Radio Mi Amigo International has its origin in Spain as the AM
shortwave extension of 2 Spanish FM stations in Alicante (2014), that were
already named after the legendary radio ship of Radio Caroline: the mv Mi Amigo.
The Spanish FMs served mainly British and German tourists and expats, but the shortwave station initially focused on Europe. 'Europe's Nr.1 Oldies
Station': multilingual and comparable to Radio Luxembourg, that
once broadcasted iconic popmusic from the heart of Europe to a European audience.
Music transcends all boundaries and thanks to the internet and a
sophisticated choice of international music, many music- and radio enthusiasts in the
rest of the world now enjoy listening to the station as well.
Today, the station offers full international programming, with shows presented in 4 languages: English,
Dutch, French and German. Its presentation style and music choices strongly
reminiscent of 'radio' from the early days of pop, when pirate radio
ships off the English and Dutch coast ruled the airwaves.
FREE RADIO
Real 'Free Radio', where seasoned DJs determine the atmosphere and pick all music themselves.
Composing their own 'flow', following their own musical taste, just like they did back in the day on those ships.
Everyone at Radio Mi Amigo International still has those skills, because many
of its DJs originally created and invented 'Free Radio'.
Current DJs in the team include: 'Emperor' Rosko (who found himself on board
the mv Mi Amigo as early as 1964), Ron O'Quinn (former program
director of 2 British offshore stations in the 60s), Johnny Lewis (served on 4
offshore stations and is still with todays Radio Caroline), Paul Graham
and Lion Keezer who both served aboard the Mi Amigo, as well as Johan
Vermeer, an original Radio Mi Amigo DJ.
Previously also Peter van Dam †, RNI's Hans Hogendoorn and many other offshore DJs presented shows on the station.
Radio Mi Amigo International is dedicated to classic 'free radio': a
loose presentation style 'format' with the very best original music and artists.
Not only from the period 1960 - 1988 (the offshore radio era) but also music
of a later date if it fits well with the rest and with the taste of
an international 'oldies' loving audience.
UNCONVENTIONAL - JUST LIKE IN THE OLD DAYS
It is that unique and special experience of RMAI's DJs, that makes it
possible to run a radio station in 2023 that distinguishes itself in so many ways from today's offer.
Off-beat and unconventional, with an emphasis on the essence of pop music
and with a big nod to the offshore stations and 'the Golden Era of Free Radio', in the good tradition of Radio Caroline, Radio London and
Radio Luxembourg.
The station emphasizes that its name refers solely to the legendary radio ship: the mv Mi Amigo,
that served the longest of all the 'pirates', and where many of its DJ veterans
started out their careers in radio. Confusing as it may sound, it never pretended to be a
'continuation' of the old Flemish station 'Radio Mi Amigo', or to revive it.
Radio Mi Amigo International is broader than that. Its programs are
aimed at a much larger, multilingual audience, even in countries and
continents where offshore radio stations were never present. The Dutch language
plays a subordinate role and Flemish is even completely absent.
SYLVAIN TACK's FLEMISH MI AMIGO
From the shared offshore radio past, ties existed with the former Belgian Radio Mi
Amigo, once owned by Flemish waffle baker Sylvain Tack, as his station too was named after the ship from where it all started, back in
1974.
As a result, Radio Mi Amigo International paid tribute a number of times through special programs and a series of nostalgic live radio events that took place during summers in seaside
resorts on the Belgian coast. A successful reunion with original former Mi Amigo colleagues from the old days, witnessed by Flemish Mi Amigo die-hard fans who showed up un numbers.
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...'ORIGINAL'..?
And then there was the online web station that has more recently manifested itself under
the name 'Mi Amigo Radio - de èchte' (the original).
There have always been many of those tribute stations claiming the same, and this one was merely the initiative of one Mi Amigo fan
Eric Hofman from Lint/Antwerp, who had approached a few former DJs of both land based pirate 'Maeva' and the old Flemish offshore station 'Mi Amigo', to join
him in an adventure that turned out to be more like a spin-off of what we created back in 2015, than like the original 70s offshore station of the same name.
Those 6 original Amigo DJs reminisced a lot (in Dutch) and even played many of the old commercials and cassette tapes of the original programs from the 70s.
This certainly brought back sweet memories for the Flemish fans of that station, proud as they were of 'their' 70s offshore station, the only one to survive when the others went silent in 1974.
All shows were supposed to originate from Playa de Aro in Spain - so it blared every hour -, however that was never the case. A post box was the only link with the Spanish tourist town, once home of Mi Amigo's 70s studios, but where Hofman himself has never set foot.
The initial enthusiasm and stamina among the original DJs faded quickly after the promised and announced summer 2022 live broadcasts from Spain never came about due to 'organisational issues' and poor management.
When, after a while, more and more listeners started complaining 'that raising money (by selling merchandise and goods via Shopify/AliExpress links) for Hofman seemed the main reason to keep his station going',
the unavoidable happened: Mid-April 2023, after just over a year, all 'real' Mi Amigo DJs: Bart Van Gogh, Bart van Leeuwen, Ferry Eden, Frans van der Drift, Marc Jacobs, Ton Schipper as well as Steve Foster
left jointly, due to 'a protracted conflict with the management', causing the bottom to drop out of the project now that nothing 'real' is left.
Update: After failed restart attempts with unknown 'talent', a disillusioned Eric Hofman has finally said goodbye to his radio ambitions and threw in the' towel for good.
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RADIO MI AMIGO INTERNATIONAL - 10 YEARS 'ON AIR'
This year, Radio Mi Amigo International is proudly celebrating its 10th anniversary as a true shortwave AM radio station.
On the air daily from 09:00 - 19:00 [cet] on 6085 kHz shortwave for Europe and 24/7 to the world in super
HD crystal clear stereo via four internet audio streams. Listeners all over the globe tune in daily to 'Europe's No.1 Oldies station' for the best sounds from that 'Golden Era of Offshore -Free - Radio'.
Keeping the spirit of Free Radio alive in 2024'
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