Radio Atlantis
Encyclopedia
Radio Atlantis was a Belgian
-owned offshore pirate radio
station which operated between 1973 and 1974 from the coast of The Netherlands. Belgium had passed a law outlawing offshore broadcasting in 1962, but because its neighbour The Netherlands had not yet passed a similar law, there was nothing the Belgian authorities could do (at least directly) to prevent a Dutch-language station aimed at a Flemish audience from broadcasting from off the Dutch coast.
to broadcast taped programmes aimed at Flemish and Dutch audiences from Caroline's ship MV Mi Amigo (My Friend in Spanish), then anchored off the coast of Scheveningen, Netherlands. The programmes were recorded in a studio at Oostburg
, Netherlands.
It was originally intended that programmes would begin on July 15, 1973 using the Mi Amigo's 10 kilowatt transmitter on 773 kHz (388 metres, announced as 385). In readiness for this Atlantis adopted a postal address of Postbus 385, Oostburg, which remained the station's address throughout its lifetime.
This plan went awry when it was discovered that the Mi Amigo's 773 kHz transmitter crystal had gone missing. The crystal, which was about the size of a matchbox, had been used as a replacement pawn for the ship's chess
board, and had apparently been thrown overboard when the chess set was replaced.
Consequently when Radio Atlantis launched it was on the Mi Amigo's 50 kilowatt transmitter, on Caroline's main frequency of 1187 kHz (253 m), although all of the DJ announcements originally gave the wavelength as 385. It has been claimed that Atlantis was the only offshore radio station ever to launch on its announced date, even though it was on the wrong frequency.
In October 1973 the Mi Amigo's 180-foot lattice antenna mast (itself a replacement for the tubular steel mast that had collapsed a year earlier) fell into the sea during a storm. Caroline's engineers rigged up a temporary horizontal wire antenna but this could only achieve very limited coverage.
At this point Atlantis decided to terminate its contract with Caroline and acquire a ship of its own. Meanwhile Caroline was approached by another Belgian businessman, Sylvain Tack, who had plans for a new Flemish/Dutch station, later to be known as Radio Mi Amigo.
(NOTE: sources differ as to the spelling of the ship's name; alternative spellings include Janine, Janiene and Jeanine. Even the station's official QSL card gives the spelling as Jeaniane. The spelling given in this article is the one actually painted on the ship's bow.)
The Janeine was equipped with a transmitter that had formerly belonged to Radio 270
and Capital Radio
(the 1970 pirate station of that name). By this time, however, the transmitter had been cannibalized for spare parts and had to be rebuilt. A new studio had to be built from scratch, and Atlantis commissioned a new antenna mast from a Dutch shipyard to replace the ship's existing T-aerial
.
The story of what happened to the mast is a matter of dispute between Radio Atlantis and Radio Caroline. According to Atlantis, Caroline stole the mast to replace the one it had lost. According to Caroline, Atlantis had not paid for the mast so Caroline made an offer to buy it instead. Whatever the truth of the matter, the mast found its way to the Mi Amigo instead of the Janeine.
Test transmissions from the Janeine began at Christmas 1973 using the repaired transmitter and T-aerial. In an attempt to achieve better coverage of Belgium the ship was anchored close to the Belgian border, 12 miles from Knokke
. Official programming began on December 30. Two days later rival station Radio Mi Amigo went on the air with 50 kilowatts, using the mast that Atlantis had commissioned.
In addition to its regular taped Flemish and Dutch programmes by day Atlantis also broadcast an "International Service" (in practice, an all-English
service) from the Janeine by night. This did not carry commercials but was entirely subsidised by the Flemish Service.
Ex-Caroline DJ Steve England
was appointed Programme Director for the International Service. England had grown dissatisfied with Caroline's album rock oriented format, and so he insisted that Atlantis's format should be heavily singles-oriented. Presentation was to be upbeat, fun and humorous, and punctuated by frequent American jingles, as an homage to the pirates of the previous decade
.
Most of the English programmes were presented live from the ship, although there were also some taped shows. British
DJ Ray Warner recorded his programmes in England, in deliberate contravention of the 1967 Marine Offences Act.
With its cobbled-together transmitter and inefficient antenna Atlantis never achieved very strong coverage of Britain, but nevertheless gained a small but loyal cult following
.
In July 1974 the Belgian authorities threatened Atlantis's advertisers with prosecution under the 1962 Law. The wealthy Van Landschoot's response was to cancel all advertising contracts and meet the station's running costs (estimated at the equivalent of £1,500 sterling per week) out of his own pocket.
By this time it was clear that the station's days were numbered. The Dutch Government had finally drafted an anti-pirate bill which was due to come into effect on September 1.
The following day a tug raised the Jeanine's anchor and towed the ship into Vlissingen Harbour. The station had been broadcasting announcements asking fans to meet the ship at Vlissingen and say their goodbyes, and a crowd of 1,000 turned up to greet the Janeine's arrival.
