Pirate Johnnie Walker / 18.02.09

Being jingle geeks, John and I do a lot of complaining about the bland sound of radio today. It probably won’t surprise you that we love the sound of the ‘Pirate’ stations of the Sixties, but it may well surprise you that Radio 2 have let the one-time star of Radio Caroline, Johnnie Walker, take over the airwaves yet again with his very own pirate station. Although Johnnie has had a long career with the station, this isn’t simply another ‘Sounds of the Sixties’ (as Brian Matthew does that very well indeed on Radio 2); Johnny pretends that he really is a pirate station bobbing about on the waves, enjoying the indulgence of the BBC, with most of the music being provided from his private collection of vinyl. To top it all off, you can only get in touch with Johnny by postcard or letter!

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