'Gary Mallett' & Paul Rusling
Wandering up & down the radio dial
From 1989 to 1991 Paul and his wife Anne published a weekly paid-for newspaper in East Yorkshire called the Haltemprice Herald.
LASER 558
One would be radio entrepreneur who engaged Worldwide Broadcast Consultants was a man who wanted to establish a new pop music station in the North Sea, broadcasting to the UK. The station was to be called Laser and it was to be a twin transmission facility broadcasting to the UK and the Benelux. Paul oversaw the installation of two fifty kilowatt stations into one ship. One was later abandoned by its investors and the station eventually launched as Laser 558 in 1984. It commanded an audience of around 4 million in the UK and a smimilar number in the Benelux and northern France.
A proud East Yorkshireman born only fifty yards from the North Sea, Paul's life was heavilly influenced by the offshore radio stations Radio 270, and Radio Caroline, which he later joined as a disc jockey. Since then he has worked in broadcasting, publishing and hospitality in various parts of the world, while raising his family.
Following the '11-plus' exam, Paul was educated at the Riley Technical Grammar School and later at the Hull Technical College. To fund his college education he worked as a disc jockey in local night clubs and ballrooms, mainly across the north of England.
Wandering up and down the Radio Dial
Paul Rusling - tape fanatic!
Commissioning Holland's Radio 10 Gold
Paul Rusling - a bit retro !
Paul Rusling - speaking at a
radio conference in Harlem.
Author & Writer
Paul's first commissioned article was in 1973 for a radio magazine. This was a radio publication, aimed at radio listeners in the UK and called SCRIPT. In the article Paul told of his life on Radio Caroline.
A few years later he was commissioned to write a lengthy article for SHIPS MONTHLY about the various radio ships that had broadcast to Europe. That led to Paul being retained by Broadcast (a weekly trade paper) to write about the developing market of Commercial radio in Europe.
In the 1980's he also worked for the Yorkshire Post as a stringer and for the Sunday Times. His ST work included commissioned articles about radio and the music business.
World Broadcast News
Paul was the UK correspondent for World Broadcast News throughout the 1980 and 1990s. World Broadcast News was a leading American monthly glossy publication covering radio stations around the world.
Mix Mag
In 1984, Tony Prince invited Paul to write for DMC Mag (Disco Mix Club) - a glossy magazine aimed at DJs and the clubbing scene. Paul's occasional radio pieces were expanded into a regular monthly 'column' of several pages of news from radio around the world.
Paul also chaired discussion panels on radio at the annual World DJ Convention held in London - usually at the London, Hippodrome or the Apollo and Dominion theatres in the West End.
Paul wrote several books including training manuals for radio stations plus many other speciality publications such as The Lid Off Laser 558 (ISBN 0-948055-00-6) in 1984, and a "Who's Who in British Radio" (ISBN 1900401045) in 1986, jointly with his daughter Dawn.
The Lid off Laser 558 was written about the period in 1983 and 19834 when he was involved in setting up offshore radio station LASER 558, which was an incredibly successful radio station in the mid 1980s. By living in Florida during construction of the radio ship (at Port Evergldes) Paul was subject only to US laws, and so not breaking the UK legislation, which normally prohibits such work.
The resulting radio station, LASER 558, was totally legal as it employed only American DJs, was located on a Panamanian ship and anchored in international waters. (See the Laser page for more details of Laser 558).
MUSICMAN 279 THE ISLE OF MAN
YORKSHIRE COAST RADIO
Paul's interest in radio was inspired by Radio 270 and the station's MD Wilf Proudfoot encoureged Paul to progress "beyond disc jockeying" and start using his radio engineering skills and licensing experience, and become involved in broadcast management. Together, Wilf and Paul founded Yorkshire Coast Radio - details are on THIS PAGE.
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Books about Laser 558
Who is Who in Radio?
in 1995 Paul co-edited a book with his daughter Dawn called Who's Who in British Radio. This was a directory of people working in the radio business, in front of and behind the microphone. The book sold so well that they published a further edition in 2002 which was about 600 pages long.
The Ruslings' local newspaper in full colour!
RADIO CAROLINE
Paul didn't relish spending the rest of his life at sea as a Ship's Radio Officer and was delighted to join the legendary Radio Caroline in 1973 where he hosted the station's breakfast programme. At that time Radio Caroline was a 'Hot Top 40' radio station. This was ideal ideal for Paul's style of presentation which was very much in the Mecca dance hall 'showman' vein. The station later focussed on a more laid back style playing only album cuts, at which point Paul returned to working in night clubs. Radio Caroline continues to broadcast, but is no longer at sea and can only be heard on the internet.
More details of Paul's time with Radio Caroline are on the
Radio Caroline page.
LASER 558
One would-be radio entrepreneur who engaged Worldwide Broadcast Consultants was a man who wanted to establish a new pop music station in the North Sea, broadcasting to the UK. The station was to be called Laser and it was to be a twin transmission facility broadcasting to the UK and the Benelux. Paul oversaw the installation of two fifty kilowatt stations into one ship. One was later abandoned by its investors and the station eventuially launched as Laser 558 in 1984. It commanded an audience of around 4 million in the UK and a smimilar number in the low countries and northern France.
More details of Laser 558 are
HERE.
RADIO CONFERENCES
By this time he was engaged to his future bride Anne, and together they worked as publicans and night club managers in London in the mid-1970s. More details on the Licensees page.
An enthusiastic DJ, Paul edited radio pages for the international DJs magazine Mix Mag, run by another Radio Caroline DJ, Tony Prince. Paul also chaired forums at the International DJ Convention in London in 1986 for the DMC.
Later, wearing his engineer's hat, he was a guest speaker at several technical forums. These included the prestigious IEEE conference in Washington,DC. and at the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. Among the topics he was invited to speak on were trans-border transmissions, broadcast operations in several countries and the future of AM broadcasting.
BROADCAST CONSULTANT
In 1981 Paul and several radio colleagues formed a broadcast consultancy to help various radio projects realise their ambitions and to market their various collective skills. Worldwide Broadcast Consultants became the main outlet for Paul's services to several broadcasters and some of his colleagues.
INTERNATIONAL
Worldwide Broadcast Consultants tcarried out many contracts for radio projects in the Middle East, Europe and Scandinavia. By 1990 Paul and WBC were involved in licensing for new radio stations in Poland, Lithaunia and the former USSR. License application work proved very successful and enabled Paul to combine engineering with general management tasks, and still keep his hand in programming. Contracts to install (and to repair!) existing stations came from the Azores, to Zagreb and from Morrocco to Finland.
In the late 1980's as the Soviet grip on eastern European countries was loosening, Paul became involved in several ventures, sometimes with the existing 'state' run radio stations, sometimes with 'unlicensed' broadcasts in three capitals 'behind the Iron Curtain.' Among these adventures were a radio station installed into a street tram to broadcast programmes for Lech Wałęsa's Solidarity He also helped install a pirate TV transmitter inside the Lithaunian parliament, relaying Sky News, after the Russian Army took over the regular TV station in that brave country.
As the 1990s developed Paul became involved with applications for national licences on behalf of several new broadcasters across Europe, including Baltic Radio, Classic FM, Radio 10 Gold, Sky Radio, and Virgin. He also worked for several local stations in Holland, Germany and the UK. Quite often WBC also engaged Paul's former colleagues from Radio Caroline for work in a number of countries, from the Azores to the Lebanon.
Paul worked for several state broadcasters too, including Nozema in the Netherlands, two federal networks in Germany, and others in Poland, Lebanon and the Middle East.
Who's Who in British Radio 2002
AUTHOR
Paul's first commissioned article was in 1973 for a radio magazine. This was a radio publication, aimed at radio listeners in the UK and called SCRIPT. In the article Paul told of his life on Radio Caroline.
Paul wrote many further pieces over the years for titles as diverse as Practical Wireless, Ships Monthly and Billboard in the 1970s.
In the 1980's he also worked for the Yorkshire Post as a stringer and for the Sunday Times. His ST work included many commissioned articles, mostly about radio but also the music business.
in 1995 Paul co-edited a book with his daughter Dawn called Who's Who in British Radio. This was a directory of people working in the radio business, in front of and behind the microphone. This sold so well they published a further edition in 2002 which was over 600 pages long.
World Broadcast News
Paul then became the UK correspondent for World Broadcast News throughout the 1980s. World Broadcast News was a leading American publication covering radio stations around the world.
Mix Mag
In 1984 he was invited by Tony Prince to write for DMC (Disco Mix Club) - a glossy mag aimed at DJs and the clubbing scene. His occasional radio pieces were expanded into a regular monthly 'column' which eventually covered several pages of news from the radio business around the world.
Paul also chaired discussion panels on radio at the prestigious annual World DJ Convention held in London - usually at the Hippodrome or the Appollo and Dominion in the West End.
RADIO CAROLINE
Paul didn't relish spending the rest of his life at sea as a Ship's Radio Officer and was delighted to join the legendary Radio Caroline in 1973 where he hosted the station's breakfast programme. At that time Radio Caroline was a 'Hot Top 40' radio station. This was ideal ideal for Paul's style of presentation which was very much in the Mecca dance hall 'showman' vein. The station later focussed on a more laid back style playing only album cuts, at which point Paul returned to working in night clubs. Radio Caroline continues to broadcast, but is no longer at sea but can be heard on Medium Wave, on DAB and on the web.
More details of Paul's time with Radio Caroline
RADIO CONFERENCES
By this time he was engaged to his future bride Anne, and together they worked as publicans and night club managers in London in the mid-1970s. More details on the Pubs page.
A keen DJ, Paul edited radio pages for the international DJs magazine Mix Mag, run by another Radio Caroline DJ, Tony Prince. Paul also chaired forums at the International DJ Convention in London in the 80s for the DMC. Its now called DJ-EXPO
Later, wearing his engineer's hat, he was a guest speaker at several technical forums. These included the prestigious IEEE conference .in Washington,DC. and at the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. Among the topics he was invited to speak on were trans-border transmissions, broadcast operations in several countries and the future of AM broadcasting.
BROADCAST CONSULTANT
In 1981 Paul and several radio colleagues formed a broadcast consultancy to help various radio projects realise their ambitions and to market their skills. A new company called Worldwide Broadcast Consultants became the main outlet for Paul's services to several broadcasters.
Paul's skills then contracted by WBC to various projects in the Middle East, Europe and Scandinavia. He assembled license applications for new radio stations in Poland, Lithaunia and the former USSR. This work enabled Paul to combine engineering with management and still keep his hand in programming. WBC won contracts to install and repair radio stations from the Azores to Zagreb and from Morocco to Finland.
Some projects were with the existing 'state' run radio stations and some with commercial ventures. Among these 'adventures' were a radio station installed into a street tram to broadcast programmes for Lech Wałęsa's Solidarity. This was sponsored by leading members of the UK Government. He also helped install a UHF TV transmitter inside the Lithuanian parliament building, relaying Sky News, after the Russian Army took over the regular TV station in that brave country in 1991.
Paul was involved with applications for national radio licences on behalf of several new broadcasters across Europe, including Baltic Radio, Classic FM, Radio 10 Gold, Sky Radio, and Virgin. He worked for several local stations in Holland, Germany and the UK.
Among the state broadcasters that Paul worked for were Nozema in the Netherlands, two federal networks in Germany and others in Poland, Lebanon and the Middle East. He spoke at (and chaired panels) at MIDEM in Cannes, France, the World DJ Convention in London and the NAB in Las Vegas. He also presented at the IEEE in Washington, DC.
The Ruslings' local newspaper in full colour!
Golden Microphone award
The book sold so well that a further volume was published by Eurobroadcast Publications in 2002.
Radio Books
Over the last twenty years Paul has written a variety of books about broadcast management and programming as well as three historical broadcasting works covering one of the most listened to radio stations ever, LASER. He has also written training manuals for radio companies, clients of Worldwide Brodcast Consultants. He edited and published Internet Broadcasting, a guide to building and launching online radio stations.
Paul assembled the definitive RADIO CAROLINE BIBLE in 2019, and in 2020 his RADIO FOMAT in the UK and US, became the first guide to radio statiuon programming formats. At the end of 2020 he wrote a guide to the development of DAB radio in the UK, called
DAB & DAB+ the Future of Radio
Click book covers for details.
Who is Who in British Radio?
in 1995 Paul co-edited a book with his daughter Dawn called Who's Who in British Radio. This was a directory of people working in the radio business, in front of and behind the microphone.
Paul Rusling
It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice
One of Paul's earliest articles, which was about life on Radio Caroline. Published in Script magazine, a publication aimed at radio enthusiasts, in 1973.
The DAB& DAB+ the Future of Radio, describes the development and summarises the existing DAB stations already broadcasting on the National, the Regional, the Local and the Small Scale DAB multiplexes.
Radio is on the cusp of an EXPLOSION as, in 2021, hundreds of new stations are about to be launched on small scale DAB multiplexes. How DAB came about is explained in this new book, all about DAB & DAB+, the Future of Radio.
This guide to radio formats was written to answer many of the queries about radio programming that continue to be raised by professionals within the industry and by listeners and enthusiasts. What do all the radio format names mean and why are there so many variations?
The RADIO FORMATS in the UK and US book traces the development of radio output over the last hundred years, up to the multi-formulas practiced by the industry today. In the 1920s, radio stations offered a little of most subjects as they tried to maximise their audience by being all things to all men. CLICK for more details
The Radio Caroline Bible is a 512 page collection of stories from the station's genesis, right through to date, (Latest pressing is January 2021).
Read the story behind the world's most famous radio ship, told by those who made this exciting adventure happen. Full details are at:
Paul was founder of a company which was licensed to launch an international broadcasting station serving the whole of the British Isles from a high power Long Wave transmitter in the Isle of Man.
The project was called MusicMann 279 and Paul resided in the Isle of Man for over 7 years as the project was developed.
Paul left the project (Isle of Man International Broadcasting Plc was the public limited company) in 2006 after deciding that the prospects for a national Long Wave radio station were diminishing, as were its chances of commercial success.
More details of the company, IMIB plc and the proposed MusicMann 279 radio station,
HERE
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Latest radio books
by Paul Rusling
All Rights Reserved
Paul Alexander Rusling
1999 to 2025
