Radio Caroline is definitely an interesting bit of history, they alone survived the Wilson government's attempt to bring offshore broadcasting to an end and carried on for decades on and off despite numerous challenges including a shipwreck. After their original ship went to the bottom of the North Sea they managed to acquire a much stronger ship that was out of service due to the Cod Wars and it's still around today, albeit in pretty urgent need of dry-docking (there's a fundraiser going on for that at the moment). They were eventually subject to an armed raid by the British and Dutch governments in 1989 and while they were broadcasting again shortly after this pretty much destroyed the clandestine shore-based organisation that supported the station, and after that a combined effort of harsher legislation and a grounding on the Goodwin Sands put an end to Caroline's offshore career. As the article says though they're still around today, ironically enough from the old BBC World Service medium wave site on 648 kHz relayed from the ship as well as the usual digital places. You can visit the radio ship too but it's moored out in the sticks on the River Blackwater.
It feels like there's still a bit of interest in unlicensed MW broadcasting in the era of cheap SDRs; I wish Ofcom would open it up to hobbyists more legitimately, the few remaining British MW stations are due for the chop soon and it'd be a better use than just letting the band fall silent in my opinion.
Fun fact about that film, the broadcast studios in that film aren't props; all the sound equipment was borrowed from Radio Caroline's real-life pirate radio ship Ross Revenge.
Also, Roughs Tower (a WWII fortification twelve miles off the coast of Suffolk) was a site of the pirate radio station Radio Essex in the 1960s before the late Roy Bates declared his new "nation" of Sealand on it and declared himself prince.
I agress this album is brilliant, but not that everything after it was terrible.
I probably listen to A Grand Don't Come for Free more then OPM, the impact of Empty Cans in the context of listening to the whole album is huge. Fit But You Know It and Dry Your Eyes are great too, maybe too commercial for some tastes.
Saw The Streets last year at Alexandra Palace! Banging gig..
A Grand Don't Come For Free always felt more forced to me.
OPR felt like he was singing about a time and a life he knew. I figure the label wanted a second album and he gave it a go.
"A Grand Don’t Come for Free was an ambitious rap opera that wrapped a tale of romance and remorse around the disappearance of £1,000 belonging to the protagonist. To write it, he attended a workshop with the Hollywood screenwriting guru Robert McKee, who taught the likes of Kirk Douglas, Paul Haggis, Joan Rivers and even David Bowie."
The lyrics are so culturally appropriate to that time that anyone listening now wouldn't probably get it.
The same with Futuristic Sex Robotz with the Hotel Coral Essex album - some of those songs on there are so pinpointed in time that they just remind me of the computers and using them.
Agree, the reference to a Vauxhall Nova SR in 'Has it Come to This' is a case in point. The car itself, the boy racer culture of the era, it's very specific.
Some things don't change though. Geezers will always need excitement. Terry still drinks and gets in fights and Tim is still a criminal for the choice of herbs he inhales.
Been awhile since I've thought about FSR. Back in the day, I used to listen to WoW on repeat while putting far too many hours of my life into that game.
It feels like there's still a bit of interest in unlicensed MW broadcasting in the era of cheap SDRs; I wish Ofcom would open it up to hobbyists more legitimately, the few remaining British MW stations are due for the chop soon and it'd be a better use than just letting the band fall silent in my opinion.