OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1 - Parody Print Concept

By utilising the 'BBC Test Card F' in one of my designs, I could recontextualise its core meaning therefore creating a parodic final print. This would reposition the BBC hosts from being very authoritarian to their transition becoming this new and unique head in the culture of dance music.

The print would represent the change in values which the BBC went through, specifically the BBC radio stations. This transition into dance music stemmed from the emergence of pirate radio stations at the time, a short article is linked about this below;



'In 1967, concerned at the growing number of pirate stations broadcasting over the UK and the potential interference to foreign radio stations, the British government passed the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act which made it illegal to advertise or supply an offshore radio station from the UK.  All the offshore stations off the British coast closed, with the exception of Radio Caroline, which moved its supply operation to the Netherlands where offshore broadcasting had not yet been outlawed. However, the advertising revenue from overseas sources was not forthcoming and the station was forced off the air less than a year later when the ships were impounded by the shipping company due to non payment. Six weeks after the Marine Offences Act was passed, the BBC introduced its national pop station Radio 1, modelled largely on the successful pirate formulae.

BBC Radio 1 was launched in September 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations and broadcast on 242 metres. The programmes came from Studio D, on the first floor of Broadcasting House and featured Tony Blackburn (formerly Radio Caroline and 'Wonderful Radio London') opening the station with "Flowers in the Rain" by The Move and the second single was "Massachusetts" by The Bee Gees. The programme formats were similar to the pirate stations and many of the popular DJs, like Blackburn featured prominently. John Peel, Ed Stewart, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Simon Dee, Dee Lee Travis, Emperor Roscoe, Mike Reid, and Annie Nightingale all became firm favourites. Needle time restrictions (a restriction on the amount of commercial music that could be played on radio) prevented it from playing as many records as offshore stations had, and limited finances from the State-run station meant Radio 1 was less successful at first but eventually, thanks to no real opposition, it gained massive audiences. Pick of the Pops presented by Australian DJ, Alan ‘Fluff” Freeman, was compulsive listening and ran from 1967 until 1972 and featured new entries to the top 30 best selling singles in the UK, as well as the complete Top 20. The Radio 1 Roadshow, which started in 1973, drew large crowds and featured many of the live acts of the time. Radio 1’s monopoly ended in 1973 when Independent Local Radio was introduced to the UK.   Radio 1’s format has continued to evolve to meet public taste.'

http://www.zani.co.uk/culture/687-brief-history-of-the-pirate-radio-stations-uk