Fellow travellers

Despite appearances to the contrary from the admittedly sole purpose of this blog, there was more to free radio on shortwave during the 1990s than just those broadcasting from the UK.

My focus then and now, if only latterly to reminisce and reassess the importance of pirate radio during my formative years, has been the UK scene and despite in the main giving short shrift to for example its often much maligned Dutch equivalent, there were stations beyond these shores that I fondly recall to this day. 

The Irish shortwave free radio scene mushroomed, peaked, and plateaued in the 1980s, before downsizing during the following decade. It has ebbed and flowed since, with today the likes of Radio Cuckoo and Premier Radio flying the tricolour for 48 metres. There are it seems also many transmitters still in active but intermittent service across the Irish Sea, often relaying internet-only stations and even Tenerife's Coast FM.

My recollections of Ireland's 1990s contribution to shortwave inevitably begins with Prince Terry's Ozone Radio International. As one of the first free radio stations I heard on shortwave, Ozone was for many years a staple of 6 MHz on Sunday mornings, primarily on 6280 kHz, where it often peacefully coexisted with West and North Kent Radio(WNKR) that for a time used 6275, and Mike Wilson's Radio Orion on 6290.

Using the famous Salisbury maildrop and without fail playing Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall, the station I believe that started out as Westside Radio was eventually undermined by a well-known UK free radio exponent who would, it is fair to say, polarize the opinions of listeners and fellow operators. When he began calling the station 'Radio Ozone' there was a feeling that Prince Terry had lost control of his own operation, which had arguably by then become an unfortunate mouthpiece and vehicle for this interloper.

Jolly Roger Radio was a prolific broadcaster for the majority of the 1990s, and could usually be found on or around 6230 kHz. Operator Joe Vincent was obviously an adherent of Country and Western music which is for me at least one of those 'each to their own' examples of free radio; I even recall receiving a QSL card from the station that certainly wouldn't have been for public consumption. The transmitter(s) of Jolly Roger would often be used to relay other broadcasters, with the North American Kranker Radio and Merseyside-based Concept Radio just two of the stations whose content gained a wider audience in this way.

Other stations of the time that transmitted from Ireland - there will be some that I have inadvertently overlooked - were the eponymous Dun Laoghaire Radio(DLR) who for a time were heard in parallel locally on FM and on 6220 kHz, Emerald Radio, and of course Jock Wilson's Radio Stella International and the speech-based Radio Fax, both of whom used broadcasting facilities somewhere in the republic. 

A station I was perhaps fortunate to hear when using my Venturer 2959 analogue receiver and rudimentary long wire antenna was Sweden's Radio Fusion, which at the time broadcast on the 41 metre band. An operator who at times was a weekly fixture on at least two of 6, 7, and 11 MHz was Peter Hills, the man behind Radio Waves International(RWI), the only French-based station that I can recall. If I am correct, several stations including the Antipodean Southern Music Radio were relayed by RWI, but my recollection of this is less certain and more hazy than it is on other aspects of free radio during the 1990s.

Despite being much larger in surface area and population than the Netherlands, Germany was never really known during the 1990s or arguably at any point since as a hotbed for shortwave free radio by its classic definition, but some notable examples were nevertheless synonymous with the decade's pirate scene. The longstanding Radio Marabu was well-known for its interesting and diverse music 'policy', with PFBS(Pirate Freaks Broadcasting Service), Chris Ise's Crazy Wave Radio, and Radio Northlight also representing free radio's Teutonic influence during this time. 

I am not cognizant of the exact location from where Radio Benelux would broadcast, but a simple process of elimination would suggest it emanated from one of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, or border country the latter shares with Germany and France. 

Which neatly brings me on to one of my favourite 'non-UK' stations from the 1990s - Radio Borderhunter(Grensjager). Broadcasting from somewhere along the frontier between two of the aforementioned nations, there was also something different, more listenable, about Borderhunter's output which set it apart from other, Benelux-based stations and in particular most of those in the Netherlands who had by this point long since sacrificed quality for quantity. It is unfortunate that I cannot recall the name of Borderhunter's charismatic operator, who I even heard at some point last Christmas on 76 metres, almost 24 years after first receiving a broadcast by this mysterious pirate, one midweek late night some time in April 1996.

The output from the Netherlands on shortwave(and 1.6 MHz) has occasionally been unfairly derided by myself, sometimes for good reason, but there were several interesting Dutch stations of the 1990s which I would listen to instead of rolling my eyes and keeping the tuning dial moving - when at times they did sound like just another CB operator playing at grown up radio.

