Some Happy Kneeunions – and some sad goodbyes

Page Seven, April 2005 onwards.

April 2005
Corell's in Mexico
I am not 'missing' but nowadays I live in Mexico. I am in process of writing short stories about my experiences in the radio business. (I'm a published writer but it only occurred to me recently that my own adventures around the world are mad enough to make it an interesting read!)

Martin Newton was an old friend of mine, although I never met him during the pirate days, alas. I worked with him at Incomtel and various places around the globe, mainly in Africa. He was a wonderful person. Deep down I always expected that cigarettes would kill him. Of course, like Martin, I recall people like Philip Burch, Gerry O'Reilly, and so on. I need a scanner, I have so many photos! Best wishes -
Clive Warner ("Corell", on Caroline)

My own piece (about Radio Caroline, 1974) can be found at www.citiria.com/novelist

May 2005
Ben W writes from Launceston, Tasmania about RNI jock, Steven Ladd
Steve O as he's known now, is still on radio at City Park Radio FM 103.7 Launceston. He does the "Long Lunch" I've done six months as his producer. Somehow we got the to talking one day about the Pirate stations in Europe (as I grew up in Holland) and he told me he was part of RNI, as DJ Steven Ladd. He told me he had fun, but it is a lifetime ago. Ben W

June 2005
Geoffrey Pearson worked in Curzon Street
Radio London heard from Geoff Pearson, who was a salesman for Radlon Sales. Geoff now lives in Yorkshire and was preparing to produce a history of the pirates for a North Yorkshire Moors Railway charity event called Moors 65, to commemmorate the year that Lord Beeching closed many of the railways. Fortunately, we were able to assist Geoff with his project, and he has kindly scanned a nice Galaxy mess photo which has been added to the Minimemories Pages of Lil's 60s Scrapbook. Geoff plans to send more of his memories after the Moors '65 event, when he is not so busy.

June 2008
Jack Curtiss tracks down Johnny Dark
Jack tells how he finally found the former Radio England jock:

Well, folks I guess as the Fourth of July is near it's a good time for an update, regarding the Yank contingent of our Merry Band of Radio Outlaws. No, it's not about me - still happily ensconced in Adelaide and just turned 65 (eek!) - but someone else we've not heard of or from more than 41 years. Briefly, the word is Johnny Dark lives!

The irrepressible 'Dark Lord of the Night Ride' (aka Harry Putnam) is alive and well (apart from a couple of strokes). He's 72 years old and living with his wife Cher in Pasadena, Maryland, not that far from Towson, the Baltimore suburb where he worked years before coming to England.

Getting an invitation to the premiere of Grey Swinging Radio England documentary in the States - which I couldn't make - got me thinking of those lads still missing from the radio pirate rolls. It led me to make one more stab at locating Harry. I had tried a few times before, but there are just too many guys with the same name. This time, on Bob Le Roi's nostalgia site, I spotted a middle initial I hadn't seen previously and that did the trick. A half-hour later I was speaking with good old "Johnny Dark" himself. He was thrilled to hear from me and even more so to learn there were actually websites and fans avidly keeping up on what happened to us after all these many years. And of course he was quite saddened when I related the unhappy end of young Boom-Boom Brannigan's Virginia Odyssey.

August 2010
Heather Webber (née Hems) is trying to track down Brenda Cogdell

I am looking for Brenda Cogdell, who was secretary to Gordon Sheppard at 17 Curzon Street in the Sixties. I know she got married but do not know her married name. We were childhood friends around 1956 and went to a little dancing school together in Battersea. We entered competitions and did a duet together, where I was Tweety pie the bird and she was Sylvester the cat. It was great fun!

I wonder if anybody knows who she married and where she is? I am living in Cape Town South Africa now.

Please email Mary if you can help

That's the story so far... Stay tuned!
Still on our 'Missing Persons' list: Graham Johns (aka Tim Yale or Yail), Ron Rose (aka Ted Delaney), Rick Dane, Bill Hearne, Richard Warner, John York and Ray Glennister. Also looking for RNI jock Roger Kent.

In addition to the above list, we would like to contact any other staff from the offshore stations,. We would epecially like to hear from former members of the office staff of Radlon Sales Ltd, and listeners who won Radio London competitions.

According to information received by the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame, both Tom Hatala (Tom Cooper) and Henry Morgan, (aka Gerry Burke) are believed to be deceased.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of any ex-offshore personnel, or would like our assistance with your own search, please email us:

We know they are around somewhere, (i.e. not 'missing' as such), but we'd still love to hear from: Glenn Adams, Vince Rusty Allen, 'Neddy' Noel Miller, Pete Drummond and Russell Tollerfield.

The A-Z of Radio London Jocks courtesy of Keith Skues's book 'Pop Went the Pirates'

(To buy 'Pop Went the Pirates' click on the photo to obtain details via Amazon)

Chuck Blair, Tony Blackburn, Pete Brady, Tony Brandon, Dave Cash, Ian Damon, Chris Denning, Dave Dennis, Pete Drummond, John Edward, Kenny Everett, Graeme (Graham) Gill, Bill Hearne, Duncan Johnson, Paul Kaye, Lorne King, Mike Lennox, John Peel, Earl Richmond, Mark Roman, John Sedd, Keith Skues, Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, Norman St. John, Tommy Vance, Richard Warner, Willy Walker, Alan West, Tony Windsor and John York (or Yorke).

The ex-Big L jocks known to be deceased are:

Chuck Blair, Dave Dennis, Kenny Everett, Paul Kaye, John Peel, Earl Richmond, Tommy Vance and Tony Windsor.

Back to 'Jocks – Lost and Found'

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