[Junk Box Nick]

Yes, I think Atlanta's shows were recorded at Alan Crawford's music studios and that Caroline had an arrangement to use the studios also. I thought that the very first announcement from Caroline was live and then a tape rolled for the first show but perhaps I'm mistaken.

What equipment was on the Mi Amigo at take over is interesting. Simon Dee tells an amusing story of how they swapped ships, carried over armfuls of records to the Mi Amigo and then asking the Dutch captain for needles for the turntables, though how much this is embroidered for the benefit of entertaining the listener is a good question. He relates eventually finding needles and holding the wiring in place with chewing gum. Another story goes that Atlanta had Spotmasters and Caroline didn't but the Spotmasters were spirited onto the Frederica when both ships were being fitted at Greenore. It certainly seems that the Mi Amigo had more in the studio than just a set-up for running tape. There is interesting reading about the relationship between Caroline and Atlanta and how they came about but that is getting far off topic.

Back to Radio 390: I think when there was a split and some went off to the ailing 'sweet music' Britain Radio (the problems with whether the fort was within territorial waters precipitated this) the defectors subsequently referred to 390 output as "stone age radio". Britain Radio subsequently became Radio 355.

Though hamstrung by needle-time agreements, the Light Programme did up its game. Birthday money got me a long wave coil set for my Philips Electronic Engineer kit and I could then hear the Light - the pirates were too far away and receiver was too insensitive so I was stuck with Home and Third - and I remember daily afternoon programmes called Spring into Summer and Swingalong featuring the more MOR pop records of the day amongst the 'easier' tunes. Woman's Hour and Listen with Mother must have gone to the Home Service at some point. Radio 2 jingles in the early 70s were re-worked Britain Radio ones (Serenade Radio uses the BR tunes for its jingles).

Radio 390 did try to cultivate a very respectable image - they applied for a land broadcasting licence before transmissions started but were, of course, turned down flat! - and battled on through the courts to within a few months of the Marine offences Act becoming law. Ultimately, all the forts except Sunk Head and Roughs Tower were found to be in territorial waters, though this apparent turnabout was a little embarrassing given that a year before, during the Radio City incident, Shivering Sands was deemed to be outside jurisdiction. (The law of the sea was known to Caroline and the other ships which was why they were anchored off Frinton and not closer to London.)