Abstracts / Papers etc.

Abstracts are provided below - papers and presentations will be added after the event.

Dr. Richard Barbrook

Abstract: Our Radio 103.8FM: the adventures of a few people on-air through a rather brief moment in time.

In the early 1980s, 'Our Radio' broadcast music and a variety of left leaning content to London. Programmes included Gaywaves, produced by the late Phillip Cox. A variety of cassette recordings of Gaywaves are now held in the British Library. The station once evaded arrest by setting up a dummy antenna for the Home Office / DTI to find!

Media Freedom: the contradictions of communications in the age of modernity.

Eddie Bohan

Abstract: BROADCASTING BEHIND THE BARRICADES'

Northern Ireland Pirate Radio 1969 – 1975

By the late 1960’s the demand by the Catholic / Nationalist community within Northern Ireland for electoral, employment, housing and social equality with their Protestant / Loyalist neighbours brought protests out onto the streets of the province's major cities of Belfast and Derry / Londonderry.

News was often nothing more than rumour and conjecture, falsehoods created fear and misinformation caused tension across the island of Ireland. For most people access to the news was via newspapers, the radio and television. Newspapers were often seen as biased and when the rioting began newspaper production and deliveries were badly disrupted. Locals turned to the radio for updates, often simply to discover if it was safe for them to leave their homes to venture to the shops to buy much needed supplies.

Their reputed listenership was 70% and they were often the sole outlet for news. They gave voice to the oppressed, they challenged the Government’s official positions, they provided morale boosts, they rallied their foot soldiers into action. They were the pirate radio stations of Northern Ireland 1969 – 1974. Who were they? What was the impact on their communities and the course of the Troubles? Why was there a vacuum that required their existence? How extensive were their operations and how did the Government attempt to tackle the issue?

Pirate radio had a massive impact on the course of events in Belfast in the early stages of The Troubles and radio delivered reality to the differing communities. It was illegal broadcasting without censorship behind the barricades. It shaped and controlled the early narrative and stole the prospect of any early peace. Pirate radio’s influence cannot be underestimated and has provided lessons for the future.

Keywords: pirate radio, Northern Ireland, Belfast radio, Sectarian violence, The Troubles.

Trevor Brook

Abstract: The History of Pirate Radio.

Steve Buckley

Abstract:

Pirate or free radio, from its earliest days, has appealed not only to buccaneers but also to emancipators and revolutionists. Drawing on ethnography, social history and lived experience, this paper connects the UK land-based FM radio pirates of the early 1980s with a radical politics of its time, including influences from France, Italy and the USA. Similar stories are to be found across a broader horizon - examples from Poland, El Salvador, South Africa, Tunisia and Syria - and parallels with wider social movements, such as squatting campaigns and alternative housing. Can we retrive an emancipatry thread in the practice of free radio and, if so, with what characteristics? Recent appraisals of the "anarchist turn" in new social movements may provide some clues.

Nic Catford

Abstract: Radio Jackie.

Mark Dezzani

Abstract: Don't Do Politics!

The consensus of most landbased pirate radio stations in their heyday of the 1970s, 80s and 90s was to steer clear of any political content, focussing instead on specialist music formats and generic community information. They felt that if they engaged in politics that it would exacerbate intervention from the authorities to shut them down, which proved largely true.

The act of broadcasting in contravention of the law was indeed a political act. The motive of most music-oriented broadcasters was to force the government to legislate in favour of commercial and community radio. A Radio Jackie recording was played during a parliamentary debate as an example of how commercial radio should work. When a restricted commercial radio service was introduced, they campaigned for a freer market in a sector which they viewed as over regulated and then for community stations to be established.

There were many exceptions to the prevailing apolitical stance with overtly political operations and stations promoting the counter culture. Among the early adopters of illicit broadcasting were the Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties. From 1956 to 1965, Radio Free Scotland broadcast the SNP’s nationalist message on the audio channel of BBC TV after it closed down at night and later on 262 metres on the medium wave band. Welsh nationalists broadcast as Radio Ceiliog (Radio Cockerel) from 1959 to 1962, again on the audio channel of BBC TV after close down. Such stations are just part of what this paper sets out to explore.

