Radio Caroline and the democratization of 1960s music broadcasting

In today’s world of streaming and pirating digital files online, the idea of pirate radio may seem dated—but it was essentially an early form of file sharing pre-Internet. Instead of going to Pirate Bay to download a new music album, in the 1960s one could turn to pirate radio to hear songs being played outside the control of the major record studios. This is essentially what happened with Radio Caroline—an offshore British radio station established by businessman Ronan O’Rahilly in 1964. Pirate Radio: Radio Caroline O’Rahilly’s intention was to get music to people without having to make obeisance to the record industry, which controlled the broadcasting industry at the time and without attempting to compete with the BBC’s monopoly of the airwaves (Harris). Thus, on the one hand, one could argue that Radio Caroline was an attempt to democratize music and get it into the ears of audiences in an anti-establishmentarian sort of way—which is essentially in line with the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll. On the other hand, it could be argued that the record companies have a legitimate right to royalties or licensing fees for the broadcasting of their content and that by acting like a pirate radio station Radio Caroline was essentially defrauding the companies that had produced the content.

Considering that in the 1960s, it was either go rogue or go home if you were someone interested in getting specific content on the air that was not part of a station’s already sponsored programming, pirate radio actually made sense: it was independent, rebellious, DIY (do it yourself), and essentially punk rock. As O’Rahilly initially set up Radio Caroline because it was the only way to get Georgie Fame’s record on the air (von Joel, Henry), his intention was pure from a rock ‘n’ roll point of view—and for that reason, it will be argued here that Radio Caroline had a legitimate reason for pirating the airwaves.

In the 1960s, the radio waves were essentially controlled by the major studios: the sponsored the programming and the songs audiences heard were the ones the studios wanted them to hear. Independent artists like blues and jazz musician Georgie Fame had little chance of reaching a wider audience in such a climate. Today, such a monopoly of the airwaves is unimaginable especially in the age of social media where content is spread around the world in minutes freely and without discrimination. In the 1960s, communication media technology was nowhere nearly as advanced as it is today. If people wanted to get their music on the airwaves outside of the major studio system, they had to turn to pirate radio. Based on the success of Radio Caroline, there was obviously an audience for alternative programming (Harris). Radio Caroline was not even alone at the port at Greenore where O’Rahilly docked his ship: Allan Crawford’s Mi Amigo was also there gearing up to go rogue (von Joel, Henry).
Neither was O’Rahilly alone in his own venture with Radio Caroline. He received financial support from a number of investors all of whom saw a need for pirate radio. Thus, “snubbed by the radio and music establishment,” as the Radio Caroline official history narrative puts it on the station’s website, O’Rahilly and company wanted to get back at a music and broadcasting industry that was not being fair to independent artists. The name for Radio Caroline came from a picture that O’Rahilly had seen in a popular U.S. magazine—a photo of a young Caroline Kennedy dancing with her brother in the Oval Office while JFK looked on at his children. Radio Caroline would be named after the young girl—an anti-establishment, witty riposte by O’Rahilly to the merger of business and state, the latter of which was complicit in supporting the music industry’s monopoly over broadcasting (von Joel, Henry).
When the song “Not Fade Away” by The Rolling Stones was played on Radio Caroline and dedicated to Ronan O’Rahilly it was an epic moment not just for radio and the value of independent artists (like The Rolling Stones at the time), it was a monumental victory for fans of music and for the spirit of autonomy everywhere (Radio Caroline). It was more about a movement than it was about piracy. It was about helping independent artists to take ownership of their content and to use the airwaves to get their content out to people, too, instead of being railroaded by the major studies and broadcasting companies. The concept was so successful that Radio Caroline would go on to merge with Mi Amigo. But as with any new, great innovative idea, it would soon be tested by fire by the legislators in Parliament working for the corporations in London. The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 banned advertising on offshore radio stations like Radio Caroline. The justification for the Act was that pirate radio could interfere with the radio frequencies of emergency shipping channels and thus it was a danger to the public. There was also the matter of international agreements regarding airwave usage—but the reality was that it was the UK government’s attempt to shut down the competition of the BBC.
Radio Caroline simply moved locations and re-anchored in the Netherlands, where offshore radio would not be banned for another seven years (Radio Caroline). However, Radio Caroline would not survive that long—in 1968, its ships would be raided and confiscated and O’Rahilly would not get back into the business of pirate radio until 1970 when working with a new set of entrepreneurs looking to tackle political issues with their pirate radio station of the English coast. Together they brought Radio Caroline back to life and began attacking the Labor party in England over the air (Radio Caroline). The UK government did not like that at all—but the influence of Radio Caroline was too strong and Labor lost at the polls that year. O’Rahilly felt partially appeased: it was sweet revenge for what the UK government had done in taking his ships two years prior; however, he wanted more (Radio Caroline).
Ronan O’Rahilly took Radio Caroline to the Dutch in the following years where he embraced the essence of the Hippie movement in the West—love, peace, mellow sounds and homeopathy were the essential elements of Radio Caroline in the 1970s (Radio Caroline). However, in the mid 1970s the need to return to roots became evident and Radio Caroline once more began focusing on the music and the artists that had made the pirate station important in the first place—and this was what the people and fans of Radio Caroline wanted: they wanted a voice and a musical artistic expression that was their own—not something owned by the industry or the broadcasting stations (Radio Caroline).
In conclusion, Radio Caroline was a pirate radio station that supported the idea of freedom in media—the idea that music once created was there to be shared. It was more than that, however. It was an attack on the established business world, where corporate media had the final say in who got airplay and who did not. Radio Caroline was a rebellion against the established pecking order in media and Ronan O’Rahilly was viewed as a hero for many who wanted independent artists to get the airplay they deserved. For these reasons, Radio Caroline’s existence was legitimate and justified: it was about the music and the people who made music as independent artists. It was about getting their voice and their works out there to people and helping them to gain popularity. They may not have made money on the venture—but it is really no different from working class bands today: today, musicians get paid from touring—the media content is there to get fans, and so it was with Radio Caroline.

Works Cited Harris, Paul. Broadcasting From The High Seas. Paul Harris Publishing Edinburgh, 1977. Radio Caroline. “History: Don’t Get Mad, Get Even.” http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#history/history_part_2.html von Joel, Mike and Stuart Henry. Pirate Radio: Then and Now. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press, 1984.