大象传媒

I'll never forget arriving at Scarborough Harbour.听 We drove down there at midnight from the 270 office in a director's beat-up old Merc, complete with cracked windscreen and dead chickens on the back seat.听 He was a chicken farmer when he wasn't a pirate backer, it seemed...

And there, in all her glory, was Oceaan 7, tied up just like the average lugger - except for the 150 feet of mast on top.听

If it wasn't yet Christmas Eve 1966, it was close to it.听 I'd had a mysterious telegram from MD Wilf Proudfoot earlier:听 'Ship leaves tonight', so I'd felt kind of obliged to try and get on it.听 She'd had a refit after some excitement involving a North Sea storm, not for the first time, and being Britain's first portable radio station had sailed in after closedown.听

Most stations had a tender coming out to the ship, but 270 was a ship that came in looking tender...

And here I was, and loving every minute of the adventure, a gullible 18 year old having learnt my trade on an intensive do-it-yourself course down south, on HM Fort Knock John, home of the much maligned, but oh-so-good-if-only-you-could-have-heard-it, Radio Essex.

This then was the real thing.听 Swinging sixties, swinging music, swinging ship, swinging mast...听 This was going to be home, for a week at a time anyway.听 Nobody seemed to be expecting me, so I had a great run up to starting on the air, spent mostly asleep and eating for a few days.听 Then, on with the show!

Starting on the 'Midnight Hour' programme - great late smooch with flashing headlights along Brid Bay etc - my shifts soon became "Teatime and lunchtime, it's music for munchtime, with Wise Guy Hamilton".听 That's what Mike Hayes'听 promo said - and who else could have have written such unforgettable poetry?听 (Mine for the Mikey Mo Breakfast Show were much worse).

I actually enjoyed the wintertime rough weather, as well as the summertime good stuff later.听 Walking down the studio corridor with one foot on the wall, holding half a mug of tea (never more than half - it slops over) was useful experience for sailing activities in later life.听

Ever since then, I've been quite content to be at 45 degrees, get food and eat it while others are chucking up - you get more as well, that way.

There was obviously a big audience.听 Later on in an ad agency I found the NOP audience survey showed over 4 million audience for 270.听 Goodness knows why they didn't sell more ads:听 most of them seemed to be for MD Proudfoot's supermarkets, where the doors opened by themselves, which benefited famously from the constant promotion.

I pinched the catchy tune from 大象传媒 TV's Tomorrow's World and started a ten-minute 'Schools Special' at about four each afternoon.听

First possible mailbag, we had 50-odd letters and cards - it was a great feeling, knowing there were real people somewhere out there.听 And sure enough, coming ashore the following Tuesday, there they were, lining Bridlington quayside.听 Real fans!听

What would you do, aged 18?听 Well, we went right ahead and did it.听 All.

Can't believe it's 40 years ago.听 Bring it back, immediately!

My best wishes to all my old colleagues and listeners, everywhere.听

And please, give generously, my pension fund's had it.

Guy Hamilton