The spirit of 60s and 70s Offshore radio is alive and well on the net - here's a list of the current regular stations and programmes you may enjoy. This information is also summarised in calendar/diary format, see the summary links in the panel on the left.

 
Veronica192.nl run by former Veronica technicians Adje Bouman and Juul Geleick. Provides a continuous 24/7 stream reviving Veronica's offshore era, 1959-1974. Programming is largely continuous music ("jukebox" format), but also with some complete archive programmes - click here for a specimen programme schedule. Covers an exceptionally wide range of music that was played on Veronica.

Of particular note is Saturday afternoon programming, which attempts to relive the "Nationale Zaterdagmiddag Gebeurtenis" (the Saturday Afternoon National Event) that included the new Veronica Top 40 and the Tipparade. The webstream covers the Top 40 and Tipparade from the same week 39 years ago:
1200-1300 UK time (1300-1400 CET) - Goud van Out, presented by Ad Bouman
1300-1500 UK time (1400-1600 CET) - Top 40, usually jukebox format, produced by Rick van Dijk
1500-1700 UK time (1600-1800 CET) - Tipparade, alternate hours presented by Bert van der Laan and Rob van Wezel.

Those wishing to follow the chart rundown online may do so at the official Dutch Top 40 site. Click on the carousel at the top of the page, select the year you wish to look at, then the month and finally, the week in the month. The Top 40 will then load up. You may save this on your computer in PDF format - look on the right hand side of the page for the red strip that bears the heading "Nederlandse Top 40". Underneath that is the legend "Download Gedrukt Exemplaar", if you click this, the PDF file will be loaded onto your PC. This can saved onto your hard drive by clicking on the floppy disk icon in the top left of the screen, next to the printer icon.

To load the Tipparade page, go back to the relevant screen from the Top 40 website. At the top left of the screen, you will see the red legend "Charts", underneath that is "Top 40" and underneath that is "Tipparade". Clicking on this will load the Tipparade for the same week as the Top 40 listing. You can download the Tipparade as a PDF file too, the procedure is as already detailed for the Top 40.

 
Oldies Project broadcasts a continuous 24/7 stream of music from the 60s and 70s. But it's rather different to the traditional Gold stations, in that it often plays records rarely heard on air these days.

Of particular note is Sunday afternoon programming - between 1100-1400 UK time, relive the days of Big L, as the Oldies Project replays the Radio London Fab 40 from the chart of the same week 43 years ago. The first hour is devoted to the station and DJ climbers. Hour 2 covers the bottom half of the Fab 40 and the final hour is devoted to the Top 20.

Then between 1400-1600 UK is a feature entitled "A Month In A Life" playing records that were new releases or hits during a particular month from 1964 to 1967. This feature commenced in January 2010 with a look at January 1964, each week moving a month further on into the calendar. So, the programme aired on 30th May 2010 featured October 1965. Records played in this feature are detailed in the "A Month In A Life Playlist".

The Sunday afternoon programming is repeated on Wednesday evenings, 1800-2100 UK time for the Fab 40 and 2100-2300 UK for "A Month In A Life".

Those wanting to follow the chart online can do so by clicking on the appropriate week from 43 years ago at the Complete Big L Fab 40 index.

 
Offshore Music Radio plays music of the 60s, 70s and 80s. During the week, mainly "jukebox" format but with presented programmes at weekends and during some weekday evenings. Click here for the programme schedule.

 
Radio Northsea International - tribute station programming in English, Dutch and German. During the week, mainly "jukebox" format but with presented programmes at weekends. Click here for the station programme schedule.

 
Radio Popular has a number of offshore related features daily in its "Historisch Zeesender Uur" (Historic Offshore Radio Hour) broadcast every day at 0000-0100 CET (2300-2400 UK) and repeated at 0700-0800 CET (0600-0700 UK). The programme takes the format of a complete hour of an archive offshore radio programme, with the big names of the 60s and 70s, such as Caroline, Veronica, London, etc., well represented, as well as later stations such as Delmare, Mi Amigo, Monique and Laser.
Schedules are posted weekly in advance on Media Pages NL and also posted by me on the Yahoo Groups, RadioAnoraksUK and RadioCarolineFanMailinglist.

