Show me the way to (Radio) Armadillo...

Once described as 'an unsung hero of shortwave' is it not unfair of me to say that more people will have heard of Radio Armadillo than who actually received the station. Whether that is due to the somewhat quirky appellation that would have enabled it to stand out amongst the usual suspects in free radio publications, and/or the notoriety attached to the station bordering on being an urban myth due to only being heard by a small listenership, I cannot conclusively say. 

It was though a privilege to happen upon a Radio Armadillo broadcast. A poor response to broadcasts can if anything be a backhanded compliment to some free radio station operators; in a nutshell, those occupying more idiosyncratic terrain who do not subscribe, acquiesce, or limit themselves to formulaic utterances such as 'the next record is by' and canned identifications but instead lace their broadcasts with humour and a discursive taste in music and topics of conversation will not necessarily snare the attention of the average free radio adherent, especially those who demand a QSL card after hearing approximately 6 minutes of a broadcast whilst undertaking a 'bandscan'.

Those of a similar bent to Radio Armadillo, with whom I would bracket Radio Orion(latterly the Bogus Jobseeker and the Bogusman), Subterranean Sounds, and the Xenon Transmitting Company(XTC) would, if I may be so bold to say, have appreciated more letters(now emails) of greater depth and interest, even if this meant receiving fewer missives overall than they actually did. Indeed, even in my early days(approximately April 1991) of listening to free radio on shortwave, I myself was upbraided by Steve Midnight, the operator of Subterranean Sounds' predecessor Radio Confusion, for in effect begging for a QSL. I was bang to rights, but had heard the station so in my mind at least warranted the receipt of a verification for doing so, but putting myself in the station operator's shoes I can now completely understand his annoyance at the motivation of my letter, and no doubt at the time of those received from many other listeners. 

If though Armadillo didn't get the recognition it deserved, if this is to be measured by the amount of contact the operator received, there was also an issue of the station being restricted to using low power. I would though say, without romanticizing free radio in general or any of its component parts, that this added to the station's mystic and lent greater credence to its fabled reputation. The same mien would not have been effectuated by, for example, the strains of heavy metal punctuated by extracts from the 1980's children's show Rainbow, or the musings of Kermit the Frog if Radio Armadillo was a powerhouse station that wiped out other operators 10 kHz either side. 

Free radio stations were and are to this day restricted by local circumstances as to how much power their transmitters radiate. I would surmise that should the driving force of a station operator be to receive hundreds, maybe thousands of letters, then greater power will always facilitate this outcome, regardless of programme content. Quite simply, whatever the proportion of listeners who actually write in actually was/is, this will  always be higher by dint of a commensurately larger audience. This greater quantity does though in no way equate to correlative quality; on the contrary, anything but. 

I have no doubt that Radio Armadillo wanted more correspondence, if only at least in the early days of its existence to prove the transmitting equipment was in full working order and that the operator wasn't talking to himself. As the likes of Live Wire Radio's Bill Lewis will probably testify, broadcasting entertaining programmes coupled with outstanding technical values can in the end be a curse rather than a blessing, but where the line is crossed for being careful what you wish for, in the sense of the amount and quality of letters received, will always be different for each operator. 

One of Radio Armadillo's defining qualities was the need to be different, not simply by playing devil's advocate as a counterpoint to so many other stations of the time, but through a genuine desire to step outside the tacitly-set boundaries of programming and where on the radio spectrum the station could be heard, and when. Broadcasting away from conventional weekend norms, in particular the 48-metre band on Sundays, would also reduce the size of listenership to those with whom the penny had dropped that free radio could at times be heard on shortwave during the week, people between employment, and still in education. These demographics would amount to fewer overall listeners, but ones with potentially more interesting things to say. There was undoubtedly method in Armadillo's 'madness' but where I am hypothesizing about the station's modus operandi and raison d’ê-tre, it might simply have been easier for the operator to broadcast on 6292 kHz on a Friday afternoon or 3947 kHz at 2 am than the usual, more common or garden times and days. 

As is common with most of the free radio stations of the time, I cannot recall the last time I received Radio Armadillo. I am though convinced that we have not heard the last from "the Middle A" - a pet name(please note that Armadillo's do not make good pets) adapted from Radio Orion's self-styled "Big O" sobriquet-itself cribbed from Roy Orbison's album of the same name - and whilst the station is for the time being absent from the airwaves, the operator's involvement with the scene lives on in the form of being Bogusman's amanuensis. 

Further information, zany and otherwise, can be found at the Radio Armadillo website - with an added bonus of continuous streaming of archived Bogusman broadcasts also kindly brought to us by a station that defied convention and exemplified within its programming a freedom of expression that didn't seek approval from the free radio cognoscenti, but which deserved far greater recognition than it ever received. 

Hidden in plain sight: Those UK-based stations that slipped the net

The aim of this blog has always been to impart my personal experiences of hearing UK-based free radio stations on shortwave, but that doesn't automatically guarantee that I can fully do justice to the entire scene of the time just by compiling a compendium of operators that caught my attention during the 1990's. 

Even if I had had some of the finest listening equipment at my disposal, which as previously discussed I emphatically did not, it would have been nigh on impossible to not only have heard every UK-based station who ever transmitted during the decade, but to be a self-styled authority on the subject. I neither claim to have 'heard it all' nor to be an oracle on this strand of shortwave broadcasting, but my memories of the time, which have to some extent flooded back when initially stimulated, and a deep dive into what little research material there is on the internet have at least allowed me to give listeners who were there at the time, and those that were not, an as definitive as possible impression of what could be heard on the 76, 48, and 41 metre bands.

I do feel to be able to do this that the stations I never actually received but whose existence I was aware of in real time, and in many cases after the event, also merit some column inches. To do this is perhaps counter-intuitive to the blog's reason for being, but in a free society the theory goes that all are equal; in the world of free radio, whatever stripe, persuasion, or prominence every operator represented, I think it only fair that each gets as fair a hearing as possible. I will leave it to anyone who wishes to impart their own knowledge of any station mentioned, and those not, to do greater justice than perhaps I am able, but a more or less complete overview of the 1990's UK shortwave scene would not be worthy of the name without acknowledging those operators that I was not fortunate enough to receive.

Just because a station wasn't heard does not mean it never existed. You may ask as to how I can give credence to those whom I never received, and am therefore relying on loggings of the time to excuse my ignorance. Well, nobody could listen to free radio 24/7, with it being inevitable on this basis that broadcasts would always be missed. Also, as already stated, hearing low power operators was not always a certainty when using the basic receivers and rudimentary antennas that characterized my modest listening post. With an absence of internet message boards that now give listeners a real time 'heads up' as to who is broadcasting and where, the 1990's greatly relied on three things to hear the vast majority of stations: 1 - a half-decent receiver and antenna 2 - ample spare time and patience and 3 - being at the right place(frequency, band) at the right time, especially when the length of some broadcasts would be of the 'blink and you've missed them' type.

Some of the names I recall and that my research has confirmed include Radio Lion, Radio Fox, The Edge(with a London mail drop) and Radio Utopia. I have not been able to elicit any further information on this quartet but they were there, as were the equally elusive Power 48, UK GM(Good Music?) and Lightning International, a station fronted by the correspondingly meteorological-affiliated Steve Storm and that used an east Manchester P.O.Box number. My scrutiny has failed to ascertain if UK GM was a variation of the name used by Good Music Radio(GMR), a station I did receive and one mentioned in a previous blog post. 

A Scottish-based station, Radio Freedom International, afforded Andy Winter, the frontman of relay station Radio London and a guest on several other stations, his first chance to get on the air - at the age of 12. This would have been at some point in 1989, and perhaps a whole year before my transition from conventional shortwave listening to its alternative attractions. Although this would suggest Freedom was an '80's station and therefore a non sequitur for this blog, it did continue to broadcast into the early 1990's but was never actually heard by myself.

