RADIO GEMINI was on the air on SW, 6230kHz thereabouts from 1972 through until some point when there were no more "Gem Days". The station only broadcast for one hour at a time, but plenty of work went into that hour. Initially Radio Gemini broadcast the same show on a Saturday and a Sunday morning, but this was soon reduced just to a Sunday, being repeated over several weekends. A raid took place on December 9th 1973, and Radio Gemini was in court sometime later on May 9th 1974. They returned to the air soon after the case in June 1974, but reduced the number of broadcasts to every 6 to 8 weeks. The station as far as we know never closed down as such, and broadcasts became less frequent, but they always came on with their birthday and Christmas shows. When listening, you could tell a lot of preparation and effort went into the programmes. We did monitor the 20th anniversary broadcast in 1992, and there are some images of the QSL and reply to a report further below, but does anyone have any notes of when the last Radio Gemini programme was aired on SW?? |
Above is a Radio Gemini sticker received in 1976
and below from later in the 1980s.
Sweden Calling
DXers reported on the early transmissions from Radio Gemini. Here are extracts from
the November 1972 and January 1973 typed copies.
(Click on image for full size.)
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Three Radio Gemini QSL Cards from through the years, with some of the addresses the station used.
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Three further Radio Gemini QSL cards courtesy of Ian.
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Way back in 1974, Radio Gemini produced a documentary style LP telling the story of the offshore radio stations of the 1960s.
Radio Gemini used many
unique offshore radio airchecks from their own collection.
Whether this predated the similar Jumbo Records album is not known.
Here is the album by kind courtesy of Dave Simpson.
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| 1974_gemini_lp_1964-1968_side_one-ds.mp3 | Side 1 of the Radio Gemini LP produced in 1974, by kind courtesy of Dave Simpson. This side covers the offshore era from 1964 to 1966. |
56MB 24mins |
| 1974_gemini_lp_1964-1968_side_two-ds.mp3 | Side 2 of the Radio Gemini LP produced in 1974 which continues from 1966 until the Caroline ships were towed away in March 1968. The recording and images by kind courtesy of Dave Simpson. |
56MB 24mins |
A station information sheet from 1979, with a new station address.
Radio Gemini celebrated its 19th Birthday on 27th October 1991. |
A 19th Birthday QSL Card
and below
a letter and 19th Birthday 'QSL Flyer' by kind courtesy of Ian,
for his reception report from Scotland.
Note that although the QSL had the Apsley address,
the letter was from a different address in Canada.
(Click on either image for full size.)
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Radio Gemini celebrated its 20th Birthday on 25th October 1992. |
A 20th Birthday QSL Card along with a
newer style pink sticker received at the same time.
The address in Canada
was again announced and
indeed, this address would continued to be used in later years for Laser
Hot Hits International.
A letter and 20th Birthday 'QSL Flyer' received by Gary.
The letter
from Edwin Borg shows how well organised and professional Radio Gemini was, having kept all letters since their
first broadcast in 1972.
(Click on images for full size version)
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Above, a white version of the newly designed stickers,
and below an A5
station info sheet with the new address in Canada.
We are not sure when Radio Gemini ceased to be, as a station, it could well have been that 20th anniversary show, but Laser Hot Hits was on the air in the 2000's with the "Anorak Hour" hosted by Colin Dixon, who was one of the driving forces behind Radio Gemini.
