Radio Atlanta
Encyclopedia
Radio Atlanta named after Atlanta, Texas
Atlanta, Texas
Atlanta is a city in Cass County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 5,745.-Geography:Atlanta is located at ....

, was an offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 12 May 1964 to 2 July 1964 from a ship anchored in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea
Frinton-on-Sea
Frinton-on-Sea is a small seaside town in the Tendring District of Essex, England. It is part of the Parish of Frinton and Walton.-History:...

, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The radio broadcasting vessel was owned, at that time, by Gordon McLendon
Gordon McLendon
Gordon Barton McLendon was a radio pioneer and pirate radio broadcaster. He has been coined the Maverick of Radio. McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, with great commercial success, the Top 40 radio format during the 1950s and 1960s which was first invented by Todd Storz and for developing...

 and Clint Murchison of Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

 and leased to British company for day to day operations.

While the station was dubbed as a 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, its actual operation took place within the laws of the day and its offices were located in the heart of the Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

 district of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Its radio advertising sales management was vested in company known as Project Atlanta, Ltd., which had been specifically formed by British political, banking, theatrical and music publishing interests.

Origin of the station

The on air studio and 10,000 watt AM transmitter of Radio Atlanta were located on board the motor vessel . This radio ship had been originally converted and outfitted (under the name MV Bon Jour) as the home of the offshore Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 station Radio Nord
Radio Nord
Radio Nord was a Swedish offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 from a ship anchored in international waters of the Baltic Sea off Stockholm, Sweden. While the station was dubbed as a pirate radio station, its actual operation took place within the laws...

 by the radio interests of Gordon McLendon and financed by fellow Texan Clint Murchison. Jack Kotschack had previously represented the sales operation in Stockholm, Sweden as Radio Nord, and Australian music publisher Alan Crawford represented the sales and programming operation in Britain under the new name of Radio Atlanta. Crawford was doing business and residing in England.

Station history

Following the closure of Radio Nord
Radio Nord
Radio Nord was a Swedish offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 from a ship anchored in international waters of the Baltic Sea off Stockholm, Sweden. While the station was dubbed as a pirate radio station, its actual operation took place within the laws...

 by Swedish legislation, the radio ship sailed for Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

 where she remained for a year until 1963. The vessel was stripped of its broadcasting equipment. This meant that when Crawford finally managed to acquire the ship, it was necessary to refit it as a radio station.

Meanwhile Ronan O'Rahilly
Ronan O'Rahilly
Ronan O'Rahilly is an Irish businessman best known for the creation of the offshore radio station, Radio Caroline.O'Rahilly's parents owned the private port of Greenore in Carlingford Lough, County Louth...

 had acquired the Mclendon business plan from Crawford and showed it to associates of Jocelyn Stevens
Jocelyn Stevens
Sir Jocelyn Stevens, CVO is the former publisher of Queen Magazine; a financier of the first British pirate radio station Radio Caroline; newspaper editor for major London dailies and former chairman of English Heritage.-Career:...

, and used the blueprint to create another station called Radio Caroline
Radio 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...

. O'Rahilly offered Crawford the use of the O'Rahilly family port at Greenore
Greenore
Greenore is a small town, townland and deep water port on Carlingford Lough in County Louth, Ireland. The population of Greenore and the surrounding rural area was 898 in the 2002 Irish census....

 in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 in exchange for use of the Crawford recording studio for the venture represented by O'Rahilly.

Both Crawford and O'Rahilly admit that, while the two ships were being fitted out, numerous acts of mutual sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...

 occurred, with each company doing its best to delay the other's launch. The Mi Amigo was first to leave Greenore, but problems with the rigging supporting its antenna mast meant that the ship had to put in at Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

 for repairs, and because of this delay Radio Caroline went on air first, on March 28, 1964.

Radio Atlanta began test broadcasts on the 12 May 1964. Its earliest tests were on 1520 kHz (197 metres), the same frequency as Caroline, after Caroline's evening closedown and were clearly intended to steal Caroline's audience. Official programming began shortly afterward on 1495 kHz (201 metres).

The majority of Radio Atlanta's programmes were pre-recorded in London and were rushed out to the ship for transmission on the same day or the next. On occasions when bad weather made this impossible, the onboard DJs had to present more live shows.

Radio Atlanta remained on the air for less than 2 months, until 2 July 1964. Audiences and advertising revenue had not lived up to expectations, and Crawford was reluctantly forced to join with O'Rahilly's Caroline, and become Radio Caroline South.

For further information, see Radio Caroline
Radio 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...


After Atlanta

Crawford's "Project Atlanta" remained in control of Caroline South until late 1965, but the station continued to lose ground as new stations came on the air, notably Radio London
Wonderful Radio London
Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...

. Eventually Crawford pulled out, leaving O'Rahilly in charge of both Caroline ships, and Caroline South's audience figures improved under its new management.

See also

  • Clint Murchison - Texas entrepreneur and promoter of U.S. political interests
  • Gordon McLendon
    Gordon McLendon
    Gordon Barton McLendon was a radio pioneer and pirate radio broadcaster. He has been coined the Maverick of Radio. McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, with great commercial success, the Top 40 radio format during the 1950s and 1960s which was first invented by Todd Storz and for developing...

     - U.S. broadcasting pioneer from Texas who created Radio Nord
  • Radio Nord
    Radio Nord
    Radio Nord was a Swedish offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 from a ship anchored in international waters of the Baltic Sea off Stockholm, Sweden. While the station was dubbed as a pirate radio station, its actual operation took place within the laws...

     - Swedish offshore radio ship that became the new home of Radio Atlanta
  • Ronan O'Rahilly
    Ronan O'Rahilly
    Ronan O'Rahilly is an Irish businessman best known for the creation of the offshore radio station, Radio Caroline.O'Rahilly's parents owned the private port of Greenore in Carlingford Lough, County Louth...

     - Owner of Radio Caroline
    Radio 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...

  • Oliver Smedley
    Oliver Smedley
    Major Oliver Smedley MC was a British businessman involved in classical liberal politics and pirate radio. He was acquitted of the murder of a business rival on the grounds of self-defence.-Military:...

     - British Army Major, Liberal Party member and promoter of Radio Atlanta
  • Radio Caroline
    Radio 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...

    - Radio Atlanta became Radio Caroline South.

External links

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