Pop Music Pirates
HISTORY This Week
The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios
4.5 • 4.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 August 2021
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
August 14, 1967. Off the coast of England, a group of pirate ships has been fighting to stay afloat. These are pirates of a particular kind—less sword fighting and treasure hunting, more spinning records and dancing late into the night. For the past few years, these boats have made it their mission to broadcast popular music from international waters. But at the stroke of midnight, a new law will make these pirate radio DJs criminals. Some of them, aboard Radio Caroline, are willing to risk it. How did a group of young rebels launch an offshore radio station that gave the BBC a run for its money? And how did they change the course of music history?
Special thanks to our guests, former Caroline pirates Nick Bailey, Gordon Cruse, Roger Gale, Patrick Hammerton, Keith Hampshire, Dermot Hoy, Colin Nichol, Paul Noble, Ian Ross, Chris Sandford, and Steve Young.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The History Channel, Original Podcast. |
| 0:04.0 | Hey there, Sally here. Before we get started, we have a little something special for you. |
| 0:08.9 | August is going to be Arts and Culture Month here at History this week. |
| 0:13.3 | That means every week in August we are exploring important moments in literature, poetry, |
| 0:19.3 | painting, and Winnie the Pooh. We'll talk about the joke at the center of Robert Frost's legacy, |
| 0:25.4 | a band of pop music pirates, the Mona Lisa's Heist, and yes, the birth of Winnie the Pooh. |
| 0:32.9 | So check out Arts and Culture Month on History this week every Monday in August. Now onto the show. |
| 0:40.8 | History this week. August 14, 1967. I'm Sally Homme. |
| 0:46.7 | Gailforce wins off the coast of England, choppy waves, foam blowing in streaks across the water, |
| 0:57.5 | and a small group of pirate ships that have been fighting to stay afloat and are about to lose. |
| 1:04.4 | Radio London presents their final hour. These are pirates of a particular kind. |
| 1:13.2 | Less sword fighting and pressure hunting, more spinning records and dancing laid into the night. |
| 1:19.4 | For the past few years, a handful of boats have made it their mission to broadcast popular music |
| 1:26.4 | from international waters. Because the BBC won't play much pop, and this is the 60s. |
| 1:33.4 | The people want to hear it. This was always just barely legal, and now the government has put |
| 1:41.0 | its foot down. Tonight, at the stroke of midnight, these pirate radio DJs will become criminals. |
| 1:51.0 | Several boats have already given up, and today, the last possible day, the first to stop broadcasting |
| 1:58.9 | is Radio London. The next to drop is Radio 270, so named for the frequency that it airs on. |
| 2:11.6 | In their final hours, they have a rough go of it. The bad weather prevents most of the DJs from |
| 2:17.1 | making it out to the boat. So they have to record their farewell messages from the shore. |
| 2:22.2 | A helicopter pilot agrees to drop a package of tapes on board the ship, so the DJs who are on |
| 2:27.2 | board can play them, but he misses and the tapes plunge into the water. Plus, 270 has some technical |
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