Relay station Overflow International  - in this example I define the term 'relay station' as I do for Radio London as a station without its own transmitting equipment - was another who used the spuriously-named Belgian International Relay Service, and might also have benefited from a broadcasting leg-up from Radio Mirage. There was some crossover between Overflow and Hampshire-based Freesound Radio, for whom DJ's of the former would guest on occasion, but in its own right this is another station whose path never crossed mine.

I have been informed by a very reputable source that Telstar South, a station familiar to those who listened in the 1970's and '80's, was also active on shortwave in the 1990's. Rebooted in the early part of the new millennium, albeit again not heard by your correspondent who at that point had stopped listening for perhaps a decade, original operator Horace Cracksman was once more at the controls and often heard on 5 MHz but by the time I had returned to taking an interest in free radio, he and Telstar South had once more escaped my attention.

In a previous post that ruminated on the change of names undertaken by several stations, Total Control Radio, later The Nitrozone, was among those mentioned. It didn't make any difference as to what the station, and its operator, were known as, insomuch that its infrequent but not extremely rare broadcasts remained elusive to me. The only time I actually heard Steve Collins/Des Francis was when he guested on a Subterranean Sounds broadcast. 

Perhaps the most unusual station which in truth most UK-based listeners probably never heard, Wrekin Radio International(WRI) only to my knowledge used 12 MHz, a higher frequency where daytime broadcasts would normally skip out beyond the UK, but be heard in continental Europe and perhaps beyond. As is often the proving ground for shortwave operators Wrekin began life on FM, in the county of Shropshire, taking its name from the eponymous hill, The Wrekin, that forms the most prominent part of the county's elevated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty(AONB). 

Situated at over 1,300 feet above sea level, The Wrekin would in theory be an excellent spot from where to conduct mobile broadcasts, but I am not aware if this occurred. It is said that WRI used 12 MHz to not only avoid a then crowded 48-metre band but to also position itself near a popular established broadcaster, in this case Radio Fax - 12255 kHz being one of its frequencies - to hopefully attract the attention of the sizeable audience who listened in to Trevor Brook's station.

Another station that a previous post touched upon was Radio Experimental, who might have also been known as the abbreviated Radio EXP. The brainchild of vocal free radio mainstay Gar(r)y Stevens, Experimental and indeed EXP, was a station I saw logged, I think on 6210 kHz, but was another that never darkened my radio, unlike another of Stevens' projects, Britain's Better Music Station(BBMS). The operator has over the years been heard on many stations, in particular those based in the south of England, but is not the same Stevens behind the https://members7.boardhost.com/PirateRadio/ website and forum - the latter often being more bear pit than a friendly talking shop. I am thankful to Kai Salvesen and XTC's Matt Roberts for their help untangling this Gordian knot.

I would of course welcome the fleshing out of any of the stations mentioned above; as ever, I am also happy to put more meat on the bones and where applicable, correct any inadvertent errors. 

Part 2: More of the stations I heard in the 1990's

So far in this blog I have name-checked the UK-based stations whose broadcasts were particularly memorable to me, and/or were heard the most often during the 1990's. With that list now having somewhat dwindled, I will move on to the other operators that I received less frequently during the decade, but still played a significant part in shaping the free radio scene.

The Wizard's Magic Spell, later Wizard Radio, might to some be little known from just one or both of these sobriquets, but the station operator was otherwise one of the most prominent UK free radio personalities on shortwave throughout the first two thirds of the '90's. A loss of interest in free radio, similar to that of your correspondent, was replaced with the inevitable principal aspects of adulthood but a gradual reintroduction to shortwave and beyond has resulted in an almost complete reintegration in a field of interest which although having moved on during the last 30 years, still offers every so often those reminders why this compelling diversion never really leaves those who initially become hooked. It is therefore wise to not rule out the Wizard's eventual return to the airwaves.

Several UK stations, similar to the previously mentioned Concept and WBMX, relied upon relays to get their respective points across. The misleadingly named Belgian International Relay Service - the clue to its actual location is not in the name - gave a helping hand to several operators during the early to mid-nineties, including Optimod and the former West Midlands-based FM station, Citadel Radio. These broadcasts would usually take place on 6239 kHz. 

The World's Greatest Anorak Station(WGAS), a title to not only conjure with but with much to live up to, was in effect an offshoot of WNKR(West and North Kent Radio) and did exactly what it said on the tin. Whilst programming predicated on offshore radio reminiscence, as well as free radio from past decades that would be regarded by a certain generation as undoubtedly the genre's golden era might not have been to everyone's taste, it is important to remember that the stations I preferred might not themselves have been greatly popular with older listeners. All of those who tuned in to free radio would have the same desire to listen to alternative broadcasting that wasn't constrained by anything but personal circumstances and the operators' imaginations, but otherwise there would always be room for those who preferred contrasting output in what was and very much remains to this day a 'horses for courses' aspect to free radio.

Elsewhere, Rocket 48 and Good Music Radio(GMR) were two unrelated stations I distinctly remember hearing, but aside from the latter's rather cursory Beccles-based address, there is little I can add from my own memories of either. The same can also be said for the Free Radio Service London(FRSL), who I presume was inextricably linked to the operators of WNKR, WFRL(Wonderful Free Radio London), and WGAS. As ever, I am happy to receive input from those with greater knowledge on these and the other stations mentioned, and where applicable correct any inadvertent errors.

The 90's version of a station that had been in existence in previous decades, Britain's Better Music Station(BBMS), was fronted by the vocal free radio notable Gar(r)y Stevens. Also the voice behind Radio Experimental - I presume loggings of Radio EXP from the same era amounted to both names being one and the same - Stevens additionally involved himself with Irish station Ozone Radio International, although the former Westside Radio had greater resonance with this listener when under the sole control of Prince Terry.

Stations I also heard during his period included Radio Zodiac, and a one-off appearance during a QSO by the Gloucestershire-based Radio Jupiter. 

Radio Skeleton was not a station I actually heard until a change of name to Radio Antares; more a case of being in the right place at the right time than deliberate avoidance of its initial alias. Operated by Oscar the Engineer, Skeleton and Antares straddled the decades into the new millennium, but alas our paths rarely crossed during a period when my periods of listening became fewer and further between, before ceasing altogether for the best part of a decade. Although I am digressing from the intended course of this blog post, other UK stations that I missed out on but who took up the reins during the early to mid 'noughties' were Radio Underground and the eponymous Grolschman.  

A station that has now gone legit and broadcasts from Portsmouth on the English south coast, Angel Radio/FM indirectly stemmed from the by then former but fellow Hampshire-based operator Freesound Radio, whose transmitter would be used by its de facto successor primarily on 6219 kHz. There was also some crossover with Overflow International, another station that too for a time could be heard via the 'Belgian'(ahem) International Relay Service, and whose DJ's on occasion would guest on Freesound. Its former operator, Mark King, and the decisively nicknamed Weird Beard and Hippy Chick would provide much of Angel's output.

In keeping with the operators that appeared to be omnipresent on 48 metres, either relatively so or in actuality, I did not devote a great deal of listening time to UK Radio International, a station usually found on 6266 kHz. There was to me at the time a certain weariness of stations that were the antithesis of less being more, who held little in the way of surprise in their programme content and didn't engender rapt anticipation of when they might next appear on the bands. If time though has taught me anything about those operators who devoted so much of their lives to what seemed to be a 24/7 schedule, it is that they deserve my utmost retrospective respect. Just because a station has been around for a significant length of time doesn't automatically absolve it from criticism, nor that it is not beyond reproach, but equally so that it shouldn't be disrespected for ploughing its own furrow, come Hell or high water. That is, after all, what free radio is about. There are no rules, nor a right or wrong way to broadcast. Each must very well remain to his/her own, for both the broadcaster and listener.

