26/09/2025
Mi Amigo Top 50 of September 27th, 1975 with Ferry Eden via www.foutemuziekradio.nl
In the mid-1970s, Spain was a country that many Western European politicians frowned upon. This was mainly due to the fascist dictator Franco, who had held sway there for about forty years. However, tourists had long discovered the country, mainly because of its pleasant climate. Torremolinos, Benidorm and Sitges were now famous coastal towns, Playa d'Aro was one of the newer ones in that series. From spring until autumn, in addition to bus trips, the popular Spanish flying holidays were daily business. Due to the presence of the Mi Amigo studio, Playa d'Aro had a special appeal to the listeners of that offshore radio station. This was also extensively addressed in the tape programs recorded exclusively in Playa
The offshore station Radio Mi Amigo was Flemish. As early as the end of 1962, Belgium had declared cooperation in radio from sea 'illegal'. On September 1st, 1974, an anti-offshore radio law had also come into effect in the Netherlands and Radio Veronica, RNI and the Flemish Atlantis had closed down. Only Mi Amigo and Caroline had continued from their shared radio ship, no longer for the Scheveningen coast but from the Thames Estuary. Caroline's programs came live from that radio ship. Mi Amigo's studio programs were initially recorded in secret locations in Holland and Flanders. In February 1975, Belgian authorities raided and Sylvain Tack and his Mi Amigo employees had to flee to his holiday home in Playa d'Aro.
The Amigos Peter van Dam, Stan Haag, Bert Bennett, Joop Verhoof, Maurice Bokkebroek and their partners had a wonderful summer. With the plane- and busloads of tourists, there was no reason to
complain about interest. The downside of all that was that the otherwise serene resort of Maz Nou had become a true place of pilgrimage, which led to complaints from local residents. The plan was to set up a studio in the center of Playa, which became a nice winter task for technician Bokkebroek. For the time being, it was autumn 1975, which ushered in a new situation for the employees: namely that of relative silence and having to rely on each other. Far from home in Spain, the isolation of 'exile' began to gnaw for the first time...
On September 27th, 1975, the Mi Amigo Top 50, which Peter van Dam had recorded in Playa about two weeks earlier, sounded from the radio ship in the Thames Estuary. The tapes had ended up on the MV Mi Amigo via various secret routes and via a supply ship. That same day - in the final convulsion of the Franco regime - five opponents of the dictator were executed. The days of this only Western European dictator himself also turned out to be numbered, he would die on November 20th, 1975. Franco, the pariah of Western Europe, had been ignored and isolated by France, England, Belgium and the Netherlands. His passing would become the occasion for a new course. Radio Mi Amigo, as a maritime broadcaster persecuted by the aforementioned countries, had received a warm welcome in Spain, but would eventually experience the disadvantages of Spain's EU rapprochement.
Due to the work on the Monique book, which will take some time, there will not be a completely new retro Top 50 this time. This hit parade from September 27th, 1975 was made earlier but has now been adjusted by Ferry Eden to the year 2025. On Saturday, September 27th, 2025, this Top 50 will be exactly fifty years old and can be listened to between 12 and 3 p.m. via www.foutemuziekradio.nl as well as via www.miamigoradio.eu.
