SELLING THE SIXTIES Was pirate radio in the sixties a non-stop psychedelic party – an offshore discothèque that never closed? Or was there more to it than hip radicalism and floating jukeboxes? From the mavericks in the Kings Road and the clubs ofSohotothemultinationaladvertisers andbigbusiness boardrooms Selling the Sixties examines the boom of pirate broadcasting in Britain. Using two contrasting models of unauthorized broadcasting, Radios Caroline and London, Robert Chapman situates offshore radio in its social and political context. In doing so, he challenges many of the myths which have grown up around the phenomenon. The pirates’ own story is framed within an examination of commercial precedents in Europe and America, the BBC’s initial reluctance to embrace pop culture, and the Corporation’s eventual assimilation of pirate programming into its own pop service, Radio One. Selling the Sixties utilizes previously unseen evidence from the pirates’ own archives, revealing interviews with those directly involved, and rare audio material from the period. This fascinating look at the relationship between unauthorized broadcasting and the growth of pop culture will appeal not only to students of communications, mass media, and cultural studies but to all those with an enthusiasm for radio history, pop, and the sixties. Robert Chapman’s broadcasting experience includes BBC local radio in Bristol and Northampton. He has also contributed archive material to Radios One and Four. He is currently Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Performing Arts and Media Studies at Salford College of Technology. Selling the Sixties THE PIRATES AND POP MUSIC RADIO ROBERT CHAPMAN London and New York First published 1992 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1992 Robert Chapman Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Chapman, Robert Selling the sixties: The pirates and pop music radio. I. Title 306.4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Also available. ISBN 0–415–07817–2 (Print Edition) ISBN 0–415–07970–5 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-18217-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-18220-0 (Glassbook Format) For Caroline Contents Acknowledgements page ix 1 Selling the ether 1 2 Action and reaction: Piracy and the pursuit of prestige 32 3 Method actors versus multinationals 60 4 Other pirates: Other possibilities 132 5 The politics of piracy 168 6 If you want to sell in England 198 7 British Broadcasting Incorporation 226 Notes 279 Index 287 vii Acknowledgements As Selling the Sixties beganlife in January 1987 as a Master’sdegreethesis itseemsappropriatefirstlytoexpress gratitudetoGraham Murdock,atthat time Research Fellow at the University of Leicester’s Centre for Mass Communications Research, for acting as my tutor, for introducing me to much usefulresearchmaterial,temperingalittle(just alittle)myobsessive hostility towards theexistingliteratureon pirate radio,andhelpingfashion a readable thesis out of a typically unwieldy first draft. Simon Frith, as external assessor, offered both empathy and constructive criticism, and commissioned theabridged earlier draftof Chapter 3,which firstappeared in Popular Music (vol. 9, no. 2) in April 1990. Claire L’Enfant set into motion the initial publishing interest while at Unwin Hyman. Sarah Dann brought the project to fruition with HarperCollins and contributed much appreciated editing to early drafts. Dr Richard Barbrook of the Centre for Communication and Information Studies at the Polytechnic of Central London, also made a detailed analysis of early drafts and a valuable contribution to the book’s overall structure and emphasis. I wish to thank all those who consented to be interviewed, several of whom had never spoken publicly on the subject of pirate radio before. Fewer still had ever previously had their comments framed in such an analytical context. Interviews werecarried outwith thefollowing between February 1987 and November 1990: In alphabetical order: Mike Ahern (disc jockey, Radio Caroline, BBC Radio One); Ted Allbeury (Managing Director, Radio 390, Radio 355); David Allan (disc jockey, Radio 390, Radio 355, BBC Radio Two); Andy Archer (disc jockey, Radio City, Radio Caroline, BBC Radio One); Tim Blackmore (production assistant, BBC Light Programme; producer, BBC Radio One); Edward Cole (disc jockey, Radio 390); Tim Davis (music publisher); Simon Dee (disc jockey, Radio Caroline, BBC Light Programme and Radio One); Tom Edwards (disc jockey, Radio City, ix SELLING THE