A stalwart in West Midlands free radio, both on FM and shortwave, operator Paul Johnson was by his own admission a legal radio DJ in the making, having pursued without success a career in the mainstream - in effect using UK Radio and other well-known outlets as unofficial auditions for roles that never materialized. His untimely death, now some 18 years ago at the awfully young age of 42, left a sizeable absence on shortwave and in the lives of all who knew him. A future post will go into greater detail of Paul's radio backstory. 

NEXT TIME: Those who were there, but I never knew.

More UK stations I heard in the 90's (part 1)

In the early 1990's there were perhaps 20-30 UK-based free radio stations active on shortwave, a figure itself that was probably significantly lower than that in each of the preceding two decades. Nowadays, the number is somewhere between 8 and 12, notwithstanding the locational ambiguity of station like Laser Hot Hits and Radio Harmony.

The Radio Harmony of today is frequently heard blasting out on 5780 kHz, which it is doing as I type. In 1991 I recall a station of the same name that for a relatively short time was a regular feature around 6295 kHz, usually outside of the days conventionally thought of as the only times to be able to hear free radio stations. As with the contemporary Radio Harmony I don't recollect being too enamoured with its 90's namesake, but one thing that does stick in my mind was its rather unusual mailing address, a city somewhere in the US named Venus, before reverting to a post office box number in the genteel Essex seaside resort of Frinton on Sea. I presumed then as I do now that both stations, by nominal happenstance or connection, use(d) transmitters based in the Republic of Ireland, as I also came to believe about Laser Hot Hits that although originally located in the UK, the station's broadcasts eventually radiated from across the Irish Sea. It is these sort of uncertainties, and when programmes are recorded in one country but broadcast from another, that makes it difficult to attribute stations to being British, Irish, or from wherever.

My estimate of the amount of stations broadcasting from the UK during the 1990's initial years is based upon who I actually heard, but also from the little research material pertaining to that era that is available online. There were many other stations that I never actually had the pleasure of receiving, although several did call it a day in the early part of 1990 - several months before I started listening to 48 metres. Some of my previous blog posts have focused on who would be regarded by those who listened regularly as the big beasts of UK shortwave free radio, but there was plenty else out there besides, including those whose broadcasts were frequently heard to stations more fleeting in lifespan, to the point of being ephemeral. And then there were those that I never heard for whatever reason, whose only actuality became apparent to me through free radio publications, and from subsequent research. This blog post will though concentrate on who else I did hear, some of whom I corresponded with.

A station I believe closed down at the end of 1990 but from who I received one of my first QSL cards was Atlanta Radio. Operated by well-known free radio personality Mark Stafford, details of his wider radio career can be read at Mark Stafford and whose connection to radio, albeit through syndicated broadcasts, continues to this day: Stafford's World

Another station I only briefly received during the early 1990's was Derbyshire-based WBMX,  whose operator used the Northern Ireland SW Relay Service's facilities before going legit in BBC local radio. A fellow UK-based station that also relied upon being relayed to reach a shortwave audience was the Merseyside stalwart Concept Radio, who for a while could be heard via Eire's Jolly Roger Radio on 6230 kHz. The history of Concept and the station's embracing of modern technology through which  archived shows are streamed can be viewed at Concept News and Concept Radio

There will be many among you who are familiar with the MW Free Radio website dedicated to the Dutch Medium Wave scene and operated by David, probably the most knowledgeable person anywhere, including in the Netherlands, when it comes to what can be heard between 1.6 and 1.7 MHz. It will though perhaps be less known that David, who started listening to free radio only a few months before I did, was very active within the hobby from an early age, including the production of the self-published Pirate Chat periodical that ran for approximately six years and which gave him a solid grounding for what has today become a very successful writing career. Furthermore, as presenter Andy Winter(I think that is correct) this man for all free radio seasons produced programmes for other stations, including Live Wire Radio, and his own relay station, Radio London. There is a further connection with UK shortwave free radio that from 1994 to what is now a period of dormancy which links David to the 48 and 76-metre bands, but at the risk of saying too much and drawing all the many strands of his free radio life together, I will leave it to the man himself to elaborate further, should he wish to.

Elsewhere during the nascent years of listening to shortwave, stations I heard included Radio Gemini, Radio Ability - a station dedicated to championing the cause of the disabled and relayed by a Radio Atlantis otherwise unconnected to previous stations of that name - and the Hampshire-based Freesound Radio. 

Free radio has also had its brush with humour. Although characterized as being free from musical constraints, broadcast schedules, and programme styles it is inevitable that pirate broadcasters can become somewhat formulaic when faced with the obvious restrictions redolent with often being one-man bands transmitting from bedrooms, or in problematic remote locations. It was therefore refreshing to at times hear the already broken mould being fractured some more, albeit with often time-limited and one-off programmes aired for example on April Fools' Day. 

Voice of the Gout Sufferers was a name that would on occasion appear, obviously coincidentally, on frequencies used by Scotland's Radio Gloria. Usually consisting of short but sweet(or should that be sour?) diatribes by Bap McPhee the broadcasts would be gone as soon as they arrived, but proved that shortwave could also be a showcase for those who didn't take themselves too seriously, which several operators(no names mentioned) were perhaps in danger of doing so. Other similar instances included Weekend Music Radio's alter ego Wee Guy Radio that if memory serves me correctly once referred to Radio East Coast Commercial's operator, the late Norman Nelson, as Norman Nesquik! 

A station that was heard so infrequently that many believed it did not actually exist at all, Voice of the Leek was the only broadcaster I recall that purported to be broadcasting from Wales. Airing programmes concerned with issues of independence for the principality, there has since been some doubt cast as to whether the operator had a genuine or exaggerated Welsh accent, but regardless of the authenticity of the broadcasts they undoubtedly sprinkled the 48-metre band with an alternative to what was already termed alternative radio, but could at times be depressingly samey. Some would argue that impersonation, if that's what it was, was not in this example the highest form of flattery, but I even recall an unnamed station unfavourably comparing a character from the vulgar UK magazine VIZ to another certain well-known free radio operator of the time. Answers on a postcard...

Groovy Granny was a station that was heard for a time in the late 90's and into the early part of the millennium. It is moot as to how groovy a man purporting to be an ageing disgracefully octogenarian actually is, and whilst material for such a concept would in the end be finite, this was another example of how shortwave could be used in the name of free radio just as much to further an operator's bizarre humour as to broadcast one's own favourite music. A station QSL is included here courtesy of the Shortwave DX blog website

In many ways the UK version of shortwave free radio typified a spirit to break away from what was by then an already homogenised legal radio scene which offered little in the way of variety, or the need for presenters to think beyond the script placed in front of them. If though it was bad then, what is now to be found on FM is beyond awful. As the amount of UK-based stations on shortwave has fallen so has the multi-sided variegation of what once represented diverse characters, opinions, and music tastes, which reflected a time of freedom of expression that prosaic FM dross and political correctness have since made it their business to stamp out. 

With a larger amount of stations on the air there was always the chance of a greater diversity of styles and individuality, something which has inevitably drained away now that active UK stations number no many than perhaps a dozen. That, by the way, is not a criticism of any of those operators who continue on shortwave, when I am sure it would be far easier for them to not do so.

NEXT TIME: Part 2 of the stations who made up the UK free radio scene on shortwave in the 1990's.

The 90's to present day: Who still remains on shortwave?

The overarching aim of this blog was always predicated on harking back to a past that is not memorialized elsewhere, other than perhaps by a few downloaded QSL cards and certain stations mentioned little more than in passing. If I can be afforded to use 'the past' in this sense as a reference to the 1990's, there are though several links to it still active on shortwave to this day, some of which are continuations in one form or other that have endured over the last three decades. 

