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British Radio Station Plans All Day Tribute To U.K. "Radio Pirates"
It's hard to imagine the effect so-called Radio Pirates had on UK broadcasting. There was a time in the 60s when it was only the BBC and nothing else. If they weren't playing what you liked, well, too bad. There was simply nowhere else to go. (Perhaps with the exception of Radio Luxembourg.) And then came those crazy guys who set up ships just far enough offshore to be out of the reach of the government edicts and began playing rock and roll on Top 40 formats for the younger generation.
Needless to say, they were a big hit and all the kids listened to them. Perhaps "Radio Caroline" was the most famous, and included among its staff was future CKFH jock and hitmaker, Keith Hampshire.
How things have changed 'over 'ome. There are now hundreds of private stations in Britain, thanks to DAB, and one of them is planning to devote an entire day's worth of programming to those pirate pioneers. Absolute Radio 60s will be interviewing the original jocks and playing airchecks of their broadcasts on August 12th from 10 AM- 4 PM British time. (5 AM - 10 AM Toronto time.)
The material they plan to air sounds terrific. You can see the entire list here. Bit of a chore to listen to, but if this era intrigues you, it may be worth the effort.
One caveat: you'll need a VPN set to the U.K. to hear it.
- paterson1
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Re: British Radio Station Plans All Day Tribute To U.K. "Radio Pirates"
It is interesting that while the UK in the 60's was turning out so much great music, the radio other than the few pirate stations didn't reflect this. Caroline (named after Caroline Kennedy) was the first pirate station and began broadcasting in 1964 and others followed. BBC 1 and 2 were formed in 1967 to replace the BBC Light Programme station.
By the early 1970's BBC Radio 1 was the world's most popular radio station with shows that had over 10 million listeners, and some programs that were simulcast with Radio 2 had over 20 million with listeners beyond the UK. The BBC top 20 and top 40 countdowns commanded huge ratings.
Tony Blackburn had been the top disc jockey on Radio Caroline and he became the first morning host on BBC 1's Breakfast Show. Right from the beginning, BBC 1 utilized jingles similar to what was heard on North American radio. At first the plan was to produce the jingles in house at BBC. However the unions insisted that the musicians and singers be paid every time a jingle was played. BBC opted for customized PAMS jingles from Dallas that had a flat fee.
British and European top 40 radio took a very different path than Canada and the US and was much later to the game. However the pirate, public and eventually private radio embraced contemporary hit music and album rock in a big way. Some would argue that they would eventually outperform what was heard over here. Personality radio is still a big deal in the UK and Europe to this day, and their most popular announcers are household names to millions.