The Boat That Rocked

The Boat that Rocked

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin”. A lot had changed in British radio since Julia Lang first uttered the well-known phrase across the air ways in 1950, especially for the avid child listeners. As the decade changed, this generation became indulged in sixties culture, influenced by changes towards sex, drugs and most notably music. The 1960s was seen as revolutionary for popular music as it witnessed the creation of separate radio stations catering to different styles of music and entertainment, largely thanks to pirate radio.

British Pirate Radio rose from the BBC’s failings to cater for the musical tastes of the youth. Instead of listening to the latest hits from the Beatles or the rolling stones, teenagers had to settle for the BBC’s restricted radio schedule, which mainly featured orchestras or light comedic entertainment, until midnight on Good Friday 1964 when Radio Caroline first began broadcasting. Inspired by European pirate radio stations, Radio Caroline became the first British off-shore pirate radio station, as it operated upon the MV Mi Amigo, a large ship off the Essex coast. As the radio station operated outside British waters, radio Caroline wasn’t subjected to the restrictions of British law, radio Caroline took full advantage by broadcasting non-stop hit records, catering for the musical needs of a large segment of the British population.

                                 

                                                                                          

After just a few months of broadcasting, Radio Caroline attracted an audience of 4 million listeners. The mass attention resulted in the creation of the Caroline Club, membership cost a reasonable five shillings and gave the opportunity to fans to ask the radios DJ’s questions[1]. Fans became intertwined with the DJ’s of radio Caroline, especially with Simon Dee. Dee seemed connected with the fans, he was pictured reading Christmas cards he received from them and it was even documented in the memoirs of fellow DJ’s that Dee sent out an SOS message during his show requesting fans sent a boat to radio Caroline when fellow disc jockey, Bryan Vaughn was taken ill[2].

 

Radio Caroline’s success continued to soar, by 1965 they were drawing audiences between 10-15 million listeners per day, due to this staggering amount of listeners, other pirate radio stations began to emerge[3]. By 1967 there were more than nine pirate radio stations operating in international waters. However, eventually the pirate radio stations grew attention from government, especially when a dispute between offshore radio operators resulted in one killing the other. The altercation brought the discussion of pirate radio to the forefront of political discussions, resulting in the passage of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act on 15 August 1967[4]. The act made the works of pirate radio stations illegal, instead radio Caroline focused its attention towards neighbouring countries such as Holland and continued to broadcast, until their success and influence began to sink.

Despite radio Caroline only spending three years in the lime light, their influence on British music and radio is undeniable. BBC radio was reconstructed in 1967 and now offered four different stations catering to different musical tastes, a fundamental change for the future of radio. In present day there is over 250 commercial FM radio stations across the UK all sharing the same ancestor, Radio Caroline.

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[1] Gordon Kelly, ‘Far Out at Sea - The Radio Seagull Story’. (Lulu Press Inc: 2014). Pg. 27.

[2] Keith Skues, David Kindred, ‘Pirate Radio: An Illustrated History’. (Amberley Publishing: 2016). Pg. 23.

[3] Mitchell K. Hall, ‘The emergence of rock and roll: music and the rise of American youth culture’. (Routledge: 2014). Pg.23.

[4] David Sinclair, ‘Making Waves: Fun and Adventure As a Young D J On Britain’s Offshore Pirate ...’. (Lulu Press Inc: 2015). Pg. 30.