In Memory of Tom Taylor (Barry Stephens)
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E.M.R. would continue until June 12th 1983. That day saw the worthy end of one of the best Free Radio stations ever been on the SW bands. The end of a legend. At least...for the time being! There’s an interesting anecdote about this final broadcast (1983-page 2) originally planned on May 29th.
Following E.M.R.’s closure, Tom continued on FRS until July 1985. He then sent me a lot of E.M.R.’s original programme cassettes.
I was very honoured he asked me to be his ‘best man’ at his wedding in August 1983. Tom’s interest in SW free radio remained but in the later 1980s the level of our contacts reduced. My guess is that private circumstances were causing this. Time went on and it even seemed Tom had lost interest in radio (which I think was certainly nót the case).
In February 1996 Tom unexpectedly returned within the SW free radio scene with a self-constructed 180W transmitter still being illegally! From that moment onwards our contact was intensified. Tom told me he was determined to bring back E.M.R. on a regular basis. And so he did though mostly for a maximum of 2 hours per broadcast!
In 2001 Tom rejoined the FRS ranks for 9 months using the name Steven Reath. Early 2002 he told me he would fully concentrate on E.M.R. November 2002 marked the start of legal transmissions via numerous (mainly European) outlets including the IRRS, Ulbroka Latvia (100 kW!), Wertachtal and MV Baltic Radio in Germany (among others). Tom was very proud with the celebration of E.M.R.’s 30th Anniversary in April 2006. E.M.R. continued on 3rd Sundays for most of the year- just like in the old days- with mostly two presenters being Tom, now using his real name on air (since E.M.R.’s legal broadcasts), Mike Taylor (until 2015) and Tony Curry (until 2017).
E.M.R.’s 40th Anniversary took place a few years ago in 2016. A milestone!