Following the sad passing of Colin Dixon in early 2008, a lot of
tributes were running on SW station Laser Hot Hits, and others. |
| 1973_09_23_sun_gemini-ghe461.mp3 | A show from the stations second year and first broadcast on 23rd September 1973. | 55MB |
 An example of the cassette insert for the Gemini Gems tapes. This one is for the above programme from 1973. |
 The inside of the cassette insert details for the above progamme tape. |
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| 1976_10_31_sun_gemini_4th_birthday_show-ghe465.mp3 | The Radio Gemini 4th Birthday Show. | 54MB |
| 1976_12_25_gemini_christmas_show-ghe462.mp3 | The 1976 Radio Gemini Christmas Show. | 54MB |
| 1977_11_06_sun_gemini_5th_birthday_show-ghe468.mp3 | The Radio Gemini 5th Birthday Show. | 79MB |
| 1978_11_05_sun_gemini_6th_birthday_show-ghe469.mp3 | The Radio Gemini 6th Birthday Show. | 56MB |
| 1972_04_03_mon_south_herts_tv-ghe464.mp3 | An audio transmission which went out on after BBC 1 television had signed off for the evening and with a familiar voice. There was also a South Herts Radio at that time. | 51MB |
| 1976_radio_gemini_documentary_side1.mp3 | Side 1 of the Radio Gemini Technical Documentary which looked at the early years of the station. The first side gives the background of the station, and as well as some technical information and extracts. It also includes a little extract from their court case in 1974. | 34MB |
| 1976_radio_gemini_documentary_side2.mp3 | Side 2 of the documentary tape which consisted of jingles and promotions. | 35MB |
Following the
latter broadcasts of Radio Gemini during the early 1990s, Colin Dixon
(aka Edwin Borg?) became involved with Laser Shortwave,
and
using some of his technical expertise and possibly even old Radio Gemini
equipment, allowed the station to be heard across Europe and beyond.
Below are a number of recordings of Laser from the early years, prior to the
sad loss of Colin in 2008.
Shows were normally broadcast
on a rolling repeat for three weeks or a month before being replaced.
Two QSL's
from the early years of Laser, courtesy of Ian, after the 'transition' from Radio
Gemini.
Note the similar design of the early Laser QSL Card to those of
Radio Gemini.
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Colin Dixon Shows on Laser Hot Hits Shortwave
| 2000_12_laser_shortwave_colin_dixon_christmas_show-ds.mp3 | The late Colin Dixon with a studio recording of his December 2000 Christmas Show on Laser Shortwave. The recording is courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 143MB |
| 2002_03_laser_shortwave_colin_dixon-ds.mp3 | Colin Dixon with a show when the station was announcing 6220kHz, 7465kHz, 3970kHz. Thanks to Tony for letting us know that this recording was from March 2002. Colin mentions a phone call from Eric Haydock of Radio Jackie North, who later passed away in tragic circumstances in November 2002. The recording is courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 149MB |
| 2002_03_laser_shortwave_colin_dixon_sponsored_show-ds.mp3 | Another studio recording of Colin Dixon from March 2002 (kindly informed by Tony), this time presenting a sponsored show. The recording is courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 144MB |
| 2003_08_laser_shortwave_colin_dixon-tj.mp3 | Colin Dixon with a programme broadcast in August 2003 courtesy of Tony James. | 59MB |
| laser_shortwave_anorak_hour_with caroline389_tue15may1973_0759-0844_normanbarrington_test_transmission-ib.mp3 New Aug 2023 | The 'Anorak Hour' was a feature of Laser Shortwave and normally introduced by Colin Dixon, and was probably an extension of the old 'Gemini Gem' clips heard during the Radio Gemini Days. Colin had a large collection of offshore radio recordings to draw on and here he introduces an early test transmission of Radio Caroline on 389m / 773kHz from Tuesday 15th May 1973. He announces as 770kHz, channel 77. The test is announced by Norman Barrington and is between 0759 and 0844. This recording is courtesy of Ian. |
107MB 47mins |
| laser_shortwave_anorak_hour_with caroline389_sun03jun1973_1013-1054_paulalexander_test_transmission-ib.mp3 New Aug 2023 | On this 'Anorak Hour' Colin introduces a test transmission from Radio Caroline on 389m / 773kHz from Sunday 3rd June 1973. The show is from Paul Alexander from around 1013. At one point Colin tunes away to the Dutch tests on 1187kHz and then back to 773kHz. This recording is courtesy of Ian. |