Urzula Doliwa

Abstract: Pirate Radio in Poland (1989–1995): Its Legacy and Future Prospects

Between 1989 and 1995, over 100 local private radio stations emerged in Poland, many of which operated in a legal grey area due to the absence of adequate regulatory frameworks. Initially founded as non-commercial, community-driven initiatives, these stations played a significant role in supporting the country's post-communist transformation. However, despite their contributions, many of these broadcasters disappeared from the airwaves following the formal licensing process introduced in 1994. The majority of those licensed also failed to survive, largely due to market-driven policies and media concentration, which reshaped the industry.

Over time, most local entities that received licenses in the early stages were either absorbed by large media conglomerates or acquired by foreign capital. The overreliance on market mechanisms ultimately led to the absence of truly independent, local radio stations in many cities resulting in a potential loss of trust in pro-civic, local media initiatives. Today, the Polish radio market is dominated by standardized formats, leaving little room for creativity, local engagement, or editorial freedom. The third sector of broadcasting, because of the unfavorable legal framework is dominated by a handful of Church radio stations.

This study draws on archival materials, interviews with station founders and policymakers from the early 1990s, and an analysis of legal and press documents from 1989-1995. It explores the enthusiasm and dedication of the pioneers of private Polish radio, whose grassroots initiatives thrived despite limited resources, experience, and the threat of penalties. Additionally, the study examines the missed opportunity to protect independent local broadcasting by analyzing how many pirate radio stations that were licensed between 1994 and 1996 have survived until today. Interviews with representatives of these surviving stations reveal the main obstacles they faced and the key factors that contributed to their survival, supplemented by a brief discussion of contemporary proposals to support local radio broadcasting in Poland.

Dave Fuller

Abstract: The History of Rock-FM, a Pirate Radio Station.

Today we think of Rock FM in terms of the commercial radio station owned by Bauer serving Lancashire, but it wasn't the first to use the name. Here's the story of London's Rock-FM, from its conception to the final broadcast as part of the Radio Authority’s RSL experiment.

We will see how two people, one a CB operator, the other a London rock fan working in media, combined talents and connected with existing pirate radio operators to support the fledgling project. We will also touch on the importance of branding.

The development of Rock-FM is unique and fascinating, as it is both a love story and one of group politics, running hand-in-hand with all the drama of a Hollywood film.

Looking back, we will explore how the project invented counter-measures to protect studio assets from being taken.

After illegal broadcasting had come to an end, the project negotiated two early RSL broadcasts and attempted unsuccessfully to gain a commercial radio broadcast licence.

We will explore the legacy of “RFM” and show the success of its Community Radio heritage.

Daniel Goldman

Abstract: Pirate Radio in Switzerland.

Lawrie Hallett

Abstract: Pirate Radio - the ultimate radio success story?

Having "come in from the cold" as a pirate radio operator turned legit broadcaster, turned regulator, I come at the issue of regulation from a variety of perspectives. This paper argues that the impact(s) of unlicensed broadcasting are, at best, under-appreciated and, at worst, deliberately ignored as an "inconvenient truth". The expansion of broadacst radio in the UK was driven by a range of campaigns from the 1970's onwards and I argue that the combination of political pressure and active, pirate broadcasting, came together to drive the expansion of the broadcast radio medium against the entrenched views of the political establishment of the day. Today's diverse and greatly expanded broadcast radio sector owes a great deal of its success to unlicensed broadcasting in all its diverse forms.

Lawrie's University of Bedfordshire profile page can be found here....

Ryan Harnell

Abstract: Pirate Radio and the Construction of Negative Space

The construction of negative spaces outside the dominant logic of capitalism, that is to say where direct action can take place beyond the productive process, has long been of central concern to social movements around the world. The Situationist International articulated this through their work on ‘unitary urbanism’, just as the Autonomists developed new spheres for refusal within and between the contentious fields of everyday life. Pirate radio, in its capacity as an extralegal engine for countercultural activity, offers a unique perspective for such social movements on the question of spatial politics and organisation. Indeed, pirate radio’s position at the vanguard of underground music production in London and Amsterdam, as well as in cultivating antagonistic ‘languages of desire’ in Bologna, reveal the medium’s potential for challenging hegemonic sensibilities entirely on it’s own terms, and in it’s own space. Within the ubiquitous context of social media, which often serves to redirect genuine desire into mediated forms of participation, the historical role of pirate radio in social movement organising presents a timely opportunity for activists, radio-makers and researchers to reimagine how the medium could be used to construct negative spaces today.

