14 AUGUST, 1967 MIDNIGHT GMT (54 YEARS AGO): From the aftermath of the "Crime on the fort" shooting, Parliment rallies and passes the Marine Offences Act of 1967.
The Act meant that the operation of offshore, pirate radio stations became illegal if they were operated or assisted by persons subject to UK law. It prohibited "carrying by water or air goods or persons to or from it" which made tendering illegal. Station operators thought they could continue if they were staffed, supplied and funded by non-British citizens, but this largely proved impractical.
Several days before, Texas entreprenuer Don Pierson has a meeting with investors and concluded that continuing to keep Radio London on the air under the act is a no win situation.
The station was set to close down at 15:00 GMT 14 August and sail into history.
The crew had enough notice to get interviews with artists, present and past DJ's and create a tape called "Their Final hour". A swansong of music, memories and goodbyes.
After a last time breakfast party and packing up, the crew played the tape at 14:00.
Standing on the deck looking out back to shore they just listened to the show and took in all in. England tuned in from their transistors and car radio and listened as well. All of England silent and transfixed!
The show ended with the PAMS Sonowaltz music that the station was famous for. The DJ's boxed up the tape and later left the boat with it.
And then Big L was silent.
Other stations had either switched off before midnight while some went out after Radio London.
There was only one station left and nobody had heard of her decision: Radio Caroline.
Later that night, Radio Caroline was renamed Radio Caroline International and DJ Johnnie Walker took to the mic with "The Pirate's Lament": A sort of Declartion of Independence for free commercial radio. The ship and the crew that continued to stay on kept broadcasting as the radio world changed around them.
On 3 March 1968, the radio ships Mi Amigo and Caroline, were boarded and seized before the day's broadcasting began. They were towed to Amsterdam by a salvage company to secure unpaid bills for servicing by the Dutch tender company Wijsmuller Transport.
The owner decided that Radio Caroline was over. The remaining crew were praised and thanked, given their final paycheck and a one way ticket back home or anywhere they wished.
Six weeks after Big L went off the air, the BBC found out it should have been careful for what they wished for. Payback can sometimes be a bitch!
I share this because of the GREAT Ray Clark, previously known as Radio Caroline DJ Mick Williams. [Where I grabbed my stage name from.] I am trying very hard every year to get him into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. The real story is here: https://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/djs8w2z.htm https://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/carbook.htm https://www.rayradio.co.uk/#home.html
But that's a story for another time...
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