Tag Archives: radio

Pirate Radio Part 4

Posted on July 14, 2010 by | 2 Comments

radio_dial

Part 1 : The birth of Radio 1 and Radio 2

Part 2 : Needle Time

Part 3 : Radio Caroline

Part 5 : A sad, sad end

As I said last week, Radio Caroline began broadcasting on 29 March 1964 and news of its arrival on the airwaves travelled fast. In a very short space of time a sizeable audience had assembled all of whom were enjoying the chance to listen to the music they wanted.

In radio broadcasting there is a direct link between the size of the audience and the amount of advertising revenue and so the future looked rosy for Radio Caroline. However, Ronan O’Rahilly, the station’s founder, was not the only person to realise the revenue potential and away in America a ship was being fitted with a radio transmitter at the request of Australian music publisher Alan Crawford.

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Pirate Radio Part 3 Radio Caroline

Posted on July 7, 2010 by | 1 Comment

radio_dial

Part 1 : The birth of Radio 1 and Radio 2

Part 2 : Needle Time

Part 4 : Caroline has competition

Part 5: A sad, sad end

Britain had it’s first pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, in 1964 but the rules of the game had already been set as long ago as the late 1950s in Denmark.

Radio Mercur broadcast from a position between Denmark and Sweden and had begun operations in 1958. However, programs were not produced on the boat but tapes were recorded in a studio in Copenhagen and then taken to the boat to be replayed. It was at that time that the term ‘Pirate Radio’ was probably coined by the Danish press.

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Pirate Radio Part 2

Posted on June 30, 2010 by | 2 Comments

radio_dial

Part 1 : The birth of Radio 1 and Radio 2

Part 3 : Radio Caroline

Part 4 : Caroline has competition

Part 5: A sad, sad end

On my portable radio I can tune a dozen or more radio stations and listen to a wide range of music and it’s something that I, and most other people, take for granted.

We have dealt with the reorganisation of the BBC but I want to very quickly set the scene as it was at the start of the decade so that you can see what prompted people to take the extraordinary step of installing radios on boats and then anchoring them in the sea just off the coast.

Imagine, for one moment, that I take away all but one of the radio stations off your radio and make you listen to just one music station. You now have no choice what you listen to, you have to accept the music you are given. Also, to buy music is now expensive and, worse, you have only one device that you can play it on. Now that’s bad enough but worse to come.

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Entertainment The Birth Of Radio 1 (and 2)

Posted on June 23, 2010 by | 4 Comments

radio_1960sPart 2 : Needle Time

Part 3 : Radio Caroline

Part 4 : Caroline has competition

Part 5 : A sad, sad end

We’re used now to calling our stations by numbers but, in the 1960s, radio stations had much more interesting and explanatory names.

Radio broadcasting in the UK began with just one service for domestic broadcasting called the ‘Home’ service. After the Second World War the less formal part of the Home service that mainly kept the forces in touch with home was transferred to a new station called the ‘Light’ program.

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History – Radio Communication In Space In 1960

Posted on May 21, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Jodrell Bank Lovell Telescope A 60s Communication ResourceNot only are we used to getting messages from men in space but we also get TV pictures from the International Space Station and even live TV from satellite. However, in 1960 radio communication with space was quite a different story.

Jodrell Bank is a radio telescope built near Manchester in the central UK. The big dish – it’s 250ft in diameter – was built in 1957 and at the time was the largest steerable dish in the world. It became operational in time to catch the very first artificial satellite in space, Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.

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1960 Top Ten Singles

Posted on April 10, 2010 by | Leave a comment

music elvisThe top ten UK singles of the 1960 year of the decade were:

Number 1 The Beatles She Loves You
 No surprise here.

No 2 The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand
This song was made specifically for the American market

No 3 Ken Dodd Tears
Kenneth Arthur Dodd, still going (strong) and will be 83 this year.

No 4 The Beatles Can’t Buy Me Love
This, I recall, was one of my favourite songs and I heard it again recently on the radio and do you know what? I still liked it!

No 5 The Beatles I Feel Fine
A hit on the American charts and the first of half a dozen such hits.

No 6 Seekers The Carnival Is Over
Written by Tom Springfield, I never really understood what this song was about but it was very popular.

No 7 The Beatles Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out
Another Beatles song. Day Tripper was written mostly by John Lennon and it was a hit with many people. We Can Work It Out, I never really liked, it was too downbeat.

No8 Englebert Humperdinck Release Me
Not a favourite of mine, however, it was a very successful track.

No 9 Elvis Presley It’s Now Or Never
The King! What can you say? A brilliant track!

No 10 Tom Jones Green Green Grass Of Home
A perennial track that still appears from time to time on the radio. I have to say that it was not a particular favourite.

So, that was 1960! It was a chart dominated by the Beatles with only one Elvis record which surprised me.

Photo windyjonas

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