Tony Blackburn hijacks BBC Radio 2 show to mark 60 years of pirate radio
The DJ, 81, worked on pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Veteran DJ Tony Blackburn hijacked The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 in a stunt celebrating the 60th anniversary of the UK’s first pirate radio station.
Radio Caroline was a British radio station that began regular broadcasting on March 28 1964 from a ship anchored off the coast of Felixstowe in Suffolk.
In the 1960s, Blackburn, 81, who presents Sounds Of The 60s and Tony Blackburn’s Golden Hour on Radio 2, worked on the pirate radio stations Radio Caroline and Radio London.
On Thursday morning, Blackburn took over Ball’s Radio 2 show and played Caroline by The Fortunes, which he used to play as a DJ on Radio Caroline.
He said: “The pirates are back. Zoe Ball has been locked out of the studio. I’m here. Anarchy once again.
“We are pirates. We’re pirate Radio 2 and here we go.
“For the next hour, I’m gonna play you proper music.”
I understand that Radio 5 Live is celebrating 30 years. We laugh at them. We actually laugh at Radio 5 celebrating 30 years for goodness sake. Unbelievable
Later on Blackburn said that he and fellow radio presenter Johnnie Walker had been “thinking about” hijacking the radio station for a while.
“Unfortunately, Johnnie Walker has overslept and he’s having a lie-in, but it’s one of those things”, he said.
On Friday, Blackburn will co-host Clash Of The Pirates with Walker and the two veteran pirate broadcasters will “musically battle and banter to become ‘captain of the pirates'” in a programme celebrating the 60th anniversary.
Later on in his takeover, Blackburn laughed at Radio 5 Live’s 30-year celebrations.
“We are here. At last, after 60 years”, he said.
“I understand that Radio 5 Live is celebrating 30 years.
“We laugh at them. We actually laugh at Radio 5 celebrating 30 years for goodness sake. Unbelievable.”
After Blackburn played a variety of songs from the 1960s, he was joined by Ball who joked she had freed herself from the tape and got out from the cupboard she was locked in.
“I’m loving this pirate takeover”, she said.
“Congratulations, it’s 60 years.”
Blackburn said: “I started on Radio Caroline in July actually, 1964.”
“I remember seeing the pirate ship, the Mi Amigo, for the very first time”, he said.
“We went out from Harwich (Essex), we sailed over from Harwich and it was quite a choppy day and I saw this little pirate ship giving the government so much trouble and I thought ‘wow, that’s great’.”
He continued: “Everybody remembers Radio Caroline, I particularly loved ‘Big L’ Radio London and that was a bigger ship and we had our own cabins and everything.
“But we all got on well out there. It was three years … I just thought it was wonderful.”
Pirate stations beamed music from ships outside British territorial waters and became popular as they reflected changing attitudes towards music at a time when the BBC ruled the waves.
They were unlicensed and did not observe copyright law and in August 1967, a new Act of Parliament called the Marine, & Broadcasting (Offences) Act came in to effect in a bid to silence these offshore radio stations.
In the aftermath of the Act, Blackburn became the first DJ on BBC Radio 1 when it launched in September 1967.