August 14th 1967

Today, August 14th, is a day that statistically is less likely to fall on a Monday or Saturday and more statistically likely to fall on a Sunday or a Tuesday or even a Friday.

Every year when we get to August 14th we are reminded of a number of important things.  Probably the most important being that there are only 139 days remaining until the end of the year.

Looking back into history, August 14th is significant if you like the unexplained or conspiracy theories, of course.  Back in 2003 the NorthEast of the United States and Canada faced the great power blackout.  There have been some very rational reasons given for this cascading lack of power, but the truth is out there. Know what I mean?  Nudge nudge.

August 14th 1967 was a significant date. It fell on a Monday, which we have already mentioned is a day it is less likely to fall on.  So it was on Monday August 14th 1967 that Erik Gandini was born.  He grew up to become the famous Italian-Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter.

Monday August 14th 1967 also saw great sadness for many fans of motorcycle and racing car driver Bob Anderson. Sadly, he died on this date back in 1967.

Monday August 14th 1967 was also the glorious end to offshore pirate radio. The Government finally passed a law that made it illegal for the pesky pirates to broadcast their disruptive messages to the easily controlled youth of the day. Pirate radio ships had been clogging up the high seas for three long years, jamming marine distress frequencies which may have caused loss of life. We’ll never know how many lives were lost, the distress calls were jammed by pop music.

Apart from deliberately blocking the calls for help, the offshore radio pirates refused to pay the artists whose songs were being played over and over again. This immoral act is copyright theft. It deprived record companies of income, forcing some of them to go bust, which left workers unemployed.  It also meant that the pirate ships were forcing the artists to work for nothing, causing many of them to have to live on the streets.

Meanwhile, of course, the pirate radioships made billionaires of the owners, living off the immoral earnings as they were.

They had to be stopped, and thank goodness they were. That’s why Monday August 14th 1967 was a good day for the final ever nail in the coffin of offshore pirate radio.

Radio anoraks everywhere, well the ones still alive, will be celebrating the end of the pirates on this day in history with indoor fireworks and extra fizzy pop.