Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show
Pirate Radio Story 1964-1967
podcast…
In the early 1960s the BBC had a monopoly and pop music was rarely heard on British radio. Along came Pirate radio in 1964 and all that changed – Pirate Radio Story podcast
This is the original radio show, including all the music played on the show.
Access North West 12 October 2020
PLAYLIST
Pirate Radio Story podcast
1 Helen Shapiro – Walking Back to Happiness
2 The Fortunes – Caroline
3 Screaming Lord Sutch – Jack the Ripper
4 Cliff Richard – I Could Easily Fall (In Love with You)
5 Spencer Davis Group – Somebody Help Me
6 The Rolling Stones – Not Fade Away
7 The Move – Flowers in the Rain
Pirate Radio Story 1964-1967
In the early 1960s the BBC had the monopoly on broadcasting in the UK. Pop music was in short supply on the BBC’s vehicle for light entertainment, The Light Programme. It rarely condescended to play the Beatles or Rolling Stones. Programmes like Saturday Club and Pick of the Pops were an oasis in a desert of Mantovani, Housewives Choice and Sing Something Simple.
The main source of pop music for listeners in the UK came across from Europe, courtesy of Radio Luxembourg on 208 medium wave. The signal was poor and the songs famously faded in and out.
That all changed when the fist pirate radio ship, Radio Caroline, made its first broadcast at noon on 28 March 1964. For the first time non-stop pop music came to the UK. Other pirate radio ships soon followed: Radio Atlantis on the Mi Amigo and Radio London on the Galaxy. Rock’n’Roll singer Screaming Lord Sutch launched Radio Sutch. Firstly, with a publicity stunt on the Cornucopia, before setting the station up on an abandoned World War II fort, Shivering Sands, in the Thames Estuary.
The airwaves across Britain were soon buzzing to the sound of non-stop pop music, from a fleet of pirate ships and forts.
Lord Sutch soon tired of his radio experience and sold his share in Radio Sutch to his manager and co-owner, Reg Calvert. He re-branded the station to Radio City. It certainly wasn’t plain sailing for Reg Calvert, his Radio City venture was a tale of failed takeovers and murder…
The pirate radio stations introduced a host of new DJs. John Peel, Kenny Everett and Tony Blackburn were all pirates of the airwaves.
All good things come to an end…
It took the BBC and UK Government three years to recognise the the need for a national pop-music radio station. On the 14 August 1967 the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force and the pirates were history (well, mostly).
The BBC employed an army (or should that be navy?) of new DJs from the now defunct pirate radio stations. Radio 1 launched on 30 September 1967. Tony Blackburn introduced the Move’s Flowers in the Rain, heralding in a new era of British radio.
WHO’S ON TOUR NOW?
Check out the current tour details for artists and bands mentioned in the
Pirate Radio Story 1964-1967
podcast…
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Rock’n’Roll Unravelled – THE BOOK
Derek Shelmerdine, author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled.
With its unique three-part format
Timeline + What Happened Today? + Pocket Histories
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled tells the story of rock’n’roll from its roots to mid-1970s punk.
Not just the story of the music but also the social events which shaped it. The Vietnam War, Civil Rights struggle and so many other factors because they had such an influence on the music of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
Record Collector magazine review
“Shelmerdine has made a painstaking effort to document pretty much every event that would prove significant in shaping popular music … a comprehensive guide… invaluable.”
