Shiprocked: Life on the Waves with Radio Caroline - Tapa blanda

SHIPROCKED is the quintessential story of life on board Radio Caroline. Even though it's set in the mid-80s, it is a timeless read, in so far as it could have been the 60s or the 70s. It cuts quickly to the core of what the magic of Caroline really was. I'll always feel very privileged to have experienced that magic during my time on board the Ross Revenge in 1983, and Steve's wonderful ability to tell stories and create pictures brought all of those memories back to me. Caroline was everything I hoped it would be, along with everything I hoped it wouldn't be especially when I'm reminded of the risks I took to make that era of my life such a memorable time. Steve, you've written the real story, and no movie script can ever better or overshadow the story that you tell so finely and so passionately. Make sure to send a copy to Tony Blackburn. I know he will love it. Well done. --Gareth O'Callaghan - 4FM's Breakfast Show Host

Steve Conway's book is a must read --Noel Welch - Evening Echo

Written in a conversational style with all the geeky zeal of a real radio anorak it's hard to resist Conway's anecdotes about life on board, the esprit de corps that comes with living in close quarters, and the on-going struggles to keep Caroline on air and afloat in the face of much static from killjoy authorities. This is a refreshing tale of an age when pop radio wasn't corporate, playlisted, and unfeeling. --Alan Corr - RTÉ Guide

Shiprocked's heydey comes to life, here, in a lively read perfect for any general-interest collection. --The MidWest Book Review

An invaluable book. --Nick Spacek, The Pitch

Having been a huge fan of Caroline in the 80s, I was absolutely glued to this book and couldn't put it down. Steve was a great presenter on the station and has written a book which I found fascimating. There are lots of anecdotes and stories of derring do which will be of interest to anoraks and non- anoraks alike. Steve writes in a relaxed, friendly style and comes across as a thoroughly engaging person. I could not recommend this book more strongly. --Stephen Trevett

Conway's evocatively written memoir is animated and engaging...Fluidly written and idiosyncratic, this portrayal of what would be a dream job for many a media, music, or maritime enthusiast may be buoyed when the Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked, a fictional account of a pirate radio ship, comes out this August. --Jim Collins, US Library Journal Review

A witty, revealing memoir by Phantom FM DJ Steve Conway about the years he spent on Radio Caroline, the pirate radio ship with a rock 'n' roll history, published alongside the release of Richard Curtis' (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill) brilliant film The Boat That Rocked. Radio Caroline was the iconic pirate radio station, immediately capturing the imagination of millions of people when it started broadcasting rabble-rousing, cutting-edge music to Britain and Ireland from international waters in 1964. When he first went out to the radio ship, the Ross Revenge, in December 1985, Steve Conway, a 21-year-old IT executive, was fulfilling his dream of working on Caroline. Despite his young age, he soon became a vital part of Caroline's renegade crew, broadcasting music and news programmes, helping keep the vessel seaworthy during fierce storms, and making sure the station ran smoothly on a shoestring budget- doing it all despite staffing problems, technical crises and persistent harassment by the authorities. In this gripping memoir, Steve Conway tells of his time aboard the Ross Revenge: the excitement and danger of living on board the ship for long spells, the constant challenge of keeping complex electronic equipment working in occasionally treacherous conditions (including the collapse of the ship's main mast in November 1987), and the camaraderie of working alongside people who, like him, were completely committed to the radio station and its fiercely bohemian ideals. His wild and wonderful tale builds towards the sad demise of Radio Caroline as a ship-based station, recounting how he and his few remaining companions narrowly escaped drowning after the ship ran aground on the notorious Goodwin Sands in hurricane-force winds in November 1991. A love letter to Ross Revenge and rock music, ShipRocked has to be read to be believed.