It was a mad time after Caroline
disappeared, people were setting up small pirate stations on land &
I ran one with my cousins from the farm, I’d become Bob Le-Roi in
1965 taking the middle name of a friends brother. In those days it
was we weren’t so cosmopolitan, I found myself called ‘Lee Roy’,
which stuck for a number of years, I long since officially changed
my name. Anyway my cousin’s names being Lee we called it Lee & Roi
Radio. Overlooking the town we had the height & ran a simple
horizontal wire as an antenna from a home built AM TX on around
999.4 kHz
When the pirates closed I worked for
my family but it wasn’t a big enough challenge. So went into
Photography with R.E Cranfield, in Canterbury, at first I worked in
audio-visual grandly called Sound & Vision Department. Taking a step
into photography as the business expanded taking over Fisk Moore
Studios. I then joined my then wife’s father Bill Seymore’s
business; South Eastern Radio Electronic Distributors (SERED) Bill
had been a Radar Engineer and his best friend was Lawrence Bean
Chief Engineer on Radio 390, he also had a recording studio making
records on his Sovereign Label. We made our own speakers long
tall cabinets using old
drivers from old TV sets, believe it or not the quality was incredible.
I was given the task of running the P.A & recording the Diocesan
conferences at Canterbury Cathedral, installing a permanent speaker
system over the Nave. With my own keys to ‘Bell Harry’ I managed to
explore most of the hidden corners of the magnificent building. At the
same time I set up Photo-Radio a photographic and audio production unit,
most work being weddings, schools pictures and some portraiture. I
bought & refurbished cars whilst doing up my first house & other jobs
I hankered to go back into
radio & this came from Harold Rogers at BBC Radio Medway in 1973,
invited to cover Brian Falkner & David Cornett’s programmes with Sally
Kimber as producer. I also did outside interviews & worked the Radio
Car. I was to return in 1978 covering BBC Radio Kent daytime programmes,
in addition to working on producing & presenting a weekly evening show,
making an impact with a songwriter’s competition. I stayed as the
station moved from 30 High Street, Chatham to Sun Pier. I first met John
Ross-Barnard at BBC Kent he & Angella Bond came down to sort out our
music programming & library; I’ve still 100’s of records for their
pruning. 1978 – 1987
In tandem with the freelance
BBC work I’d had an informal interview with GEC Avionics. The Vietnam
War was raging and they were short of engineers. I sat through a
gruelling exchange with numerous circuits being thrown at me for
explanation. I joined the company & became commissioning engineer on the
A7 FLIR. Before taking up a reliability post on the F16 in 1980, this
led to extensive European travel & to Texas USA where I was introduced
to the manager of KFJZ/Z97 Fort Worth & invited to host the breakfast
show the next morning. I overlaid! But they were still amazingly keen so
I took the reigns ‘live’ the following day & left some shows on tape for
transmission after I returned to the UK, so sadly a one off
In 1983 Caroline returned, as well as
freelancing at the BBC I was now working for EPS Logistics, I’d moved
from US Air Force contracts to British Naval ones in Bath & Scotland,
all being subject to classification so I can’t say mre. I continued to
support Caroline whilst at the BBC even producing the odd show for
Caroline Overdrive. I’d became involved with tendering with Graham Croft
skipper of the ‘Henrietta’ we’ve been friends since childhood. We ran
supplies, even though I was at the BBC at the time & he was a Port
Controller. Quite often the Customs guys would wander by the quay as we
loaded yell a greeting ”Happy fishing, oh play me a song about 12.30
would you”. Colin senior engineer at BBC Kent often gave useful bits to
help the station, getting them to the ship
under the noses of the DTI during 1985
Eurosiege was interesting. On occasions we’d weight boxes with bricks so
we could commit them to the deep if the monitoring vessels came after
us! 1983 – 1987
In 1988 I set up a Commercial
Production facility writing, voicing & producing commercials & audio. I
pitched several new programme strands to the BBC Network with one
narrowly missed being commissioned, reason given I hadn’t have a
house-hold name presenter. I then joined Invicta Radio initially
covering the weekly rock programme presented in the familiar Caroline
style. I stayed for many years settling on Drive Time. 1988 – 1993
In addition I produced a weekly
specialist music show programme on Trevor Brooks Irish short wave
Station Radio Fax the Number Two Short Wave Giant. 1992 - 1993
The Invicta Group was eventually
bought by Southern Radio & became a very unhappy ship the gang of three
Rory McCloud, Jeremy Scott & Guy Hornsby made things uncomfortable for
everyone. I’d been doing shows elsewhere, unlike Invicta management they
didn’t like anyone working anywhere else. Coupled by the fact that
Programme Manager Francis Curry was looking for digs. I was eased out in
favour of someone who was desperate for a gig with a sweetener of a
flat. No names no pack drill but in late 2008 he made the headlines &
became a guest of Her Majesty for all the wrong reasons! So I left in
1993 taking up an invitation to work at Juke Box Memories, the ILR
sustaining station. Shows were recorded onto VHS Tape at East Anglia