There are two further features:
"Vrij radio uur" (Free Radio Hour) broadcast in Dutch/Flemish on Thursdays at 2000-2100 CET (1900-2000 UK) and repeated on Saturdays at 1800-1900 CET (1700-1800 UK). Each programme is a complete hour from a Benelux "free radio station" of the past.
"Radio van Toen" (Radio from yesteryear) takes a look back at a particular period of offshore radio, with music from that era. The programme is broadcast Thursdays 2100-2300 CET (2000-2200 UK) and Fridays 1600-1800 CET (1500-1700 UK).
Click here for the station programme schedule.

Caution needs to be exercised regarding the accuracy of the programme information supplied, as I have found examples of mis-labelled programmes. Wherever possible, try to verify the information given by referring to third party sources, such as websites giving chart details.

 
More Music Radio also specialise in offshore features. The website, which is usually updated daily, lists the schedule for that day. Continuous music is played between 0100-2100 CET (0000-2000 UK) with complete archive radio hours in the 4 hours between 2100-0100 CET (2000-2400 UK). From time to time, special weekends are run, for example, at Easter to commemorate the commencement of Radio Caroline at Easter 1964. I also try to reprint the schedule on the Yahoo Groups, RadioAnoraksUK and RadioCarolineFanMailinglist.

The comment made above in the section on Radio Popular, regarding the accuracy of programme information, is just as valid here.

 
Surf Radio has a few offshore-related programmes in its schedule:

Saturday 1300-1600 CET (1200-1500 UK) - an archive Veronica Top 40 with live studio presentation - repeated Thursday 1800-2100 CET (1700-2000 UK).

Sunday 1200-1300 CET (1100-1200 UK) - an archive RNI programme is broadcast. Unfortunately no details of the original transmission dates are published or announced.

Sunday 1900-2000 CET (1800-1900 UK) - music from an archive RNI Top 50 chart .

 
Extra Gold NL also has a few offshore-related programmes in its schedule:

Saturday 1300-1600 CET (1200-1500 UK), Ferry Eden presents an archive Veronica Top 40.

Saturday 1600-1800 CET (1500-1700 UK), Bert van der Laan presents the Tipparade from the same date.

Saturday 1800-1900 CET (1700-1800 UK), Rob van Wezel presents "Rob Non stop", featuring music from the best of the Top 40 from a Veronica chart dating back to their offshore era.

Full details of the original transmission dates of the chart shows are on the Extra Gold website.

 
Radio programmes from ex-offshore DJs

A number of ex-Offshore DJs are still active in radio. I'm putting together a summary of who is where (and when on air) at Programmes from former offshore DJs. I would appreciate readers' help in filling in this section.

 
Downloading archive offshore radio programmes from the net

There are a number of large collections of recordings, plus there are many collectors who trade in recordings. Two of the largest collections are:

The "Dutch Download Club" is THE major source of archive offshore material, both in Dutch and English with thousands of files available, including jingles and programmes. Subscriptions run from June to May annually, with current fees for a year's membership standing at €15 - payments made via Paypal, incur an additional charge of €3, making a total of €18. For further information, e-mail Chris Visser.

 
Azanorak.com - this site was originally set up to host off-air recordings of Radio Caroline programmes but has expanded into an extensive collection of (mainly) English offshore-related recordings. It has also become an unofficial "listen-again" facility for the current output of Radio Caroline and files of the current programmes are uploaded daily. Generally, files are kept in a "new" files folder for a couple of weeks, then moved into the relevant section of the online archive. Notification is made daily when files are uploaded through the Yahoo Group, RadioCarolineFanMailinglist. Files are zipped and password -protected - the same password is used throughout the site and is given with the e-mails notifying list members of the programme uploads.

 
There are a number of other sites that contain links to offshore recordings:

 
Dr. Martin van der Ven's site at Offshoreradio.de contains hundreds of files uploaded by offshore fans.

 
Mersey Pirates Home Pages is a site devoted mainly to the Merseyside land-based pirate scene , but there are a couple of pages "Offshore Pirates" and "Themes, Tunes and Jingles" which cover the offshore scene as well.

 
Offshore Echoes has a really good collection of Station and DJ theme tunes.

 
DO YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER STATIONS THAT BROADCAST ARCHIVE OFFSHORE PROGRAMMES or ANY OTHER SITES WITH ARCHIVE MATERIAL?

Share your infortmation and help keep this site comprehensive and up-to-date. Please e-mail me at the link below.