Stephen Hebditch

Abstract:

Stephen Hebditch started the London pirate radio fanzine 'TX' in 1985. Under the name AM/FM it then became a telephone information service, an early Internet newsletter and a website covering the eighties pirate era. In 2015 he wrote a history of the stations, entitled London's Pirate Pioneers.

He will be talking about what it was like reporting on unlicensed radio in London in the late eighties and the wider changes happening during that time.

hebditch.com

Samuel Hunt

... is a seasoned professional in the field of community and independent commercial radio across the UK, offering advice in technical, licensing, and operational matters. He is also the founder and leader of the largest independent radio site operations company in the UK. Samuel’s passion for radio began during a two-week student exchange to Puente de Vallecas in the mid-90s, where he was introduced to the workings of a family-run pirate radio station.

His career has involved a variety of projects, including being part of the team who secured the commercial license for Rugby FM, establishing a UNESCO community radio station in Burkina Faso, running the UK's longest Covid-19 RSL service and supporting numerous radio initiatives across the country. Samuel's current focus includes a project in Leicester aimed at fostering racial integration in an area plagued by high rates of racial hate crime.

Hans Kuzmich

Abstract: Three Transmissions from a Carceral State

Abstract: This presentation highlights three transmission arts projects by Hans Kuzmich, created using documentary and fictional archives of two-way radio communications between prison guards. A brief introduction of each work and its research questions will be followed by a short audio excerpt. The presentation will conclude with remarks about the relationship of this body of work to the legacy of pirate radio.

The three projects—Rikers’ Requiem (2021), Three Transmissions from a Carceral State Performed (2024), and Untitled (in progress)—use electromagnetic and acoustic field recordings around active and decommissioned prison sites in the US. In the first project, they are combined with a documentary archive of staff communications at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. In the second project, they are accompanied by a live reading of transcribed guard communications. The third project introduces a speculative script that imagines the prison’s closure through the radio communication between its staff and the airwaves’ eventual repopulation by an unknown force that conjures sonic specters of the prison’s past, present, and future. The first two projects are available to preview, while the third project is currently being developed through the 2024-25 Coha-Gunderson Prize in Speculative Futures at UC Santa Cruz.

Rikers’ Requiem, 2021

Stereo, 6:44 minutes

https://vimeo.com/hkuzmich/rikers (pw: hk24)

Three Transmissions from a Carceral State Performed, 2024

Performance and radio broadcast, 120 minutes

Excerpt: https://vimeo.com/hkuzmich/transmissions (pw: hk24)

Developed through a transmission arts residency at Wave Farm, Acra, New York State.

Claire Mansfield

Abstract: The History of Rock-FM, a Pirate Radio Station.

The development of Rock-FM is unique and fascinating, as it is both a love story and one of group politics, running hand-in-hand with all the drama of a Hollywood film.

Looking back, we will explore how the project invented counter-measures to protect studio assets from being taken.

After illegal broadcasting had come to an end, the project negotiated two early RSL broadcasts and attempted unsuccessfully to gain a commercial radio broadcast licence.

We will explore the legacy of “RFM” and show the success of its Community Radio heritage.

Michael Nevradakis

Abstract: Pirate radio — A gateway for oligarchs to enter a closed broadcast market? The Greek case.

The broadcast landscape in Greece has been characterized by scholars as captured, politicized, highly concentrated, and the outcome of “savage deregulation.” These characteristics reflect Hallin and Mancini’s (2004) “Polarized Pluralist” or “Mediterranean” media model. In Greece, most radio stations operate without licenses, but with ‘temporary’ certificates of legality.

Under this haphazard legislative patchwork, a de facto closed broadcast news market has developed, as stations are required to submit declarations to the National Council of Radio-Television (NCRTV), Greece’s broadcast regulator, classifying their programming as either ‘news’ or ‘non-news,’ with hurdles for switching categories. The NCRTV itself is often considered captured—lacking administrative independence. In this context, ‘pirate’ radio stations have flourished, particularly in Athens—many of which operated quasi-legally before Athens’ only radio licensing process was completed in 2001-2002.

