Radio Caroline - Radio Caroline Flashback

Phil was born and bred in the Royal Forest of Dean. How did he get into Radio? – I have asked myself that question; it should be what are you doing in Radio!! I suppose the answer is when my local BBC station was looking for assistants I went along to help with Sports Commentary, I have reported from Henley Regatta, and the National Rowing Championships in Nottingham and Strathclyde, doing a race commentary while riding a bicycle along the tow path. And then along came Caroline, as a young lad I always wished I could have been involved, and now I am very lucky to be. When and why he you first join Caroline? –I have been a listener since 1964, yes really that long, I started listening after reading an article in the Coventry Evening Gazette while on holiday at my cousins. To fully answer the question, after I visited the Ross in Rochester & Tilbury. I thought this Ship needs a make over and a clear out, I have some free time, offer your self..The rest is a very tiring history I love listening to New Music and telling people about it, so Radio Caroline would seem an ideal outlet, but I do go back in time to listen to my old stuff as well.

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

A selection of music from the past five decades

Following a stint on the Voice of Peace in Israel Clive relocated to Ireland and was jointly responsible for the much loved 80's 'super pirate' ABC Radio, where many Caroline presenters laid their hats during shore-leave from the Ross Revenge. Since the late 80's he has been involved in radio station senior management and a number of influential radio training initiatives. These days he is a qualified trainer and radio industry consultant and works for leading broadcasters at home and throughout Europe. Clive grew up listening to Radio Caroline in the 1970's and although he has been heard for a number of years on many of our commercial spots, this is his first regular slot on the schedule. He says his show will feature many "Caroline Classics" but he also looks forward to playing some of the many quality new tracks on the legendary Radio Caroline - Europe's first album station.

A Caroline listener's music selection - see 'Top Fifteens' page for details.

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.

Dave Foster started his radio career in 1977 with Dart Radio at West Hill Hospital in his hometown of Dartford, Kent where he'd already been a disco DJ. His next move was in 1987 when he joined Radio Caroline at sea on the Ross Revenge. It was only for an 8 week spell but he wouldn't have missed it for the world. After that it was back to Dart Radio where he rose to the position of Programme Controller. Dave next joined satellite station European Classic Rock through his good friend Mark Stafford and was with the station until it's closure in 1999. Radio Caroline took over the EKR studios at Maidstone and Nigel Harris asked Dave to help get the station back on the air which required rebuilding the studio. This he did with help from his friend Jay. Dave has been with Caroline ever since. He tries to visit the Ross Revenge as often possible to help the restoration crew and in 2005 spent some time upgrading the on-air studio for the digital era. " It was tough going", he says, "but worth every minute". Dave can be heard on Radio Caroline on Sunday afternoons between 2 and 6 p.m. and also on Holland's Radio Seagull - the station started by former Caroline Dutch Service man Sietse Brouwer.

After a number of boat trips out to the North Sea in the 70's and 80's Ray eventually stayed and broadcast on Caroline 558 as Mick Williams – a name he'd 'borrowed' from a friend. Since then he's enjoyed a successful career in radio, that continues to this day, but now he's more selective about where he works. Ray has been involved with several radio stations as presenter, running some, winning the licence for one of them, producing documentaries and gaining a few industry awards He is one of the few people to have presented the breakfast show on 'pirate', commercial, American and BBC radio.

Andrew says that radio was always the main entertainment medium during his childhood, being introduced to both music and drama by his mother. But it was whilst listening to the great broadcasters on the offshore radio stations of the 1960s that he made up his mind that he wanted to join them, much to the chagrin of his parents whose hopes for future employment did not include becoming a radio DJ on a boat!But radio would have to wait as Andrew actually became a salesman, but still spent much of his spare time listening to Radio Caroline whilst collecting many of the records he'd heard being played. Many years later his search for business took him to Southend where to his surprise he found the Ross Revenge moored at the end of the pier. He later volunteered his services to Caroline where he was asked to organise some revenue from local businesses to cover the cost of a Restricted Service License for a low power special broadcast.When Caroline's satellite era started from the Maidstone Studios, Vinters Park at the end of the 1990s Andrew was asked to do some light engineering and answer the phone. This led to his first show as a presenter after somebody else failed turn up and he has been with the station ever since. He concludes 'I was smitten, and to this day am privileged to be working for Radio Caroline, even though it took me thirty years to achieve my ambition!'