Radio Blackbeard was a station I first heard in 1994, who I initially recall using 48 metres on Saturday mornings. The history of the operator's interest in free/pirate radio did though go back to the 80's, when Dave Norris started broadcasting on FM under the name Buzz FM, within a certain metropolitan area of England's East Midlands. Friendship with free radio leviathans Bill Lewis and Paul Stuart eventually led Dave into shortwave broadcasts using Radio Blackbeard as his HF hat, with a dance music policy favouring the trance genre that reflected the staple output of Buzz.

I cannot recall when Radio Blackbeard ceased broadcasting under that guise on shortwave, but Dave has never really left the scene, including what was for a while a regular stint on Lazer Hot Hits. and continues to this day to broadcast under his original ident but on 1494 kHz, albeit with a limited geographic reach due to a strong Moldovan broadcaster that uses the channel during daylight hours. Buzz is though occasionally heard some distance away when conditions allow, including via the Scottish-based Argyll SDR remote receiver. 

There was though to be another strand to Mr. Blackbeard's presence on shortwave in the 1990's. Regular broadcasts with Station Sierra Sierra's Paul Stuart and other local radio luminaries commenced in the latter part of the decade under the name Galaxy International, not to be confused with the entirely unrelated Radio Galaxy, the previous name of who we know today as Radio Merlin. These entertaining but labour-intensive transmissions were conducted out in the field, quite literally, where remote broadcast sites would be used to reduce the chances of RF interference piquing the interest of local neighbours and the authorities. Running regular broadcasts from car batteries in countryside where there will always be a passing hiker with more than a little curiosity as to what is occurring is though a form of free radio martyrdom, and whilst highly laudable and even a tad romanticized for those listening rather than at the sharp end, it was inevitable that these enjoyable live broadcasts would eventually come to an end. I always recall the 1998 David Morales track Needin' U being a regular feature of broadcasts, and was obviously a favourite at the time of Paul Stuart.

My previous blog post mentioned how not only did Radio Mutiny and Radio Galaxy eventually morph into XTC and Merlin respectively, but that they are to this day still operating to some degree or other on shortwave. Whilst Merlin is a daily feature on 6305 kHz XTC's presence is a case of less being more, although by Matt Roberts' own admission the station has perhaps been more active since the advent of the novel coronavirus than at any other time in its history. 

The 1990's version of Radio Mi Amigo brought me at the time into contact with the amiable Terry Phillips. Subsequently involved with the likes of WNKR(West and North Kent Radio, in case you were wondering), WFRL(Wonderful Free Radio London) and Focus International, Terry can still on occasion be heard guesting on Radio Pamela, which brings me on to...

Another operator who has been broadcasting on shortwave long before I became aware of free radio stations on shortwave, Steve Most's Radio Pamela has remained a constant presence insomuch that the name has remained unchanged since I first received the station in 1991. I would otherwise say that Pamela's broadcasts have over the years been sporadic, although I undoubtedly missed a great many of them what with Steve's penchant for transmitting on frequencies outside where many listeners would venture to hear free radio broadcasts. As with XTC Radio Pamela has over the last year been a particularly and relatively frequent presence, predominantly on 7 MHz, mainly 7605 kHz, and latterly 6803 and 6319 kHz. With a liking for rock classics and even the Japanese take on the genre, the best way to keep up to date with Steve's intentions is via his Twitter page: Radio Pamela Twitter 

Aside from Radio Pamela there was also a short-lived station in the 1990's named Radio 49, who I believe that Steve Most was also involved with. Any further information would be appreciated.

Since the demise of the Bogusman's broadcasts following a raid two years ago by OFCOM(Office of Communications) that was precipitated by the use of an International Distress Frequency - the one in question being 6312 kHz - and something of a schoolboy error for such an experienced free radio operator, Mike Wilson/Bogus has been completely absent from conventional broadcasting. Conventional in this sense would equate to free radio operators using their own broadcast equipment - transmitter, antenna, et al. 

In recent times the inimitable Bogusman and his unorthodox take on life that remains a nonpareil on shortwave has once again resurfaced, albeit having finally fallen on his sword by going legit and paying for broadcast slots on the German-based Channel 292. It would be very easy for the Bogusman to call it a day now that the classic route to free radio broadcasting has all but been closed to him but who knows, perhaps using alternative facilities is just a stop-gap before re-emerging on shortwave in a manner to which he has been accustomed under various guises including Radio Orion and the Bogus Jobseeker. Another former exponent of Orion, The Ghoul, someone who revels in shall we say a rather atypical broadcasting style has also been heard on Channel 292, whose schedule for both 6 and 9 MHz is worth keeping an eye on for future Bogusman programmes.

My logbooks and hard copy QSL cards from the 1990's have sadly long since bitten the dust, and therefore cannot act as a useful point of reference when compiling these blog posts. I am therefore very much relying on, and at the mercy of, my memory which inevitably will not recall all that occurred on shortwave that emanated from the UK. A classic example of this is not being able to pinpoint the exact time I first heard Radio Pandora, although I would estimate it to be during 1993. As was common with other stations during the first Covid-related lockdown I noticed a spike in Pandora's output, often with a signal that was far stronger than during my frustrated attempts to hear station operator Steve St. John in the '90's. 

As I have written elsewhere - Free Radio in the time of Covid-19 - listening to shortwave free radio during my convalescence from novel coronavirus provided some much needed solace and positivity, and in many ways reignited my interest in free radio which admittedly has since fluctuated. Radio Pandora was one of those stations that helped my recovery by not only broadcasting when I had little else to do but rest, but also through replying to my emails which were perhaps the first ever correspondence I shared with Steve, 27 years after first hearing him on the 48-metre band. Radio Pandora has once more retreated into the shadows, but I believe that some broadcasts have been made on Medium Wave frequencies.

Kudos to both Steves, Most and St. John, for persevering with a hobby that is obviously in their blood. I don't know about Steve Most, but the operator of Radio Pandora is somewhere between the end of his seventh decade and the early part his eighth, but it is the commitment and persistence of these and other operators who have over several decades regaled listeners with their own choice of music, often I am sure despite at times awkward personal and local circumstances and when they've had to very much work around difficulties to remain on the air.

NEXT TIME: More of the stations that formed the UK free radio scene on shortwave in the 1990's.

What's in a name?

By the time I had stumbled upon the shortwave free radio scene in the autumn of 1990, change was very much in the air. The Berlin Wall had fallen just a year earlier, with the UK rave music scene exploding in many northern towns forgotten by Margaret Thatcher's divisive 11 years in office. Freedom of expression and the desire for self-determination gained significant momentum, as the first, ultimately terminal cracks in both the Soviet Union and the Yugoslav Federation foreshadowed the chaotic and ruinous years that lay ahead.

The music charts were not to be left out. Is was two Scottish bands, Primal Scream and The Soup Dragons, who opined through their respective tracks Loaded, and the Rolling Stones cover I'm Free, that they, and not just the post-Thatcher nation but also throughout Eastern Europe and beyond wished to be 'free to do what they want to do' and be 'free to do what they want - any old time'. Accidentally or otherwise, these two tracks matched and spoke for the prevailing zeitgeist of the time.

To define free radio would perhaps be self-contradictory; the idea, after all, of being a 'pirate' station was/is to not conform in terms of style, musical content, and within the confines of a broadcast schedule. In that sense there are no definitions, templates, or modi operandi to satisfy, but it would be surprising if the motivation of some station operators wasn't to play devil's advocate to the British Broadcasting Corporation's(BBC) hegemonic grip on legal shortwave operations emanating from the UK.

I always favoured, as I do to this day, speech-based programming interspersed with diverse music and to some extent, audience participation. That though is a personal preference, and reflects a desire on the part of the station to not only air his favourite tracks that more than likely would not be heard on legal radio stations, but to also please the audience. There were stations in the 1990's, some of whom are still around today, I felt were more interested in 'rocking for themselves' than for those who might be listening, but in the spirit of free radio, a medium without constraints or policies, this 'each to their own' approach to broadcasting is neither right nor wrong, but will obviously suit some of the listenership more than others. That again reflects a freedom of choice usually absent in legit but identikit FM and MW stations.

