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Original Pirate Material

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60 pointstintinnabula26 comments

Radio Caroline is definitely an interesting bit of history, they alone survived the Wilson government's attempt to bring offshore broadcasting to an end and carried on for decades on and off despite numerous challenges including a shipwreck. After their original ship went to the bottom of the North Sea they managed to acquire a much stronger ship that was out of service due to the Cod Wars and it's still around today, albeit in pretty urgent need of dry-docking (there's a fundraiser going on for that at the moment). They were eventually subject to an armed raid by the British and Dutch governments in 1989 and while they were broadcasting again shortly after this pretty much destroyed the clandestine shore-based organisation that supported the station, and after that a combined effort of harsher legislation and a grounding on the Goodwin Sands put an end to Caroline's offshore career. As the article says though they're still around today, ironically enough from the old BBC World Service medium wave site on 648 kHz relayed from the ship as well as the usual digital places. You can visit the radio ship too but it's moored out in the sticks on the River Blackwater.

It feels like there's still a bit of interest in unlicensed MW broadcasting in the era of cheap SDRs; I wish Ofcom would open it up to hobbyists more legitimately, the few remaining British MW stations are due for the chop soon and it'd be a better use than just letting the band fall silent in my opinion.

At one point they were the #1 radio station in the UK market. They def put pressure on Auntie Beeb.

The Boat That Rocked is a great movie inspired (I won't say "based on") by the rise of pirate radio on the North sea.

I don't care that it's not true to history, I care that it captures the rebellious spirit.

Fun fact about that film, the broadcast studios in that film aren't props; all the sound equipment was borrowed from Radio Caroline's real-life pirate radio ship Ross Revenge.

And if you want a less dramatized telling of different events, check out the book 'ShipRocked: Life on the Waves with Radio Caroline'

Disclosure: I know the guy who wrote it, and he's also a techy

They made a pretty funny movie about this in 2009.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1131729/

Starring the very funny Katherine Parkinson and Chris O'Dowd of "The IT Crowd" fame.

I still 'tune' to Caroline Flashback frequently. Nice blast from the past. Internet only. https://www.carolineflashback.co.uk/#home.html

Also, Roughs Tower (a WWII fortification twelve miles off the coast of Suffolk) was a site of the pirate radio station Radio Essex in the 1960s before the late Roy Bates declared his new "nation" of Sealand on it and declared himself prince.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand

I used to listen to Radio Caroline one upon a time, in the Ross Revenge era.

And now for “A Walk in the Black Forest ...”

(Deep cut)

>Original Pirate Material

>You're listening to The Streets, lock down your aerial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22U2LLVRwtk

Radio version, censored lyrics - likely safe for work.

This is what I clicked on this link for - a masterpiece shame later albums all got a bit poo

Absolutely. This album is an inspired work.

Everything after it is quite frankly, terrible.

It helped get me through times when I was really low in spirit.

"Some men rise, some men fall, I hear your call, stand tall now".

"You might lose your job, it's when that happens that what I'm talking about will feel much more important..."

I agress this album is brilliant, but not that everything after it was terrible.

I probably listen to A Grand Don't Come for Free more then OPM, the impact of Empty Cans in the context of listening to the whole album is huge. Fit But You Know It and Dry Your Eyes are great too, maybe too commercial for some tastes.

Saw The Streets last year at Alexandra Palace! Banging gig..

A Grand Don't Come For Free always felt more forced to me.

OPR felt like he was singing about a time and a life he knew. I figure the label wanted a second album and he gave it a go.

"A Grand Don’t Come for Free was an ambitious rap opera that wrapped a tale of romance and remorse around the disappearance of £1,000 belonging to the protagonist. To write it, he attended a workshop with the Hollywood screenwriting guru Robert McKee, who taught the likes of Kirk Douglas, Paul Haggis, Joan Rivers and even David Bowie."

Yeah, I've always felt A Grand Don't Come For Free is actually the better album. Empty Cans literally made me cry the first time I heard it.

The later stuff, though, and particularly the material since the 2017 revival is... not great.

Tbh I was not including the second one in the poo - I think the 1st and 2nd albums are both equally good in their own ways!

https://open.spotify.com/album/0hkZGxfsFypXbjq15hM6U9

You're listening to The Streets, lock down your aerial

Disappointed to find that this was not about Mike Skinner's first album

I was initially too, but this is also a good read

"You won't find us on AltaVista"

The lyrics are so culturally appropriate to that time that anyone listening now wouldn't probably get it.

The same with Futuristic Sex Robotz with the Hotel Coral Essex album - some of those songs on there are so pinpointed in time that they just remind me of the computers and using them.

Agree, the reference to a Vauxhall Nova SR in 'Has it Come to This' is a case in point. The car itself, the boy racer culture of the era, it's very specific.

Some things don't change though. Geezers will always need excitement. Terry still drinks and gets in fights and Tim is still a criminal for the choice of herbs he inhales.

Been awhile since I've thought about FSR. Back in the day, I used to listen to WoW on repeat while putting far too many hours of my life into that game.

>So what's the story? Guaranteed accuracy, enhanced CD. Latest technology, darts hit treble twenty

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