107MB 47mins |
| laser_shortwave_anorak_hour_with_caroline389_mon25jun1973_steve_england-ib.mp3 New Jul 2023 | This 'Anorak Hour' features Radio Caroline on 389m / 773kHz from Monday 25th June 1973. The show is from Steve England commencing around 6am. This recording is courtesy of Ian. |
116MB 63mins |
| laser_shortwave_anorak_hour_with_caroline389_mon25jun1973_rogerday-ib.mp3 New Jul 2023 | What was almost a continuation of the above 'Anorak Hour' featuring Caroline 389 from Monday 25th June 1973, this time with the first Roger Day breakfast show on Caroline since March 1968. The recording starts around 0730 and is courtesy of Ian. |
116MB 63mins |
| laser_shortwave_anorak_hour_with_atlantis312_thu25jul1974_derekjones-ib.mp3 New Jul 2023 | Another 'Anorak Hour' introduced by Colin Dixon, this time featuring an early morning show from Derek Jones on Radio Atlantis 312m starting at 0410 on Thursday 25th July 1974. Atlantis was also announcing shortwave tests on 6225kHz. Steve England follows after Derek Jones. The recording is again courtesy of Ian. |
114MB 62mins |
Dave Simpson Shows on Laser Hot Hits Shortwave
| 2000_07_laser_shortwave_davesimpson-ds.mp3 | A studio recording of Dave Simpson from July 2000 when the station was on 6220kHz, 7415kHz and, 3930kHz. Thanks again to Dave for this one. | 131MB |
| 2001_10_laser_shortwave_davesimpson_stereo-ds.mp3 | A studio recording of Dave Simpson. Thanks to Tony, the date of this broadcast has been found to be October 2001. It was when the station was possibly only on 6220kHz. This file has now been updated with a stereo version, courtesy of Tony James. | 84MB |
| 2003_11_laser_shortwave_davesimpson_ronnie_dee_tribute-ds.mp3 | A tribute to Ronnie Dee from Dave Simpson (aka Carl England), and broadcast on Laser International in November 2003. Ronnie had passed away just two months earlier in September 2003. The story includes the history of The Rado Caroline North Roadshow, started by Ronnie Dee. One of the Ronnie extracts includes mention of Eric Day at the bar in the gig. This studio recording is by kind courtesy of Dave. | 143MB |
Peter Madison Shows on Laser Hot Hits Shortwave
| 2004_06_laser_shortwave_petermadison_studio_recording-EM.mp3 New Jan 2024 | The late Peter Madison with a 60 minute show from June 2004. The recording is courtesy of Eric Monaghan. |
132MB 58mins |
| 2005_laser_shortwave_petermadison_beatles_vs_elvis-ds.mp3 | The late Peter Madison with a 60 minute show from early 2005 where he pitches The Beatles against Elvis for a winner. The recording is courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 134MB |
| 2005_06_laser_shortwave_petermadison_show1-ds.mp3 | Peter Madison with a 45 minute show from June 2005 recorded in his studio in the West of Ireland. Peter plays plenty of excellent oldies from 60s and 70s in this one and mentions that Elvis was the winner of the Beatles vs Elvis match aired previously. The recording is courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 103MB |
| 2005_06_laser_shortwave_petermadison_show2-ds.mp3 | A second 45 minute Peter Madison show from June 2005 and courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 93MB |
| 2005_10_laser_shortwave_petermadison_show1_studio_recording-EM.mp3 New Jan 2024 | A return to the air for Peter Madison in October 2005. This a studio recording and is courtesy of Eric Monaghan. |
108MB 47mins |
| 2005_10_laser_shortwave_petermadison_show2-studio_recording-EM.mp3 New Jan 2024 | The second October 2005 show from Peter Madison. This studio recording is courtesy of Eric Monaghan. |
108MB 47mins |
| 2005_12_laser_shortwave_petermadison_xmas_show-ds.mp3 | The Peter Madison Christmas Show from 2005. The recording is courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 90MB |
| 2005_laser_shortwave_petermadison_doo_wop_show-ds.mp3 | A Doo Wop special from Peter Madison. The recording is courtesy of Dave Simpson. | 101MB |
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A
Selection of Shows from Laser Hot Hits Shortwave Early Years.
