Special thanks to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for sharing this story from a recent edition of Wavescan
Jeff: Over the past couple of years, we have presented a series of items under the title ‘Radio Weddings’. The last, part 9, was in April 2023. Today we present one more item in this series, perhaps the most famous radio wedding of them all – the one that took place on board the offshore station Radio Caroline North in September 1966, and was broadcast live on air to millions. Here’s Ray Robinson with the story.
Ray: Thanks, Jeff. Last week, we brought you the history of the offshore station Radio Caroline, from its earliest beginning in 1964, right up to its current legal operation in the UK with solar-powered medium wave, and two complementary channels that are heard on DAB and world-wide via webstreams.
Back in 1966, the station was operating from two radio ships – the MV Mi Amigo which was anchored off the southeast coast of England broadcasting Radio Caroline South, and the MV Caroline which was anchored in Ramsay Bay off the northeast coast of the Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea, broadcasting Radio Caroline North. It was on that second service, Radio Caroline North, that our story today took place.
One of the station’s DJ’s went by the name of Mick Luvzit. He was born in 1942 in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada, about 30 miles west of Winnipeg, with a birth name of Arthur McGurk. But he was later adopted, and at the age of 5, his name was changed to William James Brown. He grew up to be a talented musician and singer, and worked for a number of Canadian stations before moving to the UK, including CKY, CHWO, CHIC, CHUM and CFGM.
In the spring of 1966 he made a record called ‘Long Time Between Lovers,’ which was released on the Decca label on June 10th. That same month he joined Radio Caroline South, but after a few weeks transferred up to the north ship where more DJ’s were needed. He was an immediate hit with the listeners, and received over 1,000 fan letters during his first week on air.
While working on Caroline North, Mick met Janet Teret, sister of another DJ on the station, Ray Teret. They began dating, and fell in love. There was soon talk of a marriage; Mick formally proposed, and Janet accepted. Late one night, senior DJ Tony Prince was talking to the captain, Maarten Gips, and learned that he had the authority to marry people on board the ship. Tony rushed down to Mick’s cabin, and woke him up at 2am. He suggested they should capitalize on the romantic idea of being married at sea by a ship’s captain, and tie the knot on board the MV Caroline. And, of course, it would also be very good promotion for the station, Radio Caroline North. Tony said Mick loved Jan beyond words, and they started planning for a September wedding on board the ship.
On the day of the wedding, just about 58 years ago on Tuesday 20th September 1966, there was heavy fog around the Isle of Man, and Janet and the wedding party were delayed getting out to the radio ship as the tender Essex Girl initially couldn’t leave port. Visibility had to be reasonably clear after high tide, so the tender could get out and find the radio ship offshore. They did eventually make it out in the late afternoon, however, and the ceremony went ahead, broadcast live on air with a commentary from the Caroline North news chief, Graham Webb. It was conducted by the captain Maarten Gips, and because the ship was registered in Panama, legally the wedding was taking place in that country.
The ceremony began with the captain calling the marrying couple and witnesses together. He then said that he had received a written and signed request from Mr. Brown (Mick’s real name) and Miss Teret stating that they wished to be married according to the laws of the Republic of Panama, and that he had accepted such request.
The Panamanian consulate in London had already provided the relevant section of the country’s civil code to be read out during the ceremony.
The best man was Jerry Leighton, another of Mick’s fellow DJ’s, and the bride was given away by her brother, Ray, as her parents had been delayed even getting to the Isle of Man by the fog-bound airport in Douglas.
So what did it all sound like. Obviously we can’t play the whole thing, but here are a few clips to give you a taste, starting with senior DJ Tony Prince who was on air that afternoon.
For the next 10 months after the wedding, Mick continued to present his afternoon show ‘Mick’s 3-6’ on Radio Caroline North. Then in the summer of 1967, Mick and Janet went on vacation back to Mick’s native Canada, and decided to settle there. They had a daughter, Jelisse Caroline Brown, but, sadly, the marriage was not to last. They were divorced during the seventies, although they did remain friends.
Mick was heard on several stations in the Vancouver area in the 80’s and 90’s including CKST and CKLG. In 2000 he was living in Abbotsford, British Columbia, presenting the morning show on Praise 106.5, a Christian station located just across the US border in Washington State. In 2007 he suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery. Although he did recover from that, heart problems persisted. In November 2010 he was known to have been busy writing a script for a documentary on addiction to alcohol and drugs, but sadly he died of heart failure in New Westminster, British Columbia on 8th December 2012, aged just 70.
In an online post, his ex-wife, Janet, said: “Many thanks for the tribute to Mick who passed away suddenly on Saturday, December 8. Jelisse and I will miss him terribly. He had many struggles with his heart condition but always kept a very positive outlook on life. He wanted to live, but God had a plan for him. Rest peacefully till we meet again. Love, your family.”
Back to you, Jeff.
(Ray Robinson/AWR Wavescan)