UKC

Who remembers the pirates?

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I was a big fan of pirate radio in the 60's. Radio Caroline North from the Isle of Man delivered great music to Macclesfield as a teenager. When I spent a brief spell in London in 1966 I delighted in Radio London - including John Peel's perfumed garden - and my pirate allegiance continued. By 1968 it was a tuning art to pick up the surviving stations but I did hear the last days of Caroline South with Johhnie Walker.
What are your memories of pirate radio?

 Hooo 09 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

I'm way too young for those. My pirate radio memories are of hunting down a decent old-school analogue tuner in the 90s so that I could find all the D&B / Hardcore / Techno stations. 

 profitofdoom 09 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

> What are your memories of pirate radio?

GREAT music on Radio Caroline 

 Tom Last 09 Apr 2021
In reply to Hooo:

Yeah same here. Rude FM, Kool FM 90s North London. My mate did a couple of slots on Rude FM. Tales of Tower block roofs etc, all sounded a bit alarming - though probably all b****cks. 

 aln 10 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Too young for them but I did listen to Radio Luxembourg under the covers in the 70's. It was the only place on radio, other than John Peel, where I could find an alternative to mainstream music. And along with Peel they were 1st to play Punk on the radio. 

 Tringa 10 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

I remember them well. When there was largely rubbish music on the BBC they were the stations to listen to.

My main listening was to Radio London and Caroline, but sometimes also City and Essex.

Dave

 brianjcooper 10 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Can't believe it was over 50+ years ago. I'd created a 'cobweb' aerial system in the attic that picked them up from the whole Country while living in Scotland. Happy days.

Radio Scotland (Firth of Forth) 

Radio 270 (Scarborough Yorkshire coast)

Radio Caroline (North and South)

Radio London  

 Trangia 10 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Radio Caroline for me. 

 earlsdonwhu 10 Apr 2021

Listened to Radio Luxembourg. One time, I wrote in  pretending to be a friend asking for girl/penpals to write to him. He never found out exactly why he got sack loads of letters for the next week from all round Europe.

 Myfyr Tomos 10 Apr 2021
In reply to Trangia:

More than half a century ago! Bloody hell...   youtube.com/watch?v=xYmTJ9uA5AQ&

 AndyC 10 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

"Yer listenin tae Stuart Henry!" Ok, Luxembourg was maybe not technically a pirate station, but I have fond memories of trying to get a decent signal on a small radio* after a hard day's geological mapping around Coniston in the early '80s.

* I guess we can't use the word 'tranny' anymore.

 Kean 10 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Used to go to the Caroline roadshow in Maidstone. Me ears 'ave never been the same since!

 Bobling 10 Apr 2021
In reply to Tom Last:

Same here, Rude & Kool FM.  Sometimes a reggae station on a Sunday afternoon.  There was some good speed garage stuff too.  A mate's sister DJ'd on an internet radio station and I went to the studio a couple of times.  Blew my mind - it's radio...but it's on the internet...this must have been '98 or so.  It's almost worth finding a cassette deck to listen to some of the recordings I took.

Why were all the club nights they advertised always in the arse end of nowhere?  Always Stratford and further East!

 Hooo 10 Apr 2021
In reply to Bobling:

All the good nights were in shitholes in shit areas. I figured it was because nice venues in decent areas need to make loads of money to pay the rent, and the good nights were put on for peanuts by people doing it for the love of it.

 wintertree 10 Apr 2021
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Before my time but Wintertree, Sr used to regale us with tales of driving down to Southend on a Friday night, parking up at the coast and flashing their headlights out to see towards Caroline whilst listening in and getting the flashes acknowledged.


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