David St. John - Site Map

I trust you have enjoyed another slice of Sixties nostalgia and I am indebted to Mike Nevitt who painstakingly wrote out a few pages of the above information as he ‘doesn’t do computers’ in his own words! If you have any more to add or to amend then please get in touch as so many people have been doing over the last few years of my website which is growing all the time.

Susan - Reg's daughter has mentioned how she recalls the happy days at the Royal Pier Southampton and Len Canham's mother who was a superb cook! Also she remembers Lens' Golden Labrador, being very fond of dogs and has mentioned that she has many unpublished photos of these early days so I am hoping that these can be shared with everybody through my webpages. Susan is also an accomplished writer and currently working on two musical plays which are based on the Reg Calvert story and I will pass this on when nearing completion. Her mother Dorothy still has a remarkable memory of those early days and perhaps I might be privileged to write about some of these in the near future.

This personal article has just been sent to me by Susan Calvert and I reprint it in its entirety as it offers an amazing insight into her father's story. As mentioned, she is currently writing a musical play and a possible book on the story so would welcome any personal reminisces of anybody who knew or worked with Reg Calvert but would not appreciate any time-wasters etc so I ask anyone to respect the family wishes.

My parents moved from Huddersfield to Southampton. My mother wanted to get away from the grime of Huddersfield - and she longed to live in the South. They were only 18 when they married just after the war, and like most other people at that time, had to struggle to survive. My father's family was very musical and his mother played clarinet in bands and orchestra's and travelled the world. His grandparents brought him up and he learnt to play clarinet, sax and piano. He had a brilliant 'ear' and could play almost any tune once he had heard it.

My father was a qualified hairdresser but soon got fed up with that and when the sugar rationing was lifted, started to make sweets and sell them on market stalls and at fairgrounds. He then bought an old sweet factory and my parents opened a sweet shop in Northam, Southampton. My mother did most of the running of the shop while my father pursued his new 'hobby' repairing old radios and radiograms.

In the evenings, to earn extra money, he compered for the big bands and also played the piano in clubs. In the mid 1950's he started to import Rock & Roll music from the U.S.A. Bill Haley, Rock around the Clock etc. This was before anyone had heard about Rock and Roll in the U.K. He tried to persuade the managers of the dancehalls to play rock and roll music instead of Big Bands, but they wouldn't. Not only that - there were no rock bands. Only skiffle - No one had heard the expression 'teenager' until he started to use it to promote his dances.

He searched all over the south and London for good musicians and singers to form into bands and found dancehalls to put the shows on. They were proper 'shows' - with variety, comedy and competitions. Within a year or two - rock and roll caught on and stars such as Cliff Richard who copied Elvis, Marty Wilde etc came onto the scene.

The groups my father managed were paid a proper wage, higher than the average working wage, and it was regular. They were guaranteed work and he paid the rent on a house in Portland Terrace so that they could live rent free if they chose to. Danny Storm looked like Cliff Richard. Buddy Britten like Buddy Holly. Eddie Sex like Elvis. Other performers included Baby Bubbles - a coloured boy who died young from a brain tumour. Robbie Hood, Dave Da Costa, etc. They rented a shop in St Mary's with a night club above, called the Bandbox.

My mother started a print works on the ground floor of the house we lived in. She printed the posters and tickets for the dancehalls and also did print orders for other companies. The money she earnt kept us going while my father was trying to establish the dancehalls and pay the wages of the bands. Both my parents worked extremely hard to try and make a go of things and there was never much money in the early days and the constant struggle to succeed. My father was always one step ahead, planning his next scheme rather than sticking to the one he had made successful. My mother had to pick up the pieces and carry on managing whatever he had started. She helped to manage the groups, pay the wages, organise the dances and keep my father in check!

They bought Clifton Hall Rugby in 1961. It was a beautiful house, with eight bedrooms and two and a half acres. Being in the centre of England meant that it was easier to travel out to run the dancehalls. At that time, large houses were unwanted and the price was not much more than an ordinary four bedroom house. They provided free board and accommodation for the groups and singers and carried on their policy of providing regular work and guaranteed wages. This was unheard of in the entertainment business and many of the parents really appreciated the fact that the boys were looked after.

