The First BBC Radio Broadcast was 100 Years Ago Today.

[TLS Guy]

It is 100 years ago today, that the BBC started broadcasting. The first broadcast was the news from London.

Transmitters in Birmingham and Manchester started broadcasting the next day, November 15. That day broadcasts included concert broadcasts from the three transmitters.

The invention of the electric record cutting head was still two years away, so musicians had to play into a horn, and the cutting equipment was mechanical. The electric pickup did not come into use until 1927. That made possible the broadcasting of phonograph records on the radio.

Those were the early beginnings of electrically based audio in the home.

 

[lovinthehd]

Made me curious how many we had in the US by then https://www.oldradio.com/archives/general/100oldest.html

 

[TLS Guy]

Made me curious how many we had in the US by then https://www.oldradio.com/archives/general/100oldest.html

Yes, the UK and the US had a very different legislative approach to broadcasting. The BBC had a total monopoly for years. In 1933 a broadcaster set up in the Duchy of Luxembourg and broadcast in English to the UK and carried advertising. Then there was the rise of of the Pirate radio ships in International waters off the east coast, the first of which was Radio Caroline. Ingenious contraptions were devised to make turntables useable in the roughest pf seas. These were commercial radio stations and carried paid advertising. The pirates expanded during 1964 to 1967.

There was another expansion during the 1980 and 90s. Eventually commercial licenses were issued, but the BBC expanded its stations and offerings and hired formerly pirate DJs. Chaos still continues as the demand for radio transmission licenses outstrips supply. So illegal activity continues, although the rise of Internet radio has considerably calmed the chaos. The whole history of radio broadcasting in the UK has a very colorful history to say the least.

 

[shadyJ]

Yes, the UK and the US had a very different legislative approach to broadcasting. The BBC had a total monopoly for years. In 1933 a broadcaster set up in the Duchy of Luxembourg and broadcast in English to the UK and carried advertising. Then there was the rise of of the Pirate radio ships in International waters off the east coast, the first of which was Radio Caroline. Ingenious contraptions were devised to make turntables useable in the roughest pf seas. These were commercial radio stations and carried paid advertising. The pirates expanded during 1964 to 1967.

There was another expansion during the 1980 and 90s. Eventually commercial licenses were issued, but the BBC expanded its stations and offerings and hired formerly pirate DJs. Chaos still continues as the demand for radio transmission licenses outstrips supply. So illegal activity continues, although the rise of Internet radio has considerably calmed the chaos. The whole history of radio broadcasting in the UK has a very colorful history to say the least.

When I was younger, I used to be massively into some of the music that would be played on pirate radio and UK raves back in the early 90's- not that I was in the UK at the time, but I grabbed whatever trickled into the US from the UK. I didn't understand the culture or context behind the music at the time, I just liked what I heard. The sense of 'anything goes' could really be felt in the underground music in the UK from that era. Here is a prime example of the kind of music I was into:

This specific style of anarchic breakbeat music came to an end with the passage of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, more popularly known as the 'UK Rave Act.' Raves were becoming huge gatherings in the British Isles, and it was scaring some people. For those into electronic dance music, tracing how styles developed and emerged after England cracked down on raves is very interesting. A lot of rave music, like the above-linked example, sounded like every influence thrown into a blender, so artists could sample from anywhere, use any kind of beat, and go for any kind of emotional tone, and it could all work together in the same DJ set. After the UK Rave Act effectively outlawed raves, party-goes would end up more at local clubs, and regional styles grew that would turn into their own subgenres such as jungle, dubstep, UK garage, acid trance, chill-out music, and everything in between. It's a shame that the early 90's breakbeat music lost that 'anything goes' vibe, but out of its death grew dozens of popular genres for which it provided the seeding influence. The ridiculous reactionary law of the UK Rave Act would ironically end up making electronic dance music more popular than ever by spawning so many different subgenres that are now popular across the world.

 

[TLS Guy]

When I was younger, I used to be massively into some of the music that would be played on pirate radio and UK raves back in the early 90's- not that I was in the UK at the time, but I grabbed whatever trickled into the US from the UK. I didn't understand the culture or context behind the music at the time, I just liked what I heard. The sense of 'anything goes' could really be felt in the underground music in the UK from that era. Here is a prime example of the kind of music I was into:

This specific style of anarchic breakbeat music came to an end with the passage of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, more popularly known as the 'UK Rave Act.' Raves were becoming huge gatherings in the British Isles, and it was scaring some people. For those into electronic dance music, tracing how styles developed and emerged after England cracked down on raves is very interesting. A lot of rave music, like the above-linked example, sounded like every influence thrown into a blender, so artists could sample from anywhere, use any kind of beat, and go for any kind of emotional tone, and it could all work together in the same DJ set. After the UK Rave Act effectively outlawed raves, party-goes would end up more at local clubs, and regional styles grew that would turn into their own subgenres such as jungle, dubstep, UK garage, acid trance, chill-out music, and everything in between. It's a shame that the early 90's breakbeat music lost that 'anything goes' vibe, but out of its death grew dozens of popular genres for which it provided the seeding influence. The ridiculous reactionary law of the UK Rave Act would ironically end up making electronic dance music more popular than ever by spawning so many different subgenres that are now popular across the world.

As you know, I have never liked any of that music. I think you are talking about the public order act of 1994, amended in 1998. This act was in many ways directed at the Traveler Community which remain a major nuisance to this day. However one of the odd aspects of the bill was to make music with repetitive beats illegal, basically because they were regarded as a public nuisance.

 

[Jeepers]

Then there was the rise of of the Pirate radio ships in International waters off the east coast, the first of which was Radio Caroline. Ingenious contraptions were devised to make turntables useable in the roughest pf seas. These were commercial radio stations and carried paid advertising. The pirates expanded during 1964 to 1967.

I remember Radio Caroline (theme 'Caroline' by the Fortunes) and the other Pirate radio ships from that era in the North Sea. Nostalgia ! For most of them the adventure ended in August 1974.