RADIO silence
Radio no longer caters for the eclectic tastes of our music fan readers, who listen to everything from country and western to rock ’n’ roll and Northern Soul to rave.
And for many of you, it’s all about the personality of the DJs, especially those stars of offshore radio.
Reader Hughie Greenwood of Coventry enjoyed reading about Radio North Sea International and Laser 558 last week.
He says: “Two DJs that I miss are Canadian Daffy Don Allen and US disc jockey Boom Boom Brannigan.”
Both DJs from the 1960s and 70s are sadly no longer with us, but Hughie reminds us of a time when they were very popular with UK listeners.
“Although Don came across the Atlantic to bring C&W music to Radio Caroline South in 1965, his wacky style suited Caroline North (anchored off the Isle of Man) and he moved across there until 1968,” recalls Hughie. “Don then went to Radio North Sea International from 1972 until it closed in 1974.
“As well as his daily show, Don presented the Country and Western show on both stations. He was a real gent and a professional broadcaster to his fingertips.”
A pioneer of rock ’n’ roll radio before anybody had heard of The Beatles, Boom Boom Brannigan was a DJ on the Americanowned Swinging Radio England.
“It was anchored off the Essex coast for a too short while in 1966,” says Hughie. “Boom Boom had an extremely
dry sense of humour and was one of the many Boss Jocks, as Radio England called them, that entertained us.
“They were great times with great music and great radio stations,” adds Hughie.
At the other end of the spectrum, “BBC Radio? No thanks,” says Ian Pyke. “Same goes for all the other mainstream radio stations.”
Dance music fan Ian, 75, from Crawley, West Sussex, used to rave to Kiss FM in the 1990s. He says, “I miss Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson. He used to spin the discs on Kiss FM on Saturday nights back in the 1990s.
“No adverts, just non-stop music, with the occasional jingle. Head-nodding stuff!”
Like the pirate stations of the 1960s, Kiss used to broadcast illegally to the South London estates before it became the first dance music station.
“After doing a bit of research online, I found Anderson on Mi-Soul Radio where he played from 2012 until he passed away at only 59 in 2018.”
And proving that you’re never too old to groove, Ian tunes into house DJ and producer Michael Gray on Mi-Soul these days.
“He keeps me entertained on the last Saturday of the month.”
Crawley this year, Ibiza next, eh Ian?
■ Who do you miss from the nation’s airwaves? Email siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk