The trustees of the Pharos Trust along with the management of Radio Mi Amigo are saddened to hear of the passing of Johnnie Walker who has been the Patron of The Trust for two decades.
Johnnie’s illustrious career intersected with the LV18 during his many Pirate BBC Essex broadcasts. Those broadcasts were a part of our own foundation and paved the way for the success of our own projects.
It was our privilege to receive a phone call for Johnnie on the 11th of August 2024 where he spoke live on Radio Mi Amigo with his former Radio Caroline and BBC colleague Keith ‘Cardboard Shoes’ Skues.
Our thoughts are with his wife, Tiggy and his family at this sad time. He will be missed by all aboard the LV18.
We broadcast the following obituary at 2200 & 2300 on New Years Eve.
Another year ends – have you read our review of 2024 on Radio Mi Amigo?
We’ll be on the ship and in the studio at Midnight when the quayside fireworks and our lantern light up the Harwich Harbour sky. Maybe the ship’s bell will be rung as well? Yep, that is the ship’s bell!
We have music for you:
1800 US Artists Playlist
2000 Fluff On The Radio – with John Cavanagh. First broadcast on Radio Mi Amigo in 2016. John takes on the persona of Fluff Freeman for two hours.
2200 Steve Jenner takes you through to midnight.
0000 Duke Anthony’s New Year Party
0200 12″ Singles Playlist
0300 Fluff On The Radio (rpt)
0500 Mi Amigo Rock Playlist
0700 Radio Mi Amigo Daytime
Keith Skues (left) and Stephen Foster (right) in the LV18 Studio at Easter 2024
What a year!
Retreating back into 2023 briefly: We had been able to refit our studio in mid to late 2023 and this persuaded the team that a 24/7 online radio station was viable. That launched with a live event at Christmas 2023.
Neon Nancy in the studio
Just two months later an arson attack on the LV18 caused havoc and our fledgling station was off the air. We were then faced with writing off the entire studio equipment having only just managed to configure it how we wanted it.
Almost two weeks later we established a temporary studio off the ship and put Radio Mi Amigo back on the air.
Somehow we managed to clean the ship so that a planned Radio Caroline 60th Anniversary event at Easter went ahead.
The studio equipment that had been running from a temporary location was rebuilt on the ship just a day before the studio was broadcasting live shows.
We were joined in the studio by Roger ‘Twiggy’ Day (top, left) and Keith Skues, both veterans of Radio Caroline in the 1960s
Steve Scruton did a live BBC Essex broadcast from the LV18 on Easter Saturday.
A special live event was held on 23rd June, hosted in the Mi Amigo studio by Garry Lee. This was the first time anyone had openly discussed the arson attack on our station.
We reconvened in the studio for our August live event. This was held the weekend before the 14/08 anniversary, and ran 9th to the 11th.
On the 11th, however, Keith Skues received a call from Johnny Walker during his Sunday afternoon show. That call has been recorded and is available on this site.
There were a number of special radio shows during the late summer and autumn, including an August 14th special and a themed Halloween night which included a show from Stephen ‘Foz’ Foster.
One of the biggest events of the year was the Radio London 60th Anniversary in December. This took several months of planning in order to secure all the relevant permissions.
Radio Mi Amigo was one year old at Christmas 2024 but remains focussed on providing the best music content of the 60s and 70s whilst remembering the important role that the pirates played in UK media.Station personnel at December 2024:
Station Manager – Tony O’Neil
Programme Director – Heather O’Neil
Studio Engineer – Shiraz Turvey
Email studio@lv18radio.uk
1200 Duke Anthony
1400 Olly Kinvig
1600 Chris Cooper
1800 Steve Jenner’s Big L Fab Forty Top 3 Hits
2000 Rick Marks
2200 Diamond Dave Kent
Midnight – Radio Mi Amigo overnight
Saturday 21st December
0700 Olly Kinvig
1000 Steve Jenner’s Big L Fab Forty Top 3 Hits
1200 Tim Wardley Sound of the 60s
1400 ** Keith Skues **
1600 Chris Cooper
1800 Robin Dee’s Perfumed Garden
2000 Rick Marks
2200 Duke Anthony
Midnight Keith Skues 23 July 1967 “The Radio London Story”
0200 Keith Skues last Radio London Show (25th July 1967)
0400 Chris Cooper
0500 Paul Windsor
0600 Chris Morgan
Sunday 22nd December
0700 Olly Kinvig
1000 Rick Marks
1200 Chris Cooper
1400 ** Keith Skues **
1600 Duke Anthony
1900 Paul Windsor – Radio London at Christmas
2200 Diamond Dave Kent
Midnight – Radio Mi Amigo overnight
Monday 23rd December
0600 Olly Kinvig
0900 Big L with Mandy Marton & Big Al
1000 Duke Anthony
1200 Ian Chambers December ’64
1300 Ray Anderson
1400 Big L with Mandy Marton & Big Al (rpt)
1500 Radio London Story with Keith Skues
1900 Ian Chambers December ’64 (rpt)
2100 Ray Anderson (rpt)
2200 Radio Mi Amigo
This is a live radio event. The above schedule may need to change at short notice. Last updated 1330 23rd December 2024.
The Ha’Penny Pier Christmas Tree will be lit this afternoon and we’ll be lighting our lantern to mark the event. Radio Mi Amigo is providing music alongside local groups, including Shanty singers performing carols! The visitor centre and LV18 will be open. 4pm onwards.We last lit our lantern on 6th June 2024 to mark the 80th anniversary of D Day.
Radio Mi Amigo is proud to announce that we will be marking the 60th anniversary of Radio London’s first transmissions with four days of special live shows from our studio on board the LV18 in Harwich Harbour.
Our very special guest will be Keith Skues, a veteran of BFBS, Radio London, Radio Caroline, Radio One, Radio Hallam, Radio Norfolk ….and Radio Mi Amigo!
Joining us are: Duke Anthony, Olly Kinvig, Chris Cooper, Steve Jenner, Rick Marks, Dave Kent, Tim Wardley, Robin Dee, Paul Windsor, Mandy Marton, Big Al & Ian Chambers!
In the last week of August 2024 Radio Seagull in Harlingen, NL, marked the decision of 31 August 1974 by the Netherlands government to shut down the remaining Dutch ship-based radio stations. That day Radio North Sea Intl, Radio Veronika and Radio Atlanta fell silent.
Many of the regular LV18 DJs were on board the LV8 Jenni Baynton in Harlingen Harbour, NL, marking the 50 year anniversary of an important but sad event in Dutch radio history. This special broadcast on Radio Seagull concluded 6am (BST) Saturday 31 August.
Radio Mi Amigo relayed the overnight Radio Seagull shows via this site.
Mandy Marton, on LV8, said: “Two super Radio lightships, LV8 Radio Seagull & LV18 Mi Amigo are united together commemorating 50 years since the the day the music died, we’re continuing the good old days by Rocking the boat and the airwaves! “
We finished our Pirate Radio Weekend with a studio party last night but the highlight of the weekend was definitely the phone call from Johnnie Walker to Keith Skues!
Obviously it takes many people to make a 60 hour continuous broadcast happen so thank you to everyone who lent their time to make this happen.
We are now looking towards August 2025 to continue our regular series of shows marking the important date of 14th August 1967
We are also raising money to restore the ship after February’s arson attack. If you can help, please do.
You can find the conversation between Johnnie and Keith here
During our 2024 Pirate Radio Weekend we enjoyed shows from Keith Skues, a veteran of pirate, BBC, BFBS and Independent broadcasting.
During Keith’s show on Sunday 11 August we received a phone call from the legendary Johnnie Walker. What followed was a five minute chat between the two great broadcasters.
We have a special show on 14 August 2024 which tells the story of pirate radio 1964-1967 and which features original recordings of Johnnie Walker.
Six months ago the LV18 was subject to an arson attack, causing £250,000 of damage. Donations are being sought to support the full restoration of this historic vessel. Johnnie Walker is the patron of the charity that owns the LV18.
“
