Radio Caroline - Radio Caroline Flashback

An eclectic mix of laid back tracks across time and genres

A repeat of the Top 15 Show first heard yesterday morning at 9am.

A selection of music from the past five decades

Ellie has always enjoyed music and going out to the Ross Revenge regularly for the past 8 years. She especially loved to sit and watch the DJs on air - and was even known to make YouTube skits with the DJs creating Radio Ellie. Ellie has been on stage since the age of 4, performing in a variety of amateur dramatic shows and dancing with a local dance school. She has a passion for musical theatre and will continue performing onstage and in studios, while also learning the ways of the airwaves!

Tony started out as a disc jockey on the London club circuit. His first job in commercial radio was at Beacon Radio in the Midlands, broadcasting from Wolverhampton to the West Midlands and Shropshire. His 'Prince of Darkness' overnights became cult listening! He moved to early evenings and then to Afternoon Drive. In the 1980's, Tony interviewed virtually every major music artist from both sides of the Atlantic. His love of US Top 40 radio led to stints across 'the Pond' on WTIC in Hartford, Connecticut, WSPK New York and Q106 in San Diego. After Beacon, he went to BRMB, followed by Buzz FM in Birmingham and MFM in Cheshire. He was then chosen to launch and run a new station - Sunshine 855 - based in Shropshire. Eventually, the lure of California sunshine took him back across the Atlantic to Los Angeles. After a stint on radio station KBBY, he ended up doing what everyone does when they come to LA – working in Hollywood! He founded his own entertainment news agency and since 1996, he's run a successful company supplying celebrity interviews and movie coverage to major TV, Radio and New Media outlets around the world. He can now add virtually every major Hollywood star to his list of interviewees! When the chance came to do a Breakfast Show from Los Angeles for Radio Caroline, Tony didn't hesitate and he looks forward to sharing his tales from the Hollywood Hills with Caroline listeners every weekday morning.

A Caroline listener's music selection 

Born in Croydon, South London, Pat was smitten by the radio bug 14 years later whereby he was forced to launch his own station via a pair of walkie-talkies. His parents, sisters and the cat may have been his only listeners, but it was a start. A while later he moved onto landbased pirate radio, firstly with the legendary Radio Jackie, then Radio Kaleidoscope which gained a reputation of being one of the most regular and professional pirates in London. After Kaleidoscope closed in 1976 some of its staff set up a radio service at The London Hospital, Whitechapel and Pat spent many years there as presenter, engineer and later programme director. In 1996 he spent some time finding out about life outside radio, however the pull of radio was too much, and after 5 years in the wilderness he returned to radio as part of the Radio Caroline team. Pat can currently be heard on Monday, Thursday and Sundays mornings 10am - 2pm. Pat has also presented for the present day Radio Jackie in South West London, and a number of Restricted Service Licence stations and is currently working as a web and app developer.

Radio Caroline has been in my soul ever since the heady days of the 1960s. Its rich history is a blend of adventure and drama but most of all, over the years it has been about the music.I got involved with the Station, behind the scenes, many years ago but was only able to become a presenter after retiring from the 9 to 5 routine and if gives me a thrill every time that I sit down to do a show.Looking back over the past six decades, the width and depth of popular music styles and simply the amount of choice is immense. That is what makes choosing the music that I play both challenging and great fun. Caroline is known as a rock music station but after all these years, the term 'rock' means different things to different people. So, I try to include 'nuggets' that could be long forgotten tracks by established UK or US artists, through more familiar tracks of many different styles and current material from the 'Caroline Countdown of Album Sounds'. My personal music tastes are eclectic so, musically, the programme can include anything so long as it is bright, up tempo and ranges from classic rock, through psyche and punk to soul, ska and Motown.  If it rocks, I'll play it. 

What hasn't Rob done .... from Record Shop Manager and Record Company Sales Rep to Car Windscreen Salesman.....from Business Analyst to Driving Instructor! Right from early years at home in Croydon when he'd tune his Dad's Grundig Yachtboy to Radio Caroline and BigL and incurr his Dad's wrath every morning when he'd have to re-tune to the Light Programme, Rob has had a love affair with music and radio. After leaving (being asked to leave!) University in the early 70s and starting work for HMV Records in Manchester, Rob's collection of vinyl LP's has just grown , although now the majority have been transferred to the PC and augmented with CDs and downloads. Rob's first outings into radio were with a friend, who like Rob was also a Licensed Radio Amateur, and who had the technical knowhow to build an FM tramsmitter. From the attic of a house in deepest, darkest Suffolk, the short lived Colne Valley Radio was born! Whilst working for Chrysalis Records in 1980, Rob was listening to the test transmissions of BBC's local station Radio Norfolk, when he heard a familiar voice, old school friend Rob Bonnett. He suggested that Rob produce a Gig Guide and Record Review program....legal radio at last! After a break of nearly 35 years and various jobs in the IT industry and working as a live sound engineer for a Pink Floyd tribute band, Rob was asked by a colleague to take up the role of Programme Controller for his local village internet based community station, and regularly produces a weekly 2 hour syndicated show Polished Rock, which is broadcast by a number of stations.

19-year-old Josh has been on the radio for over five years, and he prides himself in having a music taste different to most people his age. Aged 13, Josh started his broadcasting career on the Drive Time show at his local community station, which quickly brought in experience. This experience saw Josh become a part of the team at Caroline Community Radio (now Caroline Coastal FM) as it first began broadcasting to the Maldon District and the Essex Coast. After several years of hard work here, Josh was promoted to Assistant Station Manager in 2023 and continues to run the station, organise events and scout new talent. In February 2022, Radio Caroline invited Josh onto the Ross Revenge for the monthly Radio Caroline North weekend - which resulted in him becoming the youngest ever DJ for the station. This became permanent as Josh took over the Countdown of Album Sounds, and now Josh is a regular on the Caroline North weekends as well as being heard on Thursday evenings. Josh won Gold at the 2023 Community Radio Awards in the 'Young Person of the Year' category for his work at Caroline Coastal FM. He was presented with the award at the ceremony in Newcastle, and was victorious amongst DJ's under the age of 25 from across the UK. Josh grew up listening to Radio Caroline and so enjoys every moment of his time hosting his shows, touring visitors around Ross Revenge and listening to stories about the offshore days from DJs he grew up listening to!

Although Tim can just remember Radio Caroline's arrival in 1964 it was the later album format that had the biggest influence on his music taste. In 1989 he was able to give practical help to the station after hearing about the Dutch raid, and felt he could offer his services a Production Engineer who had access to much surplus equipment. He is still supplying the ship with goods and services today! His first on-air experience was for Pirate BBC Essex on the LV 18 as a co-presenter. It was here he met Radio Caroline's John Patrick who would become a mentor. Tim's first show for Caroline was early in 2004 where he was able to bring his passion for music to the air. He has also sat-in for Rob Leighton during Rob's spells of illness – they had similar tastes so this was a pleasurable experience. Tim's own show Magic Carpet Ride has more of a Classic Rock slant – somewhat reminiscent of the old Overdrive shows.Tim's taste takes in AOR through to medium heavy Symphonic Goth. Amongst his favourites are Mostly Autumn, Epica, Nightwish, After Forever, Pendragon and Evanescence. He believes Caroline's should continue playing the album rock other stations ignore and is happy to fit in listeners choices around his. Even if it means spending time tracking down the more obscure track to play the following week.