Promotions Frinton-on-Sea, the former Mellow 1557 (Invicta) studios
In 1994 I was asked by David Lucas to
join the Channel Travel Radio team on the basis of a proposal I’d made
for a more information-based service. This wasn’t adopted but I did
spend a period at the Folkestone Terminal working for David alongside
Lisa Kerr and Michaela Seguol. One of the most memorable times being
snowed in for a continuous 17-hour on-air stretch
I ‘d already become involved with
future Kent ILR licences. I campaigned for the 105 – 108 mHz frequency
clearance debacles from 1992 making a case for a new wave of stations;
this included debates with MP’s at the Houses of Commons. I worked on
all the Kent applications; Canterbury (EKR later CTFM) Thanet (TLR)
Dover (The Sound, White Cliffs, Neptune) & my own station Medway (Medway
FM)
With forebears that built barges I ’d
always been around boats & sailed from a young age, being reasonably
experienced in a nautical environment I was asked onto the ship borne
commemorative broadcasts of Radio London in 1997 from the ‘Yeoman Rose’
& Clacton in 1999, & Radio Northsea International on the Ex-Light Vessel
18 moored off Jaywick in 1999 & in Harwich Harbour in 2001
Having been invited by Chairman Dave
Rackham I’d joined a Medway radio group in 1993, at best they were
enthusiastic amateurs, like the early pirates. I became Programme
Director running a couple of RSL’s I then concentrated effort on gaining
a full term licence
Once we’d won the Medway licence &
launched in 1996 it became clear that the station, last of the fully
fledged ILR’s ahead of the ‘Sallies’, was a fruit ripe for the picking.
We had radio groups nipping at our heels from the minute we came on air.
As P.D I achieved 20% market share in Medway, my personal RAJAR being
best on the station. From 1999 I began producing programmes for
Caroline’s new satellite service as time permitted. The ‘Daily Mail
Group’ eventually made an offer for Medway FM we couldn’t refuse &
bought us in 2000. I continued as Programme Director working with Paul
Chandler & piloted the brand change to Mercury, also coaching & training
staff & later Councillors/MP’s for media interview. But it soon became
apparent that GWR (Great Western Radio) were the ones that wanted
ownership. GWR was to dispense with my services in late 2000. I in turn
set-up my own Media website, published as a monthly magazine it enjoys
10’s of thousand of visits each month
In 2002 I met up again with Prince
Michael Bates, we’d known one another some years & I’d spent three years
producing the Radio Essex Documentary. He thought I might like to go out
to Sealand (Roughs) to complete the story. So I by default became a
Sealander working as one of the crew for a couple of months. I recorded
interviews for follow up documentaries & actuality for the DVD ‘Sealand
the Grand Tour’. Whilst running Medway I’d been over to Malta & played
around having busman’s holidays on Calypso 102. Steve Joy my breakfast
jock had previously worked at Calypso, missing the lifestyle and weather
he’d returned. I took the ride out to the holiday islands a number of
times. Then at the invitation of the owner Paul Portelli, footloose and
fancy free with a few shillings in my pocket I returned to Malta in 2002
to stay & re-brand the on air image for Calypso FM. In just three months
taking the multilingual station from nowhere to number two after the
native speaking state station. In 2003 I returned to UK to flirt with
television as a transmission controller continuity announcer at BFBS but
I didn’t take to the medium, its not radio! I continued work in ComProd
writing, & producing commercials & voice-overs. I also speak on
broadcast history & its links with Kent from the 1920’s to date. The
audio-visual presentations encompass the Offshore Years & spawned the
book ‘Making Waves’ with others in the pipeline. Recognised by the BBC I
took a lead in a two-week programme for BBC Radio 2
In 2006 I programmed, produced &
presented with a colleague Europa Radio International (ERI) a short wave
station running on a 500kw transmitter from Eastern Europe
An unexpected & unlikely project came
in 2007 as I was commissioned to write, voice all the character parts &
produce a series of thirty comedy programmes for GWR
In early 2007 I came full circle with
a return to the Forts with my ‘brain child’ Red Sands Radio. Intended as
a one off to raise the profile of the Fort restoration project on the
anniversary of the closure of the first wave of pirates. Radio Invicta,
KING & later 390, had used the original (G1) Tower which despite the
incredible challenge of establishing a radio station on the Forts 40
years after being abandoned. Red Sands Radio captivated the imagination
of many & proved a phenomenal success. We enjoyed massive media coverage
in the UK & overseas, leading to inclusion in BBC’s ‘Coast’ programme.
The venture was a remarkable success & came back with a new programme
philosophy in 2008 and 2009 the project is still active and we’ll be
back in July 2010 thereafter & perhaps all things being equal will apply
for a full term licence
I also host a number of ‘live’ days
throughout the local calendar including Whitstable Harbour Day, WWII
Weekend & part of the Oyster Festival
I’ve worked for European KlassiK RocK,
I present the breakfast show on the Voice of Peace & am about to join
the team at Radio Seagull
