Pioneer offshore radio DJ, Keith Martin, has died

DATELINE  22nd February  2024

Pioneer offshore radio DJ Keith Martin has died at the age of 89.

Keith was born in Sandwich, Kent and was interested in radio from a young age - listening to various foreign stations named on the dial of his parents' radio set before discovering Radio Luxembourg, first on long wave then on medium wave in the mid 1950s.

After leaving school he trained in catering then joined the Merchant Navy, but illness brought him home and he started work in the advertising department of the ITV north region broadcaster - Granada TV - in  their London office. He also unsuccessfully auditioned for some BBC radio programmes.  

During 1961 he read about a newspaper journalist - John Thompson - and his plans to broadcast  ‘from the Nore’ in the Thames Estuary. After some initial meetings with Thompson, Keith recorded a number of programmes for the station - GBLN, but the project never materialised. Keith was also interested in other rival offshore projects - GBOK and CNBC, but never actually joined either of the unsuccessful projects. Thompson later went on to help launch Radio Invicta and KING Radio.

In 1964 Keith joined Radio Atlanta, staying on after the station merged with Radio Caroline in July 1964, becoming Radio Caroline South. He left Caroline South in December 1964,  but continued to work for the station on land. After a brief return to the air on Caroline South at Easter 1965 he joined ITV weekend regional broadcaster, ABC Television, as a continuity announcer. He also broadcast on Radio 390 under the name Gary Courtney.

Following his offshore radio days, Keith was involved with the Local Radio Association's campaign to introduce commercial radio to Britain and worked for a number of broadcasters in the UK (including the British Forces Network (BFN)) and in Canada, Keith also lectured on various aspects of the media.

(Additional information courtesy Pirate Radio Hall of Fane)

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