Laser 558
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Laser 558 was a popular European offshore pirate radio station (others include Radio Caroline and Swinging Radio England) officially launched in 1984. Laser 558 used mainly American disc jockeys who had been recruited and flown over from America. The station was based aboard the ship the MV Communicator, which was based in international waters in the North Sea, and thus took advantage of a legal loophole which allowed them to circumvent the requirements for an official license and legally broadcast to the UK. Within a matter of months the station had gained an audience of millions. However, ultimately, poor management and lack of advertising income eventually starved the station off the air. In 1986 an attempt was made to return the station to the airwaves as Laser Hot Hits, but the same problems arose once more.
[edit] Background to the era
The 1980s were musically a throwback to the climate and conditions that had prevailed in the 1960s. The UK music charts were approximately one year ahead of the charts in the USA and British music was very popular in America. At the time music videos were beginning to become popular, and MTV had created a following from viewers who were hooked by back-to-back music videos. Britain was ahead of the US in creating music videos, and so British groups gained a big chunk of the airplay on MTV and subsequently the US charts.
[edit] The beginnings of Laser Radio
The team originally planned to create a new offshore venture with two stations on one ship. This ambitious plan was scaled down to create a single station called Laser. The station was built on board a vessel that would use a high-flying balloon system in order to keep an extremely high antenna aloft.
[edit] Antenna problems
The early days of Laser were overshadowed by problems with their antenna. Radio Caroline had already returned to the airwaves from its new ship. When Laser splashed on to the media scene in the UK and immediately commanded attention, but the first frequency chosen (729kHz) was a poor choice due to interference and this problem was compounded when the balloon antenna system failed completely. As a result the station was often off the air.
Finally a pair of 100-foot masts were erected and a T-antenna slung between them, similar to that which had been used successfully by Radio Veronica in the 1960s and 70s. Operating on a new frequency of 558 kHz with a theoretical maximum power of 25 kW, the station achieved good coverage of Britain and parts of Europe.
[edit] The runaway success of the Hot hits format
The Hot Hits format style hadn't been used in Britain before Laser 558. The station's slogan was: "You're never more than a minute away from the music!" This was in contrast to most other radio stations of the day, which tended to feature lengthy talk-time and long-winded opinions of DJs and very little actual music.
The DJs on Laser also proved popular because they always sounded like they were having fun and enjoying immensely what they were doing.
Millions tuned in to Laser. Stores began relaying the signal over their own public address systems and the BBC suddenly found itself confronted by the same kind of competition that had almost wiped out its entertainment radio service in the 1960s. By some estimates the station had five million listeners in about as many months. Famous fans included Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, the latter whom recorded a good-will message for the station, stating how much she and her family supported the station.
[edit] Technical info
Also unlike most radio stations Laser played all of its music from tape cartridges rather than vinyl. The ship was equipped with an antenna dome which was claimed to relay high-quality audio from its US headquarters, allowing the latest music to be received and re-recorded for transmission. The station also seems to have prepared all of its news bulletins from American sources. A side effect of this was that major British stories like the death of Eric Morecambe were not reported.
[edit] Euroseige
On the 9th August 1985, the UK's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), chartered the vessel the Dioptric Surveyor to anchor nearby to monitor pirate stations Laser and Caroline, at the reported cost of £50,000 a month. The purpose of this was to presumably to seize either of the ships should they inadvertantly stray into British waters. and to collect data on boats from British ports illegally supplying the ships. This was dubbed Euroseige '85. The DJs at Laser made frequent references to the DTI vessel on air, poking fun at the ship and staff, and even releasing a parody song titled I Spy For The DTI by the Moronic Surveyors (the band consisted of Paul Young, John Wilson, Rob Day and Laser DJs Erin Kelly and Liz West). Although this was incredibly entertaining for people to listen to and probably contributed to Laser's success, it also undoubtedly antagonized the DTI, who then focused their attention on Laser rather than other pirates.
[edit] Business failure
While the music programming was a success, the business plan could be diplomatically said to be less of a success. The backers failed to secure the deluge of advertizing that they had hoped, although ads were heard for big brands like Rolling Stone magazine. Meanwhile Radio Caroline continued broadcasting and attracting little attention from the DTI. In order to try and poach some of Laser's audience Caroline moved one of its two transmitters to the adjacent frequency of 576 kHz.
[edit] The Last Broadcast
Due to the blockade and the lack of a sound business plan to supply the successful station with income, the MV Communicator was eventually forced into a British port where the ship and its broadcasting equipment was seized by the authorities.
Within days Caroline had moved onto 558 kHz. Eventually the MV Communicator was bought and sent back out to sea and went back on air in Autumn 1986 as Laser Hot Hits. Because Caroline had claimed the 558 frequency Laser was forced to use 576, reversing the original situation.
Laser Hot Hits lasted for far less time than the original venture, and was generally thought to be inferior to the original Laser 558. The station then went off the air sometime in the Spring of 1987 for the final time.
[edit] Legacy
Laser created careers for people like DJ Charlie Wolf and it caused the BBC to wake up and rethink its radio station programming and format. Popular commercial radio stations like Capital Radio followed in the footsteps of Laser, but going through legal channels and therefore being able to easier secure advertising.
[edit] Aftermath
Charlie Wolf was arguably the most memorable and popular of the former Laser DJs. Originally from Boston, he now lives in the UK, where he presents a show on TalkSport Radio, and is well known for his outspoken on-air views.
Dave Lee Stone died in 1997 after a drinking binge.
Jessie Brandon is back in DC.
Steve Masters was last heard of working for the Voice of America and running a consulting business back in the US.
Rik Harris left Laser in 1985 to work on Radio Nova.
[edit] MV Communicator
After Laser Hot Hits went off the air, the MV Communicator was once again impounded by UK authorities. This time it was stripped of studio equipment, although the transmitters and generators were intact. The ship was sold many times, until the early 1990s, when radio station Holland FM bought the ship and broadcast from it to the Netherlands. Later the Communicator was sold yet again, this time to the Veronica Broadcasting Society, who then sold it to Quality Radio. The ship was then sold to Dave Miller's The Superstation.
Following an incident where the ship took on sea water, Dave Miller sold the ship for just 1,000 pounds. The Communicator is now 'beached' and the new owner plans to scrap the ship. The generators have already been removed by the new owner and the hatches have had their covers removed, exposing parts of the ship's interior to the elements. Some work has already been undertaken to remove wooden wall linings in forward cabin areas.
[edit] Station Theme
The station 'theme song' for both Laser 558 and Laser Hot Hits was Thank You For The Music by ABBA.
[edit] DJ Themes
Charlie Wolf's theme song was Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf? by The Three Little Pigs.
[edit] Singles
I Spy For The DTI, a parody song by band called The Moronic Surveyors was released on the 23rd September 1985 (Farce records 7" single DTI 007, 12" single DTIT 007).
Laser Radio, by The Communicators. This song, praising the station, was recorded and written by Laser fans Roger King and Yanni Tsamplakos.
Laser Rap by Jazzy E. The music for the station's promotional video.
[edit] References
Lid Off Laser, by Rusling, Paul. (Pirate Pubns (Oct 1984); ISBN 0-948055-00-6)
Pop Went The Pirates, by Skues, Keith. (Lambs' Meadow Publications (Mar 1994); ISBN 0-907398-03-0)
[edit] External sources
- Listen to Laser 558 Unique recordings from 1984-1986
