Music
11 photos that tell the story of pirate radio in the UK
From a key incubator of youth culture to a literal museum piece – but underground radio hasn't lost its energy, thanks to the MCs and DJs who crowd its airwaves.
It's probable that many of the UK's key underground music genres – from jungle to UK garage to grime – wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for the pirate radio stations that gave them a platform. Operating illicitly, stations like Kool FM and Pulse FM sprung up on the FM band, using roof-mounted aerials to broadcast their music across the capital – and trying to stay one foot ahead of the authorities, who might confiscate their equipment (or worse).
Scroll down for 11 photos that chart the history of the UK pirate radio subculture.
Radio Caroline
© PA Images / Getty Images
Take note landlubbers – this is what pirate radio looked like in the 1960s. Radio Caroline broadcast from international waters throughout the decade, with early DJs including Dave Lee Travis, Tommy Vance and Tony Blackburn.
MCing in the studio of a youth club, Kennington, South London, 2009
© Simon Wheatley
Pirate radio is a perfect platform for young MCs to practice their bars.
Heartless Crew
© Press
DJ and MC at a pirate radio station
© Victor Frankowski
An MC waits for his cue.
Roll Deep, East London, 2005
© Simon Wheatley
MC Task, Loefah and Youngsta at Rinse FM Studios, 2005
© Georgina Cook
Rinse FM has operated under an FM license since 2010, but for years it operated as a pirate station, for a while operating out of DJ Slimzee's house. In 2005, Slimzee received an ASBO, banning him from every rooftop in Tower Hamlets.
Boy tagging the wall of a toilet in Brick Lane, London, 2005
© Simon Wheatley
Photographer Simon Wheatley's book Don’t Call Me Urban! The Time Of Grime, released 2015, documented the whole culture around the early grime scene, from MCs, DJs and producers to graffiti artists and the urban landscape of east London.
Stella Sessions, Rinse FM Studios, London, 2006
© Georgina Cook
Rule one of pirate radio: what the management says is final.
An MCing session at a youth club in East London, 2005
© Simon Wheatley
Aspiring young MCs reach for the mic at this youth club session.
Members of Get Money Quick crew walk past a CCTV camera, Kilburn, 2006
© Simon Wheatley
In 2013, a survey estimated there was one CCTV surveillance camera for every 11 people in Britain.
The Kool London booth at Concrete Pitch
© Press
In 2018, pirate radio became high art when the artist Eddie Peake installed legendary jungle pirate Kool FM in Bermondsey's White Cube gallery.
Thanks to Youth Club Archive, a not-for-profit organisation working to preserve, share, educate and celebrate youth culture history. Find out more about what they do here.
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