OMG! The all new old Radio Caroline calling itself Last Pirate FM has been busted by the feds.
Heh! Only in Liverpool, eh? When the radio station came to Liverpool it got a lot of support and a following from, well, virtually nobody.
Ok, the Liverpool radio anoraks were out in force. All five of them. Like the guy who runs around in a soot puking black cab and had the station on really loudly, or the guy that works in the local branch of Currys PC World and so relayed the station on the shop’s PA system (didn’t he used to do this with the Wirral old fogey ‘pirates’ Merseyland Alternative Radio?), and a couple of others leaning on their walking sticks/strollers using walls behind them to avoid falling over. Yes, they were there to watch the great Emperor Rosko standing talking to, well, himself.
Well, not completely to himself, because he would regularly pick one of the large entourage he’d come with and interview them or play beat the intro or name that tune with them. Indeed, there were a huge amount of techies and people making the outside broadcast happen. And a large band of young girls whose job it was to go up to people and give them a leaflet or free badge or both and talk about death.
Interestingly, these street chuggers, well, not really chuggers, were all aged around 18 or 19, younger even than the grandchildren of those original Radio Caroline staffers. So, their job was to stop passers by and say, “Hello? Do you remember Radio Caroline?” Apparently, those not in their 60s or 70s had no memories of Radio Caroline, and so these girls had to explain what it once was, even though they’d not heard of it either. A station pretty big in the 1960s, apparently. Nothing else.
They would explain to blank responses that the American fellow holding a microphone had been part of Radio Caroline, and then that it was all a part of Remembering A Charity In Your Will week. And, as I mentioned, lucky passers by could select a badge or sticker in order to remember that they were near death and so they should include a charitable donation in their Will.
Not depressing at all.
But, being Liverpool, it wasn’t long before the station was busted and at 1pm the broadcasts from Liverpool left the air forever.
Once again the feds had silenced the great sound of Radio Caroline.
I feel drawn to leaving a few coins to an anorak chariddy, since my great city destroyed Radio Caroline, mate.
The shows from Last FM can be listened to (for a little while) here: https://www.mixcloud.com/lastpirate/. I personally found the request shows a very inspiring format. Damn. Better make that more than a few coins in my Will.
England's England 