Van Landschoot was fined 1,500,000 francs
and threatened with five years' imprisonment
under the 1962 Act. After appealing directly to King Baudouin, he had his sentence suspended and his fine halved.
Radio Atlantis's theme tune was Jerry Lordan
's Atlantis. The Flemish service used a cover version by The Spoetniks, while the International Service used the original by The Shadows
.
off the British coast and began to make structural improvements and modifications. On December 19 the boarders and their equipment were removed by the British authorities. It is believed that this may have been an abortive attempt to relaunch Radio Atlantis. Gunfleet is owned by Trinity House
, which because of its responsibility to ensure the safety of shipping does not tolerate trespassers on any of its properties.
The mast that Radio Atlantis commissioned remained standing aboard the Mi Amigo until the ship sank in 1980, and thereafter remained above water as a marker of the wreck's position for several years.
Meanwhile Radio Mi Amigo, which parted company with Caroline in 1978, was relaunched from its own vessel, MV Magdalena, in the summer of 1979, although this only lasted for a few months. It was not until 1999 that Van Landschoot admitted that he had been involved with the relaunch of his former rival station.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
-owned offshore pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station which operated between 1973 and 1974 from the coast of The Netherlands. Belgium had passed a law outlawing offshore broadcasting in 1962, but because its neighbour The Netherlands had not yet passed a similar law, there was nothing the Belgian authorities could do (at least directly) to prevent a Dutch-language station aimed at a Flemish audience from broadcasting from off the Dutch coast.
Beginnings
In 1973 Belgian millionaire Adriaan van Landschoot signed a three-month contract with Radio CarolineRadio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
to broadcast taped programmes aimed at Flemish and Dutch audiences from Caroline's ship MV Mi Amigo (My Friend in Spanish), then anchored off the coast of Scheveningen, Netherlands. The programmes were recorded in a studio at Oostburg
Oostburg
Oostburg is a town in the south-western Netherlands. It is the largest town in the municipality of Sluis, in the province of Zeeland. As of 1 January 2005, its population is 5,008. It received city rights in 1237....
, Netherlands.
It was originally intended that programmes would begin on July 15, 1973 using the Mi Amigo's 10 kilowatt transmitter on 773 kHz (388 metres, announced as 385). In readiness for this Atlantis adopted a postal address of Postbus 385, Oostburg, which remained the station's address throughout its lifetime.
This plan went awry when it was discovered that the Mi Amigo's 773 kHz transmitter crystal had gone missing. The crystal, which was about the size of a matchbox, had been used as a replacement pawn for the ship's chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
board, and had apparently been thrown overboard when the chess set was replaced.
Consequently when Radio Atlantis launched it was on the Mi Amigo's 50 kilowatt transmitter, on Caroline's main frequency of 1187 kHz (253 m), although all of the DJ announcements originally gave the wavelength as 385. It has been claimed that Atlantis was the only offshore radio station ever to launch on its announced date, even though it was on the wrong frequency.
Broadcasts from MV Mi Amigo
The Caroline DJs who played the Atlantis tapes soon realised that many of the programmes overran their allotted lengths and had to be faded out early to make room for the following ones. A message was sent to the Oostburg studios reminding the Atlantis DJs that there were only 60 minutes in an hour.In October 1973 the Mi Amigo's 180-foot lattice antenna mast (itself a replacement for the tubular steel mast that had collapsed a year earlier) fell into the sea during a storm. Caroline's engineers rigged up a temporary horizontal wire antenna but this could only achieve very limited coverage.
At this point Atlantis decided to terminate its contract with Caroline and acquire a ship of its own. Meanwhile Caroline was approached by another Belgian businessman, Sylvain Tack, who had plans for a new Flemish/Dutch station, later to be known as Radio Mi Amigo.
The Janeine
Atlantis bought the Zondaxonagon, a small and poorly-equipped radio ship that had briefly broadcast Dutch religious programmes under the name Radio Condor. Van Landschoot renamed the ship MS Janeine after his wife.(NOTE: sources differ as to the spelling of the ship's name; alternative spellings include Janine, Janiene and Jeanine. Even the station's official QSL card gives the spelling as Jeaniane. The spelling given in this article is the one actually painted on the ship's bow.)
The Janeine was equipped with a transmitter that had formerly belonged to Radio 270
Radio 270
Radio 270 was a pirate radio station serving Yorkshire and the North East of England from 1966 to 1967. It broadcast from a converted Dutch lugger called Oceaan 7 positioned in international waters off Scarborough, North Yorkshire.-Origins :...
and Capital Radio
Capital Radio (pirate)
Capital Radio was a pirate radio station which operated from international waters off the coast of the Netherlands in 1970.The station was set up by Canadian idealist Tim Thomason...
(the 1970 pirate station of that name). By this time, however, the transmitter had been cannibalized for spare parts and had to be rebuilt. A new studio had to be built from scratch, and Atlantis commissioned a new antenna mast from a Dutch shipyard to replace the ship's existing T-aerial
T-aerial
A T-aerial is an antenna used for VLF, LF, MF and shortwave transmission or reception.It consists of a horizontal wire suspended between two radio masts or towers. A vertical wire is connected to the middle of the horizontal wire and hangs down close to the ground, where it is connected to the...
