War on the Airwaves

The 1960s in Western society were a decade of clashes between the old and the new, between the established and the up and coming, and sometimes even between generations. This generation clash as well as the clash between ‘old music’ and the fresh and new sounds of the 60s became the essence of what would become the radio revolution.

The BBC were the official providers of Britain’s radio broadcasts, having a complete monopoly over the industry as they had done for many decades. The music revolution of the 60s brought about new and exciting types of music, which the youth seemed to be particularly fond of, with the older generations choosing to stick to their Frank Sinatra and their Elvis. This divide in tastes was made worse by the BBC typically playing less than an hour of this new style music per day, which obviously would not satisfy the demands of the youth audience.

The youth, not to be denied their beloved Rolling Stones and the likes, tuned in to Radio Luxembourg – if they could get a signal. This radio station tended to play a lot more of the music that the youths wanted to hear, with the only drawbacks being it was a very patchy signal and it was only available in the evenings. For some the choice between a patchy radio Luxembourg and a restrictive BBC radio service was not good enough, and so enthusiastic DJs began setting up shop on boats off shore. They provided the constant stream of hits that people wanted to hear, all of the time.

“They are now fondly remembered for helping kickstart the swinging Sixties and revolutionising the airwaves forever.”[1] – The Telegraph

The government was reluctant to act, with the BBC having to fight its own ‘Secret war’ with the pirates, even trying to convince artists to ban their records being played on such shows. They were also trying to convince the government that shutting them down would not disrupt the youth vote.

As much as the BBC could try to shut them down, the appeal these stations had to the youth of Britain was phenomenal, the BBC simply could not compete, and at their peak, the pirates were commanding around 20 million listeners! They risked losing their monopoly to a bunch of amateurs, and it was this fear that led to the revolution in radio. Eventually the Marine Offenses Act of 1967 was passed in to law, with the BBC being a major advocate for its passing, in doing so the pirate radios became illegal. They were only not illegal in the first place as they were operating in international waters, and it was now illegal to operate, supply or work for a pirate station, with all but radio Carolina ceasing to operate.

The BBC had learnt a valuable lesson – not to alienate the youth, instead they were to incorporate the new music in to their new programming. A month after the act, radio 1,2,3 and 4 were set up, with radio 1 becoming one of the most successful radio stations to date, largely thanks to the hiring of a number of pirate radio hosts, including the now BBC legend Tony Blackburn.

The effect pirate radio had on the country was huge, as it enabled the music revolution that was ongoing at the same time to reach even greater numbers of people, with the pirates tending to also play up and coming tracks. In turn, the radio revolution really pushed the musical revolution of the 60s forward at even greater speeds than was already happening, and is thus one of the biggest events in recent British cultural history.

By Mathew Hardy

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[1]Chris Hastings, “The BBC’s secret war with the Pirates” The Telegraph,  (2009) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4741298/BBCs-secret-war-with-the-pirates.html