Reveille Round-up

Brian Nichols, who runs the Felixstowe and Offshore Radio Facebook Page was interested to see the Reveille billboard poster (top left) from the Mark Roman collection. It's topped by a pirate cartoon. (bottom left)

The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame has a Reveille cutting of the Atlanta programme schedule, so we can hazard a guess that the missing section of Brian's poster would have read "programme schedules in" with the Reveille logo at the bottom.

After leaving the Galaxy in 1965, Pete Brady recorded sponsored 'Reveille Sound Off' programmes ashore. A later host was Ray Roberts and Hans Knot has identified the theme from a 1966 Reveille Sound Off as 'Slow Boat' by Tony Crombie and his Orchestra. This particular edition was broadcast on Radio London, but it's very likely that the same programme was also going out on Caroline. It is probably mere coincidence that Tony Crombie was the drummer who, alongside Tony Thorpe, accompanied Jimmy Smith for his historic broadcast from the deck of the Mi Amigo on May 5th 1965.

It is not known how many of the offshore stations carried the 'Reveille Sound-off' sponsored programme. Big L and the two Caroline stations all did, but what about the others?

Reveille was a tabloid newspaper belonging to the Mirror group, which later evolved into a magazine, known for its glamour pin-ups. The paper is well-remembered for producing a giant (60 inches x 40 inches) Beatles poster in colour, with facsimile signatures. Hundreds of fans sent off to the paper to obtain a copy – which was sent folded – to adorn their bedroom wall. In July 1963, the Fab Four had posed on the beach for photographer Dezo Hoffman while in Weston-Super-Mare for a week of concerts. Reveille offered the poster of the Fabs posing in striped Edwardian bathing-costumes and straw boaters in its 1964 New Year edition. Over 50 years later, copies can command high prices.

Brian Nichols also very kindly shared three colour photos of the Galaxy from 1967, when she was painted green. The pictures were supplied by David Baker, having been donated to him by a fellow offshore radio fan, who was relocating to Ireland. However, the identity of the photographer is uncertain. Nobody is sure if the person now residing in Ireland took them, or if they had been acquired from someone else.

Something about which we are uncertain is whether the Galaxy was specifically repainted in advance knowing that the station was closing down and who was responsible for the repainting. Was it the crew on board, or were outside painters employed?

Click on the small photos to see larger versions.)