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Defiance, Defeat and Retribution
Caroline continues alone, is overwhelmed by
difficulties but returns to punish the politicians.
Through spring and summer of 1967 the offshore stations campaigned against
the proposed Marine Broadcasting Offences Act. Politicians were deluged with
mail from supporters , creating more correspondence on the subject than on any
other matter troubling the population. The Conservatives were cautiously for
future commercial broadcasting, but Labour in power were implacably opposed to
it. Only the veteran Member of Parliament Manny Shinwell said the pirates
deserved 'a fair crack of the whip'.
On the question of why licences could not be awarded, the answer, now shown
to be spurious was that there were simply no radio frequencies available.
Clearly public opinion counted for little and the Act made inexorable progress
toward becoming law by midnight on August 14th.
Even before this, using some dubious arguments the government proved, at
least to the satisfaction of the courts that some of the fort based stations
must close because they were within British jurisdiction. Then came the shock
announcement that Radio London who were expected to tough it out had decided to
capitulate at 3.00pm on the afternoon of the 14th.
O'Rahilly however was adamant that Caroline would continue, by moving its
base to Holland and ceasing to rely on the UK. During August 14th, station after
station made their emotional farewells and shut off their transmitters. Radio
London made their own dignified departure which Caroline acknowledged with a
minutes silence. When DJ's from that immensely popular station reached Liverpool
Street station in London furious fans rioted and for some hours chaos reigned.
Johnnie
Walker (left) and Robbie Dale (right) stuck with Radio Caroline as the Marine
offences Act became law at midnight August 14th 1967
| All day, listeners had inevitably been retuning to Caroline. Some of
Ronan's
men, having pledged to stick with him, deserted the ships, thirty years later he
still holds them in contempt. On the South ship Mi Amigo, only Johnnie Walker,
Robbie Dale and news reader Ross Brown remained loyal. At midnight with an
estimated twenty million people listening Walker took Caroline into its new era
pledging that the station belonged to its listeners, that it would continue and
that the legislation had actually acknowledged Caroline's legality. Stirring
stuff which created Walkers position as the most famous offshore DJ of all time
and which may have caused many to overlook presenters such as Robbie Dale, Carl
Mitchell, Spangles Muldoon and Ross Brown who also decided to defy the law. In
addition the staff of the North ship and various unsung engineers and crew ought
also to have their loyalty acknowledged.
O'Rahilly's gamble was based on his own obstinacy, on his hatred of being told
what he could and could not do and on the probability that being the only
remaining offshore broadcaster would create such a massive audience that he
could attract major international advertisers to replace the UK advertisers that
the law now denied him. Tenders ran, quite legally from Holland though the
distances were major and the costs huge. As autumn passed into winter discerning
listeners could observe that morale on both ships was falling due to isolation,
shortages and horrendous tender journeys. The adrenaline rush of defying the
government had been replaced by loneliness and hardship.
 Radio Caroline director Philip Solomon controlled Major-Minor records, an
Irish label which had on its books various folk bands and crooners such as the
Bachelors. As the stations money problems increased and Solomon's influence
became greater, DJ's were obliged to plug his dire recordings and while The
Dubliners, The Bachelors and singer David McWilliams achieved fame by this means
it caused enormous resentment on both ships from the staff who had become
political outlaws only to feed dreadful music to the listeners.
 By March 1968 having survived the winter and with advertising income
allegedly increasing it seemed Caroline's circumstances may be improving. However
the Dutch company contracted to tender the North and South ships had not been
paid and eventually lost patience. Early in the morning of March 3rd 1968 tugs
simultaneously approached both radio ships, cut the anchor chains and towed them
to Holland there to be impounded for debt. The defiant dream had failed.
Ronan put up a media smoke screen concerning servicing and reinsurance and
attempted to purchase Radio London's ship but was defeated by the cost. He tried
to buy the Radio 270 ship, Ocean 7 but was compromised by advance publicity. It
gradually became clear that there was to be no revival for Caroline. Listeners
drifted off to BBC Radio One a watered down pop music service which had been
introduced to appease the population.
Click here to
read extensive accounts from DJs on board about the day Caroline was towed away
plus an extensive technical history of Caroline in the 60s by engineer Carl
Thomson
By 1970 in spite of Caroline's experiences, two Swiss businessmen still
considered that offshore radio could be a profitable pastime and equipped at
great cost the vessel Mebo 2 as the base for Radio North Sea International.
Arriving off the UK coast they at once incurred the hostility of the Labour
government who under the influence of the later to be discredited Postmaster
General John Stonehouse, tried to discourage a second proliferation of offshore
radio by jamming the incoming signal.
The two
Radio Caroline ships impounded in Amsterdam, 1968
| After an earlier incident where Prime Minister Harold Wilson had raged at
O'Rahilly telling him that he was 'finished', Ronan nursed a healthy hatred of
the man. As The Mebo 2 countered its jammed signal a General Election was
looming that Labour and Wilson were expected to win easily. O'Rahilly convinced
the Swiss that public sympathy for them would be greatly enhanced by renaming
the station Radio Caroline and this done he set about blatant on air campaigning
against Labour, targeting marginal seats where control could change if only a
few hundred voters switched allegiance. Breaking every law in the book
concerning politics and the representation of the people, Ronan likened Wilson
to Chairman Mao while Caroline battle buses toured marginal wards and thousands
of rapidly recruited supporters fly posted millions of posters suggesting that a
vote for Labour was akin to voting for a Marxist state. He instigated a rolling
phone call campaign where each supporter would recruit by phone, three more
supporters and so forth. He arranged for the phone lines into Labour HQ to be
jammed by hoax calls.
The government had forgotten or failed to consider that this election was the
first in which 18 to 21 year olds could vote and that these people had been
impressionable teenagers when Caroline was at the peak of its influence. It was
not difficult to motivate them to strike back at the politicians who had so
arrogantly ruined their enjoyment.
On the day after the election as the votes were counted, shell shocked Labour
politicians found that against all predictions they had lost. For Ronan while
the score was not settled, the loss of his station had been partially avenged.
Soon after on a London street O'Rahilly was baulked by a careless pedestrian.
The two men stared at each other, Ronan recognising Ted Short, a senior Labour
politician. Short recognised Ronan and said simply 'It's you. Why did you do
it?'. 'Listen baby' replied Ronan using his trademark opening phrase, 'if you
hurt Caroline, I hurt you'.
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