.
The story of what happened to the mast is a matter of dispute between Radio Atlantis and Radio Caroline. According to Atlantis, Caroline stole the mast to replace the one it had lost. According to Caroline, Atlantis had not paid for the mast so Caroline made an offer to buy it instead. Whatever the truth of the matter, the mast found its way to the Mi Amigo instead of the Janeine.
Test transmissions from the Janeine began at Christmas 1973 using the repaired transmitter and T-aerial. In an attempt to achieve better coverage of Belgium the ship was anchored close to the Belgian border, 12 miles from Knokke
Knokke
Knokke is one of a group of communities that are all grouped in the administrative community Knokke-Heist, in the province of West Flanders in Flanders, Belgium. Knokke itself has 15,653 inhabitants .Knokke-Heist has 33,818 inhabitants ....
. Official programming began on December 30. Two days later rival station Radio Mi Amigo went on the air with 50 kilowatts, using the mast that Atlantis had commissioned.
In addition to its regular taped Flemish and Dutch programmes by day Atlantis also broadcast an "International Service" (in practice, an all-English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
service) from the Janeine by night. This did not carry commercials but was entirely subsidised by the Flemish Service.
Ex-Caroline DJ Steve England
Steve England
Steve England has spent over 35 years in radio production and at present runs a jingle production company in Leek, Staffordshire, which was established in 1997...
was appointed Programme Director for the International Service. England had grown dissatisfied with Caroline's album rock oriented format, and so he insisted that Atlantis's format should be heavily singles-oriented. Presentation was to be upbeat, fun and humorous, and punctuated by frequent American jingles, as an homage to the pirates of the previous decade
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
.
Most of the English programmes were presented live from the ship, although there were also some taped shows. British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
DJ Ray Warner recorded his programmes in England, in deliberate contravention of the 1967 Marine Offences Act.
With its cobbled-together transmitter and inefficient antenna Atlantis never achieved very strong coverage of Britain, but nevertheless gained a small but loyal cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
.
In July 1974 the Belgian authorities threatened Atlantis's advertisers with prosecution under the 1962 Law. The wealthy Van Landschoot's response was to cancel all advertising contracts and meet the station's running costs (estimated at the equivalent of £1,500 sterling per week) out of his own pocket.
By this time it was clear that the station's days were numbered. The Dutch Government had finally drafted an anti-pirate bill which was due to come into effect on September 1.
Closedown
Atlantis's Flemish Service closed down on August 25. For the station's final week the International Service ran 24 hours per day, finally closing down with a "Goodbye Party" from 6:00 to 7:05 PM on August 31.The following day a tug raised the Jeanine's anchor and towed the ship into Vlissingen Harbour. The station had been broadcasting announcements asking fans to meet the ship at Vlissingen and say their goodbyes, and a crowd of 1,000 turned up to greet the Janeine's arrival.
Van Landschoot was fined 1,500,000 francs
Belgian franc
The franc was the currency of Belgium until 2002 when the euro was introduced into circulation. It was subdivided into centimes , 100 centiem or Centime .-History:...
and threatened with five years' imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
under the 1962 Act. After appealing directly to King Baudouin, he had his sentence suspended and his fine halved.
Radio Atlantis's theme tune was Jerry Lordan
Jerry Lordan
Jerry Lordan , born Jeremiah Patrick Lordan in Paddington, west London, was an English songwriter, composer and singer.-Career:...
's Atlantis. The Flemish service used a cover version by The Spoetniks, while the International Service used the original by The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
.
After Atlantis
In September 1974 several people with broadcasting equipment, including a 10 kilowatt transmitter, boarded the long-abandoned Gunfleet LighthouseGunfleet Lighthouse
Gunfleet Lighthouse is a screw-pile lighthouse lying in the North Sea, six miles off the coast at Frinton-on-Sea in Essex constructed in 1850 by James Walker of Trinity House. It is 74 feet in height and hexagonal in plan; mounted on seven piles forming a steel lattice and originally painted red...
off the British coast and began to make structural improvements and modifications. On December 19 the boarders and their equipment were removed by the British authorities. It is believed that this may have been an abortive attempt to relaunch Radio Atlantis. Gunfleet is owned by Trinity House
Trinity House
The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...
, which because of its responsibility to ensure the safety of shipping does not tolerate trespassers on any of its properties.
The mast that Radio Atlantis commissioned remained standing aboard the Mi Amigo until the ship sank in 1980, and thereafter remained above water as a marker of the wreck's position for several years.
Meanwhile Radio Mi Amigo, which parted company with Caroline in 1978, was relaunched from its own vessel, MV Magdalena, in the summer of 1979, although this only lasted for a few months. It was not until 1999 that Van Landschoot admitted that he had been involved with the relaunch of his former rival station.