Just Finished Reading: Radio Caroline – The True Story of the Boat That Rocked by Ray Clark (FP: 2013/2019) [340pp] 

In the UK in the early 1960’s only the BBC, backed by the power of the UK government, ruled the airwaves. Anyone who wanted to broadcast anything had to apply for a government licence which was, invariably, not granted. Those who wished to listen to the latest pop songs, and especially those not produced by the giants of the music industry, could only try to tune into stations like Radio Luxembourg and hope that reception that night was good enough. Some pressure existed to expand the range of available music on the airwaves, but it looked to many that any change would be a long time coming. Unless... You see the thing about controlling the UK’s airwaves was that the rules only applied within, as you might imagine, the UK. So, what if you could reliably broadcast outside the UK whilst still being close enough to be heard by as many people as possible? Ideas fizzed in the heads and in the houses of music lovers and those seeking a quick way to make money whilst, at the same time, twisting the government's tail. One of those ideas became Radio Caroline. It was, on the face of it, a simple idea. UK Law only extended 3 miles offshore. If a boat could be fitted with a tall enough and powerful enough radio transmitter it could broadcast to half of Britain and there would be little, apparently, that the authorities could do about it. All they needed was a ship, some financial backers and a handful of people who had the experience or the desire to play the latest records in a grey area of questionable legality. 

It took some doing but in March of 1964 Radio Caroline started broadcasting from just outside the 3-mile limit and the British government had no idea what to do about it. Questions were asked in parliament, discussions of sending the navy to arrest those on board were muted, talk of jamming the signal and pressuring our European neighbours to stop allowing resupply ships from docking in their ports, everything was on the table in the race to stop people listing to ‘pirate’ radio. Naturally the public LOVED it. It was new, hip and radical. What’s more people, at last, began to hear the music they wanted to hear. The fact that it annoyed the government to distraction was, for many, a bonus. Official ‘advice’ not to tune to the pirates naturally fell on deaf ears. Running from those heady early days of music piracy on the high seas to the 1980’s and beyond, this is a riveting story of youth, music and the breaking of the BBC monopoly on Britain’s airwaves.  

Growing up we listened to the radio a lot. I think, yet again, it was my dad who liked music and much else coming from the radio in our lounge. I think my mum liked silence more. So, I grew up with the BBC Home Service and Light Program which, between them, played precious little ‘pop’ music. I don’t know who discovered pirate radio first, but I remember listening to Radio Caroline which had a ship stationed off the Isle of Man and which we could easily pick up from Lancashire. Twiddling with the dials of our own radios as kids we discovered other stations too broadcasting from Ireland and even, one of my favourites growing up, Radio Luxembourg on Long Wave fading in and out with the atmospherics. So, as you might imagine, I was both suffused by nostalgia and enlightened about all of the goings on in the background that I had no idea about at the time. Needless to say, I positively flew through this book recognising names, places and personalities from my youth and loving the photographs from the time that were sprinkled through the text. If, like me, you loved listening to Caroline (and the other pirates) and ever wondered what the story behind the music was, this is definitely the book for you. Highly recommended for all music lovers.