Контроль читання. 10 клас. Reading. 2 sem.

Today, music is easily available to us all. No matter what our taste is - whether we like soul, blues, pop, reggae, urban or any other type of music - we can tune into a radio station and hear it, or go online and download it. But it hasn't always been that easy. When pop and rock music was starting to become very popular in the 1960s, there weren't many radio stations at the time that only played music, and the few that did weren't playing the type of music that young people really wanted to hear. The BBC radio presenters were allowed less than an hour a day. What happened next had an enormous effect not only on the musical tastes of generations of young people but also on the development of music itself. Pirate radio was born. So, what exactly was and is pirate radio? The name speaks for itself. DJs started to broadcast non-stop music from boats at sea. By transmitting from international waters, the DJs weren't breaking any laws and the government couldn't close them down. However, a lot of people didn't like this. One reason was that pirate radio was competing with normal radio stations for audiences, but there was another reason too. The DJs on the boats had a very relaxed way of presenting and there were a lot of stories about the way they lived on the boats. They were blamed for badly influencing a whole generation of teenagers. Parents and politicians alike were very angry! The film The Boat That Rocked, which came out in 2009, shows the life on board one of these pirate ships in great detail. Although the film did badly financially at the box office, it is well worth watching for anyone interested in the 1960s and its music. It is supposed to be based on the life of DJs on one of the first pirate ships, 'Radio Caroline'. This ship started broadcasting in 1964. The most important thing we learn from the film is not about the easy, casual lifestyle of the DJs. It's about their love of music and their desire to share this with the listeners. They really wanted to bring new sounds and new talent to radio. A new law in 1967 banned pirate radio at sea, but some ships and landbased pirate stations continue to broadcast illegally today. They mainly play music for minority groups, who still can't hear the type of music they love from the normal stations. The pirate radio stations are part of our musical history and without them, who knows what sort of music we'd be listening to today!

What types of music can we easily access today?

Today, music is easily available to us all. No matter what our taste is - whether we like soul, blues, pop, reggae, urban or any other type of music - we can tune into a radio station and hear it, or go online and download it. But it hasn't always been that easy. When pop and rock music was starting to become very popular in the 1960s, there weren't many radio stations at the time that only played music, and the few that did weren't playing the type of music that young people really wanted to hear. The BBC radio presenters were allowed less than an hour a day. What happened next had an enormous effect not only on the musical tastes of generations of young people but also on the development of music itself. Pirate radio was born. So, what exactly was and is pirate radio? The name speaks for itself. DJs started to broadcast non-stop music from boats at sea. By transmitting from international waters, the DJs weren't breaking any laws and the government couldn't close them down. However, a lot of people didn't like this. One reason was that pirate radio was competing with normal radio stations for audiences, but there was another reason too. The DJs on the boats had a very relaxed way of presenting and there were a lot of stories about the way they lived on the boats. They were blamed for badly influencing a whole generation of teenagers. Parents and politicians alike were very angry! The film The Boat That Rocked, which came out in 2009, shows the life on board one of these pirate ships in great detail. Although the film did badly financially at the box office, it is well worth watching for anyone interested in the 1960s and its music. It is supposed to be based on the life of DJs on one of the first pirate ships, 'Radio Caroline'. This ship started broadcasting in 1964. The most important thing we learn from the film is not about the easy, casual lifestyle of the DJs. It's about their love of music and their desire to share this with the listeners. They really wanted to bring new sounds and new talent to radio. A new law in 1967 banned pirate radio at sea, but some ships and landbased pirate stations continue to broadcast illegally today. They mainly play music for minority groups, who still can't hear the type of music they love from the normal stations. The pirate radio stations are part of our musical history and without them, who knows what sort of music we'd be listening to today!

Why was it difficult for young people to listen to the music they wanted in the 1960s?

Today, music is easily available to us all. No matter what our taste is - whether we like soul, blues, pop, reggae, urban or any other type of music - we can tune into a radio station and hear it, or go online and download it. But it hasn't always been that easy. When pop and rock music was starting to become very popular in the 1960s, there weren't many radio stations at the time that only played music, and the few that did weren't playing the type of music that young people really wanted to hear. The BBC radio presenters were allowed less than an hour a day. What happened next had an enormous effect not only on the musical tastes of generations of young people but also on the development of music itself. Pirate radio was born. So, what exactly was and is pirate radio? The name speaks for itself. DJs started to broadcast non-stop music from boats at sea. By transmitting from international waters, the DJs weren't breaking any laws and the government couldn't close them down. However, a lot of people didn't like this. One reason was that pirate radio was competing with normal radio stations for audiences, but there was another reason too. The DJs on the boats had a very relaxed way of presenting and there were a lot of stories about the way they lived on the boats. They were blamed for badly influencing a whole generation of teenagers. Parents and politicians alike were very angry! The film The Boat That Rocked, which came out in 2009, shows the life on board one of these pirate ships in great detail. Although the film did badly financially at the box office, it is well worth watching for anyone interested in the 1960s and its music. It is supposed to be based on the life of DJs on one of the first pirate ships, 'Radio Caroline'. This ship started broadcasting in 1964. The most important thing we learn from the film is not about the easy, casual lifestyle of the DJs. It's about their love of music and their desire to share this with the listeners. They really wanted to bring new sounds and new talent to radio. A new law in 1967 banned pirate radio at sea, but some ships and landbased pirate stations continue to broadcast illegally today. They mainly play music for minority groups, who still can't hear the type of music they love from the normal stations. The pirate radio stations are part of our musical history and without them, who knows what sort of music we'd be listening to today!

What was pirate radio?