As a boy, I can remember listening to Radio Caroline on my "tranny radio" under the bedclothes. Great stuff!
Anazingly, the BBC didn't have a dedicated pop music channel until 1967. Offshore pirate radio was the only way to follow the charts. Until it was closed down in 1967, using the euphemistically named "marine offences act".
See:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/pipexdsl/r/arar93/mds975/Content/pirateradio.html
The BBC treated pop as "not real music", and didn't start Radio 1 until some months after the pirates had been shut down.
Here's an interesting account from a former BBC employee:
http://www.btinternet.com/~roger.bec...es/pirates.htm .