SIXTIES Radio Caroline, BBC Radio One and Two); Tony Hall (disc jockey, Radio Luxembourg and BBC Light Programme; Head of Artists and Repertoire (A & R), Decca Records); Tom Lodge (disc jockey, Radio Caroline, BBC Radio One); Steve Merike (disc jockey, Radio Scotland, Radio Caroline, BBC Radio One); Richard Palmer (disc jockey, Radio Essex, BBMS); Michael Parkin (Advertising Manager, Radio Caroline); John Peel (disc jockey, Radio London, BBC Radio One); John Ridley (disc jockey and Sales Director, Radio Atlanta; Advertising Manager, Radio 390); Keith Skues (disc jockey, British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), Radio Caroline, Radio London, BBC Radio One); David Symonds (disc jockey, BBC Light Programme and Radio One); Johnnie Walker (disc jockey, Radio England, Radio Caroline, BBC Radio One); John Walters (producer, BBC Radio One); Teddy Warrick (producer and programme organizer, BBC Light Programme and Radio One); Alan West (disc jockey, Radio London, Radio 355, Radio 390, Radio 270). Given the subject matter of this study, clandestine and unauthorized broadcasting, it is not surprising that occasionally interviewees requested anonymity. Where necessary comments offered ‘off the record’ have been incorporated unattributed into the text. Similarly it is a reflection on the continued sensitivity of much of this book’s content that four interviewees – a disc jockey, a producer, arecord plugger,and an employee of one pirate station’s administrative staff – requested complete anonymity. This request has been honoured. Interviews ranged in length from 30 to 45 minute ‘one offs’ to in-depth discussions lasting several hours, and follow-ups spanning several months. I found the majority of interviewees only too glad to be of further assistance when needed and would like formally to thank everyone contacted for their time and patience. Additional thanks go to Tim Blackmore, Edward Cole, Kevin Howlett, Michael Parkin, and Teddy Warrick for donating press cuttings, an abundance of memoranda, and various other valuable documentation relevant to the period. I am particularlygrateful to thosewho took thetimetogo beyond the well-worn anecdotes and into more considered evaluation of the offshore radio phenomenon. x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are inevitably themes which remain underdeveloped here, in particular the technological argument in its broadest sense, and also the BBC’s relationship with the various factions of the entertainments industry. Even the conclusion of this analysis was to some extent dictated by quantitive considerations brought about by the sheer weight of material amassed in dealing with the 1960s. I had originally rather naïvely envisaged being able to cover offshore radio’s second generation of activity off the Dutch coast (1970–4), the origins of Independent Local Radio in Britain, and even a case-study of Radio Caroline; this was celebrating 25 years of uneasy existence while I was writing this book, aware of its probable demise by the time of publication. These themes will be covered in a second volume. Richard Palmer (Radio Caroline), Andy Archer (Radio Northsea International, Radio Caroline), Alan West (Radio NorthseaInternational),andSteveMerike (Radio NorthseaInternational), all provided valuable information in addition to that acknowledged in the maintext,basedontheircontinuedinvolvementwithoffshoreradioduring the 1970s, as did Norman Barrington (Radio Caroline), Dave Rogers (Radio Northsea International, Radio Atlantis), and Ian Anderson (Radio Geronimo, Radio Caroline, Radio Northsea International). Interviews with several others on the above list also went beyond the scope and chronology of the original study and provided much usable material for further analysis. The central question of what the pirate stations actually sounded like was addressed by recourse to my own archive of pop radio broadcasts – comprising some 1,000 recordings, of over 10,000 hours of material, ranging in length from 5 minute extracts to entire 12 to 14 hour segments of uninterrupted station output. This, I learned as I researched, is far more extensive than anything either the National Sound Archive or the BBC possesses in the area of pop music and pop culture, and proved invaluable in providing much of the factual detail of this analysis. A people’s history sub-text runs constantly though unobtrusively throughout Selling the Sixties, and I would suggest that these hitherto unexamined primary sources are of immense significance. Existing literature