All the recordings below
are listed in date order and by kind courtesy of Tony James
and Dave Simpson.
| 2000_09_laser_shortwave_lee_richards-ds.mp3 | Lee Richards with an hour of classic which was transmitted we believe during September 2000. Lee announces the current frequencies as 3935kHz, 6220kHz and 7455kHz as well as relays from Jolly Roger Radio on 6239kHz and 6395kHz. Listeners who contacted the station in August and September 2000 are given a mention during the show. Lee even gives out a fax number and the email address at the time was laserhothits@hotmail.com | 141MB |
| 2001_00_laser_shortwave_stuart_price-ds.mp3 | A Stuart Price show probably from sometime during 2001, and playing an unusual music genre for shortwave. | 145MB |
| 2001_07_laser_shortwave_juke_joint-tj.mp3 | The Juke Joint presented by Johnny Vincent and Eddie Gale. Lots of rockn'roll and rhythm and blues from the 1950s and early 1960s in this show. Frequencies announced were 3970kHz (temporarily), 6220kHz and 7465kHz. From the letters read out, the date for this show might be July 2001. | 57MB |
| 2001_08_laser_shortwave_tony_james-tj.mp3 | Tony James hosts an hour long show broadcast in August 2001 after not being on air for a while. There was a competition in the programme and 6220kHz was mentioned by Tony in the reception reports from the months previous. Tony also listed the current deejays on the station at the time as Mike Andrews, Stuart Ross, Nigel James, Martin Scott, Chris Mitchell, Tony James, Colin Dixon, Chris Williams, Dave Simpson, Eddie Gale, Ricky West and Lee Richards. | 59MB |
| 2001_09_laser_shortwave_paul_johnson-tj.mp3 | Paul Johnson (R.I.P) with an hour of 70s oldies from September 2001. Frequencies announced at the time were 3935kHz, 6220kHz and 7460kHz (recently moved from 7455kHz) | 57MB |
| 2002_03_laser_shortwave_jazzing_with_jules-tj.mp3 | One of the few 'Jazzing With Jules' shows produced for Laser. This hour long programme includes plenty of types of jazz styles as well as some jazz music news. Announced frequencies were by now 3970kHz, 6220kHz and 7465kHz. | 58MB |
| 2002_07_laser_shortwave_john_mckay-tj.mp3 | John McKay from with his 4th show and playing a variety of music. John mentions he is from Ottawa and talks about ice hockey playoffs. He also says he is recording the show in Toronto at Ridge Radio. This is one of only a few programmes that he recorded for Laser. | 57MB |
| 2002_10_laser_shortwave_nigel_james-tj.mp3 | An hour of Nigel James playing a variety of music which was broadcast during October 2002. The email address at this time was laserhothits@hotmail.com | 57MB |
| 2002_11_laser_shortwave_martin_scott_with_old_skool-tj.mp3 | Martin Scott playing an hour of 'Old Skool' in November 2002. | 57MB |
| 2003_02_laser_shortwave_chris_williams_with_eurobeat-tj.mp3 | Chris Williams with an hour of european trans music, broadcast during February 2003. Mention is made of an FM relay in Ontario, Canada as well as by UK Radio and Jolly Roger Radio on shortwave. | 57MB |
| 2003_02_laser_shortwave_lee_richards_classic_rock_show-tj.mp3 | Classic Rock for an hour with Lee Richards which was transmitted during February 2003. Lee announces the current frequencies as 4010kHz, 6220kHz, 7460kHz, 9385kHz and being relayed by Jolly Roger Radio on 6255kHz and 6385kHz. Listeners who contacted the station in December 2002 and January 2003 are given a mention at the end. | 57MB |
| 2003_05_laser_shortwave_chris_mitchell_last_show-tj.mp3 | The final show by Chris Mitchell before he left Laser to join Raiders FM | 58MB |
| 2003_07_laser_shortwave_jazzing_with_jules-ds.mp3 | Another 'Jazzing With Jules' shows produced for Laser. The date for this hour long programme is estimated as July 2003 and includes plenty of types of jazz styles as well as some jazz music news. Announced frequencies were 4025kHz, 6220kHz and 9385kHz, and the email address at the time had changed to laserhothits@rock.com | 142MB |
| 2003_09_laser_shortwave_stewart_ross-tj.mp3 | Stewart Ross with an oldies show from September 2003. | 59MB |
| 2004_03_laser_shortwave_mike_andrews-tj.mp3 | An hour of Mike Andrews broadcast during March 2004. Mike reads out plenty of correspondence received during December 2003 and January 2004. 6219kHz and 7465kHz were mentioned in some reports. | 86MB |
| 2005_01_laser_shortwave_steve_roberts-tj.mp3 | Steve Roberts (R.I.P) with his first show in 2005, broadcast during January. Announcing as broadcasting on the 47, 49 and 75 metre bands. | 85MB |
Laser closed down its shortwave outlets in the summer of 2006, and the reasons were
given in the newsheet below received by Ian.
