The final days of the pop pirates

Radio London

Radio London had been broadcasting three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, since December 1964.

Disc jockeys Johnnie Walker (left) and Robbie Dale, of ship-based pirate radio station Radio Caroline South, at Felixstowe after the British government outlawed the station under the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, 14 August 1967.

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Radio Caroline was founded in 1964 to play pop music all day, at a time when broadcasting was dominated by the BBC and pop was played for an hour a week. Disc jockeys Johnnie Walker (left) and Robbie Dale were DJs for the station, which continued to broadcast after the act passed.

Radio Caroline's pirate radio ship 'MV Mi Amigo' runs aground at Frinton-on-Sea on the Essex coast during a storm, 20th January 1966.

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Radio Caroline's pirate radio ship 'MV Mi Amigo' ran aground at Frinton-on-Sea during a storm on 20 January 1966. The station continued to broadcast intermittently, in various incarnations, until the Ross Revenge ran aground off the Kent coast in 1991.

20th January 1966: The disc jockeys of seagoing pirate radio station, Radio Caroline at Walton police station in Essex after their ship ran aground in bad weather. The DJ's, including Dave Lee Travis (in hat) and Tony Blackburn

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The Radio Caroline DJs, including David Lee Travis and Tony Blackburn, were photographed at Walton police station in Essex after their ship ran aground in 1966.

Keith Skues, who worked for both Radio London and Radio Caroline before joining the BBC, said: "Radio London was twice the size of Caroline. It was also the first to broadcast jingles. We never had them before, now everyone has them." He said Radio London had the Fab Forty list, "which was two to three weeks ahead of the national charts."

Wonderful Radio London (aka 'Big L' or 'Radio London') DJ 'Marshall' Mike Lennox is greeted by fans when arriving at Liverpool Street Station

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Fans angry about the station's closure met Radio London DJs - including 'Marshall' Mike Lennox (centre) - off the Harwich train at London's Liverpool Street Station in 1967, where there were said to be scuffles with police.

Fans of the pirate radio station, Radio London at Liverpool Street Station, London to meet the DJ after they travelled down from Felixstowe. Throughout the day, the station's disc jockeys, including 'Big L', had asked fans to meet them at Liverpool Street after Radio London closed down.

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Skues, who had left the radio station about two weeks previously, went to meet his colleagues at the station. "There were thousands of fans. It was mob hysteria," he said.

Picture shows - Mr Robin Scott, Controller of the Light Programme, who will be in charge of Radio One and Radio Two, to be inaugurated on September 30th 1967, standing behind disc jockeys (DJs) who will feature in his programme. Disc Jockeys photographed outside All Souls Church, Langham Place, as BBC Radio 1 (Radio One) and Radio 2 (Radio Two) networks announce their line-ups near BBC Broadcasting House, September 4th 1967. Photographed Front Row (l-r) : Pete Murray, Ed Stewart, Pete Drummond, Mike Raven, Mike Ahern and John Peel. Middle Row : Bob Holness, Terry Wogan, Barry Alldis, Mike Lennox, Keith Skues, Chris Denning, Johnny Moran and Peter Myers. Back Row : Tony Blackburn, Jimmy Young, Kenny Everett, Duncan Johnson, Robin Scott, David Ryder, Dave Cash, Pete Brady and David Symonds.

Many of the former pirates, including Skues, Peel and Blackburn, went on to DJ at BBC Radio 1 and 2, which started broadcasting the same year the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act was passed. "The BBC auditioned 100 DJs and 12 of us were selected. Tony Blackburn opened the station and I was the second DJ presenting Saturday Club," Skues said.

The final days of the pop pirates

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