Thameside Radio

Thameside Radio 90.2 was an influential, popular and ground breaking pirate radio station in London, England. It broadcast between 1977 and 1983.

Early days

Thameside began full time broadcasting in the Winter of 1977. According to Time Out [ Time Out issue 449 March 23rd 1979] the station offered "very slick pop rock with competitions - this is the nearest we have to US-FM presentation "

The original [http://www.thamesideradio.net/info.htm information sheets] show that the shows were just one hour long. A [http://www.box.net/shared/static/8or35ns7ob.mp3 recoding from June 1978] held by [http://radio.eric.tripod.com/thameside_radio.htm Radio Eric] has a Bob Edwards presenting with a dry, matter-of-fact style. The competitions had small prizes such as a Thameside pen, badge or a packet of Spangles. Bob's shows were tightly formatted - the competition at 10 past the hour, the Beatles at 35 past the hour etc. Occasionally there was a show presented by Tony Lloyd [http://www.box.net/public/static/7nfhpvvgq0.mp3] who had more laid back rocky tastes. In contrast to Bob's rigid singles based format Tony would think nothing of playing a complete side of a Pink Floyd album.

One of the early hints that there was more to Thameside Radio than just the music and presentation was their first outside broadcast [http://thamesideradio.net/events.htm] . To celebrate their birthday they invited listeners to a "birthday party" in Hyde Park. A large group of people turned up at Lancaster Gate tube station. This was unusual - generally pirates were fiercely anonymous. But instead of just the chance to simply meet fellow listeners and perhaps a DJ Bob had a microphone with him and was presenting live, on-air, with the records being mixed in back in the studio.

This use of by a pirate of radio links for outside broadcasts was a first. Most other stations relied on pre-recording their shows and running the transmitters from a time switch.

Thameside's broadcasts had a high level of technical quality and reliability. This was due to a number of factors:

They used entirely solid state components. Both the exciter [http://www.thamesideradio.net/driver.htm] and [http://www.thamesideradio.net/rig_thamesidepa.jpgpower stage] were completely transistor and IC based [http://www.rockradio.freeserve.co.uk/rig_thameside.htm] - this made them less fragile than the more common valve based designs (all low and medium power transmitters are now solid state) [http://www.sbsfm.com/]

They used printed circuit boards and purpose built boxes for their transmitters [http://www.thamesideradio.net/Thameside%20Radio%20driver.jpg] in contrast to Veroboard and old biscuit tins used by the few other pirates. This meant that they were easy to build and more likely to work first time. They had highly stable transmitter designs: Subsequent research [http://www.rockradio.freeserve.co.uk/rigs.htm] shows that they were very stable due to their low current oscillator circuit and high impedance buffer stage.

They used very effective transmitter sites, generally tall tower blocks. The Richmond and Twickenham times describes the use of "A certain Notting Hill tower block" ["Richmond & Twickenham Times", "Secret auperbeam - Pirate radio defies Post Office", Frances Welch , November 28 1981)] . The Wikipedia entry for Trellick Tower in Notting Hill, the tallest residential block in the UK at the time describes its use by Thameside Radio

Even when not running outside broadcasts Thameside's technical facilities were excellent. Photographs [http://clockworkradio.bravehost.com/thameside.swf] and information sheets [http://www.thamesideradio.net/info.htm] describe the purpose built studio with three record decks, integrated telephone facilities to take listeners calls, jingle machines and reel to reel facilities. They were also early users of the Dolby FM standard to reduce background noise and improve reception.

Years of success

After the first year the shows grew to three hours. [http://clockworkradio.bravehost.com/thameside.swf] The final hour was called The Intrepid Birdman Show. Dave (The Birdman) had for a while been producing jingles and inserts [http://www.thamesideradio.net/jingles.htm] for the station. He now started producing finely crafted one hour shows which mixed comedy, sketches and music.

Increasingly listeners contributed material including, notably, a complete set of professional theme tunes [http://www.thamesideradio.net/mp3/Thameside%20-%20New%20Theme.mp3] . The special broadcasts became more common - some from public venues, some from listeners' homes.

The station's personality grew and matured. Listeners could buy t-shirts and sweatshirts as well as car stickers, pens and badges. Recordings [http://radio.eric.tripod.com/thameside_radio.htm held by Radio Eric] show that the music policy became more up to date. There were fewer Beatles tracks and more by bands in the new wave movement like Squeeze and Ultravox. Again in contrast to the other stations now filling the weekend airwaves Thameside was unashamedly populist. Most London pirates had an agenda to promote a particular type of music, usually soul; Thameside simply aimed to give its listeners a good time.

Alongside the improved content came an improvement in transmission power. Thameside now reached most of London and many areas to the south and west.

The popularity of a radio programme can often be judged by the amount of listener input. Thameside soon reached the point where there were "30-40 letters each week" [ "Sounds", "Touch That Dial" January 15th 1983 ] resulting in at least one listener letter between each record [http://radio.eric.tripod.com/thameside_radio.htm Radio Eric] , substantially more than most other radio stations pirate or commercial broadcasting at the time.

Thameside had clearly developed a "huge following" [http://www.surrey-sounds.co.uk/pirates.htm] which the Richmond & Twickenham Times put at "some 20,000 listeners" ["Richmond & Twickenham Times", "Secret Superbeam - Pirate radio defies Post Office", Frances Welch , November 28 1981)] and ran a growing number of special events for listeners. The station "always had a good turn-out at outside broadcasts, of which there were many." [http://www.surrey-sounds.co.uk/pirates.htm] Thameside was breaking down the barriers between the presenters and the audience. For example there was a weekly "fast food survey" [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=18567056&highlight=THameside#post18567056] where listeners would meet at a fast food restaurant to review the quality of the food - the highlights were broadcast on air. They organised listener tips to the seaside [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=18567056&highlight=THameside#post18567056] and promoted bands and concerts . The news slot had an increasing number of personality interviews in addition to the light hearted news features presented by Sarah and Alex.

Extended hours also became a more common feature. The Birdman - always a maverick - would tease listeners by announcing the end of his show and then carrying on just before the end of the one minute silence that preceded the transmitter automatically closing down.

As Thameside became a more accepted part of the FM band they started to receive more attention from the DTI who were responsible for patrolling the airwaves. Every so often broadcasts would finish early because a transmitter had been "raided". Because the station used radio links to connect the studio to the transmitters, and could even change transmitters mid way through the broadcast they generally managed to avoid personal attention but simply lost equipment. However transmitters aren't cheap or quick to build - this was beginning to have an effect on the economics of the station. There were a number of new people such as Pyers Easton whose company now manufactures transmitters for broadcasters worldwide,including the BBC( [http://www.sbsfm.com/] ) and Ian the engineer who were becoming involved in the technical side of the station.

A high point was the fourth birthday party [http://www.surrey-sounds.co.uk/pirates.htm] on 13th December 1981. Previous parties had been broadcast live from the open air or from halls. This one was held on a boat cruising up and down the Thames. Not only was the atmosphere wonderful but the sheer technical achievement of linking from a moving boat to a fixed site was incredible. Even the BBC had problems broadcasting the Boat Race live on the Thames, but Thameside managed to pull it off.

After the birthday the shows became longer. Instead of just running from 7-10pm they would go past midnight. A number of new presenters such as Paul James, Terry Anderson and The Curly Man appeared - and some old ones disappeared. The station began to broadcast in stereo.

Decline

However the growth in quantity was not matched by audience growth - there were fewer letters and special events. There was a growth in competition. Some of it came from the original members of Thameside who set up Hilltop Radio which pioneered the (now more common) "zoo" format in contrast to the personality driven approach commonly used. Finally the BBC realised that there was a need for rock/pop shows on Sunday evenings and launched the "Annie Nightingale Show" on BBC Radio 1 in direct competition to Thameside. Annie had exactly the same format as Thameside: strong listener involvement - especially through letters, an identical music policy and even used the same competitions and quizzes. Increasing numbers of raids "losing 5 transmitters in 6 months" [ Time Out, issue 606, April 2 1982 ] and "being badgered by the authorities" [http://www.amfm.org.uk/tx/tx16/clockwork.html] also had its effect. The station "ceased live transmissions, taping its shows shortly before broadcast" ["Time Out", issue 606 April 2 1982] but in the end suffered from "apathy" [http://www.amfm.org.uk/tx/tx16/clockwork.html] and wound down.

In late 1984 Thameside pulled off another technical first - they set up the first London pirate TV station: "Thameside TV" [http://www.amfm.org.uk/tx/tx15/piratetv.html] . Broadcasting to north and west London Bob and Sarah ran a Christmas special and showed the Beatles Yellow Submarine. While this was a major technical feat, and received coverage in the national press Daily Mail it was a one-off. After that Thameside was no more.

Where are they now?

Given the professional approach that Thameside took it's no surprise that many of the people involved went on to work in broadcasting.

Last heard of:

* Bob Edwards was developing digital recording studios.
* The Birdman has appeared on other radio stations, mostly licensed RSLs (stations with a 28 day licence). These have included Radio Cracker, The Clockwork Wireless Company [http://www.amfm.org.uk/tx/tx15/rateit.html] and Bromley Local Radio. See [http://intrepidbirdman.tripod.com/]
* Alex was working for the BBC. [http://www.thamesideradio.net/where%20are%20they.htm]
* Paul James was making radio programmes
* Ian the engineer moved to TV [http://www.thamesideradio.net/where%20are%20they.htm]
* Pyers Easton went onto found SBS Broadcast which owns the Eddystone and Raycom brands ( [http://www.sbsfm.com/] )
* Sarah became a newspaper journalist now living in France [http://www.thamesideradio.net/where%20are%20they.htm]
* Terry Anderson is an actor and writer, living in California, USA
* The Curly Man was in the US [http://www.thamesideradio.net/where%20are%20they.htm]

References

See also

* [http://www.thamesideradio.net The Thameside Radio Story] for more information about the station.
* [http://clockworkradio.bravehost.com The Intrepid Birdman's archives] which include a section on Thameside Radio 90.2.
* [http://radio.eric.tripod.com/ Radio Eric] has a downloadable archive of old pirate radio shows. There is a lot of Thameside material.
* [http://www.amfm.org.uk/ AM/FM and "Radio Today" magazine archives]