I dis though nevertheless find it surprising that many operators, who had obviously gone to significant effort to construct a transmitter and acquire all the associated hardware, had relatively little to say once they hit the airwaves. I understand we are not all the same, with some being more gregarious, opinionated, and curious about the world around us than others, but to simply play continuous music with often only canned IDs, or limiting verbal participation to saying who the last track was performed by, was not necessarily the entertainment I sought in the 1990's. I must though again remind myself that freedom to broadcast how one likes runs in tandem with being able to choose who to listen to; that is as just as much the wont of the audience as is the broadcast style which the station operator decides to pursue.

Freedom came in many forms for the UK shortwave free radio scene during the 1990's, although one aspect that might have escaped the attention of some listeners was how several stations during the decade changed their operational names. There was probably a variety of reasons behind these decisions unrelated to each other, ranging from clashes with stations of similar names, putting distance from a past that might have included visits from the authorities, or simply wishing to move on and present a more mature image than one which a previous name might have suggested. It was not obvious that a change of music or type of programme precipitated certain stations to broadcast under different names, although as with all the content in these blog posts, I am happy to be proved wrong by those with greater knowledge and who had the inside track.

One such station began life as Total Control Radio(TCR), before moving on to be known as The Nitrozone. Now, it is particular odd for me to write about TCR, what with their broadcasts and those under its future moniker always being elusive to my best attempts to hear them. I only knew about both names from loggings of their broadcasts in various free radio publications from the time. The mystery to me was that I would usually be listening to shortwave at the time TCR/The Nitrozone were broadcasting, but only knew they had done so after the event. I can only put it down to the station running very low power which my extremely modest analogue radios of the time could not receive. In fact, the only time I heard the station operator, who I believe also changed his name from Des Francis to Steve Collins, or vice versa, was when he guested on a Subterranean Sounds broadcast. 

Those who listen to the 48-metre band in the modern era will be all too familiar with the almost omnipresent Radio Merlin International, very much a staple of a UK free radio scene that has noticeably dwindled in the last 20 years. What many people will not realize is that Merlin has been around in its current guise for the best part of the last three decades, but was originally known by me in 1990 as Radio Galaxy. Station operator Paul Watt has been the man at the helm since the mid-1980's, and whilst raids by the authorities presumably brought about a desire to change to a name shared by the Ontario town which once acted as a mail drop for the station, Galaxy and Merlin have in many ways remained indivisible from each other. Just as Merlin can now be heard any day of the week on 6305 kHz, sometimes day and night, I recall Galaxy being an ever-present on or around 6240 kHz. The effort Paul Watt goes to to keep the station on the air is perhaps taken for granted, but over 30 years of broadcasting is not something to be taken lightly. That in itself is not a reason alone to pay Merlin excessive reverence, but broadcasting is obviously an obsession for Paul that doesn't show any signs of being on the wane.

Radio Orion was one of the more interesting UK-based stations that in many ways ticked the boxes of what I preferred from a free radio broadcaster. With an excellent music policy that was often procured from record store bargain bins, presenter Mike Wilson laced his programmes with chat that ranged from the highly intelligent to the plain silly but always with an articulate delivery, if albeit one that bordered on the apathetic and world-weary. For several years in the early 1990's Orion was a Sunday morning fixture on 6290 kHz, before a period of absence - I forgot for how long and the reason behind it - from which Mike reemerged as the Bogus Jobseeker, not just as a change of name for himself as such but by what Orion would go on to be known as. At the time those who were registered unemployed in the UK would receive Jobseeker's Allowance(JSA) - unemployment benefit by another name. In return for receiving the pittance that was designed for those in receipt of it to not be able to financially manage and therefore be coerced on that basis into taking any work, rather than from actively seeking a role they wished to undertake, it was alluded by 'Bogus' that he was so self-named because of feigned attempts to secure work whilst receiving these state benefits. 

It was very much the change of identity which gave the Bogus Jobseeker an almost cult following, with wry observations about walks/bike rides along canals to the mannerisms of neighbours which complemented an eclectic taste in music that betrayed a deep knowledge and appreciation of what he played. Later known simply as the Bogusman, listeners were perhaps left from another change of identity to conclude that the man himself was now in employment, or had if nothing else ceased claiming JSA. Radio Orion would also spawn an offshoot broadcaster, the uncompromisingly named Vic Hitler, who would by this point need a separate vehicle away from the eponymous Bogus Jobseeker, and eventually broadcasted under the name Fresh Air 2000, an example of the QSL issued at the time can be seen on Will Phillips' excellent website: Fresh Air 2000 - QSL card

A station I heard less of during its first identity than its second coming, Radio Confusion was initially known for playing 'indie' music from labels such as One Little Indian, now itself renamed as One little Independent in the wake of George Floyd's death. When broadcasting on 6 MHz I would at times struggle to receive broadcasts fronted by operator Steve Midnight, but a move to night-time transmissions on 3 MHz coupled with an improved receiver, a Sangean ATS-803A, enabled better reception of who had by then become Subterranean Sounds. Musical highlights included the only place on shortwave where I heard drum n' bass/jungle tracks, and Mr. Midnight's liking for recordings by, for example, the Future Sound of London and Birmingham-based collective Broadcast. 

Where the likes of Subterranean Sounds have called time on broadcasting another station, one I first heard in 1991, and whose past bears little nominal relation to its current semblance, continues to this day. The Xenon Transmitting Company(XTC) has if anything had something of a renaissance since the advent of the novel coronavirus, resulting in several lockdown special broadcasts which have not only rolled back the years to when shortwave free radio had several UK-based stations whose musical preferences dovetailed with interesting, speech-based content, but has also been a welcome (re)addition to what in modern times has become a somewhat depleted UK presence on 48 metres. 

Starting life as Radio Mutiny and under the guidance of the exquisitely named Tommy Teabags, what eventually became XTC is now in the hands of Matt Roberts, an archetypal-form of DJ name that often uses two Christian names as a 'stage' identity. It also represents, by Matt's own admission, a name more in keeping with someone of his age than the previous, though somewhat time-limited nom de plume could realistically do. 

In recent years broadcasts by XTC were usually restricted to bank holidays, but the last ten months have arguably represented the station's most prolific period, something which worldwide and personal circumstances have undoubtedly precipitated - to the benefit of those interested in speech-based output laced with an outstanding taste in music. Even my rather twee requests for tracks by the KLF and yes, Primal Scream's Loaded, have been met with subsequent airplay of both. Of a similar vintage to me, albeit a few years hence, Matt himself grew up on the relative fine dining experience of the early to mid-90's UK shortwave scene, and is one of the last bastions of what not only first attracted me to listening to free radio, but which held my attention for the best part of a decade. 

Notwithstanding several Dutch operators who change names like the wind, the altering of what they are identifiable by is now a feature of the past for the UK's free radio presence on shortwave. There are stations who are ostensibly recent newcomers but that I suspect were around in the past and are now potentially labouring under different aliases, but that is only a theory rather than a fact, and anyhow does not represent a seamless change of name which many of the above examples demonstrated. 

Each station had its own reason for a change of titular direction, but a desire to do so neatly encapsulates a facet of free radio where evolution, and indeed revolution, ensured that it remained fresh and very much a movable feast, as opposed to the now horrific generic offerings on FM where 'The Hits' and 'Heart' have engulfed many local, individual presences and identities. 

NEXT TIME: Who's still around?

