Radio Noordzee Top 50 from 1974 with Ferry Eden – RadioVisie

It is rare for Ferry Eden's hit playlist to be broadcast exactly fifty years in history as is the case with Episode 154 of Radio Noordzee International (RNI)'s Super Top 50. It was traditionally served by Ferri Maat on Saturdays between 12:00 and 15:00.

By programming this hit show an hour before the Veronica Top 40 competition (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.), the station had plenty of listeners on Saturday afternoons. In addition, the North Sea list contained those 10 – often private – records of which over 40 Top 40 releases were picked up, and the 'overseas' releases were picked up very quickly via the English RNI service. The influence of the popular Soul Show on Sunday (2:00pm – 4:00pm) was also noticeable on the Noordzee Radio Top 50 and will gradually leave its mark on other charts.

Business as usual

Meanwhile, the “Radio Nordzey Keep it in the Air” promotional ads were rarely played at the start of the new spring meteorological season. The willingness to take action has given way to some resignations, after a majority of parliament backed the Den Oil government's plans to introduce an anti-marine transmitter law in the Netherlands.

At RNI, staff focused on their programmes, i.e. “business as usual”. Meanwhile, news anchor Hans Molenaar had left the station and was working for the ANP news agency. He was succeeded by Nardin studio technician Eric Post. During his previous stints on board the radio ship – alternating with colleagues such as Mark van Amstel and Gerard Smit – he presented the evening program Buitengaats in a commendable manner.

Dick de Graaf was down now, because his strength was not reading live news. He made a tape-recorded morning show in the Naarden studio “Oud Bussem” on the Strengholt website. All the studio shows were recorded there, such as the Top 50 show, the aforementioned Soul Show, and other Sunday shows by Jan Bozerwin, Willie & Williecki Albert, and Pete Romer.

The live version of Buitengaats on Sunday including the agenda was presented in an entertaining way from 9:00 am to 11:00 am, mainly by Mark van Amstel. He has indicated that he wants to spend more time on floor due to his relationship and will often appear as a flexible substitute on studio programs in the following months. The first newsreader Hans Ten Hooge (Hogendoorn) left the RNI on 16 March 1974. Hermann de Bruijn and Peter Jäger were appointed as newsreaders on board.

The RNI's international service was essentially live. The exception was the early morning weekend program Skyline with the mysterious voice of Louise. A popular Sunday evening program was Graham Gill's 'The RNI Requestshow'. He performed this live from the radio ship during his time on board and then recorded it on land in a small studio in the “Concerto” record shop on the Utrechtsestraat in Amsterdam, with a very young man called Ad Roberts doing the tech.

Mike Ross, one of the first crew members in 1970, left the station in February. Listeners heard him on the impressively recorded tune Man of Action at the start of the English-language broadcast at 8:00 p.m. He was succeeded by Roger Kent in MEBO II.

The atmosphere, hit songs, jingles and commercials of the time will be featured on Saturday, March 2, 2024 (12:00 PM – 3:00 PM) in the North Sea Retro Top 50 on the same date in 1974 via BadMusicradio At the Fairy Eden show.