Wonderful Radio London

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Жыл бұрын

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.

Пікірлер: 91

@THEFOXMAN1 9 ай бұрын

don't care what they did, they gave a lot of enjoyment and happiness to a lot of people.

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

👍

@Muswell 22 күн бұрын

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.

@GreatStoriesNow933 18 күн бұрын

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.

@nobby4886 8 ай бұрын

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.

@GreatStoriesNow933 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed it.

@frankedwardcurry 10 ай бұрын

That's not Ed Stewart at the start of the video - It is Mike Lennox - Great Documentary though !

@vwflorida2053 10 ай бұрын

I was just about to type the same , then i saw your comment ! Well spotted.

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

Thanks

@TheHothits100 7 ай бұрын

That was just the start of an incorrect misleading and conspiracy based story.

@TheHothits100 7 ай бұрын

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.

@Derek_S 9 ай бұрын

Radio Caroline was the first but Radio London was the best by a mile.

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

As a kid listening to those stations I would entirely agree.

@rhodaborrocks1654 9 ай бұрын

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.

@dereklawrence4622 2 ай бұрын

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

@adriancressy8363 Ай бұрын

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

@adriancressy8363 Ай бұрын

@@dereklawrence4622 Alan Weiner tried some pirate broadcasting and was shut down on the third day by our beloved FCC

@andrewwest7934 5 ай бұрын

I think that at 45seconds the DJ saying "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...." is Mike Lennox, not as captioned. Great memorie, thank you.

@GreatStoriesNow933 5 ай бұрын

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.

@rogerkemp6495 2 ай бұрын

Certainly not Ed Stewart

@Muswell 22 күн бұрын

". . . little ones & kittens" etc etc Mike Lennox. He also played a Thaal in the first Dalek episodes of Dr Who.

@raymondlee4767 7 ай бұрын

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.

@GreatStoriesNow933 7 ай бұрын

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.

@dougaldouglas8842 11 ай бұрын

Brilliant history, and so professionally done.

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

Thanks fort watching. Glad you enjoyed it.

@margin606 6 ай бұрын

But is it reliable?

@keithwortelhock6078 9 ай бұрын

Excellent - thank you!

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@radiosaido66 5 ай бұрын

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.

@ranabirgahir462 4 ай бұрын

WOW 😳 AMAZING DJ , Kenny Evert 🎶

@chuckswinden1635 11 ай бұрын

I can so remember the jingle, and trying to fine tune the old Grundig as it started to finally warm up. Good times.

@GreatStoriesNow933 11 ай бұрын

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.

@chuckswinden1635 11 ай бұрын

@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

@GreatStoriesNow933 11 ай бұрын

@@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.😊

@47AndyT 2 ай бұрын

Anyone remember Radio North Sea International? The BBC actually jammed their transmission signal!

@rogerkemp6495 2 ай бұрын

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.

@47AndyT Ай бұрын

@@rogerkemp6495 NO, it was the BBC! They are the broadcast arm of the governmennt!

@johnkerr1953 Ай бұрын

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.

@gailbirchall2163 11 ай бұрын

Good time, and Radio Caroline.

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

👍

@stevenr2463 9 ай бұрын

Exactly. I only remember Radio Caroline (and Radio Luxembourg MW 208). Perhaps we couldnt recieve Radio London in Guernsey?

@gailbirchall2163 9 ай бұрын

@@stevenr2463 Radi Luxemburg with the fags :) This station liked to advertise Peter Steffenson cigarettes

@brian.7966 5 ай бұрын

NO radio London was the best.

@richardsinger01 Ай бұрын

@@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.

@pensans1 4 ай бұрын

Boy O Boy. But we loved it. The jocks & the records.

@Muswell 22 күн бұрын

I'm so honoured to have received a lovely message from Philip Birch a year or so before he died.

@GreatStoriesNow933 17 күн бұрын

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.

@Muswell 17 күн бұрын

@@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.

@gabbysbuddy 8 ай бұрын

Never let thew facts get in the way of a good story!

@barrydevonshire9749 9 ай бұрын

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

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

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.

@VulcanDriver1 15 күн бұрын

The Bjg L was my goto radio station.

@mancroft Жыл бұрын

Well, that was interesting.

@GreatStoriesNow933 Жыл бұрын

Hope you enjoyed it!

@keithprice5208 9 күн бұрын

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.

@barrysheridan9186 Ай бұрын

Very interesting, thanks.

@iandhill1539 6 ай бұрын

Fascinating … little did we know as we tuned in at night on our homemade crystal sets!

@Muswell 22 күн бұрын

After "Density", the ship was Greek-owned & called "Minola" before becoming the "Galaxy".

@GreatStoriesNow933 17 күн бұрын

👍

@kgarrett1404 Ай бұрын

Big L ruled the pirate stations!

@GreatStoriesNow933 18 күн бұрын

Very true

@jingleman1 Ай бұрын

McLendon did not start Pams - that was Bill Meeks. He did not invent top 40. He learnt the art from Todd Storz.

@GreatStoriesNow933 17 күн бұрын

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.

@timothymills-smith 3 ай бұрын

Lazer 558 on Carolines wave band

@Anne-cl2uk 6 ай бұрын

Actually its Mike Lennox

@Muswell 22 күн бұрын

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.

@GreatStoriesNow933 18 күн бұрын

I'm sure they are ...

@Tim091 Ай бұрын

Hmm, my bullshit detectors were tingling from the start..

@MichaelBeeny 10 ай бұрын

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.

@brianveal2724 9 ай бұрын

Very sad

@GreatStoriesNow933 9 ай бұрын

Everyone appears to have wondered about the religious programme at the time.

@MichaelBeeny 9 ай бұрын

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

@Sheffield_Steve 7 ай бұрын

Radio Luxembourg used to broadcast these programmes before the English service began at 7pm.

@TheHothits100 7 ай бұрын

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.

@Ralf-xi8nk 2 ай бұрын

Ich liebe big l

@lisalasoya2898 3 ай бұрын

This assignment travels to Portugal, notwithstanding to center on a confinement concerning people of interest. They picked this European country due to a Noah's arc that drillers removed from a rock and incumbently received a sign by means of a Boxed Jellyfish. That was not the case, it backfired on them to be continued....Lackey v. CBS Radio, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7640