Pirates exhibition / Pirates Anthem

Shout Out! UK Pirate Radio in the 1980s

ICA touring exhibition 

showing at

 The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery 

Bethesda Street City Centre Stoke-on-Trent

14 February - 9 May 2015

and at  

Phoenix 

4 Midland Street Leicester 

23 July – 24 August 2015

More information (or at the bottom of this post)





Home T Ft Cocoa Tea And Shabba Ranks - Pirates Anthem

From 1988, = nuum ground zero?

Nah, not really...

But then again these guys seem to think so

And then the dubstep refix from more recent

The rinse-out version is quite fun but then the dubstep version is painfully ponderous

Two more from Ron Tom whomever he might be

_________

info on Shout Out! exhibition

Shout Out! UK Pirate Radio in the 1980s is an archival exhibition that looks back at the early tower block pirate radio movement that emerged in the UK during the 1980s, prompting a new musical phenomenon that would change the face of British music as we know it.

Pirate radio is often associated with the off-shore broadcasting of the 1960's, but in the early 1980s it enjoyed a renaissance. This time stations were broadcasting music from the roofs of tower blocks rather than at sea, and in a further shift the movement distinctively celebrated black culture. Radio Invicta, London Weekend Radio (LWR), JFM (Jackie FM), Horizon, Dread Broadcasting Corporation (DBC) and Kiss FM, became the first UK pirate radio stations dedicated to soul, funk, jazz, reggae and hip hop. Although often overlooked, these stations were pioneers, championing music of black origin and paving the way for such burgeoning rave scenes as jungle, garage and house.

In Thatcher’s Britain these stations offered an escape for those suffering racial discrimination and economic marginalisation. They aimed to empower musical communities ignored or censored by the BBC and the licensed commercial stations.

With the advent of the Telecommunications Act 1984, many of these stations were forced to close down, prompting a new generation of ‘pirates’ to develop imaginative, alternative strategies to outwit the Radio Investigation Service. By the end of the 1980s an explosion of new pirate stations dominated the airwaves with over 600 stations nationwide, and 60 in the London area alone. The demise of pirate radio came about with the introduction of the Broadcasting Act 1990, but its legacy lives on.

This display tracks the history and cultural significance of 1980s pirate radio in the UK, its legacy and impact on contemporary music and broadcasting.