Contextualising Caroline: The Offshore Pirate

This chapter introduces the case study around which this book is developed: offshore, rebel broadcasting stations such as Radio Caroline. It also justifies the relevance of this example for understanding sound–space–society connections. Offshore radio piracy marks a pivotal moment in social history. The soundscape of the British Isles was dominated by the radio transmissions of one, authorised broadcaster: the BBC. Yet by the 1960s demand for alternative forms of radio broadcasting were rising. This chapter charts the context of the emergence of the radio pirates; how the spaces of the air and sea legally enabled their activities; the subsequent style of sound broadcasting that was made possible; and the key moments of the phenomenon that led to its eventual closure.