Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Avast Ye! Pirate Radio, Dead Ahead!


http://musicmasteroldies.com/2009/11/04/avast-ye-pirate-radio-dead-ahead/
Posted by joeknapp at 8:36 AM

17 comments:

  1. planet mondoNovember 5, 2009 at 2:57 AM

    What a great piece (and love the Grandma's Diner photo). I've been hooked on radio since getting my first portable in the seventies.

    For all the clarity of sound DAB doesn't have the magic of analogue and being to scroll around the dial.

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  2. Curty RayNovember 5, 2009 at 4:52 PM

    Thanks for this really cool insight to the world of pirate radio.

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  3. BerniNovember 8, 2009 at 7:38 AM

    Wow! what an interesting and well written post. I knew about Caroline but not the rest this history, thanks.

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  4. LaurieNovember 9, 2009 at 8:35 PM

    This was unspeakably amazing for me to read. I've heard some of the stories over the years, but not all - and I've never seen or heard all of the artifacts. I remember being young and trying to walk in your footsteps. I tried DXing using one of your old books from the seventies as my only reference as to what I might have been hearing (that is, if things hadn't changed!). I used MusicMaster to schedule a lineup of my music and then recorded my radio shoes on cassette while alternating song playback between the computer and my CD player. I even tried to follow your lead in building a microphone by attaching the earpiece of an old set of earphones to the inside of a peanut can lined with rags (epic fail). It was a lot of fun, but I never came close to what you accomplished. I am incredibly proud to be your daughter!

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  5. joeknappNovember 10, 2009 at 10:09 AM

    Just a follow up, a pirate radio broadcaster in Texas has attempted to get around the FCC's $10,000 fine by claiming that the FCC has no jurisdiction in Texas and that shutting his station down violates his rights under the first amendment! You can read the legal arguments here:

    http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-2390A1.pdf?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=aff066690d-TRI_11-10-2009&utm_medium=email

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  6. joeknappNovember 19, 2009 at 9:05 AM

    For more information about Radio Caroline and other pirate radio stations operating around the UK in the 1960's, here's a great website: http://www.offshoreechos.com/Main%20page.html

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  7. joeknappNovember 23, 2009 at 12:35 PM

    Here's another follow up story about a pirate radio station that just got busted in Oregon.

    http://www.rbr.com/radio/18739.html

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  8. tomtewellDecember 2, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    Wow! As one of your DJ's, I am so glad you didn't mention my name. The thing is, all the young ladies out there will remember the name and the satin-like voice that went with this now famous by-line, "Thissss is the Savage!"
    Thank you my old friend. Good Stuff!!

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  9. Radio OutlawFebruary 16, 2010 at 2:28 PM

    Outstanding story from a broadcaster who has not forgot his roots as an operator of an undocumented radio station. It reminds me of my early days as a young boy experimenting with broadcasting and my first radio station.

    I went out of sequence from the normal undocumented broadcaster. I started in legal radio at age 8 as a gofer and human automation, then by 13, decided I could do radio better and started my own undocumented radio station out of my bedroom.

    I too thought getting my FCC license, was going to open up a bunch of doors; but at age 16, it proved useless. So I spent the next 10 years running my own undocumented radio station; until it started showing up in the diaries in very big numbers. It was not a licensed station that turned me in; believe it or not, it was another pirate that turned me in! Beat that!

    The story of my first station is here:
    www.radiobrandy.com/KKTO.html

    I plan on sharing this great story on the next update.

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  10. garage 66 & mojo repair shopMarch 4, 2010 at 2:08 PM

    It's always some 12AX7 tube that's the trouble...ya should have had a tube tester to have given you the actual life left in it. Oh well!

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  11. joeknappMay 22, 2010 at 8:03 PM

    The two audio clips in this post were accidentally deleted by the file hosting service I'm using, so they weren't playing for a while. I just fixed that today, so you should be able to hear them again. Sorry for any inconvenience!

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  12. Boomer The DogMay 1, 2012 at 4:01 PM

    I knew Captain Sly, but long after his radio experience with WKOS. He gave me a copy of KOS' story in the Herald-Standard paper I think it was. He did The Mad Pad, like the former Ernie Anderson Mad Daddy show, and he was still a rockin' kind of guy with a love of records and rock 'n' roll to this day!

    Boomer

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  13. AnonymousOctober 19, 2012 at 7:03 AM

    late 60's I did WAM from Lakewood, mostly on 1610 or 1580. First a 6DQ6 modulated oscillator, then an ARC-5 bought from Fair Radio, then crystal controlled tube (6AG7 mayb e?)osc. driving a 6146, driving an 811A grounded grid amplifier. Antenna was a wire up the side of the house. Got my FCC license and ham license in 1969 and quit. WQSN I think was in Parma.

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    ReplyDelete
  15. Steve MichaelsAugust 26, 2013 at 11:55 AM

    I had several bootleg stations. My most successful was "Expressive Radio, Channel One FM" in Bakersfield, CA from 12-25-72 until 7-31-76. I operated 24/7 with three hours shifts except overnights which was a six hour show. All volunteer staff that sounded terrific. My initial idea was to have an all female staff but I couldn't find enough qualified females to cover 24 hours a day so I brought in some male air talent to cover. This station was so successful in the market that ratings numbers disappeared from the local top 40 stations!. Shortly after I left Bakersfield in 1976, Buck Owens changed his country FM station (KZIN) to rock (KKXX) and hired several of the people from Channel One to work there! It is still KKXX and rock to this day!

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    Replies
    1. joeknappAugust 26, 2013 at 12:03 PM

      Wow, what an incredible success story! Thanks for sharing. I doubt anyone could top that!

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete

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