Under ‘photographic’ legislation ‘legalizing’ pirates that operated in 2004, the NCRTV has legalized many such stations—but only those that subsequently changed hands and were purchased by prominent business/press interests. Other applicants have seen their bids rejected. This paper argues that such ‘tailored’ legislation and the non-transparent process through which pirates are ‘legalized’ (or not) contributes to Greece’s low-trust media environment, ranked lowest globally by the Reuters Institute Digital News Survey (2024).

Mark Quinn

Abstract: 'Every Kinda People - BLB Remembered’.

A film which tells the inside story of the radio station, which, ahead of its time, was set up to promote community radio in Bray....

High Wire Post Production

Jacob Saheb

Abstract: “We were a danger to the system”: PCRL and Radio as Improvisational Practice in Birmingham 1985 1989

While academic (Chapman 1992; de Lacey 2020; Cordell and James 2021) and non-academic (Bradley 2013; Hebditch 2015) scholars alike have acknowledged the importance of unsanctioned and free (“pirate”) radio stations – both within the broader radioscape and as a key part in the development of new musical idioms in Britain during the 1980s and 1990s – these studies direct much of their focus towards London-based broadcasts and their surrounding sonic ecologies.

Scholars like Lisa Palmer (2019) have begun to explore free radio outside of the capital, and crucially, the way that these stations intersected with racialised communities (both in and beyond London). Yet, scholarship on unsanctioned broadcasting and its intersections with race in other parts of Britain remains limited.

In this paper, I draw not only on extant institutional and community archival sources, but crucially, on original oral histories and interviews, with both practitioners from and listeners of Birmingham station PCRL during the mid- and late-1980s. This piece considers “pirate” radio as an improvisational media, where unsanctioned broadcasting attempts to realise Bertolt Brecht’s (1932) aspirational understanding of radio as a multidirectional ‘apparatus of communication’.

Paul Stevens

Abstract: The politics and regulation of radio broadcasting

The politics of dancing: barriers to entry for UK music radio broadcasters — the pirate broadcasters’ battle to be heard.

The history of UK radio is the history of its technology, its exploitation, and the institutions which colluded to control it. From broadcast radio’s inception the UK state, in connivance with the fledgling BBC, sought to build walls around the mass dissemination of audio.

Pirate radio has since its 1960s’ beginnings been romanticised in popular culture. Subsequent generations are served an arguably benign and harmless narrative, when in reality pirate broadcasters shook the British state to its very foundations and forced it to create a legitimate space for popular music-based radio broadcasting.

This paper will reflect on the historic barriers erected since UK broadcast radio’s inception to discourage those who might be tempted to become part of it. For example, surreptitious security services’ vetting at the BBC; the primacy of received pronunciation; the (with hindsight) unreasonably high technical expectations of would-be commercial radio broadcasters; the onerous, the intimidating and costly process of community radio licences; the consolidation of local commercial stations into national brands; and the subsequent migration by the young from the broadcast radio space to that of internet radio and podcasting.

But ultimately this paper will consider whether the entire notion of “pirate radio” has, or will have, any meaning at all in the future, now that anyone can launch a radio service online.

Mark Wakely

Abstract:

1386 Audio

Joy White

Abstract:

Joy's University of Bedfordshire profile page can be found here....

Paul Wilson

Abstract: Pirate Radio Archives

This presentation will include a brief summary of the BL's role in archiving radio recordings and making them available to research users - it will consdier the scope of the collections - and how pirate radio fits into that.

What value do pirate radio recordings have for researchers or today and tomorrow - what can they tell us about the world in that era, and about people and their aspirations? What motivates people to take to the airwaves as pirates and how has their experience measured up? What distinct genres of pirate radio, or of pirate radio programmes, do we encounter? What might research users find interesting about them?

What problems do we encounter in archiving pirate radio (a dearth of metadata and even vague tx dates is one) and what tools might be used to render them more useful for research users (AI?).

What can we do to create a more valuable and representative archive of pirate radio broadcasting?

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse