Pirate Radio Story
…radio show
In this Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show, we’re taking a look at the UK pirate radio story 1964 – 1967.
First broadcast 12 October 2020
…on Access North West
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Pirate Radio Story
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Pirate Radio Story
Pirate Radio Story 1964 – 1967
In the early 1960s the BBC had a monopoly on broadcasting in the UK. Pop music was a rarity heard on the BBC’s vehicle for light entertainment, The Light Programme. It rarely condesended 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.
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 pilots 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.
PLAYLIST
Pirate Radio Story radio show
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
ROCK’N’ROLL UNRAVELLED SHOW
How rock’n’roll came about, it’s transition into rock music in the mid-1960s and the array of rock genres which followed in the late 1960s and ‘70s.
Blues, R&B, rock’n’roll, rock, prog, folk rock, country rock, psychedelia, glam, early metal, punk, new wave +++… will all find their way into the shows. Plus artists and bands, some well known and others who are more on the cult side. Stories behind classic singles and albums, record labels, venues, gigs… Not forgetting the people behind the scenes: producers, managers, promoters, writers, Svengalis – the people who made it all happen.
If it’s relevant to the music of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, I’ll be talking about it.
All this and great music, although, some you’ll recognise and some you might well be hearing for the first time.
COMPETITION
Win a copy of
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
For this month’s question and
TO ENTER the competition…
The names go into a hat and the lucky winner selected at random.
I’ll post the book to the lucky winner
anywhere in the world…
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled – THE BOOK
Derek Shelmerdine, author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled.
In 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.”
TO BUY Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
RADIO APPEARANCES
Pirate Radio Story was first broadcast
on Access North West 12 October 2020
For all Derek Shelmerdine‘s Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Shows.
…..and appearances on all radio stations.