Radio Orangutan was probably the fourth free radio station I ever heard, and one I recall receiving a QSL card from 5 days after writing to operator Freddie/Freddy. Usually found, or at least heard by me, on 6206 kHz, this station was raided at least once and disappeared for a significant length of time, but did subsequently return to 48 metres. I really cannot recall the style of output broadcast by Radio Orangutan, but as an impressionable youth at the time it is likely that my interest was initially piqued by the station's name!

The evergreen Radio Barones, more specifically its operator Johan, remains to this day a charismatic presence on 1.6 MHz and to a lesser extent on shortwave, where he was heard a few days ago by others(not me) broadcasting in parallel on both bands. I think the crux of the matter as to why free radio was for a time so captivating to me is neatly summed up by the likes of Johan, Mr. Borderhunter, and the more personable of their UK counterparts. There was never any of the 'and that record was...and the next record is...' from these operators who often had something interesting to say, had a certain mystic about them(at least to a young teenager like me at the time), played good music, and were often characterized by very strong signals. Perhaps this was a free radio survival of the fittest, or more to the point the technically proficient, and who by happenstance were not incommoded by neighbourhood issues that would compromise the amount of power so many operators could push through their rigs.

Another Johan, the late operator of Radio Nooitgedacht, was a fixture of the Dutch mediumwave scene and despite his broadcasts being solely in his native tongue, there was again something about this station that made it that little bit more interesting to me than most of the others who use what is often unkindly referred to as the 'trawler band'. I only ever heard Nooitgedacht on 1636 kHz, who was often identifiable by a distinctive piece of admittedly cliched Dutch music. I believe that Johan passed away in 2015.

During the 1990s there were several Radio Deltas(or Delta Radios) who at times would confuse listeners as to which they were listening to. One of those heroes of the phonetic alphabet or riparian alluvial deposits has since gone legit and can frequently be heard on 6020 kHz - https://radiodelta.am/ - but with absolutely no disrespect intended, does not have the allure or cachet that goes hand in hand with 'real' free radio.

Other Dutch stations I would hear frequently during the 1990s included Radio Korak, often on 3927 kHz and similar to Radio Pacman, would frequently call CQ to the likes of Live Wire Radio for a post-broadcast QSO. Due to their anglicised moniker I was probably initially dismissive of the Farmers from Holland, whose programmes turned out to be not what I would call my cup of tea and often obliterated much of 48 metres with a signal that could wipe out those broadcasting up to 20 kHz either side of for example 6285 kHz, one of their usual channels. Listening to what sounded more like an alcohol-fuelled private party that had by that point got way out of control - some of my egregious neighbours would surely approve - the Farmers certainly knew how to enjoy themselves and didn't die wondering. Whilst there is no suggestion that any of the collective have since passed on, there might well be a drying out clinic somewhere in Europe that at some point in the past received a block booking from the Netherlands...

The Free Radio Service Holland(FRSH) continues transmitting to this day, having racked up over 40 years of broadcasting on shortwave. Again, a name that was perhaps chosen so to appeal to a greater listenership does not give any great indication of individuality or how it sets itself apart in an otherwise sea of generica. Stating such longevity and a commitment to broadcasting are both laudable, but less than a handful of transmissions per year makes FRSH to me at least seem like a novelty station that lacks spontaneity and who run to a definite schedule - something I would suggest is counterintuitive to many of free radio's ideals. In this sense there is little to separate it from 'once a year'/blue moon' broadcasts by a Radio St. Helena or Radio Andorra, that are ticked off the lists by radio's equivalent of twitchers. 

As an island nation there has often been a reluctance in the UK to even attempt to learn or understand languages common to continental Europe. If anything, the attitude by many UK residents that the English language is our gift to the world and should therefore be routinely spoken by every bartender and hotelier from Spain to Slovenia is embarrassing, and betrays an arrogance born from a sense of entitlement that harks back to Colonial times. Perhaps this has subconsciously affected the way I have over the years dismissed many free radio stations from 'other' countries, when if anything I should applaud some of their operators for speaking English to a better standard than many of those who insist the language is their own mother tongue. 

This blog has given me much to ponder about the importance I gave to free radio in the 1990s, but also how tacit or unabashed prejudices were potentially underlying in seemingly harmless, subjective personal preferences.