“Beginning this Sunday, there is to be a new GB2RS News Broadcast, complementing the current Broadcasts in the locality. This broadcast will take place at 1830hrs local time on 145.525MHz, covering the Glasgow area, meaning those who are unable to tune in on a Sunday morning may find this a more convenient time. The broadcast will come from the station 2M0GUI in Newton Mearns, and will be followed by an opportunity to call in on an ad-hoc net.”
This week we were confused, as we heard doors slam, toys were thrown and attitude from our little baby.
Martin and Colin looked at each other and realised that the ICQPodcast is now a teenager – 13th years old.
What a year we have all had. Hamfests have fallen by the wayside, COVID has removed the connection with clubs and friends and travel restrictions have restricted field operations.
During this time, your ICQPodcast team has continued to produce shows fortnightly. The DMR network is bring together listeners from around the world to build friendships and knowledge.
Your help is vital to make our teenager happy
Now, as we celebrate our thirteenth birthday, with listeners in over one hundred countries, and countless friends made along the way, we are asking for your annual support to keep the ICQPodcast free of commercial adverting.
Subscriptions Keep the Lights On. One-off donations are easy, but to really support the show, consider a subscription donation. Many listeners support the show from as little as £1 a month – http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate
Your support has been amazing
It’s hard to put into words the encouragement and positivity that have been received from listeners over the years. When times have been tough, a kind word or comment about the show gives us the strength to continue.
Keep your family and yourself safe during these times
Thanking you in advance
Dorothy M0LMR obtained some publicity for Amateur Radio on BBC Essex by phoning into the Breakfast Show and talking about customised car registration numbers for ham radio……………More HERE .
Ronan O’Rahilly, Radio Caroline founder who inspired UK pop and pirate radio, dies aged 79
Ronan O’Rahilly, the Irish founder of the notorious Radio Caroline that popularised pop music on British radio, has died aged 79.
His death was announced by the radio station that is still broadcasting, who said: “In a pastime populated by unusual people, Ronan was more unusual than all of them combined.” He had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.
O’Rahilly first became known as a player in the burgeoning “swinging London” scene of the 1960s, managing Alexis Korner (the blues-rocker who nurtured the career of the Rolling Stones) and Georgie Fame. Fame eventually had three UK No 1 singles, but O’Rahilly initially struggled to get his musicians noticed by BBC stations and the then-popular Radio Luxembourg, and so founded his own station, Radio Caroline, in 1964.
He circumvented licensing laws by acquiring a former Danish passenger ferry, anchoring it in the North Sea off Felixstowe, and broadcasting from there. With a much less diverse radio industry than today and the BBC only playing two hours of pop music a week, Radio Caroline quickly amassed a listenership of millions for its daytime pop-focused output.
Many DJs would become household names and enjoy successful post-Caroline careers, including Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker, Dave Lee Travis and Simon Dee. Walker paid tribute, calling him an “amazing man … who made the impossible possible and changed radio for ever”.
In 1967, an act of parliament outlawed offshore radio stations on the grounds that they were not paying royalties to artists, and that their broadcasts could interfere with emergency channels. A number of Radio Caroline’s DJs moved to the newly created Radio 1, which had been influenced by the success of the former and another offshore station, Radio London. Radio Caroline then moved to Dutch waters, and continued broadcasting at sea until 1991.
O’Rahilly used Radio Caroline to promote his own philosophy of “loving awareness”, which espoused peace and love over hate, and even set up a band, Loving Awareness, to further the cause.
He also continued his management career, including representing James Bond actor George Lazenby. Lazenby paid tribute to O’Rahilly on Instagram, saying “rest well, Ronan”.
Lazenby shared “bittersweet” reminiscences about how O’Rahilly convinced him not to take a contract for multiple Bond movies, with the franchise passing to Roger Moore. “He was very influential on me giving up the role of James Bond back in 1969,” Lazenby wrote. “Ronan convinced me Bond was all over … I’d be in danger of becoming part of the Establishment. Something he rebelled against. Easy Rider was supposed to be the way forward and I could do three or four of those type of movies for every Bond. I wanted to be a free spirit, make love, not war. Ronan wouldn’t let me sign the Bond contract – kept sending it back … Who knows what would have happened had Ronan not got a hold of my brain? But I don’t regret a day of my life.”
O’Rahilly also produced Lazenby’s film Universal Soldier, as well as the Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull film The Girl on a Motorcycle. The Radio Caroline story became the basis for the 2009 Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.