There was also an issue with interference from another station,
although the date for this newsheet is not known, or in fact whether they were related.
The station
continued on the internet and later returned to shortwave.
(Click on either image for full size.)
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Laser Hot Hits Shortwave
from February and
March 2008 as recorded from the web stream,
which includes some tributes to the late Colin Dixon who had
recently passed away on 19th January 2008.
(Unfortunately we do not have all the
tribute shows in our collection,
and a number of the programmes
webcast, are 'retro' shows and don't mention the loss of Colin)
| 2008_02_laser_shortwave_www_pt1_thejollyroger-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | This webstream recording of 'The Jolly Roger' from February 2008 starts with a tribute to Colin Dixon. Frequencies are announced as probably 6275kHz, 4025kHz and 6422kHz. This show seems to be on a repeat. |
86MB 95mins |
| 2008_02_laser_shortwave_www_pt2_thejollyroger_colindixon-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | Continuing the above recording of the stream, with a Colin Dixon show sandwiched between the repeats of 'The Jolly Roger', which has mentions for Jack Russell of WMR. |
87MB 95mins |
| 2008_02_laser_shortwave_www_pt3_mr_x_lee_richards-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | From another day in February 2008, this recording starts with Lee Richards and Mr X with the 'A-Z of Classic Pop'. Colin is mentioned throughout and mention is made of other tribute shows, which we do not have in our collection. Mention is made of the station being 24 hours on 4025kHz and 6421kHz, Saturdays on 6275kHz and new evening tests on 3932kHz. |
79MB 86mins |
| 2008_02_laser_shortwave_www_pt4_mr_x_lee_richards_dave_simpson-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | Continuing the above recording, Lee Richards is followed by a retro Dave Simpson show from early 2006 when the station was on 6220kHz, and then the Lee Richards show is repeated. |
87MB 95mins |
| 2008_02_laser_shortwave_www_pt5_mr_x_lee_richards_stewartross-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | A Stewart Ross retro show from 2006 follows Lee Richards on the last of this recording of the webstream. |
225MB 123mins |
| 2008_03_14_fri_laser_shortwave_www_pt1_thejollyroger_stewartross-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | The first of three audio files recorded from the Laser web stream on Friday 14th March 2008. This one starts with 'The Jolly Roger', and repeat of the programme above, who is followed by Stewart Ross. |
174MB 95mins |
| 2008_03_14_fri_laser_shortwave_www_pt2_stewartross_tonyjames-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | Following straight on from above is the last part of the Stewart Ross show. Tony James follows on and sounds like a retro show as he was reading out postings on the Laser book from June and announcing 6275kHz. |
174MB 95mins |
| 2008_03_14_fri_laser_shortwave_www_pt3_tonyjames_colindixon_davesimpson-ghdvd53.mp3 New Jul 2023 | Tony James follows on from above, and into a repeat of the same Colin Dixon show above, giving mention to Jack Russell from WMR. Dave Simpson follows Colin, also with the same show from early 2006 as above where he was announcing 6220kHz. |
183MB 100mins |
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Below are more of the many Radio Gemini items of memorabilia which they produced over their 20 years of broadcasting. |
