RADIO SUTCH - When Reg first heard that Radio Caroline had made it's first broadcast in March 1964, using The Forturnes song ''Caroline" as their theme tune, he was smitten.  He wanted to have his own pirate radio station.  He couldn't afford to buy a boat - so looked for an alternative and discovered the abandoned war time forts in the Thames Estuary.  He laid claim to several - but eventually settled on the Shivering Sands Forts which were outside British jurisdiction. Screaming Lord Sutch (David) joined him and they had a summer of fun making haphazard broadcasts with volunteers. When David returned to performing, Reg decided to put the station on a professional footing and change the name to Radio City. 

At the time there was no popular music stations - other than Radio Luxemburg. Pirate Radio became very popular but the government and BBC were totally against 'free' radio. Runing a radio station from a ship at sea was expensive and few pirate radio stations were successful. A rival, Major Smedley, wanted a stake in Radio City and boarded the station with force and tried blackmailing Reg for £5,000 and 50% of the profit. The station was outside British jurisdiction and the police were unable to help. Reg's only option was to see the man who had taken his station and within four minutes of his arrival without a word being spoken between them, he was shot dead. 

SHIVERING SANDS is a story of love, music, ambition, intrigue and murder. It is told from the 'inside' with details of day to day life on a pirate radio station,  includes the lives of disc jockeys, engineers, many photos and we wonder in the end why Reggie Kray wants the station to continue?

June 1966. Boarding Party with Radio City staff.