Pre-History

"Radio Floss" were a breakaway from the seventies Medium Wave pirate "Celebration Radio"(See Links page).
                                                       Steve Jay,Andy Richards,Glen Johnson(Then known as Glen Scott),Bob Williams & Rick O'Shea were the founding members that broke away from "Celebration Radio" in late 1978.
                                                      The reasons for the split were that although "Celebration Radio" had good programmes,they could be a little self indulgent and the breakaway group felt they could create programmes with a wider appeal.There was also the problems of poor signals and lack of organisation.The new station,it was felt could address these problems.
                                But much had to be done.A studio had to be built.Transmitters constructed.Sites found and decisions to be made on programming and organisation.This would take time,at least a year.
                                                                 In the mean time the "Radio Floss" staff wanted to have a little fun too amidst all this hard work.
                                                    A broadcast was planned for Christmas of that year.A 100 watt transmitter was obtained as was a disco console with all the extra parts needed.The site was to be a house in the Stanmore area and a tall mast held up by guide wires was erected at the bottom of the garden.A wire was then thrown over the roof of the house and an inverted L aerial erected at the back of the house.
               One metre long rods were then banged into the ground at regular intervals beneath the aerial for the earth.
                                Next,the staff of "Celebration Radio" were invited to join in to have a live party on air over Christmas.It was decided to call the station "Take 5",partly with the idea of people "Taking 5" from the hectic christmas they were having to relax and listen to some fun radio.But mainly it was they wanted to use Dave Brubeck's instrumental(Take 5) as a theme tune!
                                            There was no organised format or programming.It was all done live and on the spur of the moment.Music was to be a mix of all types of rock music.
                        The transmissions began at 11.00 am on Christmas day and went through till 3.00 pm.The phone number given out for requests was actually the landline in the house!Broadcasts were resumed at midnight(Christmas day/Boxing day) and the phone began ringing as soon as the theme tune began,before a word had been spoken!The broadcast continued through the night and ended at about 3.00pm on Boxing day.
                     "Take 5" staff drove off on Christmas day to check out the signal.It was found that 5 miles away "BBC Radio 1",which broadcast on Medium Wave in those days,was no stronger than "Take5".A good signal then!This was borne out by the many phone calls received,mainly from all over North West London but from as far south as Chessington in Surrey and as far north as St.Albans in Hertfordshire.
                                        Christmas was over the New year,1979,had arrived so it was back to getting "Radio Floss" on the air.In the passing months "Celebration Radio" was to close and re-emerge as "Radio Orion" on FM.
                       By the summer of 1979 "Radio Floss" were almost ready to go.The studio was built,a couple of transmitters were ready and several transmission sites had been found.
                         The first test transmission from "Radio Floss" came from a site between Pinner and Ruislip on Sunday the 23rd of September 1979 on 222 metres(1350Khz) and ran from 11.00am till 2.30pm.Results were good.The signal was getting out well.But more transmitters and back up equipment was still needed,it was felt.
                                                         A second and final test was tried  from the same site on Sunday the 2nd of December  between  11.00am and 2.20pm,with similar results.
         "Radio Floss" were now ready to commence weekly broadcasts.It was decided to take a break over Christmas and start regular broadcasts in the new year.
  That Christmas day there were two pirate stations on the air,"Radio Jackie" of course,on 1332Khz and "Radio Xmas" on 1368Khz.But no "Radio Floss"...........

                                                  