Clifton Hall was a sanctuary for the boys, 'girl' free, alcohol and drug free. (No one we knew took drugs in the early 1960's.) My mother was quite firm about home life and the boys respected her. The boys slept most of the morning, rehearsed in the afternoon and then went out and did a show in the evening. When they came back late at night, they would often start rehearsing again. The house was full of music. The drummers were sent to the 'barns' to practice as my mother couldn't stand the noise!

Some of the singers such as Danny Storm and Buddy Britain had their own following by then so my parents arranged recording contracts for them. Other groups followed including The Fortunes. More and more bands wanted my father to manage them including Screaming Lord Sutch, Rocking Berries etc, so he started an agency in London with Terry King and called it Kings Agency. When we moved to Clifton Hall, I remember my father saying to me, that Clifton Hall would be the perfect place to have a local radio station and he applied for a licence. He wanted to see free radio in the UK and it was his ambition to have a radio station. Several years later when Radio Caroline started to broadcast (using the Fortunes song 'Caroline' as their theme tune) he tried to think of a way that he could have a station. My mother pointed out, more than once, that they could not afford it - there was no money to buy a ship!

With Screaming Lord Sutch, they decided to do a gimmick to promote Sutch by hiring a boat on the Thames and sailing through London playing rock and roll and saying that this was Radio Sutch. What started as a rock and roll party - ended with my father's death. Being unable to afford a ship - he searched the admiralty charts and spotted the old war time forts. To start with it was a bit of fun and an adventure, a way to promote the groups. He soon became more determined to make it successful - and the station gradually made a name for itself.

Radio Atlanta was a station that ran out of money - but one of the brains behind it was Major Oliver Smedley, a chartered accountant. He persuaded my father that he would provide a much more powerful transmitter and they could go into partnership together. The transmitter arrived - fell in the sea! It was very large and very old, and it did not work. Months later, Radio London the most successful radio station wanted to go into partnership. It was obviously much better to run a radio station from a fort than off a ship. Everything was agreed and the documents were about to be signed. Major Smedley arranged a boarding party in the middle of the night and took over Radio City. My father was frantic with worry for the disc jockeys and engineers on the fort. Smedley had a meeting with Radio London and said that the station was now his and he wanted 50% of the deal. The police told my father that they could not intervene and he should go and discuss the problem with Smedley himself and gave him the contact details.

Reluctantly, after trying to arrange a meeting and speak to Smedley, he went to see him in the evening with Arnold, whom he rented the aerial from. Both my parents had had vaccinations and my mother was quite ill and my father's arm was so stiff he could not drive. My father took with him money to pay off the boarders if he couldn't get Smedley to come to an agreement. As my father arrived, Smedley left his house with his shotgun, went to a neighbour and told the neighbour to phone for the police as there was "going to be trouble". He then went in and shot him. A wonderful story was hatched by Smedley and his mistress about my father being a violent man etc. The trial was a farce and Smedley walked away a free man.

Much to the surprise of everyone, my mother insisted in taking over the station and carrying on. She had been totally against my father running the station and they had separated for quite a time because of it. She received death threats and was in constant fear for her life but she ran it to the end, when the government brought in new legislation.

Pirate Radio was so popular in the 1960's. Everyone loved it and the government were powerless to close them down. Because of my father's death, we now have local radio, pop radio, commercial radio etc. It was his dream, but he had to die for it.

Susan (Moore) Calvert 2008 susan.k.moore@btinternet.com

Reg Calvert has often been misjudged by certain people over the years but his legacy was an important part of Sixties Pop Music with his entrepreneurial skills, foresight and great business ideas. I look forward to seeing him recognised and portrayed in a positive light whenever any perceptive TV or film company takes a good look at the life and times of a great showman.

Please come back to this page as I am sure that more information and photos will emerge as well as any of YOUR memories if lucky enough to have known or dealt with Reg Calvert.