Pop Went the Pirates: History of Offshore Radio Stations

Two interesting things stick in my mind: Tony Benn's sensible assertion that "The people who ran the stations were not criminals but business men who had found a loophole in the law," (this as a backdrop to the authorities later hysteria about shutting down the pirates) and the conclusion of former Caroline DJ Paul Graham which is also the conclusion of the book that "pirate radio has had its day.....Long may it rest in peace!"

A lot of the information about offshore activities after 14 August 1967 was new to me. Although I remember Johnnie Walker broadcasting after midnight that night and later listening to Radio NorthSea International, the many and various other attempts to repeat the success of the heydays of broadcasting to the UK was an interesting and I guess later somewhat sad closing section of the book.

I enjoyed hearing about the people who worked on the stations and what they are doing now. Sometimes I wasn't quite sure when the "now" was in some places: 1967, 1968 or 1994?

Overall a great book for not just Anoraks - but also the many people who got a great deal of pleasure from three short years when we all realised that the Light Programme was gone forever!!


The definitive book on this subject.   February 26, 1999
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

I have read this book from cover to cover, and enjoyed every minute of it. It is the definitive work on offshore radio - or pirate radio as it is probably better known. Written from the inside, during the heyday of the pirates, with carefully researched historical and subsequent events, it both informs and entertains. There is a comprehensive section on the stars of pirate radio, where they came from, and where they went, and the book follows through to the "present day" offshore stations of its publication date. There are many photographs and quotations, and much information about how the programs and schedules were put together. The book is carefully cross-referenced, and provides a wonderful insight into the development of modern broadcasting (including the political shenanigans surrounding the MEBO Act), and the lives of those involved "at the sharp end". The author is still broadcasting to a similar geographical audience, and much interest is still shown in the pirate era. Without their influence it is doubtful we would have the rich diversity of radio available today. This book would make an excellent gift for anyone in their mid-40s to 50s who had any interest in radio during their younger days. It can be dipped into, or read straight through: it is equally at home on a library shelf as a coffee table, but above all it will answer all those questions you wanted to ask way back when.