On the 14th August 1967, a new law called The Marine Offences Act came into force which made it illegal for any British subject to have anything to do with a pirate radio station – whether it be presenting on air, a crew member on board, being an advertiser, promoting the stations, or supplying them with music.
Three years earlier, On Easter Saturday in 1964, Radio Caroline burst into life on the Mi Amigo ship, anchored three and a half miles off the Essex coast offering all-day pop music presented by knowledgeable and fast-talking DJs.
Over the next three years, other pirate radio stations sprung up on ships and discussed WWII forts – including Wonderful Radio London, Radio City, Radio Atlanta, Radio Scotland and Swinging Radio England. They all offered all-day pop music presented by hip and happening young DJs including Johnnie Walker, Tony Blackburn, John Peel, Kenny Everett and Dave Cash, Keith Skues, Tony Windsor, Tommy Vance, Ed Stewpot Stewart and Simon Dee. And they were pulling in around 20 million listeners!
To mark the 55th anniversary since pirate radio stations were brought to an end, courtesy of Absolute Radio, Absolute Radio Pirates combines new interviews with archive broadcasts – and loads of great music – to tell the real story of the pirates, their love of music and the move into illegality.
Courtesy of Bauer Media, You can listen to these stories on Radio Glamorgan on Sunday 14th August from 1-5pm