History

"Radio Floss" began weekly transmissions on Sunday the 13th of January 1980 at 11.00am with a programme by Steve Jay.This was a fast moving oldies show with jingles and a sound of the old offshore pirates of the sixties.At midday it was the Bob Williams Show with a mix of album Rock music in the genre of Bruce Springsteen,The Who,Van Morrison etc.Lastly,at 1.00pm it was The Andy Richards Programme,which was a mixture of powerful Rock old and new,from Black Sabbath to Van Halen to The Stranglers to The Tom Robinson Band."Radio Floss was born................................
                      By the 30th of March broadcasts were extended to 11.00am till 4.00pm and soon after to 10.00am till 4.00pm.Programmes were all still one hour each,so many new presenters were added.
                                             Over the years the most succesful presenters in terms of audience reaction were;Paul James,Tim Allen,Ian Davidson,Glen Johnson and Andy Richards.Presenters came and went and programmes were swopped around.One of the best moves "Radio Floss" made was when Andy Richards was hosting "The Loud Show".He could see how popular it was becoming and on the one hand he thought Glen Johnson would be a better presenter as the show was getting wilder and wilder(This was an all out Metal show,as the programme title suggests) and on the other,he felt more comfortable presenting a hard rock show that was able to play some more melodic music.Glen Johnson agreed and so they swopped programmes.
                      The Andy Richards Show continued to be very succesful,but "The Loud Show" ,now hosted by Glen Johnson really took off and began to attract cult status.This was a signpost to the future,though it was not noticed at the time.
   Meanwhile,The Paul James Breakfast Show,was also extremely popular.This was a very slick and professional programme which was well structured and had lots of information,including free radio news.
                   As for Tim Allen,he was a revelation!This young kid,as he was then,was so bubbling with enthusiasm that it overflowed onto the airwaves in an extreme and zany form.His programmes were incredible fun and he was to do more later.At first,as a part time hobby he ran a station with the unlikely name of "Radio Duck",after he left "Radio Floss" this became,for a short while,a full blown Pop & Oldies station.Please see the "Links" page for a link to "Radio Duck".For Rock fans,be warned,this was not a Rock station,but you might find the site interesting anyway.
     By 1982,the station had been on the air for more than two years.Except for the odd raid or even rarer technical problems you could guarantee that at 10.00am every Sunday that they would be there on 222 metres,1350Khz with a great signal and entertaining programmes.Audience response backed up the fact that they were a huge success.But with success comes people deciding that this could be a way of getting  a step up in their careers.The first to leave was Steve Jay.He went off to join The Voice of Peace a Pirate ship broadcasting in the Med off the coast of Israel.He was later joined by two other members of Radio Floss staff,Paul James & Ian Stewart.
                                          This was to cause "Radio Floss" some problems,as it meant they would lose their studio and their chief transmitter builder.
                                                            Another transmitter engineer was found and both Tim Allen and Andy Richards had "Mobile studios" that could be used for recording programmes."Radio Floss" continued.
                                                                Paul James and Ian Stewart left soon after,firstly to join Thameside Radio & then later to join Steve Jay at The Voice of Peace.Paul James later joined "Radio Nova" which broadcast  on FM from the Italian mountains,beaming programmes in English to the ex-pat community on the Cote D'Azur in the south of France.He is now head of a legal local radio station which I cannot mention.
                  Meanwhile,the use of two temporary mobile studios was polarising the staff of "Radio Floss".The more commercial side of the station recorded programmes at Tim Allens studio and the Rock contingent recorded at Andy Richards studio.
               This led to a split,albeit an amicable one,and it was decided that there would now be two "Radio Floss"."Radio Floss North" on 222 metres broadcasting a Rock format and "Radio Floss South" on 217 metres broadcasting a more commercial format.
                   This was to last only a few weeks,with some exceptional programmes,especially from "Radio Floss South".But "Radio Floss South"  decided to close and pursue different avenues.So "Radio Floss North" took up the mantle of "Radio Floss",but now they were an out and out Rock station.
                                        Tim Allen went on to his Radio Duck project folowed by dabblings in various other Pirate stations before settling for a career in "proper radio".He is now programme controller for one of the UK's biggest radio networks.
                  At this time many new members joined the station,including Ian Davidson,who was to become yet another succesful presenter on the station.
                                         The idea to start a "Floss Rockshow" also emerged at this time.The basic principle was to promote new Rock bands by offering "Radio Floss" as the "support act" and advertising the gigs on the radio.This was influenced by the huge number of demo tapes from new bands that the station was receiving at the time.
                  The first gigs were at The Clarendon Hotel on Hammersmith Broadway,which had some success.The shows then moved to The White Hart in Acton,which was a larger venue and saw greater success,especially on the night Stampede played,supported by Megaton........what a night!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                               But "Radio Floss" soon discovered that bands were just too expensive and that the audience really only wanted to hear the "Floss Rockshow" and not all these new bands.It was decided that a more "Local" venue was needed and that it would just be a Hard Rock disco,without bands.The Roxborough Pub,in Harrow, was found and Saturday nights would never be the same again........................
                              It was 1984."Radio Floss" were broadcasting Hard Rock music programmes every Sunday from 10.00am till 4.00pm and "The Floss Rock show" were hosting Saturday nights at The Roxborough. This was a spiral of success.The radio station promoted the rockshow and the rockshow promoted the station............all was well at Floss................but not at the DTI.They could see that "Radio Floss" were rising in popularity.......something had to be done.
                        "Radio Floss" had not suffered particularly from DTI raids in its four year history,but now the DTI were interested and started raiding the station regularly.In early 1985 the intensity of the raids increased,but no-one was caught,only equipment lost.Finally,in the spring,"Radio Floss" suffered three raids in four weeks and on the last of these two members of staff were caught.
    In court they claimed to be listeners that had tracked the station down.The case was thrown out of court.But they were fined for listening to an illegal radio station......................
                  "Radio Floss" still had one mobile transmitter and a couple of big mains ones but it was decided that this was the end.The intensity of the DTI raids showed that they meant business and that they were determined to shut the station down.The staff were spending 6 hours on a Saturday recording programmes,of which only one & a half to two hours were going out,they were losing equipment & there was a real risk of staff getting caught.It was decided that "Radio Floss" would cease transmissions but that the "Floss Rockshow" would continue...............

