By: Brad Gallagher
Everyone loves a good pirate story. We love to hear and tell stories about pirates like Black Beard, Davie Jones, Captain Hook, Captain Jack Sparrow who was so well personified by Johnny Depp, and of coarse who can forget Captain Blood, played on the silver screen by the great Errol Flynn back in 1935. But were you aware that there were pirates back in the early days of rock and roll music also? Yep, that’s right, the pirates of rock and roll sailed out at sea off the coast of Great Brittan.
As the story goes:
In England, back in the early 1960’s, radio broadcasting was monopolized by the BBC. As one of the few licensed radio broadcasters, the BBC controlled the radio waves, and if a person wanted to listen to the BBC broadcasts, they needed to pay a subscription fee. Most of what the BBC aired were “proper” radio shows, and the music they aired was mostly traditional. However, as British rock artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Animals, The Yardbirds, and others entered the music scene and began what we now refer to as The British Invasion, things began to change.
The BBC began to realized that people wanted to listen to this new music, so they decided to air some of it. However, they only aired rock and roll music once or twice per week, and for very short periods of time during hours of the day that had the fewest listenership.
In those days it was illegal to operate a radio station without a license in England, and the British government was very stingy about giving out licenses. So, unlicensed radio stations decided to broadcast the most current and popular music form ships anchored just outside British waters, and of coarse outside British jurisdiction. These radio stations became to be known as “Pirate Radio Stations” (Ahoy Matey), and their disc jockeys became known as “Radio Pirates”.. (AARGH!). There were quite a few pirate radio stations floating off the coast of England in those days, but arguably the most famous of these pirate stations was Radio Caroline which was founded by Ronan O’Rahilly, and George Drummond in 1964. Through the early 1960’s pirate radio developed a very large audience in Great Brittan, and was instrumental in helping launch the careers of many up and coming British rock artists.
Both the artists and their record labels were rumored to have paid pirate radio stations, like Radio Caroline, to play their newest music since they were not getting air time on the BBC. This practice, known as “Payola”, is illegal but as legend goes, it was said to be instrumental in putting many up and coming artists on the map. Then in 1967, the British government enacted the Marine Offences Act which made it illegal for any British subject to associate with any unlicensed pirate radio broadcaster. (Shiver Me Timbers!)
As a result of the Marine Offenses Act, most of the pirate radio stations shut down due to loss of listenership, or out of fear of being prosecuted. Radio Caroline, however, continued broadcasting, unlicensed by any government, using five different ships all the way up to 1990. And then, from 1998 to 2013 they broadcast via satellite.
Radio Caroline is still broadcasting today on “DAB” radio in some parts of the UK. And, if you ever have a desire to listen, they can be heard broadcasting 24/7 on the internet at: radiocaroline.co.uk
In closing, I would like to thank my friend, Katie, for enlightening me to this tale of piratery. And please come see me again soon in Davy Jones Locker…. or maybe just here on As The Story Goes.
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