Wonderful Radio London
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- During the heyday of Pirate Radio, one radio station stood out. It was called Radio London, and it was the most professional, the most innovative and the most popular. It also became the blueprint, not only for BBC Radio One, but for most commercial radio stations in the UK.
However, behind the scenes, this station, which was British run, was owned by American businessmen amongst who were some with murky connections and business dealings.
This is the story as to why, over half a century later, tales still swirl around about this station as a possible clandestine broadcaster of propaganda and one which also had a proven ability to influence democratic elections in the UK.
This video forms part of the Espionage & Intrigues series from "Great Stories from the Past" that looks at tales about spies, intelligence, informers, fake news, forgeries and propaganda.
don't care what they did, they gave a lot of enjoyment and happiness to a lot of people.
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My beloved Big L. . I could still well-up when I think about it. That awful rainy August day. It felt like my World had collapsed. I was 14 & it had helped me & had given me a lot of comfort during 3 very difficult adolescent years.
It is amazing that it appears to be largely forgotten today and when the pirates are mentioned, it is always Caroline that is depicted nowadays. In my opinion, Caroline was a very inferior station compared to London.
I did as well , remember it so well August 14th 1967 .I left to go on a course the day , a Sunday before and listening to all the former DJs recalling on a special programme in the evening on their time at Big L .Recall attending a boring lecture at 3.00p.m on the 15th and my mind was wandering and the immense sense of forbodeing at the thought that it had just been silenced forever.
I think that at 45seconds the DJ saying "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...." is Mike Lennox, not as captioned. Great memorie, thank you.
Thanks for your comments. The clip came to us with Ed Stewart's name on it. But a number of viewers have pointed out the mistake which we entirely accept. Thanks for watching.
Certainly not Ed Stewart
". . . little ones & kittens" etc etc Mike Lennox. He also played a Thaal in the first Dalek episodes of Dr Who.
Thanks for your hard work in putting this together. I never suspected anything like this- when I was 10! I do remember those religious broadcasts which I turned off as they were meaningless and boring to me. But seeing this it all makes a lot of sense.
Radio Caroline was the first but Radio London was the best by a mile.
As a kid listening to those stations I would entirely agree.
I preferred Radio Caroline for not being so slick and polished, I would tune to London occasionally to see what they were up to but always returned to Caroline. I firmly believe that Caroline in the '70s was some of the best radio ever, it was such a cool and welcoming vibe and a large part of my record collection is influenced by what I heard from them during that time. Caroline lives on today of course and although I live the other side of the planet now, it's just fantastic to still be able to tune in and enjoy a radio station that's always been different. All credit to Radio London though, they were the most successful of the offshore broadcasters of that era, but the alternatives were pretty good too in their own way.
When they say it was all over in 1967, just not true. The seventies had terrific offshore radio, North Sea, Caroline’s continuing story on the Mi Amigo, then the fantastic era of the Ross Revenge, and the MV Communicator, Laser 558. Brilliant stations. Radio Mi Amigo was also good
I was happy to hear that a lot of Americans were financing these radio ships. What a hoot. Free the airwaves so there is freedom of speech and entertainment WE WANT TO HEAR. Not BBC or post office controlled radio
@@dereklawrence4622 Alan Weiner tried some pirate broadcasting and was shut down on the third day by our beloved FCC
That's not Ed Stewart at the start of the video - It is Mike Lennox - Great Documentary though !
I was just about to type the same , then i saw your comment ! Well spotted.
Thanks
That was just the start of an incorrect misleading and conspiracy based story.
I f you can get Ed Stewart wrong at the start of the story then the chances are you can get pretty much else wrong also! I am pretty certain the late Ed would have agreed with me.
I was fortunate enough to be a teenager during the days of Pirate (offshore) Radio. I still remember lazing on the back lawn at home listening to Radio Caroline and my Dad shouting at me, "turn that off, its illegal, you will get me into trouble"!! But the DJ had me hooked as they had a brand new record just released which they were going to play "so stay tuned". I did!! It was The Animals "House of The Rising Sun" and the DJ played all 4minutes + of it. I remember some time later reading The Animals were told by their manager, "its too long, no radio station will ever play it"!
What a breath of fresh air and fun they brought to the younger people of the UK... broadcast entertainment, especially radio, was so dated, stodgy and dull and only of interest to people over the age of 40 +. I was 8 when Caroline started broadcasting and would tune in with a crystal radio to hear the latest pop music hits....
Excellent - thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just started going down the rabbit hole of pirate radio and more specifically, the offshore pirate heroes of the 60's and 70's. Wonderful video!
I can so remember the jingle, and trying to fine tune the old Grundig as it started to finally warm up. Good times.
