in December 1964. His nickname was "rabbit" and his program was called The Rabbit Patch until he joined forces with Kenny Everett for The Kenny & Cash Show.[4]
Tony Blackburn
Tony joined the Caroline South in July 1964, he was originally interested in persuing a singing career. After answering a recruitment advertisement, he saw radio as a promotional tool for his career. He was the youngest DJ on British radio which helped him win a cult following of teenagers that comprised his audience. His nickname was "Tea Cosy" a reference to his mop-top haircut. He was known for opening his show with "lets away" and ending it with “have lots of fun, be good and 'bye for now - goodbye everyone”. After he left Caroline, Tony finally took an offer at Radio London, then when that station ended he joined the BBC. Tony continued to sing through out the sixties and had two minor hits: So Much Love and It's Only Love. [4]
Don "Daffy" Allen
Donald had experience in the United States, Canada, and Mexico before he went across the Atlantic to hop aboard Radio Caroline South. He had his own show Big Wide Wonderful World of Daffy Don Allen and he also took over the Country and Western Jamboree when Jim Murphy left. He was known for using theme tunes and when the Caroline was shut down, he moved to Manx Radio and then BBC Radio Merseyside.[4]
Johnnie Walker
After being forced to retire his original on air personality Peter Dee, the Disc Jockey Johnnie Walker was born. He boarded the South Caroline in October as a swing-jock, filling in for which ever DJ was currently on Shore-Leave. His programs Kiss in the Car, Frinton Flashing and Ten O'Clock Turn On became huge after he took over the 9 to midnight spot. Johnnie's "intimate personal style" made him a forerunner and broke new ground in British radio. After the South Caroline was shut down he joined BBC radio but was not contempt with playing the top chart hits he was required.[4]
Kenny Everett
He first entered radio by sending the BBC a demo of his own programme, BBC showed interest in him and invited him to London. He was not hired and joined Radio London instead, where he collaborated with Dave Cash to start The Kenny and Cash Show, which was a huge success. Kenny had phenomenal tape-editing skills and created many of Radio Londons advertisements, promotions and jingles. He followed The Beatles on tour in 1966 where soon became good friends with the group. Kenny was famous for his controversial comments and jokes while on air; he was eventually booted off the air for commenting about the Prime Minister's wife.[4]
Glen Adams
A mysterious character who managed to retain his real identity, joined the South Caroline in October 1967. His 6-9 spot on The Two Ton Yellow Mustard Seed played psychedelic tracks from the US and England. Glenn disappeared in early 1968 and was never heard from again until 1995.[4]
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