Live Wire Radio - a station that packed a punch

By the mid 1990's I had purchased what proved to be the final upgrade to my listening equipment. Having looked longingly at receivers manufactured by Lowe, Icom, and the Japan Radio(JRC) these and other communications hardware would financially remain out of my reach. My listening station at the time would also not have been able to do justice to the antenna requirements for what were, and remain to this day, sophisticated and comprehensive ways to listen to all forms of wireless broadcasts. With a modest budget but in need of a significant improvement to the way I received shortwave transmissions, I purchased a Sangean ATS-803A world band receiver, which crucially had what for me was the holy grail of radio listening: a digital tuner.

My previous receiver, a Venturer 2959 had by this time begun to frustrate, with the analogue tuner not corresponding to the frequencies on which many stations were broadcasting. As with my initial listening equipment, a National Panasonic 1813, I was now only snaring the stations who used the highest power or when the atmospheric conditions offered short skip and an opportunity to listen to lower power operators - an explanation of 'skip' can be found here: Skip distance explained - Wikipedia

The previous blog post concentrated on one of my favourite stations of the time, Scotland's Weekend Music Radio(WMR), which was also one of the most listenable thanks to often strong and stable reception at my at-the-time location a few miles from the Irish Sea coast. For a while in the early to mid-90's, prior to being able to upgrade my receiver, the likes of WMR, Radio Fax http://radiofax.org/ - a UK station that fought to no avail to gain a broadcast license from Her Majesty's Government and similar to Scotland's Radio Stella, had to transmit from Irish soil - and Live Wire Radio were who I could generally hear without fail, even when the skip had gone longer into continental Europe and beyond. Other UK stations occasionally heard with strong(ish) signals during the years when I didn't require a 'better receiver' included Geronimo, Mirage, Atlantis, and Terry Phillips' Radio Mi Amigo.

If I were asked which station defined my listening to UK shortwave free radio in the 1990's, the answer would undoubtedly by Live Wire Radio. Representing one of the first three stations I heard that October morning in 1990 operator Bill Lewis replied straightaway to what must have been a rather naive, rudimentary letter with a QSL card, sticker, and handwritten note of his own. This personable reply completely tallied with an engaging, charismatic-style of broadcasting, that was only complemented yet further by a diverse music choice which veered seamlessly from Metallica to Abba without reflecting anything other than Bill's personal taste - one of the tenets of free radio.

Live Wire would on occasions be particularly prolific with very regular broadcasts, before retreating into some relatively lengthy periods of absence due to personal circumstances(other hobbies, etc), restrictions on when able to broadcast, poor listening conditions and perhaps, from becoming weary of extremely frequent letters from certain listeners and many others besides - a downside to transmitting an almost unfailingly strong signal coupled with excellent broadcasting values.

One Live Wire highlight which sticks in my memory was from August 1992, a broadcast where Station Sierra Sierra's Paul Stuart guested in a studio which transpired to be in a caravan. Ironically, reception conditions were so poor that even the usual LWR power, perhaps curtailed due to the transmission being made during Sunday daylight hours, could not cut through the noise. Bill did though send me a studio copy of the broadcast on cassette(remember those?) which I still have to this day, on which was an entertaining show from two of shortwave's less wooden, more maverick personalities. With a musical choice spanning from Was (Not Was) featuring Kim Basinger and Ozzy Osbourne, Nirvana's Lithium, to Snap's Rhythm is a Dancer, a track that for a time ruled the airwaves in 1992, a programme underpinned by the banter between Bill and Paul proved to be very entertaining listening - if albeit on this occasion it was only heard in full after the event.

I once read in a free radio publication that Live Wire had been logged by dint of being recognized by its 'musical theme tune'. This was taken by me in the spirit it was meant, that the station was identifiable by one particular track, rather than an otherwise eclectic taste, before Bill had even spoken. I was never aware of what that certain piece of music was, or even if there actually was one tune by which Live Wire was instantly recognizable, but if Boney M segued into an L7 classic before Get-A-Way by Maxx burst onto the airwaves, chances are that you had once more happened upon this UK powerhouse.

Starting out  in the late 1980's as DX-20 on the Echo Charlie band Echo Charlie explained Live Wire by the operator's own admission was more about achieving technical excellence than Bill's desire to be a DJ-type figure. It was though through succeeding in both these aspects that Live Wire became an incredibly popular station throughout the 90's, first as a daytime broadcaster on 6 MHz before migrating to 1.6 and 3 MHz for what were highly successful night-time broadcasts that on occasion only drew to a close after 4 am. Instead of calling time on broadcasting when local interference threatened to expose the station, Bill opted to reinvent Live Wire by experimenting with different frequencies, including on 11 MHz in FM mode, and times of transmission which in the end reaped significant dividends for listeners and the main man himself.

Even though both Bill and I had by this point drifted away from free radio we remained in contact until just a few years ago. For some there comes a time when broadcasting has run its course, especially when aspects of everyday life makes it difficult to continue to do so, or simply that they are on balance more important than maintaining a presence on shortwave. There are though those stations from the same era who have managed to find or make a way to strike a balance and continue, for example XTC, Pamela, and Merlin, but the very essence of free radio is following your own path, rather than adhering to a set list of rules and 'what is expected' by the listenership; what works for some, won't necessarily for others. Some station operators will perhaps be hamstrung by a 'never can say goodbye' syndrome, but knowing the time to bow out for one's own personal reasons and/or when performing has become samey and unenjoyable is as relevant for a free radio station operator as it is a celebrated actor or musician.

Becoming a DJ or even an operator of a 'must listen to' station on shortwave might not have been at the top of Bill's wish list, but many who listened to free radio in the 1990's will echo my views that Live Wire Radio was, by accident or otherwise, a highlight of what was by any measure a golden era for UK 'pirate' broadcasters. When a station maxed out all the signal lights to a point where even a modest Sangean receiver threatening to overload, it must have been doing something right.

NEXT TIME: What's in a name?

The only WMR in town: Weekend Music Radio - Scotland.

I haven't seen the statistics but is it doubtful that in 1991 many 14-year-old's had ever heard of the celebrated clarinettist Acker Bilk. Even today, it is highly unlikely that the advent of Social Media and the Internet have broadened the appeal of the Somerset-born instrumentalist with the same demographic, but strangely many of my formative years would be all too aware of not the late jazz man's oeuvre, but one particular tune from his body of work.

For anyone who heard a track on shortwave I later found out to be called 'Fancy Pants', it usually meant one of two things: either Weekend Music Radio(WMR) had just returned to the airwaves for another broadcast, or that station operator Jack Russel was until next time about to close down. My last blog post mentioned Station Sierra Sierra's theme tune Don't Worry by Kim Appleby(the surviving half of Mel and Kim) and whilst many stations would bookend broadcasts with the likes of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Fanfare for the Common Man and Man of Action by Les Reed, these and others were generic 'go to' tracks used by many stations to draw a veil over their latest broadcasts. There was though something unique about hearing a genre of music otherwise conspicuous by its absence on shortwave free radio, not only because of its 'foot tapping' qualities but that it would hopefully mean that I was about to hear one of Jack's broadcasts, rather than having just missed out on one. 

An overwhelming majority of the UK's free radio stations broadcasting in the 1990's were based in England, with only the Northern Ireland Relay Service, Wales' occasional broadcaster The Voice of the Leek, and Scotland's WMR and Radio Gloria broadcasting from what are today termed as the devolved nations. By this time the prolific Radio Stella, operator by the legendary Jock Wilson, has switched operations to the Republic of Ireland, to where taped programmes would be forwarded to go out on a variety of frequencies, perhaps as many as four at a time, including 6295 and 7446 kHz. There is obviously a limitation to spontaneous programming that's open-ended in length when relying on a helpful transmitter operator in another country to take the controls, but fairly frequent trips to the transmission site would allow for rig and aerial improvements to be made by Jock and WMR Jack. The complete history of Weekend Music Radio and details of some of those epic trips to Ireland can be found on WMR's website Weekend Music Radio Scotland - a fascinating journey through time of a station that first hit the airwaves 41 years ago. Although Jack has been heard at the latter end of last year doing programming for a legal shortwave relay station, there is nothing to indicate that he is about to break his WMR silence any time soon. 