Me too!! I was an avid listener to Radio London as a very small boy. Of course, the jingle, "This is Wonderful Radio London, where you're hearing things ..." was not original to Radio London. PAMS in Dallas had made the same jingle (but with different station IDs) for both Radio KLIF in Dallas and WABC in New York. But it was the first such jingle on British Radio. Hope you enjoyed the video.
@GreatStoriesNow933 I was pretty teen, but the rebellious and just fun with great music had me hooked, carrying a transistor radio my dad bought for me at the angel market lol
@@chuckswinden1635 I also had one of those small transistor radios! My parents never realised that I would put in under my pillow to listen to after I had been put to bed in the evening.😊
15:16 one small correction, PAMS wasn't founded by Gordon McLendon at all. In fact, he had barely anything to do with PAMS at all. It was actually Bill Meeks who founded PAMS in 1951.
Caroline was my first love, although I did listen to Big L and enjoyed the the impression of a giant hollow studio when they used the echo effect. Very impressive to a young 13 year old. The pirates have stayed with me all these years, I'm 71 now! 📻
I remember as a 12 year old listening to the stations back then, They made BBC radio sound old fashioned it has been said many times BBC radio was stuck in 1949, Yes there must have been a lot going on in the background but millions of people couldn't be wrong? Harold Wilson was paranoid about every thing back in the mid 1960's, Left to him we would have been stuck with the BBC Light again he ran into trouble with the House Of Lords over the bill hence BBC Radio 1.
Entirely agree with your remarks. While there were plenty of other pirate stations, it was London that has had the biggest long-term affect upon British culture. The BBC has failed to do this too many times; it failed during the war when General Eisenhower had to intervene over its output, it failed during the Pirate era, and it is failing now in the digital era. If it hadn't been protected by governments, it would never have survived.
Good time, and Radio Caroline.
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Exactly. I only remember Radio Caroline (and Radio Luxembourg MW 208). Perhaps we couldnt recieve Radio London in Guernsey?
@@stevenr2463 Radi Luxemburg with the fags :) This station liked to advertise Peter Steffenson cigarettes
NO radio London was the best.
@@brian.7966 But short lived. Radio Caroline catered more to my tastes, being latterly "Europe's only album station" focusing more on album deep cuts and rock music than top 40 hits. Caroline had a slightly amateurish anti-establishment (piratical if you like) vibe, less slick, but more endearing because of that. They lasted into the 1980s broadcasting from the North Sea.
Ah….those happy days of Radio London, Big L. Get your kicks on 266. I really enjoyed listening too it and found it a very interesting story. Well presented. Thank you.
Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed it.
Anyone remember Radio North Sea International? The BBC actually jammed their transmission signal!
Think you might find it was jammed by the Government of the day not the BBC. Shame they never jammed the useless Radio 1 instead. .Radio 1 was never anywhere near a replacement for the offshore stations & a station I refused to listen to.
@@rogerkemp6495 NO, it was the BBC! They are the broadcast arm of the governmennt!
Yes I can remember Radio North Sea , l can remember listening to them at night when there signal was was at it's strongest, & when they were saying something they play there signature tune - Man of action by the Les read orchestra, yes it was a great station Radio North Sea.
Yes, they carried on into the 1970's after our regulars had been shut down. I preferred them to almost everything, including Radio 1, especially late in the evening when their signal improved.
Jammed by Harold Wilson, who along with his Labour government, hated the freedom of the Pirates and had spread much disinformation during 1967 to justify the Marine Broadcasting Offences act. Although RNI, temporarily renamed Caroline, promoted the Conservatives during the 1970 election campaign the jamming continued for some weeks after they won the election. Caroline moved its frequency to be close to Radio 1, which meant that radio 1 also suffered interference. Ironically the heavily protected jamming transmitter was located in a field in Chelmsford, the then home of the Marconi company, where the forerunner of BBC Radio, 2LO, broadcast from until taken over by the government.
I'm so honoured to have received a lovely message from Philip Birch a year or so before he died.
You are clearly a true devotee of Radio London! I don't blame you because it was a wonderful station and much better than anything else at that time. I too, as a small boy, remember Radio London as we were living in north east Kent and their signal came booming through. My bother and I soon gave up watching the light ships guarding the Goodwin Sands with their different combination of flashes at night as our attention turned exclusively to the Pirates. Pete Brady on the Breakfast Show is my earliest memory.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 Apart from Paul Kaye giving test transmissions, Pete Brady was the DJ who opened BigL on 23rd December 1964. I had a transistor radio for Xmas two days later. I immediately turned the dial to 266 & it never ever moved from there -- even months after it closed down on Aug 13th 1967 -- just in case it ever came back. Pete had his breakfast show for quite a while.
