Reg Calvert, at the time, operated his business out of 'The Record Centre', 20a Oxford Street, Whitstable. This was owned by Eric K. Martin, a successful businessman from a wealthy family of brewers and pub owners that sold out to Shepherd-Neame, Faversham. He became the Radio Sutch 'station manager' by default, having responded to an on-air plea for supplies from the Shivering Sands fort by David Sutch and, as 'Ricky Martin', recorded fill-in programmes sent out by tender during 1965.
Bob Le Roi was born in Canterbury, Kent, on 5th May 1949. He first got involved with offshore radio while still at school. Radio City's station manager Eric K Martin asked him to help out by making “tender tapes”. These were pre-recorded programmes which were played on air while the supply tender was visiting the station. Everybody was needed to help unload the boat and haul everything up the tower so the DJ had to abandon his live programme and play a tape instead. In March 1965 Bob was invited out to the Radio City fort to present his first live shows. Aged 15, he was the youngest DJ on offshore radio at the time. His first theme tune was by Valerie Mountain & The Eagles from their Some People EP, later replaced by the George Martin Orchestra's All Quiet on the Mersey Front. During the seventies Bob provided some taped programmes for Radio Caroline. He has since been heard on BBC local radio and a number of commercial stations, including Invicta Radio, Southern Radio, Channel Travel Radio and Medway FM, where he was also Programme Director. He has taken part in some of the Radio London restricted service re-creations and similar ones for Radio Northsea. He has also been heard on a daily programme in Malta on Calypso FM. In May 2004 Bob organised a reunion to mark the fortieth anniversary of Radio Sutch and Radio City. For many years he ran a website which contained many wonderful photos and items of memorabilia from the fort-based offshore stations but sadly it has now closed. (Many thanks to Bob for the information, the photo and the recording.)
