Radio London
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Radio London as a name has many meanings:
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[edit] As used by the British Broadcasting Corporation:
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- During World War II the external broadcasts of the BBC were known to listeners in Nazi occupied Europe as Radio London. BBC external radio broadcasting operations are now identified as the BBC World Service.
- On October 6, 1970 the name was once again used by the BBC for their local station serving London and the Home Counties. The station was later renamed Greater London Radio (GLR) and finally BBC London 94.9.
[edit] As used by Wonderful Radio London in 1964 and subsequent revivals of this name:
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- During the period from 1964 to 1967 which became known as the "Swinging Sixties", Don Pierson of Eastland, Texas created a station aboard a former US minesweeper which was converted to an offshore or pirate radio station in Florida and anchored in the North Sea within listening range of London. England. The station adopted a prefix to its name as a result of jingles recorded by PAMS in Dallas with the identification of Wonderful Radio London. An alternative name 'Big L' was also created by the same jingle company after modifying the slogan of 'Big D' (as in Dallas).
- During 1984 an attempt was made to restart Wonderful Radio London using the same PAMS jingles, following the recreation of the original station sound as a radio program on a local Texas station owned by Don Pierson. Ben Toney (the original Texas station manager} became president of Wonderful Radio London International (WRLI) which syndicated the show to stations such as XERF in Mexico, while attempting to build a new offshore station aboard a new ship that would again anchor off the coast of south east England, but second phase of WRLI was not accomplished.
- During August 1997 and subsequently, a RSL was issued by UK authorities to British citizen Ray Anderson of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, for a 1 watt station to initially commemorate the 30th anniversary of the original Wonderful Radio London. The temporary stations were based upon leased vessels anchored close to the shore and within British territorial waters.
- During 2005 Ray Anderson leased time on a Dutch AM transmitter (1395 kHz AM) under the name of Radio London International. Both the original identification jingles recorded by PAMS for Wonderful Radio London and the slogan Big L were used. Due to contract disputes these broadcast transmissions did not continue, although its programs can still be heard via satellite and the Internet. But from Tuesday 19 September 2006 Big L can be heard again on the 1395 kHz AM. There is one remark: to prevent interference of Radio Tirana from Albania by Big L the 1395 kHz-transmitter at the Trintelhaven along the dike Enkhuizen-Lelystad in the Netherlands must be daily switched off from 7 PM till 10 PM British (Summer or Winter) Time.
[edit] As used by British commercial radio stations in London:
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- Easy Radio London was the name used by former RTL owned station Country 1035 after it was bought by Avtar Lit's Sunrise Radio group. This station also played some of the PAMS jingles first heard on the original Wonderful Radio London. Today the station can only be heard via the Internet.
- London Greek Radio broadcasting to the Greek-Cypriot community in London.
[edit] As used by non-broadcast Internet web sites:
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- wonderfulradiolondon.net is a site related to the history of Wonderful Radio London as told by the Don Pierson Memorial Library.
- radiolondon.co.uk supplies services to the BBC and commemorates both the original Wonderful Radio London started by Don Pierson in 1964 and the RSL station started by Ray Anderson in 1997.
- radiolondon.com is a news and information site owned and operated by the WN (World News) network.
[edit] References
- Radio London and Resistance in Occupied Europe: British Political Warfare 1939-1943, by Michael Stenton, ISBN 0-19-820843-X, Oxford University Press, November, 2000.
