Caroline continues

Episode 54,   Jul 30, 2011, 04:57 PM

Imagine now if they closed down all the music radio stations one day. But one lived on defiantly.

In a nutshell, that moment came at midnight on August 14th 1967 when the stations lodging on ships and forts in the North Sea were outlawed. At a time of no UK land-based commercial radio, and no BBC national music stations, the UK offshore pirate stations had been alone in dispensing pop music to a mini-skirted Britain. The stations had sat on the edge of the law, and indeed on the edge of territorial waters, for three years; but the UK Labour Government decreed that broadcasting from the High Seas would become an offence if you were British.

Most closed down, one by one, amidst tears and statesmanlike farewells. Caroline, which had been the first on air in 1964, dared to defy. As the clock turned midnight, and the Brits on board prepared to commit a criminal offence, the rebellious lady chose to continue. 

Imagine the moment; of which most broadcasters can but dream. Your competitors have gone, the nation is tuned just to you. Your fans flash their car headlights across the night sea to support your crusade. Here, Johnnie Walker found the words to sum it up.