Pirate Radio

Ah hud hoped tae get this page up an runnin in time tae commerate the 33rd anniversary o' the greatest act o' iniquity ony government has forced upon the British people, bit at the time o writin namely 14th August 2000 ah'm no quite ready, due tae some technical hitches ower the weekend. Noo then ah'm gonna mak this page intae sumpin extra special, fu o' sound files an picturs an ither stuff, Ye're goan tae find awfy interestin'. Ah hope ye'll pardon me if ah hiv a wee bit rant first, because this is a subject dear tae ma heart, an ah ken whit ah'm takin aboot fir wance, cos ah wis there.

Some o' yoos micht no ken aboot aff shore broadcastin' as it wis back in the sixties' an some mair o' ye micht o' forgotten, bit ah ken, an ah hivnae forgotten. Ye see if it wisnae fir thae "Pirate Radio Broadcasters" yous widnae hiv the great plethora o local, regional, an national crap, borin, an bland stations whit yees aw appear tae enjoy today.

Mind you it's no the pirates fault, that the wireless is like whit it is, cos there wis too much interference frae government, establishment, an big business. Ah hiv always said "whit the establishment cannae control, it absorbs, an whit it cannae absorb, it destroys." So it wis wi the affshore broadcasters. No fir us, in the mother of democracies tae hiv whit we wanted, like whit the Dutch an New Zealand Governments did wi their pirates. They liciensed them an brought them ashore!

Naw we wis lied tae by the powers that be, aye, whit did they tell us?

The pirates didnae pay taxes cos they were operating ootside the jurisdiction o' the inland revenue. Let's knock that wan oan the heid, ye see they were aw British companies wha hid registered offices oan the mainland, an only twa o' them ever managed tae get intae profit. Noo correct me if ah'm wrang bit the taxman disnae expect ony revenue if yer business isnae makin a profit

Ken whit else they claimed, that the pirates were a danger tae shippin, weel ah could never see how. Them that were oan ships hud professional seamen whit kent whaur the shippin lanes were, they weren'y gonna pit themselves an ithers in danger by blockin a shippin lane. Them whit wis oan the gunnery forts couldnae hae been cos thae forts were built durin the war by the military, which in turn only destroyed wan fir that reason, hivin deemed those it abandoned tae be nae danger.

Aye, the lyin connivin sleekit wee nyafs, claimed that the pirates wernae payin' coapyricht oan the music, weel ah ken fir a fact that maist o' them did, only ye'll proabably find that P.R.S. will deny there wis ony contact, to this very day.

Noo here's a guid yin. They claimed that the pirates wis interferin wi ither foreign stations whit were oan nearby frequencies. Ah think they said Radio Bratislava an the Vatican Radio hud complained. Whit a giggle, cos the frequencies whit the stations used, wis allocated tae them unner international agreement, an that agreement at thon time wis, the Copenhagen Convention o' 1947. Firstly wha'ever negotiated oan oor behalf didnae dae a very guid joab, he didnae acquire nearly enuch frequencies fir this country. Secondly neether the Vatican Radio nor Yugoslavia were signatories tae the convention, so they hid nae business complainin, they wis technically pirates themseles.

An then tae cap it a' they said there wisnae enuch frequencies tae gang roon so they couldn'ae licience them. Well wha's fault wis that, mind o' whit a said in the last paragraph, an nowithstanin that small matter, how cum four years later they foon enuch frequencies tae stairt the first 20 B.B.C. local stations. Nuthin hid changed. Aye an see them beeb stations were nuthin better than audio versions o' the local rag.

By noo ye're nae doot askin yersel why ah'm ramblin oan aboot sumpin whit happened ower 30 year ago, an proabably cannae be pit richt. Weel better folk than me hiv said that if ye dinnae learn frae history ye're doomed tae repeat it's mistakes. An besides ah hiv been boattlin this up inside o' me aw this time it's theraputick tae get it aff ma chest.

It cums tae this, wi the introduction o' the iniquitous Marine Oaf fences (Broadcastin) Act 1967 freedom o' speech in this sceptic isle o'oors wis effectivly stoaped. Fir the first time since the reformation a meenister o' the church couldn'ae deliver his sermon if he wanted tae dae so oan pirate radio an that wis sumpin the covenanters foucht an died fir centuries ago.

Harold Wilson an his connivin cronies goat their cummupance in 1971 when they loast the general election tae Ted Heath. That shook thae pollsters, an ah wid like tae think that the Pirate Radio issue played a part in his doonfall, ah suppose though we'll never ken fir sure.

Maggie T an her bunch o pervie cut throats didnae dae mich better. It wis them unner the guise o' a joint action wi the Dutch pit Radio Caroline aff the air by force at the beginnin o' the nineties. Some British officials an a troop o Dutch Marines boarded the Ross Revenge an set aboot the gear wi sledge hammers. If that wisn'ae an act o' real Piracy oan the high seas ah'd like tae ken whit is?

So ye micht well be thinkin tae yersel, ah ken wha winnae be votin Tory or Labour onymore, an ah hiv tae tell ye ye'd be richt, besides these days they're wan an the same. Baith equally bent an jist oot fir power, they've loast the plot, which is that they are elected tae be wir servants no oor maisters. bit afore ah lose the plot o' this ah'll jist say that ah'll develop ma political thinkin mair oan ma politics page

Maybe ah hiv said enough fir the time bein cos ah dinnae want tae bore yous aw wi ma rantins an ravins, so let's get doon tae the business in haun.

Those o' ye whit ken onything aboot it will ken that Radio Caroline wis the first British affshore broadcaster, an came oan the air ower the easter weekend o' 1964. She teamed up in May o' that year wi the second wan oan the air namely Radio Atlanta. After which wan o' them sailed up tae the Isle o' Man an we hud Caroline North an Caroline South tae enjoy. It wisnae until December o' that year that the third wan Radio London came oan the air, an ah'm glad tae mention them cos they are at present broadcastin an R.S.L. frae a portakabin oan Clacton pier. If ye want tae hear the authentic soond o' the pirates then click oan their website an select the approapriate icon assumin ye hiv the software tae hear audio files.

Hope ye're listenin in noo while ye read oan, ah'm goan tae skip forrard a wee bit, cos ah'm daen maist o' this frae memory an fir the time bein a cannae mind whit happened atween an atwa December 1965, bit it wis oan Hoagmanay that year at aboot ten tae midnight that Radio Scotland struggled oan tae the air. Firstly she wis moored aff Dunbar, bit they thoucht their signal wisnae gettin intae Glesga awfy well so they upped anchor an buggered aff unner tow tae Troon.

Haud oan, Haud oan, ah'm nae feenished yet gies a chaunce, there gonna be mair, a loat mair. While yer keekin at the links yees kin aways hae a listen tae Radio Caroline still broadcastin oan short wave, satellite an here oan the web, click the banner below.