Post History

"Radio Floss" is dead....................long live "The Floss Rockshow"!!!!!!!!!!!
                                          This was the state of mind of the staff at the time.Sad at the demise of the station but the show must go on..................and it did!
Till 1989.............but that's another story..............................
                                                             The above is a "Floss Rockshow" ticket for Christmas Eve  1988,the cartoon caricatures are of Rick O'Shea,Glen Johnson and Andy Richards,in that order.

Technical Stuff

Radio Floss had one 100 watt mains transmitter,one 50 watt mobile transmitter & plenty of 20 watt mobile transmitters.A mains transmitter is just that,it will only run off a mains power supply.A mobile transmitter would run off a car battery and could be used anywhere.
                                      The fact was that their signals were so good that everyone thought that they ran 50 to a 100 watts every week or more.The truth was that for more than 90% of transmissions,they ran no more than 20 watts.How did they achieve such great signals?
                      The secrets were;
1.Choice of location.
2.Aerial.
3.Earth.

Radio Floss always chose their sites very carefully.If possible they were on hills or at least high above sea level.They had to have very tall trees and at least  very wet soil,but usually a stream,river or lake.
                                               Glen Johnson was a keen fisherman & he & Rick O'Shea devised a way of getting aerials up that were higher than anyone else's & didn't involve climbing trees.They used a catapult,fishing wire & lead shot.With this they fired a cable over one,well chosen tree & another over another well chosen tree.
                          Then a pre - cut quarter wave aerial,their wavelength was 222 metres, so the aerial was 55.5  metres long,was raised first at one end &  then at the other.This gave an aerial that was an "Inverted L" but was about 33% vertical & 66% horizontal.
                       Then came the earth,which consisted of 6 copper rods,one metre long,banged down at one end like a spear,being bashed down into either the wet soil or the stream,river,lake or whatever water was available.
                                                               When all this was set up & the transmitter fired up,it was easy to load it up to get a huge signal.

Programmes.

Most transmissions were pre-recorded,though some were live,there was an attempt to make all programmes sound live & spontaneous.This was done by recording them back to back between 10am on a Saturday morning till 4pm in the afternoon,for broadcast at the same time the next day.This meant that presenters would turn up at the studios just before doing their programmes & often get involved in the previous shows and that presenters were under pressure to "do it live" as stopping the tape would delay everyone else during the day.This played a large part in the very live sound of Radio Floss's broadcasts.