A catchy theme tune is of little worth if the forthcoming programme or that previous to it were not of significant entertainment value. Those early days of my immersion into shortwave free radio included some great broadcasts, often with studio guests and including phone calls from some of those listening in. This all sounds now to be rather twee, but in those days Jack was in effect replicating how legal stations went about their business, but he did it better. Throw in an interesting mix of music spanning by then the two decades that WMR had been on the air only lent greater kudos to the station, one of the most listenable of the time. A broadcast would often be rounded off with a QSO - in effect a conversation with fellow operators once the call had gone out to anyone who fancied a chat - some of which that would be as entertaining as the programmes themselves. Radio Gloria's Alan Hayes would often pop up for a chat with WMR, as would a somewhat mysterious gentleman, I think called Brian, under the Sierra/Sugar Foxtrot 0(Zero) 3 moniker. 

A highlight of Christmas time in the early to mid-nineties would be Weekend Music Radio's festive broadcasts. Characterized by their longevity and of no little audience participation, these epic transmissions would often go out on several frequencies with a hope of reaching different, far-flung areas of the world, which they did on numerous occasions. WMR would though at times be radiating significant power for a free radio station, and whilst technical expertise can produce a strong signal greater than the transmitter's modest parts, Weekend Music Radio would often push the envelope to get out the kind of signal which was heard beyond the usual anticipated extent of how far from its location a UK shortwave free radio station would expect to be so. 

As my interest in the shortwave scene tailed off in the latter part of the 1990's WMR flip-flopped between frequencies and schedules, often sharing channels with other stations on an agreed basis and/or broadcasting out in the field, as it were. As with all things pertaining to Weekend Music Radio, far greater historical depth than my precis of the station can be found on the station's thankfully still 'live' website. 

It is now too long ago for me to recall the exact reasoning behind my falling out of love with the hobby, but a mixture of deteriorating listening conditions, and the move from my teenage years into adulthood precipitated relationships, work(and unemployment) and foreign travel which placed greater demands on my time, with a-by-then schedule limited to listening on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings proving to be unrealistic.

Weekend Music Radio was though one of the free radio stations that my listening was reared on, and very much contributed to the level of interest that I retained for perhaps the first seven years of the 1990's. It was those stations that appeared to me at the time to be broadcasting with spontaneity and without a defined schedule that most captured my imagination. As previously discussed local circumstances and indeed those within the operator's own household would greatly determine if/when a station would pop up on the band, generating a level of anticipation of not quite knowing when that would next occur - something which undoubtedly contributed to the appeal of listening to shortwave free radio. 

As a premise free radio has always meant to me to be a medium that is unfettered by restrictions, playlists, and schedules. Now, I understand to say someone, or something is 'free' tacitly gives license to do as one pleases within the bounds of whatever the pastime or predilection may be, and each person will have their own idea as to what 'to be free' actually constitutes. There was though always a certain mystic about shortwave's free radio scene built upon unpredictability of both when broadcasts would occur, and those attendant with live output. I never felt any great interest in listening to 'loop tape' broadcasts and whilst this approach was for many operators their only viable means to an end, especially when broadcasting 'on location', my preferences is not a criticism in itself, but an acknowledgement that free radio, for both listeners and operators, must always retain an 'each to their own' quality.

As time ushers in an increasingly fading memory - perhaps I should have starting writing this blog 10 years ago - of even my favourite stations of the time, one of which was Weekend Music Radio, there is little doubt that Jack Russel was a voice and personality synonymous with the 1990's UK free radio scene on shortwave. It is easy to accredit stations whose signals were usually strong, regardless of the modest or comparatively significant wattage they were running at the time, as favourites by dint of their relative listenability, but WMR walked the walk, talked the talk, and rightly became a firm favourite due to Jack's marathon live, unstructured broadcasts that lent more to spontaneity and improvisation that which couldn't inevitably be replicated through taped transmissions. It is to those early, halcyon days that I will raise a glass of something nonalcoholic - something that probably at the time would not have been found in WMR's studio!

NEXT TIME: Continuing the theme of UK powerhouse stations on shortwave...

Sunday service

Despite the limitations of my National Panasonic 1822 receiver, whose scope was restricted to receiving broadcasts on shortwave from approximately 5.9 - 18 MHz, I was for a time in the early 90's reasonably content with my admittedly modest listening post. 

The addition of a long wire aerial, using the connector to the rear of the receiver that I had to that point overlooked, certainly brought in stronger signals of conventional and free radio stations alike, but also at a cost of greater noise which at times severely hindering reception. Not being particularly technically minded, a lifelong handicap that I have never quite shaken off, and a lack of sophistication to my listening equipment, naturally minus an Antenna Tuning Unit(ATU), meant that the possibility of greater reception and being able to hear more stations throughout the shortwave spectrum would continue to elude me whilst I stuck with a receiver, it should be remembered, that contained a cassette deck. 

Nevertheless, until I upgraded to a Venturer 2959 multi-band receiver that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Lubyanka building, perseverance was the watchword - to make the most of what I had. 

It was though from joining the British DX Club(BDXC) that gave me a greater knowledge of the stations audible on Sundays, mostly those that broadcast in the mornings with some purposely popping up later in the afternoon as the 48-metre band became less congested. The BDXC Alternative Airwaves page was at the time a goldmine of information which not only confirmed the triumvirate stations I initially heard were by October 1990 regulars on the airwaves, but that they were just a sample of what could be heard occasionally, often, and in some cases without fail each Sunday.

It is easy to scoff in our current day and age at the reliance on printed material such as the BDXC's monthly publication Communication, but at the time, remember, only 30 years ago, this and other similar sources of information were all that were available to radio enthusiasts. Nowadays it would be very easy to complain about consuming media that would be out of date before it had reached its audience, but in the early 1990's we couldn't lament at not having access to what was never at our disposal. The anticipation of receiving Communication in the mail, along with the likes of Pirate Chat and Free-DX, can never be replaced by today's instantaneous rolling news and internet fora.

Although not a station by dint of its location that falls within the remit of this blog, the Netherlands-based Radio Orangutan was one of the first free radio stations I heard from anywhere, with a QSL and letter arriving less than a week after contacting station operator Freddy. I am not particularly 'in to' stations from outside the UK, perhaps because of the very real British trait of expecting everyone to speak English instead of their native tongue, but Orangutan will always in my mind be synonymous with those exciting times of receiving mail from the men behind the microphones. I only recall one station, a Radio Alpha from the Netherlands, who never replied to a letter of mine. I perhaps should have known better than to write to a hitherto unknown station playing continuous music only punctuated by a canned appeal for three International Reply Coupons(IRC's) to accompany reception reports in exchange for a QSL card, although the promise of this new addition to my collection probably being the motivation. Whether a Radio Alpha, or that particular Alpha, re-emerged I couldn't say, but if the rather nondescript broadcast wasn't just a vehicle to harvest what at the time were quite valuable IRC's, 29 years on I continue to live in hope that my QSL is still at the printer's...

I soon became accustomed to a regular diet of UK stations on 48 metres, something that has gradually declined to what today has sadly become, Radio Merlin aside, a rare scenario bordering on the nonexistent. Those who I frequently heard on Sunday mornings would include Britain Radio international, Radio Orion, WNKR(featuring both the inimitable Dave Martin and Andy Walker), the late Norman Nelson's Radio East Coast Commercial, and the Northern Ireland SW Relay Service. Today's Radio Merlin was in the early 90's known as Radio Galaxy but with the same operator, Paul Watt, still very much at the controls on a daily basis. Operators less frequently heard but no less popular for being so included Midlands Music Radio, Radio Confusion(later Subterranean Sounds), Scotland's Weekend Music Radio, and Radio Armadillo, an emerging force of alternative programming which helpfully would often be audible on a Friday afternoon on my return from Sixth Form. 

