Pirate Radio Museum - Clacton

[MaryAnn]

Paul, although not a 'victim' myself, I understand your comment.
Unfortunately, without characters like Ray or, even, Ronan O' Rahilly, who are/were 'economical with the truth' at times, offshore radio and even BigL 2005 to today, would not have happened.
Before I am slaughtered, I am not for one minute inferring that the two mentioned are exactly the same in all ways, just that a 100% honest and straightforward businessman would still be dealing with the paperwork or running Heart, in a town or several, near you.

Anyway, what happened to the alleged involvement of Ray with a new station on 675 from Holland?

I agree with you about if there was no Ray, we would not be listening to BIGL. I also understand that Ray walked away from BIGL when the chips were down. Everyone seems to forget that If Roger Davis was not here to pick up BIGL and keep things going, we would not be listening today as well. Nobody thinks that Roger Davis invested and to this day invests a lot of money in BIGL. That is why I support him and this station. I have heard a lot of things about Ray and I will tell you that nothing good will ever become of anything based on lies and cheating people.

[#6]

I will tell you that nothing good will ever become of anything based on lies and cheating people.

I wish that this was true, MaryAnn. Unfortunately a glance at the list of the world's richest people includes very few that have reached that position without 'lies and cheating people'.

It may not be GOOD in the true sense of the word but they are pretty comfortable and they feel good about it.
And then there are politicians.........................

P.S. I do agree that without RD, BigL would not be here, today.

[MaryAnn]

I will tell you that nothing good will ever become of anything based on lies and cheating people.

I wish that this was true, MaryAnn. Unfortunately a glance at the list of the world's richest people includes very few that have reached that position without 'lies and cheating people'.

It may not be GOOD in the true sense of the word but they are pretty comfortable and they feel good about it.
And then there are politicians.........................

P.S. I do agree that without RD, BigL would not be here, today.

But a lot of the people that have all of that money are the most miserable people in the world. You would think that lots of money is a great way of life, but it is the root of all evil. Sometimes having lots of money is not a blessing at all. I remember in the states when the housing market and stock market basically crashed here maybe 5 years ago and a lot of rich people lost a lot of money. They thought their world ended and they were committing suicide because of losing money. I always say I am glad that I am not rich because we are the strong ones. We are the ones that go to work each day and work hard. To me that is a better way of life and I would not want to be rich at all. Too complicated for me, lol.

[paulvos]

Hi #6, we don't slaughter our forum members here, no worries

You are right Ray did start BigL. It might not have happened without him. Had he paid more attention to the income and spending ratio it could have been an even bigger success though. Anyway that's all water under the bridge.

Your question about 675 surprises me somewhat. in 2004 he got 1008 (400kW) and did air test transmissions referring to Radlon limited (radio London). Apparently reception was not as good as the RF power suggested. He then made a deal with Radio 10 to swap for 1395, then rated at 120kW. Later that power was limited to 25kW because some yacht owns saw some sparks in their masts.

675 used to be our Radio 3, our public radio all day pop music station (the equivalent of BBC Radio 1 and started for the same reason...). The last couple of years it's firmly in the hands of Radio Maria, a Christian religious group. I don't believe that frequency is up for sale. It can run at 120kW, but Radio Maria runs it at 75kW, probably to save power cost.

At the moment the following frequencies are available if you want one: 828 (was Radio 10 until they moved to FM), 1035, 1395 and 1485

[Cookie]

Don't really want to get involved in things I don't know the full details of, or take sides where we should all be on the same side - that of reviving great radio, but I think it might not be entirely fair to say Ray walked away. Remeber when the chips were really, really down, Ray had long since lost ownership and control of the station and had been even lost his Sunday slot, being banished to a graveyard VT slot.

Suffice to say, without Ray and Roger, Eric and many others involvement along the way, we would not have had the Big L we do today. Imho, they all deserve a great deal of respect.

[#6]

A good balanced reply, Cookie. I thought that, although Ray was preparing to jump, there was also some pressure from behind!

[RadioNorthsea]

The RSL is going to be fun, I can see that. I believe Eindhoven is somewhat out of range of their 100 Watt transmitter

I understand why the museum is met with mixed feelings. There is no doubt that Ray has created good off-shore activities, not in the least our own BigL. Besides that he was a good presenter on the air. However too many people (including some of my friends) have money issues with him including people that ordered memorabilia on the Internet. That makes it hard for me to get excited about his undertakings.

Indeed Paul I too have some good friends owed money by Ray prior to his Big L days. There is no way I intend visiting this museum to line his pockets.

[simon d]

Many of the pirates in the 60s went bust owing thousands. Ronan lost 2 ships over unpaid bills etc in the early days. Yet many see the guy as a hero, not a villain who shafted his suppliers , staff etc when the ads dried up. He tried to keep his dream alive. Not defending anyone or taking sides but there is a point here.

[John Freeman]

Good point Simon, visionaries may not always be the best businessmen.
I remember being gutted when the chain store Borders went belly up, but my first thought was 'thanks for trying to be different and for creating a fantastic retail experience and ambience,' rather than feeling sorry for any suppliers who would have to take it on the chin, if they didn't have insurance in place.

[Keith Mardell]

Interesting to see that Mike Read was back in the area last Sunday and visited the Pirate Radio Museum.
With many CD's now on display for sale , I wonder if he recognised any of them?

On Tuesday (today) former Radio Caroline DJ, and now MP, Sir Roger Gale paid a visit.

[Welsh Shepherd]

Interesting to see that Mike Read was back in the area last Sunday and visited the Pirate Radio Museum.
With many CD's now on display for sale , I wonder if he recognised any of them?

On Tuesday (today) former Radio Caroline DJ, and now MP, Sir Roger Gale paid a visit.

Ha ha, yes I wonder if he did recognize any Keith

[Cookie]

Maybe Mike was hopeing they'd sell his autobiog.

[paulvos]

I understand Mike is presently trying to get into politics, so maybe there's a mix of reasons for the visit: to promote his stuff and to build his network for political reasons.

[Cookie]

Mike has long been involved in politics. He was at one point considering running for London Mayor, until Boris threw his hat in the ring. But yes Paul, you could well be right as he's now a big supporter of UKIP and I do believe there's something significant happening in Clacton romorrow.

[Cookie]

OT, but an interesting write-up on Mike and his autobiog. here: http://wirelesswaffle.wordpress.com/201 ... e-the-day/