Wonderful Radio London - Origin of The Station

Origin of The Station

Radio London was the brainchild of Don Pierson who lived in Eastland, Texas, United States. In a 1984 interview, Pierson said that he got the idea in 1964 to start the station while reading The Dallas Morning News. The daily carried a report of the start-up of Radio Caroline and Radio Atlanta from ships at that time anchored off the coastline of south east England.

Pierson said he was captivated by the fact that these two offshore stations were the first and only all-day commercial radio broadcasters serving the UK. Pierson was an entrepreneur – and he compared the number of stations then serving the population of his native Northwest Texas with the two stations serving the entire UK. He had an idea that would be worth a lot of money while bringing enjoyment to many people, he told Gilder. He caught the next available "red eye" flight from Love Field in Dallas to the UK where he investigated the British broadcasting scene. On arriving, he chartered a small plane and flew over the two existing radio ships on the North Sea and after taking photographs, returned to Texas determined to create a station bigger and better than either of them. However, owing to a disagreement with its members, Pierson had to leave the Radio London consortium. His participation came to a complete end several weeks before the radio station went on air except he was allowed to keep a small shareholding in the venture.