It should be reiterated that these were by far not the only UK stations audible at the time, but the point of this blog isn't to simply represent an anodyne list of every UK-based station heard(or otherwise) on shortwave in the 1990's. All stations that have come to mind - this blog is predominantly being crafted from my own memories aided by some useful information supplied by Matt Roberts of Radio Mutiny, latterly XTC  - will at some point or other be mentioned, but the object of the exercise is in some part to fill the obvious gap in chronicling the 90's UK shortwave scene that is otherwise conspicuous by its online absence. There is therefore relatively little information on the internet from which to draw knowledge, or inspiration, but I unequivocally apologise if the content of my blog posts does not mirror how others remember the events of the day. There will always be room for subjectivity, but I am happy to correct any inadvertent factual errors precipitated from drawing upon memories that have not seen the light of day for much of the last three decades. 

It is often said that familiarity breeds contempt and whilst this would in the main be an unfounded emotion during my time of listening to shortwave in the 1990's, it was often the stations popular as much for their enigmatic nature, be that from broadcasting on relatively obscure frequencies or a penchant for unexpectedly 'popping up' before inexplicably disappearing just as quickly, as they were for musical output and a charismatic operator. One such station that undoubtedly ticked all the boxes was Station Sierra Sierra - the super station. Run on a shoestring by the likeable Paul Stuart Sierra Sierra's albeit infrequent appearances on 6540 kHz were always especially welcome; only during my very recent musings about the 1990's have I concluded that Paul's short but enjoyable broadcasts were more than likely stymied by personal and local circumstances that theoretically could include when the neighbours were home, or more pertinently - when they were not. Characterized as much by seemingly short, random appearances away from conventional 48 metre band frequencies as by the station's signature tune - Don't Worry by Kim Appleby -  Sierra Sierra certainly lent credence to the assertion that less can be more. Paul Stuart would later in the 90's turn his attention to outside broadcasts in conjunction with Radio Blackbeard's Dave Norris under the Galaxy International banner, something which will no doubt be written about in greater detail at a future date. 

NEXT TIME: UK powerhouse broadcasters on shortwave(not including the World Service!). 

1990: My introduction to Shortwave Free Radio - UK style

I had been listening to the shortwave bands for almost a year before one Sunday morning stumbling upon several of what I came to know as free radio 'pirate' stations, a curiosity initially piqued as to what the other band on my National Panasonic 1822 receiver, cassette player included, offered what conventional FM(VHF) and Medium Wave(MW) did not. 

There was no frustration which today a lack of a digital tuner would inevitably precipitate; quite simply, I had a rough idea where on the dial the likes of BRT of Belgium, now VRT, Radio Romania International, and the Voice of America(VOA) could be found, so to 'point and shoot' would normally reap the intended dividends. Even with such rudimentary listening equipment, used at this point without a long wire aerial to complement the built-in, as standard telescopic antenna, it was possible to hear stations from all over the world, with whom contact would include the receipt of the at-the-time much coveted QSL card, proof in itself of reception and a trade off with the broadcaster who sought information as to how well, or otherwise, their signal was being received not only by the intended audience, but those who tuned in from far greater a distance away.

I do not recall what motivated me to tune around 6.2 MHz - the 48-metre band - that Sunday morning in early October, 1990. Perhaps I was killing time before the weekly Happy Station Show was broadcast by Radio Netherlands - something at the time which had become a fixture of my listening. As these transmissions from Hilversum were aired on the 5.9 MHz area of the band, it starts to make sense that this gap of approximately 300 kHz would represent at most a couple of millimetres on the dial of my modest listening equipment.

It was therefore a mere nudge of the dial between conventional, dare I say legal broadcasters, and those who were anything but the traditional, formulaic stations I had until this point become accustomed to on the shortwave spectrum. Perhaps part of the attraction was that national broadcasters with big budgets and multi-lingual programming were inadvertently coexisting cheek by jowl with pirate stations operating out of bedrooms, perhaps while the rest of the family were out of the house, and used what to the uninitiated were obscure mail drops by whose location would not give the operators' game away.

That morning yielded three stations: Ozone Radio International from the Republic of Ireland, and the English-based duo Live Wire Radio and Radio 48. Greatly impressed with Live Wire's quality of signal and music, along with the presentation-style of someone I soon knew as Bill Lewis, I jotted down the mailing address and was surprised and delighted in equal measure to receive less than a week later a letter, sticker, and QSL card in the mail. I can only guess at what Bill and other station operators of the time made of a 14-year-old's rather gauche letters, but the novelty of not only hearing these mysterious English-speaking voices but to also be able to communicate with them soon got me hooked. Little could I have known that thirty years later, I would have enough memories of the 1990's shortwave free radio scene to justify creating a writing project dedicated to them.

And so it began. The pattern of Sundays that usually ran along the lines of lie-ins and visiting grandparents had been semi-permanently punctuated by this new strand of my radio-listening hobby. Disappearing upstairs from the lunch table to check 6 MHz became a common occurrence, as too would sneakily listening to receivers in relatives' houses on Sunday afternoons, much to the bewilderment and at times chagrin of my nearest and dearest. Perhaps perturbed that I was listening to and communicating with those who were technically breaking the law, it eventually became apparent to my family that young teenagers often involve themselves in far more damaging pursuits than enjoying album tracks not heard on legal stations constrained by playlists, and listening to QSO's which were often as entertaining, if not more so, as the music programmes themselves.

It took me a while to realize that there was more to free radio on shortwave than just listening on Sunday mornings to 6 MHz, but as a grounding to the scene of the time it was the ideal starting point. As I eventually learned, broadcasting on the Sabbath was in many ways a tradition, but also a means to an end for operators otherwise constrained by personal and local, neighbourhood circumstances. For those equally as interested in reaching as great a number of listeners as possible as to the technical side of broadcasting it was the obvious time to transmit, but atmospheric conditions and avoiding detection would also precipitate the choice of time of day, or night, when some operators would be active, and on which bands they would use. These nuances would all become apparent to me in time, but the early days of regularly hearing, for example, Radio Orangutan on 6206 kHz, and Radio Orion in its usual 6290 kHz berth were what I assumed to be the extent of what shortwave free radio had to offer. 

The Sunday scene was though the tip of the iceberg, merely an aperitif to not only the wider extent of free radio at the time, but to what it has subsequently become. To a callow youth whose appetite for alternative broadcasting had by this time been whetted the limitations of only listening on a Sunday morning hadn't yet dawned upon me, until realizing that I had missed out on several broadcasts at other times by stations I had come to regard as favourites. 

This is a very raw, perhaps unremarkable start to what I hope will become a series of posts over the days and weeks ahead detailing the era I regard as a golden one for UK free radio on shortwave. There will be those who will argue that any or all of the previous three decades to the 90's were more worthy of that epithet, but I can only comment upon what I heard in the context from 1990 to the present day, and the significant effect free radio had on my teenage years, even into my mid-twenties. 

My blog will therefore not serve as a history of UK free radio on shortwave during the 1990's, but my experiences of it. There were stations that existed but whose broadcasts I never heard, as there were those who I was aware of and on occasion did listen to but who will not be written about in this blog, but will be acknowledged by name. I am not seeking to simply detail an A-Z of what the UK scene consisted of from 1990 to the turn of the millennium, but to chronicle what I heard, enjoyed, and greatly miss to this day. There is no other brief or guideline as to how this blog will take shape, but it promises to be for me a fascinating meander down memory lane, and one that I hope you will find interesting and enjoyable, too.