WOW 😳 AMAZING DJ , Kenny Evert 🎶
Fascinating content and sinister anecdotes unknown to the majority of listeners to Big L. I loved the station with passion as most teenagers did , the brash American style over the staid BBC Popular Music output which was minimal. I always turned off at 7.00 pm when Garner Ted Armstrong came on and how cheekily Kenny Everett sent it up !.
Boy O Boy. But we loved it. The jocks & the records.
Fascinating … little did we know as we tuned in at night on our homemade crystal sets!
Really interesting . As a pirate radio fan for Many years . I did not know this. Of course Radio Caroline is the lone survivor still broadcasting. Ironically from the former BBC world service site. I am sure there's a conspiracy theory there somewhere
One of the stories that we omitted was when Caroline ordered 25 telephone lines for sales. They received their phone lines surprisingly quickly. It was, of course, the days of the GPO and party lines and when most businesses had to wait 6 months to get a line. What Caroline never knew was their telephone calls were routed through MI5 HQ whi were able to listen to every conversation!!
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video.
There seems to be a few discrepancies. The IBA didn't appear until the preparation for commercial radio began in the early '70s. The organisation was originally called the ITA. 1966 saw the appearance of Swinging Radio England, and not England Radio. It did however, share a ship with Britain Radio. Much of the other inferences, seemed a little iffy. Nothing was said about Kenny Everett being suspended by the Big L, after he made on air jokes, and other comments, about the World Tomorrow, including Garner Ted Armstrong.
Never let thew facts get in the way of a good story!
Radio London was not the first pirate, but was the most professional ... in terms of format/presentation and as a business entity. It became the blueprint for BBC Radio One, in large part due to its use of PAMS jingles. Gordon McClendon was the radio master, but Bill Meeks was the founder and brain behind PAMS. (The PAMS building shown in this video is just a few miles from my home in Dallas ... it still stands but is just offices now, on the edge of "City Place"). PAMS was bought out by JAM Productions and JAM operates from suburban Dallas.
Well, that was interesting.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Very interesting, thanks.
I’ve seen so many documentaries about British pirate radio of this era, and yet cannot seem to find any recordings of the actual broadcasts on TH-cam. Anyone able to steer me in such a direction?
After "Density", the ship was Greek-owned & called "Minola" before becoming the "Galaxy".
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The Bjg L was my goto radio station.
Is the narrator Geoffrey Weaver? It sounds like him. If it is I met him in 1970 when he was making films for Anglia TV, he died this year.
Very interesting I’m sure. But what had it got to do with Radio London? Being an avid listener for its life, I can assure you that no one listened to the religious programme at 7pm. To be honest I only vaguely remember it. You need to rd name this video it’s precious little to do with Radio London.
The Marine Offences Bill secured a Conservative majority. Young voters could not support the Labour Government after introducing such a Bill. . Labour just couldn't stand any form of competition. . The Tories, very quickly, introduced commercial radio.
I'm sure they are ...
But not before they had continued the jamming of RNI/Caroline after winning the 1970 election. LBC started in 1973, so not so quick.
McLendon did not start Pams - that was Bill Meeks. He did not invent top 40. He learnt the art from Todd Storz.
You are right on both counts. McLendon though did finance Bill Meeks because he wanted well produced jingles and commercials. He also developed Todd Storz top 40 format.
I remember Radio London very well. Everyone I knew at the time would switch off the religiose transmissions. Afterall if it was music, you wanted why would you listen to such rubbish. And we did not, hard to believe anyone did.
Very sad
Everyone appears to have wondered about the religious programme at the time.
I don't think the management cared if anyone listened or not, it gave them much needed money. I think I would have done the same thing.@@GreatStoriesNow933
Radio Luxembourg used to broadcast these programmes before the English service began at 7pm.
They did indeed and it was a lucrative source of commercial programme funding that was common in the USA where they had religious based stations. With regard to Radio London the management also thought it was a very useful form of income.
Lazer 558 on Carolines wave band
Actually its Mike Lennox
Big L ruled the pirate stations!
Very true
Hmm, my bullshit detectors were tingling from the start..
Ich liebe big l
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Interesting. But complete balderdash. No mention of Radio Normandie in the 1930s. A new generation of teenagers in the 1960s merely wanted to listen to their favourite songs on the radio and the commercial broadcasters were there to fill the void. Once Ted Heath set up ILR, there was no clamour for the offshore broadcasters to return.
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Why all these poxy adverts ruining this story- makes the programme (notice the English spelling of this word) nearly not worth watching.